Speaker
Description
Nuclear Power reactors of all generations and types require for their safe and efficient operation a set of instrumentation systems to monitor reactor conditions and allow for countermeasures in case the measured parameters exceed certain thresholds. The lifecycle of the instrumentation systems encompasses several steps from design and development of a prototype to operation in a commercial application, and even decommissioning. While some of these steps are generic and also used by other industries worldwide, the special needs for application in harsh environment with high demands on safety aspects require specific activities. The development of a reactor instrumentation tailored to the plant needs starts with gathering of needs coming from several stakeholders. Such needs comprise not only technical aspects but also demands on the capability of the solution to be industrialized and have to follow local and international nuclear standards. After the needs are analyzed and translated into a set of requirements, the design and later the manufacturing of the instrumentation is performed. Before the designed solution can be deployed, it needs to be qualified for its intended use. Qualification is a process specific to nuclear application, which requires analysis and specific testing of the equipment under representative conditions, but also stipulates demands on the manufacturing follow-up and impacts the industrial scheme. The qualification needs to be approved by local authorities and accompanied by independent bodies. Once the equipment is finally qualified and can be put into operation, operational support is needed which includes a supply chain management maintaining qualification for the equipment. Changes of equipment – in design, but also in manufacturing or supply chain – need to be assessed and analyzed regarding their impact on the obtained qualification. No unqualified equipment is allowed to be used for commercial nuclear power reactors. At the end of life, also special demands on decommissioning need to be considered, e.g. when the equipment is activated or contaminated.
The presentation will provide an overview of the development of a nuclear instrumentation system from design to operation and even decommissioning, including all relevant steps which are necessary to derive a series product which can be used in commercial nuclear power reactors from a prototype. It focusses on the special needs for nuclear application, such as qualification and supply chain maintenance. The presentation will use EPR incore instrumentation as example to outline the necessary steps.
