Advanced Core Monitoring Framework: An overview description

One of the most significant developments in nuclear power plant operations in recent years is the application of digital computers to monitor and manage power plant process. The introduction of this technology, moreover is not without its problems. At present each of these advanced core monitoring systems as GE's MONICORE, EXXON's POWERPLEX, EPRI's PSMS, etc., works only by itself in an operating configuration which makes it difficult to compare, benchmark or replace with alternative core monitoring packages. The Advanced Core Monitoring Framework (ACMF) was conceived to provide one standard software framework in a number of different virtual-memory mini-computers within which modules from any of the core monitoring systems (both BWR and PWR) could be installed. The primary theme of ACMF is to build a framework that allows software plug-in compatibility for a variety of core monitoring functional packages by carefully controlling (standardizing) module interfaces to a well-defined database and requiring a common man-machine interface to be installed