Hybrid nuclear plant simulator design requirements to enable dynamic diagnostics of plant operations

Highlights: • Nuclear power plant simulator can be used for online plant diagnostics. • For an effective plant diagnostic system, certain design requirements must be met. • The requirements to enable plant diagnostics in the full scope simulator have been developed. • These requirements developed will also enhance the simulators performance in other applications. - Abstract: With nuclear plant full scope simulator technology reaching maturity, the possibility of using its capabilities in expert systems such as online plant diagnostics has become a reality. The effectiveness of plant diagnostics using real-time simulated measurements as a plant reference has been shown in previous papers. However, in order to implement these systems, the full scope plant simulator needs to be designed specifically with this application in mind. This will help in maximising the effectiveness and scope of use of the system. This paper investigates the various simulator technologies available as well as the development strategies and focus areas to establish the design requirements of a single, full scope engineering and training nuclear plant simulator. This can be implemented to provide a real-time dynamic reference to the plant diagnostic system.