Nuclear power plant reliability data collection system in Japan

Since 1977, the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industries (CRIEPI) has been developing a nuclear power plant reliability data collection system (RDCS) under the sponsorship of the Japanese Federation of Electric Power Companies. The aims of the RDCS are to obtain reliability data on components which are directly related to the safe and reliable operation of nuclear power plants and to statistically analyse the failure trends of these components. To fulfil these purposes, 14 kinds of components have been selected. The data consist of three categories: component engineering data, component failure data and plant operating data. The engineering and plant operating data are used to estimate the total operating time of components for calculating the reliability data. The component failure data are reported to MITI with information such as cause, mode and effects. The reports will be stored in a computerized data base and be used to calculate reliability data. Statistical trends analysis will be also performed. (author)