Isolation support expert system for nuclear power plants

The demand for enhanced plant maintenance systems for nuclear power plants has grown due to the importance of stable running of such plants. To meet this need, a prototype system which assists in the work of planning isolations for the maintenance of plant components has been developed. The system provides maintenance personnel and operators with information on the necessary operation items for isolating the components to be checked or repaired, by processing the plant operating conditions, databases related to the plant design basis drawings and expert heuristic knowledge for the safety of personnel and plant equipment. Appropriate and reliable isolation operation items are thus provided for the various types of maintenance work, with the added advantage that the time required for preparation is also reduced. (author)