Enhancing Nuclear Power Plant Operation and Efficiency Through Holistic I&C Modernization Efforts

The US Department of Energy's Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program sponsors research in Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control (II&C) Systems to address aging and reliability concerns with the legacy instrumentation and control and related information systems of the U.S. operating light water reactor (LWR) fleet. This work involves two major goals: (1) to ensure that legacy analog II&C systems are not life-limiting issues for the LWR fleet, and (2) to implement digital II&C technology in a manner that improves operations and reduces operating costs Resolving long-term operational concerns with the II&C systems contributes to the long-term sustainability of the LWR fleet, which is vital to the nation's energy and environmental security. Most digital II&C implementation projects today result in islands of automation distributed throughout the plant. They are mostly non-safety related and are physically and functionally isolated from one another in much the same way as their analog predecessors. Digital technologies are largely implemented as point solutions to performance concerns with individual II&C components, such as aging. This approach is characterized by planning horizons that are short and typically only allow for "like-for-like" replacements. The current approach is reactive to incipient failures of analog devices and uses replacement digital devices to perform the same functions as analog devices. Consequently, many features of the replacement digital devices are not used. This results in a fragmented approach to refurbishment that is driven by immediate needs. This approach to II&C aging management minimizes technical and regulatory uncertainty though, ironically, it reinforces the current technology base. To displace the piecemeal approach to digital technology deployment, a new holistic vision for efficiency, safety, and reliability is needed that more fully leverages the benefits of digital technologies. This includes considering goals for NPP staff numbers and types of specialized resources; targeting operation and management costs and the plant capacity factor to ensure commercial viability of proposed long-term operations; improving methods for achieving plant safety margins and reductions in unnecessary conservatisms; and leveraging expertise from across the nuclear enterprise.