Some Insights into Fault Detection Coverage of Digital I and C Systems

Fault detection coverage is defined as the probability that a system detects an occurring fault in the system. After a sensitivity study on various important factor considered in the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) of nuclear power plants (NPPs) with digital instrumentation and control (I and C) systems, Kang and Sung identified the fault detection coverage of digital I and C systems as one of the most critical factors in the reliability and safety analysis of the digital I and C systems. Due to the importance of fault detection coverage of digital I and C systems in NPPs, there have been a lot of discussion on whether it is possible to determine a generic value of fault detection coverage or not. To get some insights into the fault detection coverage of digital I and C systems, an estimation of fault detection coverage of a digital system is performed