Development, Planning and Implementation of New I&c Systems, including Effective Integration with Existing Systems and Processes

This paper is based on practical, wide ranging and in-depth experience of many aspects of power plant design and operation. The authors have decades of experience working in the nuclear industry, as well as other high technology fields. This includes leading teams on development, design and implementation of plant diagnostic and monitoring equipment; fundamental technology and R&D investigations; and integration of advanced technologies and processes into nuclear energy, space reactors, and other industries. The paper will draw from this experience and describe the lessons learned when implementing systems ‘fromwomb-to-tomb’, The paper is in two parts. We will use practical experiences to suggest project development best practices in Part 1; and illustrate lessons learned during I&C system installation, testing and validation in Part 2, Damage to a steam generator from a sodium-water reaction can be extensive if not mitigated by a rapid detection system. A strong economic case can be made to develop a reliable detection system with very low false alarm rate (typically one false alarm in thirty years). A passive acoustic tomography leak detection system was invented and fully developed (the BatScan system). BatScan, in effect, has many tens of thousands of virtual microphones within the vessel, and can independently measure the noise field at each virtual microphone. BatScan’s software then produces a three dimensional image of the absolute sound field within the volume, indicating the size and location of a tube leak.The project to develop this detection system was extensive, covering analyses, laboratory tests, and installation and integration with large test facility and Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation and control systems. Analytical and experimental investigations covered a wide range of fields, from Sodium-water reaction phenomena, acoustic technology, to sensors and state of the art electronics. Best practices and lessons learned from the project are described. Part One: Best practices used in I&C project – Development