Strategy for Implementation of Fixed and Mobile Wireless Technologies in Crowded and Confined EMI Environments of Nuclear Power Plants

Wireless technologies offer tremendous opportunities to nuclear power for improved safety, efficiency, and reliability. This project addresses two significant barriers for implementation of wireless technologies in nuclear power plants: 1) electromagnetic compatibility which refers to the ability of plant equipment to withstand wireless transmissions; and 2) coexistence which refers to the ability of various wireless devices to operate in the presence of one another. For electromagnetic compatibility, most equipment in nuclear power plants has not been tested for vulnerability to wireless transmissions. As for coexistence, there is currently no standard test method available to verify that wireless devices will function reliably when operating in close proximity to each other. This project will provide new equipment and technologies to resolve wireless electromagnetic compatibility and coexistence issues and facilitate widespread use of wireless technology in nuclear facilities. The feasibility of the Phase I project goal was established by testing nuclear power plant equipment for immunity to wireless signals and developing mitigation techniques, evaluating wireless coexistence, and designing a cognitive radio system to perform radiated immunity and wireless coexistence testing in nuclear power plants. This proposal offers a hands-on research and development project to build new equipment fir in-plant testing to establish objective exclusion distances for safe and widespread use of wireless devices in nuclear power plants. Referred to as a Cognitive Radio System, the product of this project will be a light-weight portable unit that can be carried around a plant to test for radiated immunity and wireless co-existence. It will transmit and receive electromagnetic waves to establish distances at which existing plant equipment will not be affected by wireless signals and that multiple wireless devices in the same area will not interfere with each other. The product of this work will be sold to nuclear power plants in the form of service and equipment that can be used to perform testing to enable the use of wireless technologies. Wireless technology will help improve communication efficiency, optimize maintenance, improve security, and add to plant safety and availability.