ELECTROMAGNETIC ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS WITHIN A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

MRC PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A SAFETY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR (PI) OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC (EM) PROTECTION STATUS OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT (NPP). WE BELIEVE THAT SUCH A PI IS NEEDED BECAUSE: (1) EM ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IS ON THE INCREASE,(2) ADDITIONAL EM THREATS MUST BE EVALUATED, AND (3) DISRUPTION OF NPP OPERATIONS BY EM EFFECTS CAN AND MUST BE AVOIDED. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE ADDRESSED THE ISSUE OF EM EFFECTS AND THEIR IMPACTS ON NPP SAFETY. MRC WILL USE ITS EXPERTISE IN EM EFFECTS, ITS PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE IN PERFORMING INSPECTIONS AND TESTS, AND ITS ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES TO DEVELOP A USEFUL SAFETY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR OF THE EM PROTECTION SYSTEM. OUR PROPOSED WORK WILL CONSIDER SUCH EM EFFECTS AS ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE/ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY (EMI/EMC), NATURAL LIGHTNING, AND NUCLEAR ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE (EMP). THE STUDY TO BE CONDUCTED DURING PHASE I AND THE DEVELOPMENTOF A PROTOTYPE TO BE IMPLEMENTED DURING PHASE II WILL BE CLOSELY INTEGRATED INTO ONE CONTINUOUS PROGRAM. THE ANTICIPATED END RESULT WILL BE A MONITORING SYSTEM THAT CONTINUOUSLY CHECKS AND INDICATES THE EM PROTECTION STATUS OF THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT. THIS PI WILL PROVIDE A PRINTOUTOF THE STATUS OF CRITICAL PLANT SUBSYSTEMS/COMPONENTS WHENEVER DESIRED, AND WILL BE A VALUABLE ADDITION TO THE NUCLEAR PLANT FOR ITS SAFE OPERATIONS IN UNDESIRED EM ENVIRONMENTS.