On-Line Monitoring of Accuracy and Reliability of Instrumentation and Health of Nuclear Power Plants

The nuclear power industry continues to depend largely on hands-on antiquated methods for maintenance of its equipment, for plant-aging management, and for health monitoring. As such, advanced maintenance technologies are needed for current and next generation nuclear power plants. This project will develop technology to establish the accuracy and reliability of nuclear power plant instrumentation, and thereby address the condition monitoring and management of the aging of critical equipment and processes in current and next generation reactors. In Phase I, experiments were conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of an on-line condition monitoring system for nuclear power plants. In Phase II, an integrated on-line condition monitoring system will be implemented in a nuclear power plant. The Phase II system will provide: (1) a means to verify the accuracy and reliability of process instrumentation; (2) a means to automatically assess the condition of critical plant equipment and processes; (3) a practical tool to optimize plant maintenance activities, improve efficiency, reduce costs, and contribute to plant safety; and (4) the foundation for an automated condition monitoring system to be embedded in the design of the next generation of reactors. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The monitoring system should help improve both the safety and economy of nuclear power plants, with potential benefits up to $25,000,000 per year for a 1200 Mwe nuclear power plant. The system also could be of use to other power and process industries. Finally, the system could impact the continuous surveillance and monitoring needs of homeland security, including the protection of government facilities and defense installations.