Evaluating Software Control in Nuclear Power Plants: A Detailed Report

This report analyzes the use of software control systems in nuclear power plants, with a specific focus on Duke Energy's Oconee nuclear power plant. The study highlights the need for software-based control systems to replace older, analog systems, particularly after a minor control failure in the 1990s. The report covers project scope, objectives, requirements specifications, significance, limitations, and resource specifications, including the Teleperm XS system. The core objective is to increase safety standards through digital control, providing protection, surveillance, and priority control of the plant's systems. It also discusses the significance of software control in averting failures and ensuring automatic safety measures. The conclusion emphasizes the potential for wider adoption of software controls across the nuclear energy sector to enhance global safety standards and prevent disasters, while also acknowledging the challenges of implementation such as cost and licensing procedures. The report references multiple sources discussing software and hardware systems in nuclear power plants.

Use of software to control a nuclear power plant
Student’s name
Institution Affiliation(s)

Table of Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Project Scope and Objectives..........................................................................................................3
Requirements Specifications...........................................................................................................3
Significance/Feasibility...................................................................................................................4
Project Limitations/Constraints.......................................................................................................4
Resource Specifications...................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................7

Abstract
The report discusses the use of software to control nuclear power plants as a method of
increasing safety as compared to other safety methods. The report references Duke's energy
Oconee nuclear power plant that was established in 1973. The company has undergone several
changes and modifications in a bid to try and address its standards in terms of safety. The use of
software to control the nuclear plant was meant to replace the older and analogue control systems
that were not working correctly. Also, the case references a minor control failure that happened
in the 1990s necessitating a partial change in how control systems are used. In the incident, there
were no employees who suffered any injuries, and no radiation leaked out of the power plant.
The digital control system was added to various parts of the control system to deal with the most
critical hitches, but it remained absolutely clear that Oconee’s entire control system needed a
replacement.

Introduction
The objectives of the case study are to replace Oconee’s control system with the use of
software to control a nuclear power plant in an attempt to raise the safety standards of Duke
Energy’s Oconee nuclear power plant. Duke Energy’s had suffered a minor control failure in the
1990s, and that triggered digitization of some parts of its control system. However, the case
study has identified a need for replacing the whole control system with a software-controlled
system. The report will be structured using various report writing styles where an introduction,
project scope and objectives, requirements specification, significance of the study, project
limitation, resource specification and conclusion sections will be discussed.
Project Scope and Objectives
The main objective of this report is to evaluate the use of software to control a nuclear
power plant. The scope of the report analyses Duke Energy’s Oconee nuclear power plant.
However, the report will be the basis for nuclear power plants to use software controls in their
system as a technique to improve the safety of the power plant.
Requirements Specifications
Plant Control includes the controls systems comprised in the rotating equipment - gas
turbine, steam turbine and generator- the heat regaining steam generator (HRSG), and steadiness
of plant–all giving out energy for hardware and software (Zverkov, 2017). Each gas turbine,
vapour turbine, generator, heat regaining steam generator, and steadiness in plant system has a
regulating system that controls, protect, and screens the equipment. Since the specific control
systems require to work hand in hand for effective plant functioning, information is channelled
between controlling systems on Ethernet-based links (Jharko, 2013). Operators and repairs
personnel use operator stations, historians, and engineering workstations to monitor plant-wide,

harmonized data with a normal Control software set. Remote checking of plant state and remote
operation are presented from integrated customer operations centres and GE Energy Service
centres.
The plant entails different systems which include; safety valves, generator, emergency
power supply, coolant system, feed water pump, and vapour turbine. The system controls and
repairs the efficient functioning. For instance, the cooling system used to remove extra heat from
the reactor core and conveyances it to another area of the plant, where the current energy can be
harnessed to yield electricity. This calls for frequent management of such a system (Alam,
Sarkar, & Chowdhury, 2019). Feed water pump maintains the water level in the vapour generator
and nuclear reactor. The operation of such a system requires maximum and close monitoring of
its operation. The generator changes kinetic energy given to it by the turbine into electrical
energy. A low AC synchronous generator of the great rated power is used. Being a crucial
system in nuclear reactors, its operation is closely monitored to ensure efficiency (Porthin,
Liinasuo, & Kling, 2019). Steam turbine serves to change the heat confined in steam into
mechanical energy. Failing of this system will derail all the process of energy production; hence,
close monitoring of this system is highly recommended.
Significance/Feasibility
The use of software control in controlling a nuclear power plant is significant as it
ensures protection, surveillance and priority control of the nuclear system. The use of software
control will help Duke Energy’s Oconee to avert control failures such as the minor control
failure that occurred in the 1990s. Additionally, the use of software controls will enable
monitoring of safety standards which enables automatic protection and safeguard action in case a
problem occurs. Surveillance through the use of software control will ensure that the nuclear

core, the main rod and the reactor systems are protected from being breached (Singh & Singh,
2019).
Project Limitations/Constraints
Installing a safety-related digital system is a hard, tiresome and time-consuming process.
Visionary leaders are needed and have to come up with a plan that will phase out the old control
system and replace it with a new software-controlled system. The process is also very expensive
in a way that many nuclear power plants may not even afford it (Simonsen & Osvalder, 2015).
Choosing the right partners to install the software control system for a nuclear power plant is also
a great consideration for the successful adoption of a software-controlled system. Finally, there is
a long and tiring process of getting the plan through the licensing process that the leaders of the
power plan have to endure.
Resource Specifications
Duke Energy’s Oconee chose Teleperm XS system that is provided by Areva of France.
Its features ensure reliability and the software have been used by other nuclear power plants
elsewhere. Teleperm XS is licenced for use in eleven nations and contain the following resource
specifications:
a) Protection feature for monitoring safety settings and automatic enabling of safeguards
in case of a problem.
b) Surveillance features for monitoring the rod control, nuclear core and the reactor
system.
c) Priority and actuator control system features for managing the control and monitoring
of the operational safety system.

Conclusion
A nuclear reactor is becoming one of the most sophisticated technological breakthroughs.
It’s now producing a significant amount of the world’s energy requirements, and the benefit is
that it yields huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel, minus any pollution that would
be realized. This brings encouragement to those countries that have not indulged into the
technology to try it for the increase of the country’s income, as this reduces the cost spent on the
other methods of energy production (Liang et al., 2016).
As nuclear power plant becomes a central idea in many nations, it is time to think about
the safety of the people who work in these power plants and those who live near the power
plants. It should be noted that power plants especially nuclear power plants have the capability of
causing massive damage both to the environment and to the entire population. Therefore, safety
standards, rules and regulations and measures should be put in place to avoid any hazardous
occurrences. The use of software to control nuclear power plants presents a great opportunity for
increasing the safety of the nuclear power plant.
In future, many nuclear power plants across the globe should be able to use software
controls and IT infrastructures to control their respective power plants. This will not only create a
universal safety standard across all the nuclear power plants but will also ensure that no harm or
disaster occurs without being detected. Many nuclear energy stakeholders are taking keen
interest on the Duke Energy’s Oconee installation of software control system. If the system
succeeds, the companies will borrow the methods used by Duke Energy’s Oconee and use them
in their respective power plants. If the plan fails, the various concerned parties will still be
looking up to Duke Energy’s Oconee to iron out the errors.

It should be noted that many nuclear power plants have failed to use software control in
their operations due to the high cost implications. In future, many players in the energy sector
including the government, public and private corporations and public and private individual
investors will join hands to finance the nuclear power plant projects.

References
Alam, F., Sarkar, R., & Chowdhury, H. (2019). Nuclear power plants in emerging economies
and human resource development: A review. Energy Procedia, 160, 3–10.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2019.02.111
Jharko, E. Ph. (2013). Quality Assurance for Nuclear Power Plant Control System Software.
IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 46(9), 1102–1107. https://doi.org/10.3182/20130619-3-RU-
3018.00227
Liang, H., Gu, P., Tang, J., Chen, W., & Gao, F. (2016). Discussion on software aging
management of nuclear power plant safety digital control system. SpringerPlus, 5(1).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-3780-2
Porthin, M., Liinasuo, M., & Kling, T. (2019). Effects of digitalization of nuclear power plant
control rooms on human reliability analysis – A review. Reliability Engineering & System Safety.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2019.03.022
Simonsen, E., & Osvalder, A.-L. (2015). Aspects of the Nuclear Power Plant Control Room
System Contributing to Safe Operation. Procedia Manufacturing, 3, 1248–1255.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.260
Singh, P., & Singh, L. K. (2019). Design of safety critical and control systems of Nuclear Power
Plants using Petri nets. Nuclear Engineering and Technology.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2019.02.014
Zverkov, V. V. (2017). Software and Hardware Systems in the Safety Control Systems of
Nuclear Power Plants. Power Technology and Engineering, 51(2), 194–202.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10749-017-0809-9