July-August 2019 NPJ

34 NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, July-August 2019 Advanced Generation Digital I&C By Linda Santoline and Kenneth Lunz, Westinghouse Electric Company LLC. Linda Santoline Linda Santoline is a Fellow Engineer in the Control and Information Systems Group in Westinghouse Electric Company’s Global I&C organization. She participated in the design and implementation of the AP1000 ® plant non- safety integrated I&C for the AP1000 units in China, including post-shipment U.S.-based I&C support throughout the plant startup program. Linda has worked in the field of I&C for nuclear power plants for her entire 35-year career in disciplines including product development, design engineering, systems integration, marketing and engineering management. Ms. Santoline has been awarded four patents in the areas of I&C product development. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Realizing the Benefits of Digital in both New and Operating Plants WiththestartupoftheAP1000 ® Nuclear Power Plants in China, Westinghouse has achieved one of the first fully integrated digital instrumentation and control (I&C) systems in the nuclear industry with a soft- control main control room for both safety and non-safety systems. These plants started up very smoothly with the digital I&C systems performing as designed, providing a valuable source of data and operational knowledge during the startup of these first-of-a-kind Generation III+ plants. This achievement was built on decades of innovation n design, testing, rocess development nd licensing support f I&C technologies hat began with the ommercial nuclear ower industry. As the riginal equipment manufacturer for 3 Westinghouse nd 15 Combustion Engineering nuclear power plants, Westinghouse provided the original I&C systems for all of the major plant systems and components. The systems were largely standalone and were based on analog technology. During the last 30+ years, Westinghouse has continued to evolve and refine its I&C product solutions, introducing digital technology for system upgrades in the 1980s for both safety and non-safety systems. This technology has included new features to improve operational performance, maintainability, plant efficiency and plant reliability by leveraging built in diagnostic information and information processing, while also introducing integration of standalone systems to improve information congruency and reduce operator burden. Westinghouse’s current generation digital I&C systems are based on the Common Q™ platform for safety systems and the Ovation™ platform for non- safety systems, which have been applied in digital system upgrades that are now operational in 68 plants in 13 countries. This includes Westinghouse- and CE- design pressurized water reactor plants, General Electric- and ABB-design boiling water reactor plants, and Rosatom-design VVER plants, with additional upgrades in progress. In the United States, Common Q- and Ovation-based systems have been installed in 44 of 98 currently operating nuclear plants, including advanced digital replacements for feedwater control, turbine control, plant computers, rod control and safety systems. This same Westinghouse digital I&C technology has served as the basis for much larger integrated I&C architectures that have been implemented in full I&C modernization programs at two plants in Sweden and in the new Westinghouse AP1000 plants. Westinghouse has also supplied these same Common Q- and Ovation-based systems to Korea Hydro Nuclear Power’s APR-1400 plants in Korea and the United Arab Emirates, and continues to work on existing contracts to provide these systems for six additional CAP1000 plants in China. The AP1000 nuclear power plant is the first Westinghouse plant designed from the beginning with a fully digital, integrated I&C architecture for all of the safety and non-safety systems. The design incorporates many innovative concepts including soft control for safety and non- safety components from the non-safety system human-machine interface. This solution offers many benefits in ease of operation, reliability, diagnostic capability, and maintenance, in addition to providing exceptional availability of information for both real-time and historic needs. The integrated digital I&C safety and non-safety systems include the primary protection system, engineered safeguards system, non-safety control for plant fluid systems, nuclear steam supply system, rod control system, main turbine, and the balance of plant controls including the electrical and ventilation systems. Control, protection and information processing for all systems is integrated into the main control room where information is provided through large, wall-panel displays; the advanced alarm presentation system; trends; and safety and non-safety workstation consoles. The AP1000 plant I&C design is Westinghouse’s most advanced, and most scrutinized I&C system. i p a o t c p o 8 a