Advanced Small Modular

Reactor R&D Program:

Instrumentation, Controls,

and Human-Machine

Interface (ICHMI) Pathway

David Holcomb Oak Ridge National Laboratory

presented at

IAEA Technical Meeting on I&C for SMRs Vienna, Austria

May 22-24, 2013

2 Managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy

A New Paradigm is Required to Offset

Reduced Economy-of-Scale Savings

• Plant design and management

– Multiple units per site

– Multiple product streams

– More effective, efficient operation and maintenance

• Reduce capital costs

– Extensive use of digital technologies

– Optimized I&C

– Reduce cable installation costs

• Reduce plant operations and maintenance costs

– Plant availability

– Efficiency of power conversion

– Staffing requirements

• Factory production cost benefits

3 Managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy

Advanced SMR Instrumentation, Controls,

and Human-Machine Interface (ICHMI)

Research Pathway

• Unique Operational and Process Characteristics

– Unconventional dynamic behavior and distinctive architectures

– Extended operation and longer fuel cycles

– Different coolants and more extreme environments

• Assured Affordability

– Lower capital costs

– Reduced plant operations and

maintenance costs

• Enhanced Functionality

– Multi-unit plant management

– Multiple product streams

– Flexible operability

ICHMI research is needed to meet unique challenges and

opportunities of advanced SMRs

4 Managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy

ICHMI Pathway Focus is on Achieving

Goals and Resolving Challenges for

Advanced SMRs

• Research priorities

– Resolve technology gaps (e.g., sensors)

– Address critical technical and licensing issues

• Operational staffing requirements

• Internal, inaccessible component integrity monitoring

• Multi-module control

• Initial research targets

– Environment, architecture, and dependability for critical measurements and in-vessel monitoring

– Flexible, robust automation for off-normal conditions and multi-unit operation

– High-fidelity condition determination and incipient failure detection to support extended operation

– Reduced human resource demands for operations and maintenance

5 Managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy

SMR ICHMI Research Projects –

Sensors and Measurement Systems

Johnson Noise Thermometry Develop and demonstrate a drift free Johnson noise-

based thermometer suitable for deployment near core in

advanced SMR plants

Project activities will demonstrate:

• Auto-calibrating temperature measurement capability

• Implementation of dual-mode resistance and Johnson

noise thermometer in a rugged, integrated prototype

form

In-Vessel Optical Measurements Develop engineering concepts and innovative

technology for optical sensing to resolve significant

technical challenges related to in-vessel measurement

Project activities will focus on:

• Evaluation of current technology readiness and

determination of gaps

• Development of engineering concepts (e.g., optical

vessel viewports) for standoff measurements

• Investigation of innovative methods and materials for

transformative sensing capabilities

6 Managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy

SMR ICHMI Research Projects –

Monitoring and Prognostics

Prognostics for SMR Passive Components Develop and demonstrate a prototypic prognostic health

management system for generally inaccessible aSMR

passive components

Project activities will involve:

• Multi-physics investigations of correlations between

degradation modes, associated harsh-environment

stressors, and nondestructive measurements

• Integration of prognostic techniques into a prototypic

framework and evaluation using a representative lab-

scale aSMR testbed

Enhanced Risk Monitors with Integrated ECA Develop framework for integrating equipment condition

assessment into event probability estimation for

predictive risk monitoring

Project activities will address:

• Health monitoring of key active components with

reduced accessibility

•Methods to integrate physics-based indicators of

degradation and incipient failure into dynamic

probabilistic risk assessment of operational conditions

7 Managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy

SMR ICHMI Research Projects –

Plant Control and Operations

Concepts of Operation for Multi-Modular SMRs Develop alternate concepts of operation for

representative multi-unit SMR plant designs

Project activities will focus on:

• Definition of operational scenarios for various plant

configurations

• Functional analysis of operational tasks

• Evaluation of function allocation options

• Demonstration of staffing approaches through

simulation testing

• Assessment of human performance impact

Human-Automation Collaboration Framework Establish a framework for Human-Automation

Collaboration to optimize aSMR operation by integrating

personnel and automation

Project activities will provide:

• Definition and testing of a model for human-automation

collaboration that identifies key characteristics of

automaton and their impact on human performance

Monitoringand Detection

SituationAssessment

ResponsePlanning

ResponseImplementation

Generic Primary Tasks

Interface Management Tasks

Agent 4

Agent 1

Agent 3

Agent 2

8 Managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy

SMR ICHMI Research Projects –

Plant Control and Operations

Supervisory Control for Multi-Modular SMRs Develop and demonstrate functional architectures to

enable integration of control, diagnostics, and decision

for highly automated multi-unit plant operation

Project activities will provide:

• Definition of supervisory control requirements

• Establishment of a functional architecture

• Generation of baseline supervisory control functional

elements

• Demonstration of supervisory control capabilities for a

simulated representative multi-unit SMR plant

Impact of Active Control on Passive Safety Devise strategies that emphasize inherent self-regulation

to reduce the potential for active controls to compromise

passive safety characteristics

Project activities will address:

• Identification and assessment of issues arising from

the interaction of active controls and passive safety

• Development of inherent control strategies to minimize

the need for active control and protection systems

9 Managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy

SMR ICHMI Research Projects –

Infrastructure

Modeling Tools for aSMR Simulation Develop modeling tools and common resources to enable aSMR simulations in support of

performance and dynamic behavior investigations across the program

Project activities will provide:

• Common dynamic simulation environment for aSMR plant models

• Easily re-configurable plant component simulation modules

• Flexible, user-friendly model configuration interface

•Generation of representative aSMR plant simulations to demonstrate the integrated modeling

package

REACTOR CORE

AND

PRIMARYHEAT

TRANSPORTSYSTEM

SECONDARYHEAT

TRANSPORTSYSTEM

POWERCONVERSION

SYSTEM

KF-ZrF4 LiF-BeF2

SupercriticalWater

10 Managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy

Summary

• ICHMI Research Pathway initial projects were selected based on prior investigations of key issues and needs for SMRs

• Research portfolio involves 5 national laboratories in the conduct of 9 technical research projects

• Each laboratory is also contributing to the further assessment and refinement of aSMR ICHMI needs

• ICHMI Research Pathway engaged with DOE-NE Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Program Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation Research Pathway to ensure coordination of research activities