SunPort CEO Mark Burzynski attended the Technical Workshop on Current Status and Difficulties of I&C Modernization, organized by the Cooperation in Reactor Design Evaluation and Licensing (CORDEL) Working Group of the World Nuclear Association (WNA) in Erlangen, Germany on October 29-31, 2019.
The workshop served as an international forum for sharing and discussing the current status and challenges on modernization of I&C in nuclear power plants (NPPs). An additional goal of the workshop was to disseminate information on the lessons learned in the new IAEA Nuclear Energy Series reports and recent DICTF publications, and to review the latest draft of DICTF report on I&C Modernization – Current Status and Difficulties. The main objectives of the workshop were to:
- Share international experience, lessons learned and best practices through presentations and discussions on I&C modernization at NPPs.
- Improve understanding of the main challenges on I&C modernization and how they can be overcome.
- Identify opportunities for harmonized approaches in I&C modernization.
- Share insights and obtain input from workshop participants on the development of the new CORDEL DICTF paper on I&C Modernization – Current Status and Difficulties.
- Support the IAEA and World Nuclear Association in defining future activities for I&C applications.
Participants from 15 countries made presentations in support of the workshop objectives. SunPort made a presentation titled “Insights from Protection System Retrofits on Project Decisions.” It described insights from digital design decisions to optimize safety system operation and maintenance for two U.S. protection system modernization projects. The presentation provided recommendations to address lessons learned from these projects and other international experience can lead to project success. Key insights included the importance of having clear reasons to upgrade, early decisions on enhancements, preparation a good specification, selection of the right supplier and platform, and finding the right balance in the diversity and defense in depth strategy to address common cause failure vulnerabilities. The workshop was conducted as part of the continuing effort related to improve I&C system performance and leverage the benefits of modern I&C technology.
