Design and safety assessment of an FPGA-based Post-Accident Monitoring System for Westinghouse AP1000 Nuclear Power Plants

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In modern times, a major issue occurring in nuclear power plants is that many analog and digital systems, including safety systems, have become out-dated and obsolete. Furthermore, it has become more difficult to repair and maintain these systems as the original parts are discontinued. One promising solution is to design and implement new systems based on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology. FPGAs are a form of programmable hardware, and do not use any form of operating system. FPGAs are extremely fast and reliable, making them an excellent choice for nuclear plant safety systems. Sartrex Power Control has been a provider of electronic systems and services to CANDU plants in Canada and worldwide for over 30 years, and now is in a position to update its old analog systems to FPGA-based systems. After initial discussion with Westinghouse Electric, Sartrex expects to design a new, FPGA-based safety critical system known as a Post-Accident Monitoring System (PAMS), for the new Generation III AP1000 reactor. This system will measure important values such as temperature, water level and neutron flux in the event of an accident. The PAMS will be designed using FPGA technology, and will be tested thoroughly to ensure that it functions correctly. In addition, the Dynamic Flowgraph Methodology (DFM) will be used to perform an in-depth reliability and safety assessment on the new system, in order to uncover and correct any faults in the system. The expertise from the applicant on FPGA-based safety systems and reliability assessment of such systems is essential for the success of this project. After the conclusion of the Engage project, Sartex is looking to expand this system to an entire safety platform, which can perform many other safety functions.