From old to new: Symposium addresses challenges in evolving nuclear power operating systems

As nuclear industries switch operations from that of buttons, dials and knobs to mice and monitors, questions arise: Can the possibility of system failure be quantified? What protections are needed against deliberate attacks? What are the challenges for operators moving from analog to digital systems?

Experts from Engineering at Illinois and industry and government representatives from across the U.S. come together to address these questions and more during a two-day symposium, “Digital Instrumentation, Controls, Cyber Security and HMI in the Nuclear World: Identifying Challenges and Directions.”

The symposium--organized by Rizwan Uddin, a professor of nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering (NPRE) and William Sanders, a professor of electrical and computer engineering (ECE) and director of the Coordinated Science Laboratory (CSL)--will be held April 23 and 24, at the Coordinated Science Laboratory on the Urbana campus.

Illinois faculty and representatives of national laboratories, the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Electric Power Research Institute, and major utilities will identify the challenges and future directions in digital instrumentation and control, cyber security, and human-machine interface for nuclear engineering, Uddin said.

Nuclear and homeland security establishments have an urgent need for cutting edge expertise in nuclear, digital control, and cyber security. Rapidly evolving technologies and associated threats in these fields make it imperative that experts constantly evaluate the challenges and directions for research.

Most nuclear power plants were designed in the 1960s and built in the 1970s and 80s, Uddin said. Originally, they were designed to have a life of 40 years, but the licenses of many have been extended an additional 20 years, and operating technology has evolved considerably. Often, parts that were developed for original analog systems are no longer available.

“Transition is the most difficult thing to do right,” Uddin maintained. “Replacing an analog control system with a digital one, unless done right, can cause problems.”

Topics for the symposium will include:

• Digital technology in instrumentation and control
• Wireless technology, cyber security
• Safety assessment and regulatory aspects in instrumentation and control
• Human factors and instrumentation and control

The College of Engineering has supported the work of Uddin and Sanders and other COE faculty in digital/cyber security and nuclear security with a late-stage Strategic Research Initiative grant.

Work has been underway by the group on the development of a test bed to simulate cyber attacks at a nuclear power plant, and the group has acquired a state-of -the-art fault tolerant controller based on a Triple-Modular Redundant (TMR) architecture. NPRE and CSL (and other parts of the college and campus) want to combine expertise to develop a center for digital (control) and cyber security for nuclear-specific applications.
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Contact: Rizwan Uddin, Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering, 217/244-4944.

Writer: Susan Mumm, editor/alumni affairs coordinator, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, 217/244-5382.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.