TY - GEN
T1 - Opportunities and Challenges for Remote Microreactor Operations
AU - Stevens, Kaeley
AU - Oncken, Joseph
AU - Boring, Ronald
AU - Ulrich, Thomas
AU - Bryan, Haydn
AU - Culler, Megan
AU - Gutowska, Izabela
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Troy Unruh, Stephen ukoB wski, and erJ en rB owning for this paper. This work is supported through the Idaho National Laboratory Directed Research & eveD lopment Program ()DRDL under epaD rtment of Energy Idaho Operations Office contract no. ED - AC07 -05I14D 517. The U.S. Government and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. Neither the U.S. Government, nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights.
Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Troy Unruh, Stephen Bukowski, and Jeren Browning for this paper. This work is supported through the Idaho National Laboratory Directed Research & Development Program (LDRD) under Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office contract no. DEAC07-05ID14517. The U.S. Government and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. Neither the U.S. Government, nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Nuclear Society, Incorporated.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The nuclear industry is developing new advanced reactor technologies, and many companies are embracing this advancement by pursuing the development of microreactors. The term microreactor generally refers to a nuclear reactor with an operating power of 20 MW or less. The power range of microreactors makes them appealing for many use cases, such as powering remote communities, mining sites, and military bases. Most of the microreactor designs being pursued will incorporate remote facility operations into the final product. However, no framework has yet been developed to determine what remote operations systems require for reliable, resilient, and secure operation of a microreactor. This work identifies the challenges unique to remote operations and monitoring for microreactors specifically regarding instrumentation and control, communication methods, regulatory requirements, and operational policies. The types of commands and sensor measurements that must be transmitted between the facilities as well as methods for verifying the trustworthiness of these signals are assessed. This work evaluates the security, reliability, and performance requirements that must be met when considering the selection of communication hardware and protocols for use in remote operations. Also, an assessment was performed to study how remote operations fit within current regulatory requirements and what may need to be updated in regulatory policy to allow for remote operation. Finally, the operational contingencies unique to remote operations that must be in place for response to abnormal events are identified. This paper details these challenges and research opportunities to provide a foundation for the design of remote operation systems.
AB - The nuclear industry is developing new advanced reactor technologies, and many companies are embracing this advancement by pursuing the development of microreactors. The term microreactor generally refers to a nuclear reactor with an operating power of 20 MW or less. The power range of microreactors makes them appealing for many use cases, such as powering remote communities, mining sites, and military bases. Most of the microreactor designs being pursued will incorporate remote facility operations into the final product. However, no framework has yet been developed to determine what remote operations systems require for reliable, resilient, and secure operation of a microreactor. This work identifies the challenges unique to remote operations and monitoring for microreactors specifically regarding instrumentation and control, communication methods, regulatory requirements, and operational policies. The types of commands and sensor measurements that must be transmitted between the facilities as well as methods for verifying the trustworthiness of these signals are assessed. This work evaluates the security, reliability, and performance requirements that must be met when considering the selection of communication hardware and protocols for use in remote operations. Also, an assessment was performed to study how remote operations fit within current regulatory requirements and what may need to be updated in regulatory policy to allow for remote operation. Finally, the operational contingencies unique to remote operations that must be in place for response to abnormal events are identified. This paper details these challenges and research opportunities to provide a foundation for the design of remote operation systems.
KW - digital twin
KW - microreactor
KW - remote operation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85183332272&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.13182/NPICHMIT23-41022
DO - 10.13182/NPICHMIT23-41022
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85183332272
T3 - Proceedings of 13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2023
SP - 768
EP - 776
BT - Proceedings of 13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2023
PB - American Nuclear Society
T2 - 13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, NPIC and HMIT 2023
Y2 - 15 July 2023 through 20 July 2023
ER -