Reliable IT systems boost nuclear power engineering

Researchers from China and the EU are developing means of verifying safety-critical software for use in the nuclear power industry.

Instrumentation and control (I&C) systems are the central nervous system of a nuclear power plant. They monitor all aspects of the plant's operation and respond with the care and adjustments needed. New digital I&C platforms – software-based systems – are replacing traditional analogue systems.

The 'Harmonised assessment of reliability of modern nuclear I&C software' (Harmonics) project, funded by the EU, is looking into software reliability. Five EU countries and China are cooperating on the project.

The objective of Harmonics is to ensure that the nuclear industry has well founded, up-to-date methods and data for assessing safety systems software. Harmonics will produce software verification methods and tools. In addition, it will develop approaches to the quantification of software failure rates.

Initially, the Harmonics project will clarify the needs, practices and experiences in China and the EU. It will then develop common approaches to the assessment of the reliability and justification of safety-critical software. These approaches will be tested in case studies and the results assessed.

The Harmonics team has analysed end-user needs, based on a questionnaire. In addition, the approaches and methods required to verify the software and case studies have been planned.

More details can be found at the following link: http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=OFFR_TM_EN&ACTION=D&RCN=10954