Support of the Ukrainian supervisory authority in establishing a modern nuclear power plant monitoring / Unterstützung der ukrainischen Aufsichtsbehörde beim Aufbau einer modernen KKW-Überwachung

Abstract

The type of monitoring of nuclear power plants in Ukraine practiced in the early nineties provided the supervisory authority with only inadequate access to information about the current safety status of plants. For the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, unit 5, a technical system to improve operational monitoring has been designed, installed and commissioned for trial operation at the end of 1995 as a pilot project. The system complements existing operational checking and monitoring facilities by including modern means of information technology. It enables concentration on a continuous monitoring of the state of unit 5 in normal operation and in cases of anomalies or incidents so that when recognisable deviations from the regular plant operation occur, the authority can immediately inquire and if necessary impose conditions on the operator. In 1997, the Information and Crisis Centre of the Ukrainian supervisory authority in Kiev was equipped with the most essential technical means necessary for quasi-simultaneous transfer of data and voice and for monitoring purposes and connected the Centre to the Zaporozhye system. A similar monitoring system for both VVER-440 units of the Rovno nuclear power plant by analogy with the pilot project was specified and put into operation and connected to the ICC in 1998.