JEL has developed a hazard event collection, categorisation and Bayesian analysis software product, JEDBASE, which has been successfully marketed to the US DOE and to the Temelin NPP.
Other software products include JSEISMIC which used for the quantification of seismic damage states frequencies to support seismic PSA.
JEL markets the SAFETY MONITOR software in Europe, and supports Utilities on project implementation using the Safety Monitor.
The Safety Monitor is developed by our associate company Scientech (a division of Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Service Corporation). Other Scientech software products include WinNUPRA (for Level 1 PSA), and WinNUCAP (for Level 2 PSA). The SAFETY MONITOR is described below.
Safety Monitor™ Information Sheet
What is Safety Monitor™?
Risk Profile of Current Operations |
 |
The Safety Monitor™ is a Windows-based interactive tool that allows plant personnel to evaluate the effects of changes in plant configuration on accident risk. The system operates as a multi-user system, with various features to support work scheduling, operations, PRA, and Maintenance Rule personnel. The software is designed to allow its use by personnel with little or no PRA training. Using a high speed PRA model of the plant, the software performs risk calculations (core damage frequency, large early release frequency and shutdown boiling frequency) for each unique plant configuration. Besides its use as a tool to plan safe plant operations, it can record actual risk history and component/train unavailability over time.
What Utilities Are Using the Safety Monitor™?
The Safety Monitor™ was originally applied at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 1994. It has been in continuous use there since that time at Units 2 & 3. In 1996, the Monitor won the Top Industry Practice Award for its implementation at San Onofre and was featured in Nuclear News and other industry publications.
Installations of the software are completed at Wolf Creek, Callaway, Comanche Peak 1&2, South Texas, Diablo Canyon, Indian Point 2, Perry, Surry 1&2, North Anna 1&2, Point Beach 1&2, Beaver Valley 1&2, Davis-Besse, Kewaunee, Seabrook, D.C. Cook, and Nine Mile Point 1&2 in the US, Borselle in the Netherlands, Mochovze in Slovakia and, Temelin and Dukovany in the Czech Republic. Installation is currently underway at Clinton in the US. In addition, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has purchased the Monitor for its use in training of its staff in real-time risk management tools and techniques.
Who At The Plant Uses The Software?
In a multi-user network installation, the Monitor can be used by almost anyone at the plant. Typical users include maintenance and outage scheduling groups, operations support groups, Shift Technical Advisors, Maintenance Rule Compliance personnel, and plant management. PRA personnel can also use the software to provide more specialized risk evaluations of unusual plant conditions.
What Are the Key Features of the Software?
|
Shutdown/On-Line Risk Management |
 |
-
support for all modes of operation (Modes 1 through 6, i.e., full power through shutdown operation).
-
ability to do “what if” evaluations, as well as tracking/evaluation of actual plant configuration history (useful in evaluation of weekly maintenance schedules).
-
provide advice as to which equipment should be restored to service on a priority basis to reduce risk.
-
collect and maintain equipment unavailability data for use in Maintenance Rule performance criteria monitoring.
-
interfaces automatically with all commercial PRA software to enable rapid import of PRA models and data.
-
evaluates risk of multiple activities being conducted simultaneously, such as during an outage.
-
developed under the SCIENTECH Quality Assurance Program for use in safety-related applications
-
accommodates Defense-in-Depth models and performs Defense-In-Depth evaluations in addition to quantitative PRA analysis.
-
display the risk of plant trip or power reduction as a result of current plant activities.
-
an interface is available to the EPRI ORAM-Sentinel code.
What Makes This Software Different From Other “Risk Monitors” That Are Being Offered?
The Safety Monitor™ was the first tool of its kind. SCIENTECH has the most experience in the development of risk monitoring software and high-speed PRA models. From the outset, the Monitor was designed to perform a complete model re-solution for each unique plant configuration. SCIENTECH has also been the industry leader in implementing innovations to provide more accurate modeling of plant risk under “real life” conditions. Innovations pioneered by SCIENTECH include the ability to model alternate system alignments and environmental conditions. Our model solution approach is optimized to address the specific needs of risk monitoring. Dynamic adjustment of initiating events and human actions, as plant configuration is changed, is another example of our technical leadership in this area. Safety Monitor™ properly evaluates the impacts of shared systems in dual unit stations and provides advanced Maintenance Rule tracking features. Additionally, it provides the capability to simultaneously monitor the likelihood of plant trip or power reduction and to perform Defense-in-Depth evaluations.
Many of the advanced features described above are not available in other products. Not all of these products evaluate all plant operating modes (full power and shutdown) in an integrated fashion, like the Safety Monitor™.
Is the “Fast Solution” Obtained by the Monitor Accurate?
Yes. One of the hallmarks of the SCIENTECH approach is the rigorous incorporation of the detail of the original PRA model. The resulting model is validated against the original model in a variety of plant configurations. The resulting model has very high fidelity to the traditional model while providing a risk solution in a 30 second to 1 minute time frame.
I Have a Linked Event Tree PRA That I Maintain in RISKMAN®. Can The Monitor Work With My Model Too?
A separate version of the Monitor has been developed, in conjunction with ABS, which utilizes PRA model data migrated from RISKMAN®. The user features are identical to the original version developed for linked fault tree PRA models. This version is being used at Seabrook, Indian Point 2, Nine Mile Point, South Texas, and Beaver Valley, and is being installed at Diablo Canyon.
Does the Safety Monitor™ Replace My PRA and My Current PRA Software?
The Safety Monitor™ is designed for a different audience than most PRA software. While the Monitor can be used by the PRA staff for some of its day-to-day activities such as configuration risk management, it does not provide all of the functionality (e.g., uncertainty analysis, event tree sequence-related information, detailed importance analysis, etc.) of a traditional PRA model and its software package. The Monitor was designed to work with PRA software, not replace it. PRA models used in the Monitor are maintained in your current software, so there is no need to use two modeling tools. Historical unavailability data from the Monitor can be used to update the PRA model.
Does the Safety Monitor™ Perform Defense In Depth Evaluations?
Critical Safety Function Status Display |
 |
The Safety Monitor™ now provides the capability to perform qualitative Defense-In-Depth (DID) analyses in addition to the quantitative PRA analyses. DID analyses can be performed in addition to or in place of quantitative analyses. One potential application of this capability is to perform quantitative evaluations using the existing models when the plant is at power and to use existing Defense-In-Depth decision logic when the plant is in shutdown. This simplifies the operator interface issue by making use of a single software package for both at-power and shutdown operations. For multi-unit sites, information concerning the status of opposite unit equipment can be used in the Defense-In-Depth decision logic.
Can Safety Monitor™ Track Equipment Performance for the Maintenance Rule?
The Safety Monitor™ has a Maintenance Rule Module that will allow tracking of equipment performance required by the NRC Maintenance Rule. The Safety Monitor™ provides the capability to maintain a record of all equipment removed from service and classify all equipment outages as scheduled maintenance or removal from service due to failure. The unavailability performance criteria for equipment can be specified and tracked. Schedule evaluations can be performed to evaluate the impact of proposed equipment outages on the unavailability performance criteria. Reliability performance criteria can also be tracked.
Does Safety Monitor™ Consider Balance-of-Plant?
The Safety Monitor™ has the capability to process and display results of a TRIP model of your plant. Such a model provides the calculation of an operational measure of trip/derate risk that can be monitored by the Safety Monitor user. These models focus on the inter-system dependencies, system alignment and other influences (e.g., ongoing testing) that affect the operation of systems that are operating normally (such as MFW/condensate, circ water, main steam, etc.). The motivating forces for development of a TRIP model frequently are outside the normal PRA staff; monitoring and controlling proximity to trip/derate enables the operator to better avoid these costly events.
For More Information About the Safety Monitor™, Please Contact:
Paul Boneham E-Mail: 
Paul Guymer E-Mail: 