Fault Tolerant Techniques for Power Plant Computers

Until recently, fault tolerant techniques were only used in research and space systems. Now, commercially available fault tolerant computers have become available. The power industry, particularly the nuclear segment, requires that fault tolerance be applied at the complete plant level, encompassing not only the computer, but the control system in the plant itself. Equipment for expanding the boundary of fault tolerance from the computer to the plant as a whole are described. Applications are discussed for control, monitoring and alarm functions. Analysis shows that these techniques offer cost- effective methods to achieve reliable computer controlled plant operation.