Modelling of nuclear plant system interactions, using a “layered-data” concept

Trends in the US Nuclear Power Industry require increasing levels of detail in the documentation of proposed modifications to plant systems. One driving force for this trend is the recognition that changes in one system can easily impact many other systems. These “system interactions” can be very subtle, can have very dramatic influence on plant safety, and may be easily overlooked during a project´s design phase. This paper proposes a concept for an expert system that will perform, in variable levels of detail, a review of system interactions. It explores methods of establishing the layered-data structure and developing a search strategy that is optimum for any given proposed plant modification. Methods of testing the concept are also proposed