Development of an expert system for performance evaluation and diagnosis in nuclear power plants

An expert system, called ESPED, for the performance evaluation and the diagnosis of nuclear power plants (NPPs) using performance parameters has been developed to support operators, to improve plant performance, and to enhance operating flexibility. ESPED consists of three function modules: a performance evaluation module; a diagnosis module; and a knowledge base entry module. The performance module processes major parameters by meta facts and evaluates the performance effective factors through data acquisition before a protection alarm level is reached. The diagnosis module diagnoses the cause of performance degradation in order to prevent further degradation, and generates an operational guide using alarm logic tree and significant value band. Limitation value libraries and failure identification rules are stored in the knowledge base entry module.<>