Radiation Monitoring System Upgrade for the NBSR

Published

May 25, 2023

Author(s)

James R. Whipple, Dagistan Sahin, Yehonatan Zino

Abstract

The Radiation Monitoring System (RMS) at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) Reactor (National Bureau of Standards Reactor – NBSR) has demonstrated reliability issues due to outdated hardware and lack of vendor support. The existing radiation monitors connect to a controller in the control room through RS485 communication protocol, which is then displayed on an LCD segmented display to operators. If the value is over its pre-defined threshold, the machine actuates an annunciator to indicate an unsafe condition. Over time, multiple RMS devices have gone out of commission, being unable to communicate with the centralized controller, and localized monitors had to be used to monitor area radiation safety. The original manufacturer of the system has since gone out of business and attempts to repair and replace broken components have been fruitless. It is due to these reasons that a new system had been engineered using modern control and communication systems integrated into the NBSR Control Console Upgrade. The new RMS installation will be completed in three phases. The first phase consists of an update to the Operation Control Panel located on the control console. The Operation Control Panel is the centralized location where operators can interact with the system and evaluate radiation hazards. It consists of 3 Nuclear-grade digital bar graph indicators, a touchscreen SCADA HMI to monitor and indicate the value of the Area Radiation Monitors, and a touchscreen Digital Recorder which stores monitored values of all Radiation Monitors.

Proceedings Title

International Conference on Nuclear Engineering

Conference Dates

May 21-26, 2023

Conference Location

Kyoto, JP

Conference Title

30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30)

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

Radiation Monitoring, Ethernet communication, Modbus, Fault Mode, Effects, and Analysis, Analog to Digital Upgrade

Citation

Whipple, J. , Sahin, D. and Zino, Y. (2023), Radiation Monitoring System Upgrade for the NBSR, International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, Kyoto, JP, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=936060 (Accessed April 27, 2024)