MMIS, digital instrumentation and control system for a nuclear power plant unit

Description

MMIS manages the operation of an NPP unit as a whole, from control and process measurements to monitoring and emergency protection. The system is built on computers and controllers, and digital technologies are combined with human engineering, that is, with the ergonomics of the operator workstations. The aim is simple: safe operation of the unit and prevention of accidents. The name stands for Man-Machine Interface System. The manufacturer compares MMIS with the brain and nervous system of the plant, because control, monitoring and protective functions all pass through it.

MMIS technology was developed within the Korean national Nu-tech 2012 programme, together with the technology of the reactor coolant pumps. Earlier this part of nuclear engineering was left to foreign companies. Here the development was completed in cooperation with the national NPP operator and research institutions. This allowed the manufacturer to supply the full NSSS (nuclear steam supply system) main equipment package together with control systems as part of a Korean consortium for NPP export. The manufacturer has worked in the nuclear field since 1976, when construction of the plant in Changwon (Korea) began. It supplied main nuclear equipment first to China and then to the USA. According to the manufacturer, since 1962 it has taken part in building more than 680 thermal, combined-cycle and nuclear power units with a total installed capacity of almost 200 GW in more than 30 countries.

Besides NPPs, the manufacturer supplies integrated instrumentation and control systems for thermal power plants and hydropower plants. The scope of work covers procurement, design, manufacture, implementation, commissioning and service. For turbine sets there is its own GUARDIAN control platform with redundant controllers and high-speed input/output over Ethernet.

The company holds ASME and KEPIC certificates. The ASME certificate covers manufacture of Class 1, 2 and 3 vessels, pumps and piping and other nuclear structures, but this applies to the main equipment, not to the MMIS system itself. Detailed MMIS characteristics are not given in the public materials. Channel architecture, safety classes and the controller platform are specified with the manufacturer for each particular project.

Technical specifications

Questions and answers