Accident Response Display for Prioritized Nuclear Plant Safety Functions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods struggle to determine which safety-critical functions in a nuclear power plant are in an abnormal state or at risk and how to maintain or restore them during an accident.
Innovation Solution
A display device and method that prioritize the display of safety-critical functions' states and monitoring parameters, highlighting deviations and required operations to return to normal, with a program to execute these displays on a computer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If comprehensive monitoring of all plant functions is performed after an accident, then the completeness of safety assessment is improved, but the complexity of information processing and display increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the comprehensive plant monitoring into hierarchical levels: (1) priority-based function grouping where safety-critical functions are separated and displayed first, (2) parameter-level segmentation where only relevant monitoring parameters for each function are displayed, and (3) operational response segmentation where coping actions are organized by priority. This segmentation allows complete safety assessment while managing information complexity through structured presentation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and highlights only the most critical information elements from the comprehensive plant state: (1) extraction of safety-critical functions from all plant functions based on pre-defined importance criteria, (2) extraction of key monitoring parameters that directly indicate function status, and (3) extraction of essential coping actions needed to restore safety. This extraction reduces display complexity while maintaining reliability by focusing on essential safety information.
2Loss of information
If detailed monitoring parameters and operations are displayed for all functions, then the information completeness for operator decision-making is improved, but the ease of operation and rapid response deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing different levels of information detail to different operator needs: (1) priority functions receive detailed monitoring parameter display and associated coping actions, (2) non-priority functions receive summarized or condensed information, and (3) the display dynamically adjusts information density based on the operational context. This ensures information completeness for decision-making while maintaining ease of operation through differentiated presentation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-organizing and pre-prioritizing functions, monitoring parameters, and coping actions before the accident occurs. The system pre-establishes the hierarchy of safety-critical functions and pre-links relevant monitoring parameters and operational responses to each function. During an accident, this pre-organization enables rapid display of essential information without requiring complex real-time analysis, thus improving both information completeness and response speed.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system displays all possible coping operations for abnormal functions, then the versatility of operational guidance is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring the most critical actions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by creating an asymmetric display structure where coping operations are not presented uniformly but are weighted and organized according to their criticality and priority. The system asymmetrically highlights the most critical coping actions through visual emphasis, positioning, or formatting differences, while still providing access to less critical operations. This asymmetric presentation maintains operational guidance versatility while making critical action identification straightforward through visual hierarchy.
Data Source
AI summary
A display device that guides monitoring items or operations required for protection of functions important for safety when an accident occurs is provided. The display device displays states of functions important for safety in a plant after accident occurrence in order of priority of the functions, and displays a value of a monitoring parameter for determining the state of the function, displays the monitoring parameter in a warning aspect when the value of the monitoring parameter deviates from a normal range, displays operations required for returning of the value of the monitoring parameter to the normal range in descending order of priority, and presents whether or not the operation can be executed.