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DTRA’s advancements in nuclear and radiological detection
A new, more complex nuclear age has begun. Echoing the tensions of the Cold War amid rapidly evolving nuclear and radiological threats, preparedness in the modern age is a contest of scientific innovation. The Research and Development Directorate (RD) at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is charged with winning this contest.
Anton Andrashov (Radics LLC), Ievgenii Bakhmach (Research and Production Corporation Radiy), Vyacheslav Kharchenko, Andriy Kovalenko, (Centre for Safety Infrastructure-Oriented Research and Analysis)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 327-335
The paper summarizes approaches and successful Equipment Qualification process performed in the scope of RadICS FPGA-based platform certification under US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requirements. Such equipment was represented by a test specimen, built on Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)-based RadICS Platform, which was previously certified under IEC 61508 to meet Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 3 requirements. Design and development processes of the test specimen were under recently developed 10 CFR 50 Appendix B Quality Management System. The paper also describes the general strategy of US NRC certification and an approach to Equipment Qualification, including preparation to Equipment Qualification, types of equipment used in Equipment Qualification process, configuration of the equipment, general plan of the Equipment Qualification process, as well as description for the external factors. Comprehensive statistics and lessons learned for the performed Equipment Qualification process, as well as appropriate results are presented. Moreover, the scope of subsequent audit, performed by US NRC representatives, is discussed.