A human-machine interface for a TRIGA research reactor of Brazil

Abstract

During seven years, the main operational parameters of the IPR-R1 TRIGA reactor of Nuclear Technology Development Centre (CDTN) at Belo Horizonte, Brazil, have been monitored and displayed online by using a data acquisition system developed for this reactor. Besides showing the real-time performance of the plant, the system stored the information in a computer hard disk, with an accessible historical database, in order to make the chronological information on reactor performance and its behaviour available to users. Some of the parameters stored are the control rod positions and reactivity, the reactor power, the fuel and water temperatures, the radiation levels, the primary cooling system flow, and the water pool level. Records of the reactor process variables are important for immediate or subsequent safety analyses to show the short and long-term trends, and to report the reactor operations to the organisation and external authorities. This paper describes the data acquisition system, and the electronic database developed for the IPR-R1 TRIGA reactor.