AECL's Plant Information Technologies

Abstract

The competitiveness of the world-wide energy market is a continual driving force for improvements to CANDU performance and lower operating, maintenance, and administration costs. As in other industries, advanced Information Technologies (IT) are changing the way we work and conduct business. The nuclear industry is no different and there exists strong incentives to improve work processes and provide faster and more flexible access to the information needed to effectively manage and maintain nuclear plant assets. AECL has responded to these forces through the development of a vision of integrated IT systems addressing all phases of nuclear plant development and operations. This includes the initial engineering, design, and construction processes as well as support to the long-term operations and maintenance. Integral to the AECL vision is the need for cost-effective engineering and operational configuration management systems, proactive maintenance processes and systems, and advanced plant surveillance and diagnostics. This paper presents the vision and describes the integrated information systems needed to manage both the design basis and operating plant data systems to ensure the cost- effective, long-term viability of CAW plants.