Review on defenses against common cause failures on digital safety system

Abstract

Safety is a main concern in nuclear power plant projects. The instrumentation and control system of nuclear power plant which propose to be built in Indonesia are expected to make extensive use of digital system. Common cause failures are among safety issues in digital technology which may compromise plant safety if occurred. The review includes investigation of available documentation of protection against common cause failures and diversity implementation. This paper describes the characteristics and nature of digital common cause failures. The instrumentation and control system require to be designed with defense against CCFs within and between systems. The result of review is a framework for defense against common causes failures that include: echelons of defense, diversity strategies and assessments of the adequacy of defense.