# NRC Test Facility Working Group, Questionnaire

Consider the questions below and answer them as you have time. After
August 8, 2007, you will be able to paste your answers into our web form
at <https://nrc-test-facility.pnl.gov/survey/>. Please complete this
questionnaire by August 30 and invite other interested parties to do the
same. Send an email to <nrc.test.facility@pnl.gov> if you have
questions. Thank you for your interest.

## Digital Instrumentation & Control and Human-Machine Interface

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is exploring the potential for
developing an integrated research facility to meet the NRC\'s near-term
and future regulatory research needs in the areas of DIC & HMI. In their
memorandum ML070950250 dated April 5, 2007 the Commissioners for the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission directed the NRC staff to take
actions to secure answers to nine SRM questions.

1.  What potential participants might be interested in joint
    participation, collaboration, and funding of such a facility, and to
    what extend might this include industries outside the nuclear
    industry?

2.  If nuclear industry participated, how could conflict of interest
    issues be addressed?

3.  Do examples of similar facilities currently exist and, if so, what
    can be learned from their successes and challenges?

4.  What site options are most viable (e.g. universities where
    integration with graduate studies might be encouraged, national
    laboratories, etc.), taking both cost and ease of technical
    information exchange into account?

5.  To what extent should a facility be designed to be reconfigurable to
    expected variety of plant control room and HNI designs?

6.  To what extent should a facility be designed to also be used as an
    advanced reactor-training simulator for NRC staff?

7.  What impediments, if any. To information sharing among participants
    and to external stakeholders might exist?

8.  What could be the benefits, or adverse impact, to existing and
    established international collaborative activities in this area?

9.  What could be the NRC\'s legal, budgetary, and oversight role?

Part of the effort to address these questions includes a web-based
questionnaire which would allow potentially interested parties to
participate. The purpose is to make people aware of the project, gather
information about existing facilities and work, and identify parties who
are interested and may wish to participate in the project. We are asking
questions in four areas:

1.  Your Background

2.  Your Test Facility

3.  Future DIC & HMI Integrated Test Facility

4.  Additional Comments

PNNL is gathering information for NRC decision-makers regarding the
possible establishment of a U.S. Digital Instrumentation & Control (DIC)
and Human-Machine Interface (HMI) Test Facility. Your contributions will
be reported to the Commission in summary form; they will also be
reported to the NRC workshop to be held on September 6 & 7 in Atlanta,
Georgia and September 11 in Washington, D.C.

### Part I : Your Background

+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Title:               |                                               |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| First Name:          |                                               |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Middle Initial:      |                                               |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Last Name:           |                                               |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Organization:        |                                               |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Email Address:       |                                               |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Phone:               |                                               |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| May we contact you?: |   -------                                     |
|                      | ------------------- ------------------------- |
|                      |   ![](m                                       |
|                      | edia/image2.wmf)Yes   ![](media/image3.wmf)No |
|                      |                                               |
|                      |   -------                                     |
|                      | ------------------- ------------------------- |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Company Category:    |                                               |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Job Position:        |                                               |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Area of Expertise:   |                                               |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| More details on your |                                               |
| expertise and        |                                               |
| experience:          |                                               |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+

### Part II : Your Test Facility

  ------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------
  Does your organization have a test facility?:          ![](media/image5.wmf)No
  ![](media/image4.wmf)Yes                               

  ------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------

(If no, skip to Part III)

What is the name of your facility and what organization operates the
facility?

What is the purpose of this facility? Training? Marketing? Testing
concepts for products (engineering)? Research? What is the relative
percent of time is devoted to the purposes that you have identified?

What type of plant(s) can be simulated at your facility? What test
scenarios are commonly used? Can these be modified for new studies if
necessary?

What is the method of funding this facility?

How would you describe the user-base for this facility? About what
proportion of time available does your facility support the research
needs of users outside of your own organization? Do you expect the time
available to outside users to increase or decrease in the next few
years?

Is your facility used for joint/partnership research? Are there any
restrictions that may impact your ability to participate is this type of
research? Would there be any restrictions regarding publication of test
results from your facilities in an NRC report or in the open literature?
(Assume that anonymity for participating personnel will be assured).

Are you currently engaged in DIC/HMI research related to advanced
technology or do you have plans to do so in the next few years? If so,
how do you handle integration of DIC/HMI issues? What issues could an
integrated DIC and HMI test facility address that could not be solved
elsewhere?

Are you doing research to resolve issues that hinder the implementation
of advanced technologies and methods? Are you doing research in response
to increasing reactor measurement needs, environmental stresses, and
control demands?

Are you doing research that supports evolving concept-of-operations that
provides greater autonomy, extended cycle length, reduced O&M and
security staffing, and multi-modular configurations?

Are you testing the effects of environmental stressors i.e. smoke, fire,
temperature, humidity and lightning on digital I&C components?

Are you working in the following areas? (Check all that apply)\
![](media/image6.wmf)Sensors and electronics for harsh environments\
![](media/image7.wmf)Uncertainty characterization for diagnostics and
prognostics\
![](media/image8.wmf)Intelligent controls\
![](media/image9.wmf)Intelligent Aiding\
![](media/image10.wmf)Human Automation Interaction\
![](media/image11.wmf)Optimal Plant Network Architecture

### Part III: Future DIC & HMI Integrated Test Facility

If you are involved with any aspect of nuclear power plant
instrumentation and control and/or human factors related to operator
performance please complete this section.

New plants will use all or nearly all digital systems for control,
communication and human-system interfaces. Existing plants that do
extensive upgrades will do the same. At present there are issues for
which there is limited technical guidance and regulatory precedent. NRC
wants to define the high-level requirements of a test facility that
would support its regulatory research needs for the areas of
instrumentation, control and protection, human-machine interfaces, and
the operators. What type of facility can support NRC's needs for
regulatory research/assessments and translate resulting findings to
achieve adequate protection i.e. safety of facilities? It is envisioned
that the role of this test facility is similar to underwriter test
labs---validating the results of research and design. NRC would be
validating how well an item met regulatory requirements in integrated
contexts. Your responses to the following questions will help identify
the high-level criteria for developing this test facility.

#### Nine SRM Questions

What potential participants might be interested in joint participation,
collaboration, and funding of such a facility, and to what extend might
this include industries outside the nuclear industry?

If nuclear industry participated, how could conflict of interest issues
be addressed?

Do examples of similar facilities currently exist and, if so, what can
be learned from their successes and challenges?

What site options are most viable (e.g. universities where integration
with graduate studies might be encouraged, national laboratories, etc.),
taking both cost and ease of technical information exchange into
account?

To what extent should a facility be designed to be reconfigurable to
expected variety of plant control room and HNI designs?

To what extent should a facility be designed to also be used as an
advanced reactor-training simulator for NRC staff?

What impediments, if any, to information sharing among participants and
to external stakeholders might exist?

What could be the benefits, or adverse impact, to existing and
established international collaborative activities in this area?

What could be the NRC\'s legal, budgetary, and oversight role?

### Part IV: Additional Comments

Please submit additional comments.