3rd Multinational Design
Evaluation Program (MDEP)
Conference on New Reactor
Design Activities
Daniel J. Santos
Chair of Digital I&C Working Group (DICWG)
May 15, 2014

MDEP 3rd Conference - 20141

Overview of DICWG• Current Participants-Canada, Finland, France, India, Japan,
People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea,
Russian Federation, Republic of South Africa,
Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United
Kingdom, United States• Collaboration with• IAEA
• IEC
• IEEE• NEA providing technical secretariat
supportMDEP 3rd Conference - 2014

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DICWG MEMBERSMDEP 3rd Conference - 20143

Key Objectives•Enhance regulatory cooperation andknowledge transfer among members•

Identify similarities and differences•

Collaborate towards harmonization ofstandards•

Develop generic common positions toaddress issues related to DI&C systems

MDEP 3rd Conference - 20144

Accomplishments•

Published 9 common positions•

Identified and progressing on the remaining 3
positions in accordance with approved program plan•

Collaborated with IAEA, IEC and IEEE to identify
common issues, influence standard revisions, andencourage joint-logo standards•

Performed study of the various I&C safetyclassifications•Collaborated among members on approaches toresolve I&C issues and shared regulatory
experiences•Established and maintained the MDEP library for theDICWGMDEP 3rd Conference - 2014

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DICWG Common Positions
Generic Common Positions

Lead

1. Treatment of Common Cause Failure Caused by Software within U.S./
Digital Safety Systems
Canada
2. Software Tools for the development of software for safety
U.K.
systems
3. Verification and Validation throughout the life cycle of digital
safety systems

Japan

4. Data Communication Independence

Korea

5. Treatment of Hardware Description Language (HDL)
programmed devices for use in nuclear safety systems
6. Simplicity in DesignFrance

7. Qualification of Industrial Devices of Limited Functionality

IAEA

MDEP 3rd Conference - 2014

U.S.

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DICWG Common Positions
Generic Common Positions

Lead

8. Impact of Cyber Security features on digital I&C safety systems U.S.
9. Design Principles for the Overall I&C Architecture

IAEA/France

10. Configuration Management for Software – early stages

Finland

11. Digital I&C system pre-installation and initial on-site testingRussian

12. Use of Automatic Testing in Digital I&C systems as part ofsurveillance testing

MDEP 3rd Conference - 2014

FederationKorea

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Challenges• Agreement on common terminology• Differences in regulatory practices,standards, regulations, reactor designs, andexperience• Differences in classification schemes andoverall approach to demonstrate safety

MDEP 3rd Conference - 20148

Feedback from Members•

Survey results demonstrate that the member countries foundthe common positions useful for new reactor regulatory
work.

•Several member countries stated that the CPs will bedirectly incorporated or referenced in the regulatory
framework of their country. Examples include:•••

Canada-All CPs will be referenced in the new CNSC I&C regulatory
document.
South Africa- Recent regulatory position paper incorporated all CPs.
Russia-All approved CPs are being incorporated into new and oldFederal codes and regulations.

MDEP 3rd Conference - 2014

9Feedback from Members• Member countries found that additional topics could
be addressed by the DICWG. Examples include:
••
•
•
•

Control room issues (e.g. human factors, digital displayswith soft controls)
Hazard analysis
Equipment and Environmental Qualification
ReliabilityQuality• Member countries generally found that theirorganization is very supportive of their continued
involvement in the DICWG beyond 2015.

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Path Forward• Continued development of generic commonpositions in accordance with publicly available
program plan
• Continued timely sharing of information andcooperation among members including frequentinteractions with other MDEP working groups, andSTC• Continued coordination with Standards
organizations and other stakeholders to promote
convergence and harmonization of standards• Execute DICWG Transition Plan
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DICWG Transition Plan

• Maintain current schedule of three meetings eachyear through the end of calendar year 2015 tocomplete and publish remaining common positions.
• Conduct program reviews in Q4 2015 and in 2016,to address the maintenance of existing GCPs,guidance from STC, and potential new issues.
• By Q4 2016, commence an orderly closure of allactivities and potential transition of all MDEP work
to another international organization, to bedetermined.

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QUESTIONS/CONTACTS

MDEP DICWG Chair – Daniel Santos,Daniel.Santos@nrc.gov
NEA technical secretariat –Getachew Tesfaye, getachew.tesfaye@oecd.org
Julien Husse, julien.husse@oecd.org
MDEP url for generic common positions,
http://www.oecd-nea.org/mdep/workinggroups/dicwg.html

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