Patent Number: 046684654
Section: claims

1. Apparatus for transmitting signals generated by a plurality of detectors located in a hazardous environment enclosed within a containment structure to the outside of the containment structure, said apparatus comprising: means within the containment structure for generating a plurality of redundant sets of digital detector signals;  a plurality of redundant communications buses located within the containment structure;  interface means within the containment structure for applying each set of the redundant digital detector signals to each of the redundant communications buses;  a plurality of bus controller/serial output devices in the containment structure, each of which is connected to one of said communications buses for controlling said interface means in applying said redundant sets of digital detector signals to the associated communications bus, and for serially outputting the redundant sets of digital detector signals received over the associated communications bus;  serial data link means connected to each of said bus controller/serial output devices within the containment structure and extending through the containment structure to the outside thereof; and  receiver means outside of said containment structure connected to said serial data link means, for receiving said redundant sets of digital detector signals serially transmitted over said data link means and for generating therefrom representations of the value of the detector signals.  a plurality of detector means associated with the reactor within the containment structure each generating first and second redundant digital detector signals representative of a selected operating parameter of the reactor;  first and second communications buses located within the containment structure;  interface means within the containment structure for applying each of said first and second digital detector signals to each of said communications buses;  first and second bus controller/serial output devices each connected within said containment structure to one of said communications buses, for controlling said interface means in applying said redundant digital detector signals to the associated communications bus, and for serially outputting the redundant detector signals received on the associated communications bus;  first and second data link means each connected in the containment structure to one of said bus controller/serial output devices and extending through the containment structure to the outside thereof; and  first and second receiver means connected to the first and second data link means for generating from the redundant digital detector signals representations of the value of the detector signals.  a containment structure;  a reactor core located inside the containment structure and having a plurality of drive rods for positioning neutron absorbing rods within the reactor core to control the reactivity thereof;  a plurality of detector means each of which is located within the containment structure and generates redundant first and second multi-digit digital detector signals representative of the position of one of said drive rods;  first and second communications buses located within said containment structure;  interface means within said containment structure for applying each of said first and second digital detector signals to each of said first and second communications buses;  first and second bus controller/serial output devices connected to the first and second communications buses respectively for controlling the interface means to apply sequentially all of said first and then all of said second digital detector signals to the associated communications bus and for serially outputting the first and second digital detector signals received over the associated communication bus;  first and second data links connected respectively within the containment structure to each of the first and second bus controller/serial output devices and extending through the containment structure to the outside thereof; and  first and second receiver means outside of the containment structure each selectively connected to the first data link from one bus controller/serial output device and the second data link from the other bus controller/serial output device for generating representations of the position of said drive rods from the first and second digital detector signals received over the selected data link.  generating inside of the containment structure a plurality of redundant sets of signals representative of the measurement of each selected parameter;  storing inside the containment structure in each of a plurality of microprocessors equal in number to the number of redundant sets, said plurality of redundant sets of signals;  serially transmitting said plurality of redundant sets of stored signals from each microprocessor inside said containment structure to the outside of said containment structure over its own serial data link passing through said containment structure; and  generating separately outside of said containment structure, each from the redundant sets of signals transmitted over one of said serial data links, redundant representations of the value of each of said selected parameters. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said receiver means includes a plurality of receiver devices and means for selectively connecting each of said receiver devices to one of said serial data link means to receive the redundant sets of digital detector signals from one of said communications buses through the associated bus controller/serial output device. 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said receiver devices include means for selecting for each detector signal, one of said redundant digital detector signals and means for generating for each detector said representation of the value of the detector signal from selected redundant digital detector signal. 4. Apparatus for remotely monitoring the operation of a nuclear reactor enclosed in a containment structure, said apparatus comprising: 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said receiver means each include means for selectively receiving the redundant digital detector signals from one of said first and second data link means. 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said receiver means each include means for selecting for each detector signal one of said first and second redundant digital detector signals received through said one data link means. 7. The apparatus of claim 4 for use in monitoring the position of the drive rods which position neutron absorbing rods in the core of the reactor with each detector monitoring the position of one drive rod and wherein said detector means each include: a plurality of sensor located along the travel path of the associated drive rod with each sensor generating a sensor signal representative of the position of the drive rod relative to the sensor, and processing means for generating a multi-digit detector signal from said plurality of sensor signals. 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said processing means includes means for reproducing the multi-digital signal to generate said first and second redundant digital detector signals. 9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the detector means includes first and second sets of interleaved sensors, first processing means for generating said first multi-digit digital detector signal from signals generated by the first set of sensors and second processing means for generating said second multi-digit digital detector signal from signals generated by the second set of sensors. 10. A nuclear power plant comprising: 11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein each detector means includes a plurality of electrical coils positioned along the travel path of the associated drive rod for generating a plurality of electrical signals indicative of the position of the drive rod, processing means for generating said first and second multi-digit detector signals from said electrical signals, said processing means being spaced from the reactor core and said electrical coils, and electrical leads for transmitting said electrical signals from the coils to the processing means. 12. The apparatus of claim 11 in combination with a radiation barrier inside said containment structure between said reactor core and electrical coils on one side of the barrier and said processing means, communications buses, interface means, bus controller/serial output devices and data link means all on the other side of the barrier. 13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein each receiver means includes means for selectively generating said representations of the rod positions from the first and second multi-digit digital detector signals received through only one of said data links. 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein each receiver means includes means for selectively, as to the position of each drive rod, generating said representation of position from one only of said first and second digital detector signals received through said one data link means. 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein one of said receiver means is a display device which generates a visual display of rod position from the multi-digit digital rod position signals and the second receiver means is a plant computer for monitoring operation of the nuclear power plant and includes means for generating representations of rod position from said multi-digit digital detector signals. 16. A method of transmitting reliable signals representative of the value of a plurality of selected parameters in a process carried out in a high radiation environment inside of a containment structure to the outside of said structure with a minimum number of penetrations through the structure, comprising the steps of: 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of generating redundant representations includes as to each representation the step of selecting from among the data links, the one from which said plurality of sets of signals is to be taken. 18. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of generating redundant representations includes as to each representation, selecting separately as to each parameter the signal to be used for generating the representation of that parameter from among the plurality of redundant signals transmitted over said one data link. 19. The method of claim 18 wherein said selected parameters are each of the position of a drive rod which positions control rods within the core of a nuclear reactor located within the containment structure and wherein the step of generating a plurality of sets of redundant signals comprises generating first and second sets of redundant multi-digit digital signals each representative of the position of the associated drive rod. 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the step of generating a representations of rod position comprises: generating a multipage visual display with a plurality of said pages each including analog visual representations of the position of selected groups of rods generated from said multi-digit digital signals with each of said plurality of pages displaying different rod groups, and with each of said plurality of pages also displaying digital representations of selected status conditions of all of said groups of rods.