Test and verification of EDF's new software for the preparation of system reliability models : verification of its functionalities, development of user guide, and advanced upgrade of user interface

Abstract

Several shortcomings encountered while implementing the direct transfer of data from nuclear power plants design database to safety models for probabilistic safety analysis with EDF’s existing model-based safety assessment tool ‘KB3’ prompted the need for the development of a more efficient and intelligent software called Confluent. This software would automate the retrieval of schematics from the piping and instrumentation diagram, thereby saving time and avoiding possible human errors from manual copying. The recently developed tool works using the approach of describing the objects with a library containing the knowledge of the model-based safety assessment database and then directly recreating the data into the existing tool ‘KB3’. However, as a newly developed tool, the verification of its advanced functionalities, upgrade of its user interface, and development of the user guide are yet to be defined. In view of its deployment by 2025, these functions are envisioned. The thesis delves into the work done to establish Confluent as a user-friendly, easy, and simplified software for the safety analysts at EDF. It begins with the full comprehension of the difficulties of modelling with ‘KB3’, then several test activities are carried out to identify the possible technical limitations and finally, probabilistic risk analysis is carried out to test real-life uses of the software. The results section gives the conclusion gotten from the testing stages and the recommendations which are all delivered for further analysis in the Design Thinking Conference organised by EDF.