The nuclear industry is one of the most high-tech industry sectors, and its operations have long been inseparable from automation and digitalization. Rosatom is actively developing digital infrastructure for itself, while also offering partners comprehensive solutions for automation, digital transformation, and robotization of production processes. Automated control systems manufactured by Rosatom will be installed at the Paks II Nuclear Power Plant.
The automated instrumentation and control (I&C) system monitors, records, and manages equipment parameters, process operations and safety of a nuclear power plant.
The I&S system consists of over 20 subsystems at three control levels:
– Upper level: operational and dispatch control using online data on equipment status;
– Middle level: industrial-grade programmable logic controllers, the ‘brain’ of the entire I&C system;
– Lower level: sensors and detectors monitoring equipment parameters.
The I&C system and its subsystems ensure safe and reliable operation of the nuclear power plant by collecting and analyzing data, registering various parameters, and conducting in-depth internal self-diagnostics. I&C systems of nuclear power plants with Generation III+ reactors have advanced, reliable, functionally complete, and informative architectures.
The system responds to any deviations. When it registers even a minor malfunction in the plant, operators instantly receive all necessary information. When required, I&C algorithms can also independently shut down certain plant systems.
Any safety-critical system of a nuclear power plant is duplicated. If one system fails, another system or device takes over its functions. In practice, multiple safety channels operate at a nuclear power plant, each capable of performing the same task. Even if several channels fail, the system continues to operate, reliably ensuring safety of the facility. Different hardware and software are used to maintain the principle of diversity. This is done to reduce to nearly zero the probability of the same error occurring simultaneously in different channels.
Rosatom Automated Control Systems, the I&C and Electrical Engineering division of the Russian nuclear corporation, is responsible for the development, supply, and commissioning of the I&C system for the fifth and sixth power units of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant. Special attention is paid to compliance with the standards and requirements of European and Hungarian industry regulators and associations (WENRA, EUR Club, and HAEA).
I&C is far from being Rosatom’s only focus. The Russian nuclear corporation has developed product lifecycle management (PLM) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) solutions, and is now building an entire digital ecosystem.
“By uniting leading industry experts, we have created a full range of import-substituting solutions for nuclear applications, including PLM systems, CAE tools, and BIM (building information modeling—Ed.) technologies. We do not stop at what we have achieved—we adapt our solutions for other industries and offer proven ones to international partners,” said Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev.
Rosatom’s portfolio includes digital products, solutions, and services for government, business, and industry across seven priority areas: Mathematical Modeling and R&D; Enterprise and Production Management; Digital Infrastructure; Large Construction Project Management; Information Safety and Security; Digitalization of Municipal Services and Processes; and System Integration and Software Development.
Rosatom’s international partners show particular interest in the Sarus product lifecycle management system. Rosatom Group companies have been successfully using Atom.RITA, a smart assistant for robotic technology. The platform is designed for developing and managing robotic process automation (RPA) tools that automate business processes by reproducing user actions in web applications and programs installed on workstations.
The digital infrastructure product line includes Atom.Most, a platform for integrating information systems into a single working environment.
In-demand AI-powered solutions include Atom.Poisk, a tool for searching information across documents in the corporate information systems, and Atom.Oko, an OCR solution for recognizing, analyzing and processing documents of various formats.
Rosatom’s customers for IT solutions include major industrial, energy, and oil-and-gas companies, leaders of the strategic sectors of the Russian economy.
Another product, quite different from others, is Rosatom’s Smart City, a digital municipal management platform that streamlines interaction between residents, municipal authorities, contractors, utility companies, regional agencies, and other stakeholders. The platform is being successfully deployed in Russian regions.
Digitalization penetrates every key aspect of Rosatom’s business. The so-called digital twins—virtual copies of devices or processes—are used across many different operations, from developing and engineering nuclear power plants to creating new materials, including new types of nuclear fuel and composites. Digital twins help increase efficiency, save time during product development, reduce the number of physical tests, and ultimately lower the cost of the final product.
Rosatom is one of the key players in the Russian data center market. Almost ten years ago, the Russian nuclear corporation pioneered a concept that is now becoming a global trend, combining nuclear power plants with data centers. In 2018, a data center was commissioned near the Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant. It supplies the data center with stable electricity at a fixed rate, giving the facility a competitive advantage.
Currently, Rosatom operates five high-tech data centers in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tatarstan, and the Tver region, with a total capacity exceeding 93 MW and more than 6,500 rack spaces. In the near future, the company plans to deploy modular data centers at the Novovoronezh, Balakovo and Smolensk nuclear power plants in Russia.
Thus, Rosatom remains at the forefront of technology trends by steadily developing key digital capabilities, successfully deploying its products domestically, and offering the best solutions to both Russian and international markets.
Photo by: Rosatom Infrastructure Solutions, Rosatom State Corporation, RASU JSC
