Indonesian research reactors I&C system regulation

Indonesia research reactors have been operating for more than 30 years. In other words, the reactors have been already obsolete or aged. Ageing of structures, systems and components (SSC) may influence the safety level of the reactor. The SSC that needs attention is the instrumentation and control (I&C) system. This system has other problems besides ageing caused by the degradation of its function, i.e. the absence of a replacement component because the component is no longer manufactured. In addition, the analog I&C system developed in the existing reactors, is no longer relevant to the current technological developments, so the degradation of this instrumentation system may not meet safety requirements, or cannot meet the needs of the operator, it needs to be replaced with a new system that available in the market today, usually the system will be changed gradually to digital or modular, by preserving sensors, actuators and cabling. The provisions concerning the I&C systems of research reactor are not accommodated in a BAPETEN Regulation (BR), but they have been accommodated in the relevant BR, for example design, operation, etc. The trend of the BR topic that will be made in the future is based on the installation phase, for example design, construction, commissioning, operation, and decommissioning of research reactor. It is necessary to conduct an assessment of the research reactor I&C systems, to accommodate the provisions regarding I&C systems. The purpose of the assessment is to provide input to the Regulation Directorate to draft BR related to the I&C systems. The assessment method is identifying the provisions of I&C systems that are already exist in BR. The next step is to explore the available international literature, especially official IAEA documents. We have conducted an assessment of existing BCR and some input for BAPETEN Regulation (BR) drafting: provision regarding design considerations for ageing, provision regarding I&C system modification and modernization, provision regarding reliability of design (redundancy and the single failure criterion, common cause failure, independence, diversity, failure modes, fail-safe), provision regarding control rooms. We recommend for a new BR regarding I&C systems for research reactor.