Reactor Safety Division Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, INDIA-400 085 vvssrao@barc.gov.in This paper deals with the research and development activities in Level-l Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) and aging studies. Earlier, PSA models have been successfully employed during design evaluation in order to assess weak links and carry out design modifications to improve system reliability and safety. Now, studies are directed towards applying PSA in various decision making issues concerned with plant operations and safety regulations. This necessitated the development of software tools like Risk Monitor, Diagnostic System etc. in order to enable faster risk evaluation whenever the plant undergoes any design modifications as well as changes in component status and parameters or plant/system configuration. Also, research has been focussed into improving the PSA models and component failure data to be used. Paper highlights the research activities in reliability prediction of hardware and software components, so that realistic estimate can be used. Ageing studies play a vital role in equipment qualification as well as in life extension of components employed in plants. The paper highlights the experimental facilities available and their contribution in effective ageing assessment of Control and Instrumentation components used in Nuclear Power Plants (NPP).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.