Design issues on using FPGA-Based I&C Systems in nuclear reactors

The FPGA ( eld programmable gate array) is widely used in various elds of industry. FPGAs can be used to perform functions that are safety critical and require high reliability, like in automobiles, aircraft control and assistance and mission-critical applications in the aerospace industry. With these merits, FPGAs are receiving increased attention worldwide for application in nuclear plant instrumentation and control (I&C) systems, mainly for Reactor Protection System (RPS). Reasons for this include the fact that conventional analog electronics technologies are become obsolete. I&C systems of new Reactors have been designed to adopt the digital equipment such as PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and DCS (Distributed Control System). But microprocessors-based systems may not be simply quali ed because of its complex characteristics. For example, microprocessor cores execute one instruction at a time, and an operating system is needed to manage the execution of programs. In turn, FPGAs can run without an operating system and the design architecture is inherently parallel. In this paper we aim to assess these and other advantages, and the limitations, on FPGA-based solutions, considering the design guidelines and regulations on the use of FPGAs in Nuclear Plant I&C Systems. We will also examine some circuit design techniques in FPGA to help mitigate failures and provide redundancy. The objective is to show how FPGA-based systems can provide cost-e ective options for I&C systems in modernization projects and to the RMB (Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor), ensuring safe and reliable operation, meeting licensing requirements, such as separation, redundancy and diversity