Abstract

This monograph is devoted to current problems and methods of the functional safety and reliability analyses of the programmable control and protection systems for industrial hazardous plants. The results of these analyses are useful in the process of safety management in life cycle, for effective reducing relevant risks at the design stage, and then controlling these risks during the operation of given installation. The methodology outlined is oriented on safety functions and factors that influence significantly specific risks. It is applicable to the hazardous plants of the process industry sector and the nuclear power plants as well. The main objective of the monograph was to present the state of the art of the functional safety concept and its relations to technical and organisational solutions that can be applied in hazardous plants in the light of current scientific domain literature, relevant international standards and other documents related to the safety and security, issued by international organisations. The purpose was also to propose a coherent methodology for dealing with selected functional safety aspects of the control and protection systems of nuclear power plants, designed as the safety layers according to “defence in depth” conception. The human factors in designing of the human machine interface are also considered. The scope of the monograph includes in consecutive chapters following issues: the functional safety concept and challenges, determining and verifying the safety integrity level under uncertainty, the layer of protection analysis including human factors and the cost-benefit analysis of functional safety improvement in the context of safety criteria. A classification of structures, systems and components is presented, useful in designing the control and protection systems of nuclear power plants. Using of a framework for the risk-informed decision making is proposed.

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