MTA-EN-012

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Administrative Items
Date	12/14/2021
Functional Area Where Benefits Will Be Realized	Engineering Organizational Effectiveness Operations
Reference Implementation Guidance	Digital Engineering Guide (DEG) - Decision Making Using Systems Engineering: Revision 1 (EPRI 3002031218)
Industry SME	EPRI PRR Contact: NuclearPlantMod@epri.com
Previous Implementation	Please contact EPRI for implementation examples and contacts.
Implementation Enablers	N/A
Applicability	All plant types All geographic regions
Keywords	Process Improvement; Digital Engineering Guide; I&C; Instrumentation and Control
Business Case Analysis Cross-Reference	N/A

Description

EPRI’s Digital Engineering Guide (DEG) is a tool for nuclear power plants that can be used alongside existing plant processes for application of a systems engineering approach to digital I&C. The DEG can be used for digital system and component upgrades for legacy hardware as well as for new designs. This guide is written from a systems engineering perspective, assisting the plant from conceptual design through to the completion of commissioning efforts and the transition to long-term operation and support, including making risk‑informed decisions regarding whether a particular upgrade is worth pursuing. DEG guidance is split between four primary swim lanes of responsibility: 1) project management, 2) engineering, 3) operations, and 4) maintenance. Expectations are defined for each role regarding leadership skillset. The design change process is defined into multiple phases with activities assigned to each role throughout the change process.

One of the most important aspects to note is the DEG is not intended to be used as a regulatory roadmap. The processes are agnostic to regulatory requirements, leaving the users responsible for ensuring all requirements are met. Additionally, the guideline does not differentiate between process and lifecycles, which have traditionally been treated differently. What this guide does provide is a generic facility change process for ensuring a digital system or solution meets a plant’s needs. The DEG provides all of the digital I&C activities that would be needed by such an upgrade.

Systems or components of interest are identified based on the upgrade implementation risk looking at the complexity and overall plant consequence of system malfunction. From there, a series of analyses are identified based on the risk score.

Benefits

Benefits Estimate

Level 0 – Savings are not evaluated because this process improvement is an enabler. An enabler is an improvement that does not inherently produce cost savings, but permits or improves implementations of other improvements.

Benefits Description

• Assists in identifying appropriate digital upgrades for a nuclear power plant.
• Process Improvement – Provides a roadmap for technical decision making.
• Risk Management for Digital Modernization – Provides a series of recommended analyses based on both the complexity of the replacement system and the consequences of the system’s failure to the rest of the plant.
• Provides an installation and system testing process for verifying technical and operational requirements are met.

Costs and Schedule

Cost

Level 3 – Implementation cost is less than $1 million.

Schedule

Less than 6 months – Use of the DEG is a process improvement, with minimal upfront action. After making the decision to use the DEG, its principles are used alongside implementation of plant upgrades.

Scope Context

Guidance is applicable to both safety‑related and non‑safety‑related systems or components in all nuclear power facilities.

Risks

There are no significant risks with implementing the DEG. The DEG is intended to be a means of reducing the risks associated with implementation of digital I&C.

As a precaution, it is important to understand that the guide is based on engineering practices and not intended to serve as a reference for demonstrating conformance to regional rules or regulations, nor does the guide provide an all‑encompassing list of requirements for quality assurance record management.

SWEEP Score

Category	Level	Description
Cost	3	Implementation cost is less than $1 million.
Savings	0	Savings are not evaluated because the process improvement is an enabler.
Payback	0	No identified payback period because the process improvement is an enabler.
Licensing Readiness	3	No change in regulations is required for implementation.
Technology Readiness	3	The DEG has been used to support improvements at nuclear plants.
Implementation Proficiency	3	The process improvements can be implemented by all sites.