Fig. 9-3 Comparison of the automatic operation system and "Mutsu" manual operation during reactor start-up Stable operation was realized within all operational constraints.

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Fig. 9-4 Diagram of advanced operating systems for nuclear ships Combining advanced automatic operating systems with the nuclear ship simulator, performance tests of automatic operation and operator support during anomaly diagnosis and plant supervision has been shown to be effective.

Plant operations aboard nuclear ships require quick judgment and actions due to changing marine conditions such as wind, waves and currents. Furthermore, additional human support is not available for nuclear ship operation at sea, so advanced automatic operation is necessary to reduce the number of operators required. Therefore, an advanced automation system has been developed based on operational knowledge of the "Mutsu" plant. This advanced automatic operation system is based upon application of an operator's knowledge of both normal (start-up to power) and abnormal (after scram) operations. Comparing start-up to power under automatic operation with "Mutsu" manual operation, stable automatic operation was successful within all operating limits (Fig. 9-3). The advanced automatic system includes both the automatic operation system and the operator-support system which assists operators in completing actions during plant accidents, anomaly diagnosis and plant supervision. At present these systems are largely being developed using artificial intelligence techniques. Applying the systems shown in Fig. 9-4, research and development of advanced reactors for nuclear ships is being continued.

Reference J. Shimazaki et al., Integral-type Small Reactor MRX and its Applications, 10th Pacific Basin Nucl. Conf., Oct. 20-25, 1996, Kobe, 828 (1996).

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