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UNENE annual workshop on Nuclear Instrumentation and Control (I&C) held at Bruce Power

 Participants of the 13th Annual University Network of Excellence in Nuclear Engineering (UNENE) Workshop on Instrumentation and Control (I&C) Systems for Nuclear Power Plants at Bruce Power.

Western Engineering News | October 13, 2017

University researchers, industry experts and representatives from the Canadian nuclear industry gathered at Bruce Power on October 10th for the 13th Annual University Network of Excellence in Nuclear Engineering (UNENE) Workshop on Instrumentation and Control (I&C) Systems for Nuclear Power Plants. This annual event was organized by Jin Jiang, a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Western and the NSERC/UNENE Senior Industrial Research Chair (IRC) in Instrumentation and Control. 

Over 25 participants from the Canadian and US nuclear industry attended this year’s workshop. Adam Forystek of Bruce Power delivered the opening remarks, in which he discussed the uniqueness of the UNENE collaboration in the nuclear industry. He also explained how UNENE can help to improve the nuclear industry by challenging the status quo, facilitating exchange of ideas, and serving as a vehicle between academics and industry experts to explore new ways to improve safety and operation of nuclear power plants.

Jiang and members of his team presented the latest research progress during the event. Representatives from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), CANDU Energy, CANDU Owners Group (COG), Bruce Power and Doosan HF Controls also shared their knowledge and experience on advanced instrumentation, measurement and control technologies as well as the activities on cyber-security.

One of the highlights of this year’s workshop was a tour of the Bruce Power Fire-fighting Training Facility. Physical mock-ups of equipment models and realistic plant layouts as well as real fire and smoke are used to effectively train the fire fighters for emergency situations. A live demo was conducted to show the harsh reality associated with an industrial fire and the importance of fire safety.

Tour of the Fire-fighting Training Facility at Bruce Power

UNENE was founded in 2002 to create a partnership between industry and universities.  It is now a well-established and fully functional framework with programs mainly focusing on serving the nuclear industry through education and research. Through this, NSERC/UNENE Senior Industrial Research Chair (IRC), Dr. Jiang has successfully trained over 60 highly qualified personnel over the last 14 years.

Industrial partners of UNENE include Ontario Power Generation (OPG), Bruce Power (BP), Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), while Western University is one of 12 Canadian universities partnered with the UNENE.

For more information about the workshop, please contact Dr. Jin Jiang at jjiang@eng.uwo.ca.