6. Instrumentation and control

A nuclear power plant, like any other industrial installation, requires resources to control and monitor the process and related equipment. All of these automation and regulation resources constitute the unit's "control and command" system. The number of elementary components is colossal, and a system approach would require in-depth knowledge of the process and its operation.

We will confine ourselves to a brief description of the control architecture and the evolution of the technologies used, followed by the main lessons learned from feedback, and finally the general principles of maintenance. The question of software embedded in digital systems is not addressed here (see