Control and instrumentation

In nuclear installations (power reactors, research reactors, reprocessing plants, storage sites and environmental monitoring facilities), instrumentation and control have undergone the most significant changes since the 1970s. The progression of electronic and computer technologies is the reason for this. Think, for example, of the transition from electromechanical technology to vacuum tube technology and, more recently, to the widespread use of silicon components, to gauge the scale of the changes affecting instrumentation and control. In the field of information technology, the evolution has been just as spectacular, with the widespread use of microprocessor-based systems. Measurement and control principles have evolved much less. It should be noted, however, that instrumentation has become much more complex, with an increase in the number of measurement points, and that digital information processing techniques have enabled us to approach the theoretical limits indicated by the theory of optimal system control.