6. Measurement processing. Functions

The conditioning circuits deliver an electrical signal representative of the neutron fluence rate. For a complete instrumentation chain, downstream processing circuits are required to perform the functions specified by the reactor designer. Physical quantities such as power, doubling time or reactivity, for example, need to be determined and processed. It is then a matter of issuing automatic action commands and presenting the results to the operator, enabling him to know the precise situation.

Safety action commands generally consist in comparing a measured value with a threshold which, if exceeded, will result in the opening of a contact taken into account in a trip logic process.

The presentation to the operator can take a variety of forms, depending on the technology chosen for the control room: galvanometers, recorders or computer screens....