Safety assessment of smart instruments for the nuclear industry

As activities to extend the operating life of nuclear facilities across the UK (including the fleet of Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGR)) are scheduled, a requirement to replace ageing and obsolescent equipment has emerged. Inevitably this requirement will necessitate procurement of modern equivalents of extant equipment which may include software-based, Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS), equipment. This paper describes the successful implementation of a programme of work to generate a safety argument for an item of pre-existing, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment for use in a safety system, to the satisfaction of the UK nuclear regulator.