Abstract
Digital Instrumentation and Control (I&C) systems in critical energy infrastructure, including nuclear power plants, raise cybersecurity concerns. Cyber-attack campaigns have targeted digital Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) used for monitoring and autonomous control. This paper describes the Nuclear Instrumentation and Control Simulation (NICSim) platform for emulating PLCs and investigating potential vulnerabilities of the I&C systems in nuclear power plants. It is being developed at the University of New Mexico's Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies (UNM-ISNPS), in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), with high fidelity emulytics and modeling capabilities of a physics-based, dynamic model of a PWR nuclear power plant. The NICSim platform would be linked to the SCEPTRE framework at SNL to emulate the response of the plant digital I&C systems during nominal operation and while under cyber-attack.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Nuclear Policy; Nuclear Safety, Security, and Cyber Security; Operating Plant Experience; Probabilistic Risk Assessments; SMR and Advanced Reactors |
| Publisher | American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) |
| ISBN (Print) | 9784888982566 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, ICONE 2020, collocated with the ASME 2020 Power Conference - Virtual, Online Duration: Apr 4 2020 → Apr 5 2020 |
Publication series
| Name | International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, Proceedings, ICONE |
|---|---|
| Volume | 2 |
Conference
| Conference | 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, ICONE 2020, collocated with the ASME 2020 Power Conference |
|---|---|
| City | Virtual, Online |
| Period | 04/4/20 → 04/5/20 |
Funding
This research is being performed using funding received from the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy's Nuclear Energy University Program under Contract No. Nu-18-NM-UNM-050101-01.Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. DOE or the United States Government. This research is being performed using funding received from the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy's Nuclear Energy University Program under Contract No. Nu-18-NM-UNM-050101-01.Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DENA-0003525. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. DOE or the United States Government.
Keywords
- Digital instrumentation and control
- Modeling and simulation
- Nuclear plant cybersecurity
- PWR nuclear plant
- Programmable logic controllers