Abstract: Signals from redundant sensors located throughout a pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plant are processed in four independent channel sets each of which includes a plurality of independent microcomputers which calibrate, convert to engineering units and calculate partial trip signals and engineered safeguard actuation signals from the sensor signals for use in the conventional voting logic of a plant protection system. The primary and secondary partial trip and engineered safeguard actuation functions associated with various postulated abnormal events are allocated to different independent microcomputers in the channel set for reliability. A test unit common to the channel set automatically, rapidly bypasses and tests each protection function independently while the other protection functions in the channel set remain on-line and also continually tests each microcomputer through a dummy test function performed along with the assigned protection functions.

Abstract: A method for temperature compensating a position indicator which includes a sensor for producing an output signal whose magnitude corresponds to the position of an element that is linearly movable between first and second positions and which is subject to changes in temperature within a given temperature range and wherein the output signal of the sensor contains a temperature variable offset component and the rate of increase of the output signal as the element moves from the first to the second position fluctuates with changes in temperature.