14.36. The electric utility industry has recognized that there is a need for developing, testing, and applying expert systems. Quality assurance is a consideration since whenever subjective opinions are included in a knowl­edge base, the matter of confidence levels needs to be addressed. To meet a variety of needs, the Electric Power Research Institute established in 1989 the Knowledge-Based Technology Applications Center (KBTAC), located on the campus of Syracuse University.

Neural Network Development

14.37. Neural networks as an information-processing technology have attracted a great deal of recent developmental attention and appear to have significant applications to nuclear power plants, particularly in those areas in which expert systems are used, such as control diagnostics. Improve­ments in the monitoring of various systems as a result of neural network pattern recognition capability also appear likely.