Expert systems in the United Kingdom nuclear industry

摘要

This paper reports on the extent to which expert system technology is being adopted for serious use within the United Kingdom (UK) nuclear industry. The nuclear industry is here taken to mean AEA Technology1 and British Nuclear Fuels Plc (BNFL). Together these occupy about 12 sites ranging from Dounreay in the North of Scotland to Winfrith in the South of England. This paper examines selected sites describing one or two expert systems which are either in operational use or about to become so. A brief description of the purpose of each is given together with a description of the tools and techniques used. The results of this survey show that the technology is being adopted very seriously within the industry to help tackle some of its major problems. The paper concludes by predicting a rapid expansion of this in the coming years to extent that significant parts of the industry's business will be dependent on the developments that are taking place today.