Overview
IEC TR 62987:2015 is an informative Technical Report addressing the application of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and related methods to instrumentation and control (I&C) systems important to safety in nuclear power plants. It complements the general FMEA procedure in IEC 60812 by focusing on nuclear-specific issues such as common-cause failures and meeting single-failure criteria. The report compiles international practice, survey results and regulator experience to support the safety justification of I&C systems; it is a guidance document (informative), not a normative standard.
Key topics
- Scope and purpose: Guidance on applying FMEA to safety-important I&C systems in nuclear power plants and identification of contexts in which FMEA is invoked.
- Nuclear-specific issues: Consideration of common-cause failure, single-failure criteria and how FMEA interacts with nuclear safety cases.
- Relationship to other methods: How FMEA relates to other reliability and safety analyses; when to use component-, subset- or system-level FMEAs.
- Standards mapping: References and cross-links to IEC standards (for example IEC 60812, IEC 61513, IEC 61226) and to other international guidance.
- Industry practice and regulatory relevance: Case studies and survey feedback from jurisdictions (examples include France, UK, USA), showing how regulators and licensees use FMEA in safety justification.
- Examples and tools: Illustrative examples, common forms and descriptions of tools used to record and support FMEA work (informative).
Applications
IEC TR 62987 is practical for teams and activities that need to justify the safety and reliability of nuclear I&C systems:
- I&C engineers and system designers performing reliability and safety analyses on control, protection and monitoring systems.
- Reliability and safety analysts conducting FMEA, fault-tree analyses or complementary assessments.
- Regulatory bodies and licensing reviewers evaluating FMEA records as part of safety cases and design reviews.
- Project managers and auditors who need to document compliance with single-failure and common-cause mitigation expectations.
- Tool vendors and consultants developing FMEA workflows tailored to nuclear applications.
Practical uses include supporting design justification, informing redundancy and diversity decisions, documenting mitigation of failure modes, and providing input to regulatory submissions and safety cases.
Related standards
- IEC 60812 - procedure for FMEA (general).
- IEC 61513 - overarching I&C requirements for nuclear safety applications.
- IEC 61226, IEC 60880 and other IEC/IAEA publications - referenced for system classification, software/hardware aspects and nuclear safety context.
Note: IEC TR 62987 gathers international experience and recommendations; it does not impose requirements but helps align FMEA practice with nuclear safety expectations.