The first DCS (digital control system) cabinet for nuclear reactors was formally installed and put into a trial operation at the Linglong One reactor, a multiple-purpose modular small reactor demonstration project invested and controlled by China National Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. (CNNP), a subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), in Changjiang of South China's Hainan province on April 10.

The DCS for nuclear reactors, known as FirmSys, is key equipment used for controlling and monitoring a nuclear station's operations and management to ensure its safety. The Linglong One DCS has adopted China's domestically-developed Longlin and Longqi platforms. The Longlin platform (safety-level) can achieve safety control of nuclear reactors under various conditions, ensuring the safe operation of nuclear power plants. The Longqi platform (non-safety level) is responsible for the operation and management of nuclear power plants, serving as guarantees for their efficient and economical operation. These two platforms have jointly controlled hundreds of systems, tens of thousands of devices, and various operational conditions in nuclear power plants.

The first-ever DCS cabinet installed with the Longqi platform is a non-safety level control system independently developed by China Nuclear Control System Engineering Co., Ltd for nuclear power plants and other large-scale nuclear infrastructural facilities. It has been developed with decades-long experience and technologies of the CNNC in nuclear power equipment control and integrated with advanced technologies in such fields as data control, procedure control, large-scale networking, on-site field-bus control system, and information control to meet the requirements of high reliability and safety of nuclear facilities.

The Longqi platform has been also built with such technologies concerning intelligent equipment management, multi-protocol-scale telecommunication, and whole-plant monitoring. These technologies have generally reached advanced international level, notably represented by control equipment self-diagnosis, on-site field-bus control system, server redundancy-switch technology, and real-time monitoring modular technology.

The smooth installation of the world's first Linglong One DCS cabinet has marked a new stage in the implementation of the DCS system, which lays a solid foundation for the operation of subsequent main control rooms.