Selection of shield cables to minimize EMI transients in power plants

Control cables are widely used in power plants for the process of automatic controlling and remote monitoring. However, the control capability is sometimes hampered by Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) caused by external electrical surge and power cables. The application of shield cable is very important to prevent EMI related troubles. Most electrical engineers refer to industrial standards in selecting proper cables, however, such guidelines, in some cases, do not provide clear enough guidance for low-voltage control cables in terms of shields, thus causing improper selection of cables. In this paper, an investigation of present cable related industrial guidelines, a case study of EMI related transients in nuclear power plants and additional experiments are performed to verify the root cause of some EMI related transients. Finally we suggest more practical guidance for selecting control cables with low-voltage.