Developing a Digitized Maintenance Supply Chain System for Sensitive Assets Using ‘Blockchain of Things’

The operation of supply chains for highly sensitive assets, such as nuclear power plants, presents significant challenges, including delays, disconnected performance evaluation of asset components, lack of digitization, and other issues. In response, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which manages such assets, has proposed the development of proactive management systems for supply chains. These systems aim to address the challenges mentioned and enable collaborative interaction among all parties, both nationally and internationally. Blockchain technology has been proven effective in automating supply chain processes in industries such as automotive, reducing fragmentation, and enhancing trust among suppliers. Additionally, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) sensors can track the performance of power plant components, facilitating timely maintenance. Therefore, combining blockchain and IIoT can enable the development of a proactive supply chain system as recommended by the IAEA. In this research, a solution is proposed to establish the structure and high-level architecture of a proactive supply chain system based on blockchain and IIoT. Furthermore, a smart contract is developed to demonstrate the necessary functions for managing the entire supply chain process for highly sensitive assets like nuclear power plants used for energy production.