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NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, September-October 2014
was to ensure that EPRI 3002002289,
Plant Engineering: Guideline for the
Acceptance of Commercial-Grade Design
and Analysis Computer Programs Used
in Nuclear Safety-Related Applications:
Revision 1 of 1025243. 2013
could be
endorsed by the NRC in the completed
regulatory guide if NRC deems it
acceptable.
8.
What is the extent of international
cooperation in Commercial Grade
Dedication?
The dedication process is driven
by US regulatory requirements and was
developed for use in the US. That said,
the process has been adopted by some
manufacturers and nuclear plants around
the world. In some cases, adoption
is based upon meeting requirements
imposed by US customers. In others, the
process has been implemented to address
inability to purchase items needed to
support safety-related plant systems
and equipment suppliers that maintain a
nuclear quality assurance program.
Several of EPRI’s international
members have adopted the process,
and EPRI is currently participating
in international efforts that include
application of commercial grade
dedication methodology.
9.
What are the lessons learnt by EPRI,
which may benefit the program?
Many of the lessons learned as the
result of experience with commercial
grade dedication since 1979 are discussed
in the updated EPRI guidance.
Wide success and adoption of
EPRI’s commercial grade dedication
methodology, first published in 1988
(NP-5652,
Guideline for the Utilization
of Commercial Grade Items in Nuclear
Safety Related Applications (NCIG-07).
1988
), has resulted in it being used for
applications never imagined by the team
that wrote it. The update provides a more
detailed look at the process and the ways
in which it is currently used.
Perhaps one of the most significant
lessons learned is to focus on
characteristics necessary for the item
to perform its safety function(s) as
opposed to “identifiable and measurable”
characteristics discussed in NP-5652.
Related to this is the lesson that a failure
modes and effects analysis (or similar
documented engineering analysis) is an
effective means of determining critical
characteristics.
The
importance
of
clearly
documenting the basis for the dedication
is also an important lesson learned.
In addition to facilitating audits, good
documentation helps an organization
retain engineering knowledge and an
understanding of the approach they take
to dedicate an item.
Another lesson learned was to
address the supplier’s perspective. The
original guidance was essentially written
and intended for use by utilities. The
updated document incorporates guidance
based upon the supplier’s perspective
such as how to proceed when the safety
function is unknown, how to dedicate
based on original design requirements,
and so forth.
10.
What is the utilities’and vendors’role
in EPRI’s Commercial Grade Dedication
program?
Both utilities and vendors were
instrumental in ensuring the success
of the guidance update effort. A team
comprised of EPRI member utilities
met and discussed areas that should
be addressed in the update. The team
decided to solicit input from the vendors,
and ideas were solicited from all of the
vendors that have participated in EPRI’s
Joint Utility Task Group on procurement
engineering meetings over the past five
years. Third party dedicators, nuclear
steam supply system vendors, and
engineering/procurement/construction
suppliers were represented on the team.
It’s safe to say that we challenged each
other often, and I believe the end result is
much more comprehensive guidance.
Contact: Brian Schimmoller, Electric
Power Research Institute, 1200 Research
Drive, Charlotte, North Carolina 28262;
telephone: (704) 595-2576, email:
.
Commercial Grade...
seeing, and you’re writing it down on a
piece of paper. When you leave the field,
you write a report, but there is no hard
evidence about what, electronically, you
scanned. It’s all on that written piece of
paper.
The other option is to do the
inspection robotically. Bring the robot
into a high-dose field and put it on a
set of tracks to monitor its position. By
knowing where it is on the metal and then
using signal processing, you can now
record in spatial terms where the device
is, what it saw, and other relevant details.
Very expensive, potentially high dose, but
you now have this physical record.
Our team wondered whether you
could treat that ultrasonic probe like
a computer mouse. Can we do the
signal processing so that you could lift
the transducer off the material surface
and put it back on without the system
forgetting where it was? We think we
can do this by using the reflectors inside
the metal sample to enable the probe to
always know where it is.
If successful, we won’t need
robotics or tracks, just a technician
equipped with a modified UT probe and
specially developed software to track
probe position and process data. So, it’s
cheaper, it’s faster, it’s lower dose, and
you can record it. And even better than
that, the person doing the inspection,
actually manipulating the probe on the
component, doesn’t have to be a highly
trained data analyst. He can be someone
who’s been trained just to deploy this
technique effectively. And the analysis
can go on by someone else remotely in
a low-dose more ergonomic environment.
That is the type of thing we can
develop in our R&D program. And we are
about a year away from commercializing
it.
Contact: Brian Schimmoller, Electric
Power Research Institute, 1200 Research
Drive, Charlotte, North Carolina 28262;
telephone: (704) 595-2576, email:
.
Benefits of...
