July-August 2019 NPJ

Nuclear Plant Journal, July-August 2019 NuclearPlantJournal.com 27 (Continued on page 28) Kate Hyam A Mechanical Engineer, PE with over 13 years of experience in the development of ASME standards. Hyam current projects support nternational outreach and collaboration fforts with Nuclear standards committee volunteers n Asia. She is also responsible for standards development, symposium and workshop events in the areas of Advanced Manufacturing and Verification and Validation of computational modelling and simulation in the energy and healthcare industries. Prior to working at ASME she was a design engineer for Bechtel Power, responsible for mechanical systems for natural gas and coal fired power plants. has over the years developed alternative categories of membership, devised specifically to address the challenge of meeting attendance. Participants designated as Delegate or Contributing members are not expected to attend meetings, but they are expected to review proposals for revisions to the standards through ASME’s online standards development management system, C&S Connect. This system provides a secure, round-the-clock environment for conducting much of a committee’s business, such as consideration of revisions and Code Cases outside of face- to-face meetings. However, these membership alternatives have drawbacks: the lack of face-to-face interaction with committee peers, restrictions on some participation privileges, and a practical limit on the number of such members a committee can accommodate. International Working Groups A more recent innovation avoids these drawbacks and permits many more qualified, experts from outside North America to participate in ASME standards development. An International Working Group (IWG) is an ASME standards writing body comprised of a number of members located in a common geographic region outside of North America. Stated plainly, IWGs are ASME standards writing committees that convene meetings in the country or region where their volunteer members reside. An ASME Standards Committee – the Consensus Committee chiefly responsible for approving all standards actions prior to publication – is usually supported by a number of subordinate groups, (i.e. subcommittees, subgroups, working groups, etc.) which are typically delineated by an engineering discipline or technology (e.g. design, high-temperature materials, etc.) and perform much of the development and refinement of proposals for updating ASME standards. Membership on ASME standards writing committees is granted without regard to nationality or residence, and while there are many members from across the globe working together within the traditional committee structure, there is still an expectation of attendance at meetings. This can inadvertently exclude a number of technically qualified candidates from fully participating in the ASME standards development process. IWGswere formed to address this issue by facilitating participation by dedicated experts based overseas who are unable to make a significant commitment of time and travel. Each ASME IWG supports a particular standards committee, and contribute to the improvement of the standard’s international applicability and acceptance. IWGs pool qualified volunteer members in a subordinate group, assembled according to their geographic location. Each IWG is comprised of representatives from users, manufacturers, owners, designers and various other stakeholders. These groups meet at a location determined by the IWG to discuss current ASME ballots, Code Cases, and proposed revisions to the standard based on the technology used in their local industries and to meet their local needs. The International Working Group concept has proven to be so successful that over the past 10 years 31 IWGs have been formed in over 10 countries. The latest IWG to be approved in the Nuclear Codes and Standards department is the ASME BPV Section XI Committee on Nuclear Inservice Inspection India International Working Group. This group was developed based on a need identified during the recent Nuclear Standards and Certification Workshop event held in Mumbai, India from January 4-6, 2019. During this interactive Workshop event, ASME Nuclear staff and volunteers provided an overview and insight into the latest developments found in ASME BPV SectionXICommitteeonNuclearInservice Inspection, Operations and Maintenance, BPV Section III Construction of Nuclear Power Plant Components, and the NQA Nuclear Quality Assurance Standard and Certification process. This well attended event brought together experts from the Nuclear Power industry in India, ASME volunteer committee members of the BPV Section III and XI committees and ASME Standards and Certification staff to discuss the benefits of ASME Nuclear Codes and standards and the state of the Nuclear industry within India. Following this ASME International Outreachevent, several attendees indicated that they were interested in participating on a Section XI International Working Group (IWG) in India. Individuals applying to an IWG are expected to have the following qualifications for IWG membership consideration:  A minimum of five (5) years working experience in the industry.  Expertise to offer comments and vote on technical proposals being discussed by the relevant Standards Committee.  The availability to attend the IWG meetings, either via conference call or in person. Qualified and appointed BPV Section XI IWG members will have the opportunity to have a voice in BPV XI standards development by:  Working as a technical resource to the Standards Committee by sharing stakeholder issues in India such as jurisdictional and regulatory differences, local manufacturer supply- chain and materials considerations and consideration of innovative or unusual standards applications or products.  Proposing revisions to BPV XI to address regional needs. i e i