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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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NRC approves V.C. Summer’s second license renewal
Dominion Energy’s V.C. Summer nuclear power plant, in Jenkinsville, S.C., has been authorized to operate for 80 years, until August 2062, following the renewal of its operating license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a second time.
Robert P. Martin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 193 | Number 1 | January 2016 | Pages 96-112
Technical Paper | Special Issue on the RELAP5-3D Computer Code | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-143
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper reviews the historical and contemporary precedence regarding the development of knowledge, its reformulation in computer codes, and subsequent application in decision making. It highlights the practical challenges of this process as it applies to the investigation of engineered systems to deliver on both promised benefits and protection from postulated failures. A model for demonstrating model content, completeness, and consistency is described, invoking and extending a knowledge/content model attributed to Popper. While the specific example examining the evolution of the thermal-hydraulic knowledge base applied for nuclear power plant safety analysis and its capture in the RELAP series of computer analysis codes is presented, the framework is general, true to the scientific method, and thus broadly applicable. It concludes that while content of our knowledge base is perpetually increasing, completeness and consistency are fundamentally unattainable; however, within a well-designed evaluation methodology, measurable proof, sufficient for regulatory deliberation, is possible.