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Conference Spotlight
2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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What’s the most difficult question you’ve been asked as a maintenance instructor?
Blye Widmar
"Where are the prints?!"
This was the final question in an onslaught of verbal feedback, comments, and critiques I received from my students back in 2019. I had two years of instructor experience and was teaching a class that had been meticulously rehearsed in preparation for an accreditation visit. I knew the training material well and transferred that knowledge effectively enough for all the students to pass the class. As we wrapped up, I asked the students how they felt about my first big system-level class, and they did not hold back.
“Why was the exam from memory when we don’t work from memory in the plant?” “Why didn’t we refer to the vendor documents?” “Why didn’t we practice more on the mock-up?” And so on.
Robert C. Duckworth, Michelle K. Kidder, Tolga Aytug, Leonard S. Fifield, William Glass, III, Sarah Davis
Nuclear Technology | Volume 202 | Number 2 | May-June 2018 | Pages 124-131
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2017.1419783
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
For nuclear power plants (NPPs) considering second license renewal for operation beyond 60 years, knowledge of long-term operation, condition monitoring, and viability for the reactor components including reactor pressure vessel, concrete structures, and cable systems is essential. Such knowledge will provide NPP owners/operators with a basis for predicting performance and estimating the costs associated with monitoring or replacement programs for the affected systems. For cable systems that encompass a wide variety of materials, manufacturers, and in-plant locations, accelerated aging of harvested cable jacket and insulation can provide insight into a remaining useful life and methods for monitoring. Accelerated thermal aging in air at temperatures between 80°C and 120°C was conducted on a multiconductor control rod drive mechanism cable manufactured by Boston Insulated Wire (BIW). The cable, which had been in service for over 30 years, was jacketed with Hypalon and insulated with ethylene propylene rubber. From elongation at break (EAB) measurements and supporting Arrhenius analysis of the jacket material, an activation energy of 97.84 kJ/mol was estimated, and the time to degradation, as represented by 50% EAB at the expected maximum operating temperature of 45°C, was estimated to be 80 years. These values were slightly below previous measurements on similar BIW Hypalon cable jacket and could be attributed to either in-service degradation or variations in material properties from production variations. In addition, results from indenter modulus measurements and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy suggest possible markers that could be beneficial in monitoring cable conditions.