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Meeting Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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The U.S. Million Person Study of Low-Dose-Rate Health Effects
There is a critical knowledge gap regarding the health consequences of exposure to radiation received gradually over time. While there is a plethora of studies on the risks of adverse outcomes from both acute and high-dose exposures, including the landmark study of atomic bomb survivors, these are not characteristic of the chronic exposure to low-dose radiation encountered in occupational and public settings. In addition, smaller cohorts have limited numbers leading to reduced statistical power.
Michael J. Fillian, Roger D. Wyatt (ENERCON)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 594-601
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been developing and releasing guidance for digital Instrumentation and Control (DI&C) upgrades. The expected result is a pathway for nuclear utilities to address the obsolescence and reliability challenges of old analog systems with digital technology. All projects require the maintenance of configuration management equilibrium, including procedure changes, drawing updates, and UFSAR / Technical Specification impacts. However, for a digital upgrade, software becomes an essential part of the equation. The V-Model is commonly used as a visual representation of the tasks and sequencing needed to implement control system software. The outputs of the V-Model include plans, specifications, designs, analyses, application software, and testing documents. These provide the means to ensure the quality of the application software. There are essential attributes particular to each output that are associated with quality. That is, the quality of the application software is reliant on the existence and quality of the essential attributes at each phase of the software development lifecycle process. This is also true for projects where a ‘graded approach’ is allowed. The essential quality attributes must still flow through the process to ensure the quality of the application software. The Owner’s Acceptance Review (OAR) process is critical for ensuring consistency and quality. It provides the mechanism for the utility to determine that the essential quality attributes are incorporated into the V-Model outputs. A utility’s Owner Acceptance Review process needs to document the essential attributes expected, and the methods to ensure they flow from requirements to the final software. This paper discusses the essential attributes of the V-Model outputs and their use in ensuring the quality of the application software. This paper also describes the characteristics of a good Owner’s Acceptance Review process. A thorough Owner’s Acceptance Review Process will detect and correct deviations early in the process, saving both time and money.
