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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.
Gary Johnson (Private Consultant)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 699-710
Diverse actuation systems are an attempt to cope with unknown unknowns that may lead to common cause failure in the design of I&C safety systems in nuclear power plants. The diverse systems protect against postulated common cause failures internal to I&C safety system design, but are these really the most likely hazard? The intent of this paper is not to fully answer that question, but to begin a discussion of whether diverse actuation systems are the best way to address the unknown unknowns. Appendix 1 of this paper examines 19 severe accidents to identify the causes for safety system failures or late action that contributed to the events that resulted in significant core damage, as well as he contributions of diverse functions where such features played a role in the accidents. The paper also explores: • The role modern diverse systems might have played had they existed during the 19 events, and • Potential alternatives to diverse actuation systems.