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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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Latest News
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.
Roger Lew (Univ of Idaho), Ronald L. Boring, Thomas A. Ulrich (INL)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 932-940
Research on computer-based procedure (CBP) systems has found operational advantages over paper-based procedures (PBPs) including reduced memory workload, increased automation, and fewer operator errors. A Nuclear Regulatory Commision (NRC) study (1995) found that procedure related issues have been implicated in 69% of reported events for nuclear power plants (NPPs). Despite the associated risk with existing PBPs, utilities are hesitant to be first adopters and research is needed to validate systems in the context of modernized but largely analog Generation II main control rooms. Existing implementations of CBP systems have started from the ground up and where able to have tailored operations to support CBP systems. For existing plants this is a time-consuming, expensive, and potentially risky proposition, which represents a substantial shift current operational practices. For example, plants have existing protocols for authoring and maintaining procedures that serve as administrative controls over processes. Therefore, procedures serve organizational and administrative purposes unrelated to the actual operator control of the plant. A replacement computerized system must be able to replace existing functionality and dovetail with these organizational processes. This document describes the functional characteristics and technical specification for a Computerized Procedure Engine (CPE) designed to meet the needs of modernized United States (US) NPPs. The CPE is designed with flexibility in mind to satisfy a variety of functional and research objectives.