Risk-Informed In-Service Testing Programs

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley J. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Safety Culture ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Plant Management ◽  
Detailed Review ◽  
Implementation Processes ◽  
Plant Safety ◽  
Service Testing ◽  
Risk Ranking ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Program Options

This paper will review three options for applying risk insights to the In-service Testing (IST) Program for pumps and valves. Current regulatory framework allows for risk-informing pump and valve testing through the implementation of 10CFR50.69 or by submittal to the NRC per 10CFR50.55a for risk-informed testing in accordance with the OM Code; either using Code Case OMN-3 and the risk-related Code Cases or Subsection ISTE. This paper will offer a third option which involves the combination of the first two options. Each of these IST risk-informed program options will be explored by presenting a general discussion of each option’s risk ranking process and anticipated risk ranking results. The risk ranking review will be followed by a discussion of the implementation processes and finally a look at plant impacts and potential benefits for each option. IST program scope and testing requirements will be identified for each of these risk-informed program options. References for the implementation processes will be provided and used for the basis of this discussion. The intent of this paper is not to provide a “how to” for each of these options, but rather to provide information to the reader to allow further detailed review of each option. It is expected that through further investigation of these options and discussions with plant management each site may find the option/process that best suits their regulatory and plant safety culture. Paper published with permission.

Development of a Risk-Informed IST Program at Palisades Using Top Event Prevention

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. White ◽  
David P. Blanchard
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Deterministic Approach ◽  
Testing Methods ◽  
Service Testing ◽  
Risk Ranking ◽  
Safety Consideration ◽  
Defense In Depth ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
Ranking Technique ◽  
Selection Of

At the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant, a review of systems, structures and components is being performed for a variety of risk-informed applications. Among these applications is the In-Service Testing program developed under Section XI of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. In reviewing the scope of the IST program, a relatively new risk ranking technique is being utilized called Top Event Prevention (TEP). TEP differs from more traditional methods of risk ranking in that it uses defense-in-depth methods to select what SSCs are important to safety. The results of the TEP analysis are also somewhat unique as compared to more traditional approaches in that combinations of equipment important to safety are identified as opposed to determining importance one component at a time. In addition, entire paths or trains of equipment are identified as being required to manage safety. Furthermore, the components identified in the selected trains are minimal. That is, TEP identifies the minimum set of equipment modeled in the PRA that is necessary to manage safety. Because TEP provides a structured, deterministic approach to selection of components that are important to managing safety, consideration is being given to classifying pumps and valves into one of three safety categories; high safety significant components, low safety significant components and a third non safety significant category. The first two categories of safety significance are similar to those already defined in Regulatory Guide 1.175 [1], and will identify where current testing methods remain appropriate while suggesting those components for which testing intervals can be extended. The third or non-safety significant category has been established to identify those pumps and valves to which the PRA and safety are insensitive. Preliminary results from the TEP analysis of the Palisades IST scope suggest that of the more than 500 pumps and valves modeled in the PRA, just under one third are not important from a defense-in-depth perspective. Probabilistic testing of these approximately 140 components shows that risk as modeled by the PRA is not dependent on the reliability of these components. This suggests that the PRA is relatively insensitive to the reliability of these components collectively and that they can be considered as candidates for significant relaxation of testing requirements, possibly including exclusion from the formal IST program.

scholarly journals Corporate governance in practice: the role of practitioners' understanding in implementing compliance programs

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 887-911
Author(s):  
Riccardo Stacchezzini ◽  
Francesca Rossignoli ◽  
Silvano Corbella
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Governance Mechanism ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Implementation Processes ◽  
Compliance Programs ◽  
Corporate Governance Mechanisms ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Corporate Governance Mechanism

PurposeThis article investigates the implementation of a compliance programme (CP) in terms of how practitioners conceive of and execute the responsibilities arising from this corporate governance mechanism.Design/methodology/approachThis study involves a practice lens approach forms the case study analysis and interpretation, involving both interviews and documentary materials collected from an Italian company with prolonged compliance experience. Schatzki's (2002, 2010) practice organisation framework guides the interpretation of CP as a practice organised by rules, practical and general understandings and teleoaffective structures.FindingsCP practice evolves over time. A practical understanding of daily actions required to accomplish the CP and a general understanding of the responsibilities connected with the CP, such as the attitudes with which the CP is performed, are mutually constitutive and jointly favour this evolution. Dedicated artefacts – such as IT platforms, training seminars and compliance performance indicators – help spread both of these types of understanding. These artefacts also align practitioners' general understanding with the CP's teleoaffective structures imposed, including the CP's assigned objectives and the desired reactions to them.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings have theoretical and practical implications by revealing the relevance of practitioners' understanding of corporate governance mechanisms in their implementation processes.Originality/valueThis study reveals the potential benefits of practice lens approaches in corporate governance studies. It responds to the call for qualitative studies that demonstrate corporate governance as implemented in daily activities.

scholarly journals ASME in-service inspection and in-service testing programs for Angra 1

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3A) ◽  
Author(s):  
ANA ROSA BALIZA MAIA ◽  
Youssef Morghi ◽  
AMIR ZACARIAS MESQUITA
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
Term Operation ◽  
Plant Safety ◽  
Service Testing ◽  
Design And Manufacturing ◽  
License Renewal ◽  
Service Inspection

The in-service inspection program of the Angra 1 plant is updated every 10 years, according to applicable standards - designer (American Project - are followed NRC requirements) and Cnen. NRC approves the use of ASME Section XI (In-service Inspection of Nuclear Power Plant Components). The object of in-service inspection of components in nuclear power plants is to provide a continuing assurance that they are safe. To provide this assurance for those components that are subject to the requirements of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, a set of rules has been formulated to provide assurance that the functional requirements of the components are available when required. The rules have been arranged to provide appropriate levels of assurance according to the importance of the component in its relationship to plant safety. The classifications that are established during design and manufacturing have been adopted to provide the levels of importance for the components. The types of components typically found in the various classifications have then been identified and rules formulated for each type. For each type of component in each classification, the functions have been considered and methods of inspecting, testing, or monitoring each component is specified. These rules include methods of determining the limits of acceptance of the results. Should it be necessary to take corrective action to repair various components, rules have been provided to establish acceptable methods of repair or replacement. Angra 1 started the Renewal License and Long-term Operation project and there are three important Aging Management Programs (AMP) that are based on ASME section XI. This article will discuss the ASME section XI subsections that are important for the License Renewal and Long-term Operation for Angra 1.  

scholarly journals DIRECTOR AND EXECUTIVE REMUNERATION CLAWBACKS: A SUGGESTED APPROACH FOR SOUTH AFRICA

Obiter ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vela Madlela
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
European Union ◽  
South African ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Suggested Approach ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Executive Remuneration ◽  
The Us ◽  
Potential Benefits

The purpose of this article is to explore clawbacks as a means of addressing problematic executive remuneration through an examination of the approaches adopted by the US, Australia, and certain European Union (EU) member states and to highlight the lessons that South Africa may draw from the experiences of these jurisdictions. The article first considers the intentions and assumptions of remuneration reforms, which have introduced clawbacks in these international jurisdictions. It then moves on to provide an overview of the US, Australian and EU clawback reforms, identifying and analysing the potential benefits and shortcomings of the regulatory reforms in each jurisdiction. The article asserts that the absence of a requirement for the clawback of incentive-based remuneration in South Africa is not in the interests of companies and their stakeholders since shareholders will have to institute often protracted and costly legal proceedings in order to recover erroneously awarded incentives. The article then makes recommendations on how remuneration clawbacks could be effectively incorporated into the South African regulatory framework.

Industry Survey of Risk-Based Life Management Practices

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian B. Speck ◽  
Abdolreza T. M. Iravani
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Oil Refinery ◽  
Plant Management ◽  
Process Unit ◽  
Life Management ◽  
Plant Safety ◽  
Methods Development ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Plant Life ◽  
Industry Sectors

The application of risk-based life management practices has generated considerable interest in industry. Plant safety and availability can be demonstrably improved through the application of risk-based methods alongside good plant management practices. The needs for and the experience of risk-based plant life management however, vary greatly across industry sectors. The principles of risk-based methods are documented and many risk-based techniques are widely available, but the practical interpretation of the principles and the use of the most appropriate techniques are subjects of great debate. This paper will identify technical and organisational requirements to implement risk-based methods. As part of this paper, a questionnaire survey has been carried out among companies to gain better understanding of the reality of plant life management and the needs of plant operators. This survey indicates that the benefits of risk-based methods for inspection (RBI) and maintenance (RBM) optimisation are recognised by different industrial sectors. There appears to be a lack of established and documented uniform RBI/RBM policy or guidance for application throughout the industry sectors. There is also an indication of insufficient resources and training to implement risk-based methods. Development of risk-based techniques by a competent team and an integrated user-friendly software based on a sound methodology remain as key issues. A case study is described of the application of RBI to an oil refinery process unit.

scholarly journals Canadian Drug Regulatory Framework

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (S1) ◽  
pp. S3-S10 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Kelly ◽  
M. Lazzaro ◽  
C. Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Trial Design ◽  
Review Process ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Product Monograph ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Statistical Issues ◽  
Disease Modifying ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Health Canada

The role of regulatory drug submission evaluators in Canada is to critically assess both the data submitted and the sponsor's interpretation of the data in order to reach an evidence-, and context- based recommendation as to the potential benefits and potential harms (i.e., risks) associated with taking the drug under the proposed conditions of use. The purpose of this document is to outline the regulatory framework in which this assessment occurs, including: defining what “authorization to market a drug in Canada” means, in terms of the role of the sponsor, the responsibility of Health Canada in applying the Food and Drugs Act prior to and after marketing authorization, and the distinction between regulatory authorization versus physician authorization; highlighting organizational, process and legal factors within Health Canada related to authorization of clinical trials and authorization to market a drug; considerations during the review process, such as regulatory and scientific issues related to the drug, patient populations and trial designs; application of international guidelines, and decisions from other jurisdictions; regulatory realities regarding drug authorization, including the requirement for wording in the Product Monograph to accurately reflect the information currently available on the safe and effective use of a drug, and that hypothesis-confirming studies are essential to regulatory endorsement; current issues related to the review of therapies for dementia, such as assessing preventative treatments, and therapies that have symptomatic versus disease-modifying effects, statistical issues regarding missing data, and trial design issues.

Improving Dust Control to Upgrade PRB Coal Handling

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Dust Control ◽  
Plant Management ◽  
Dust Collection ◽  
Handling System ◽  
Plant Safety ◽  
Air Cleaners ◽  
Great Leap Forward ◽  
Maintenance Technicians ◽  
Suppression System

Plant management had a mission: to make the Midwestern 646-megawatt power plant a leader in the clean and safe handling of PRB coal. To accomplish that goal, the organization embarked on an ambitious five-year plan to upgrade the plant’s coal handling system. The plant improved its conveyor transfer points, and installed new dust management systems, controlling dust and spillage, and improving plant safety and efficiency. This presentation will discuss the initial surveys that led to the development of the 5-year plan, and the resulting project priorities, the problem areas, application points identified, and the various technologies applied. Included in the goals for the upgraded systems installed were the elimination of spillage through the improvement of transfer points on coal-handling conveyors using improved belt support and sealing systems. In addition, new air cleaners were installed at seven loading zones, and a foam dust-suppression system added at one location to provide dust management throughout the plant’s coal handling system. These new dust control systems allowed the plant to eliminate its older central dust collection system that had greater risks of explosions. A continued series of monthly inspection and service visits by conveyor maintenance technicians helps continue the coal handling system’s high levels of performance. This five-year plan helped the power plant take “great leap forward” in controlling dust and spillage from handling PRB coal.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR MILITARY PRODUCTION BY THE STATE MINING PLANTS OF THE URALS AT THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 79-85
Author(s):  
ALEXANDR BAKSHAEV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Plant Management ◽  
The Urals ◽  
Complete Collection ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Military Production

The article is considered the development of the regulatory framework for military production at the mining plants of the Urals in the second quarter of the 19th century based on legislative and regulatory acts, concentrated in the Complete collection of Laws of the Russian Empire and other editions, as well as archival documents. This problem was practically not been studied in historiography; researchers mainly turned to the normative acts of the first third of the 19th century. The author shows the development of military legislation, primarily the highest approved rules and instructions for the acceptance of various types of military products. It is noted that until the early 30s of the 19th century in the manufacture and acceptance of military products, the enterprises of the region were guided by the instructions of 1804-1808, which determined the technical requirements for military products and metals, the duties of military inspectors, and ways of resolving disagreements between them and mining officials. In the second quarter of the 19th century, these documents were revised twice: in 1831 and 1846, the rules for the acceptance of new types of military products were adopted. Changes in mining legislation (Mining Charter of various editions), which included provisions of rules and instructions for the acceptance of military products from mining plants, are analyzed. The issues of manufacturing metals and weapons were also regulated in the regulations of state mining districts, in the orders of the mining and plant management bodies. There are also highlighted the regulations governing the activities of military inspectors, delivery of military products to consumers. As a result, it is concluded that the problems with the implementation of military orders by mining plants, the improvement of technology and production technologies led to the revision of the regulatory framework for the manufacture of military products in the second quarter of the 19th century.

scholarly journals Path planning and collision avoidance for autonomous surface vehicles I: a review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anete Vagale ◽  
Rachid Oucheikh ◽  
Robin T. Bye ◽  
Ottar L. Osen ◽  
Thor I. Fossen
Keyword(s):  
Path Planning ◽  
Collision Avoidance ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Autonomous Surface Vehicles ◽  
Navigation And Control ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Planning Algorithms ◽  
And Control

AbstractAutonomous surface vehicles are gaining increasing attention worldwide due to the potential benefits of improving safety and efficiency. This has raised the interest in developing methods for path planning that can reduce the risk of collisions, groundings, and stranding accidents at sea, as well as costs and time expenditure. In this paper, we review guidance, and more specifically, path planning algorithms of autonomous surface vehicles and their classification. In particular, we highlight vessel autonomy, regulatory framework, guidance, navigation and control components, advances in the industry, and previous reviews in the field. In addition, we analyse the terminology used in the literature and attempt to clarify ambiguities in commonly used terms related to path planning. Finally, we summarise and discuss our findings and highlight the potential need for new regulations for autonomous surface vehicles.

Application Of Electron Microscopy To Automotive Finish Defect Analysis

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-259
Author(s):  
Martin J. Mahon ◽  
Patrick W. Keating ◽  
John T. McLaughlin
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
Polymeric Materials ◽  
Plant Management ◽  
Defect Analysis ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Root Cause ◽  
Cutting Out ◽  
Foreign Materials ◽  
Automotive Finish

Coatings are applied to appliances, instruments and automobiles for a variety of reasons including corrosion protection and enhancement of market value. Automobile finishes are a highly complex blend of polymeric materials which have a definite impact on the eventual ability of a car to sell. Consumers report that the gloss of the finish is one of the major items they look for in an automobile.With the finish being such an important part of the automobile, there is a zero tolerance for paint defects by auto assembly plant management. Owing to the increased complexity of the paint matrix and its inability to be “forgiving” when foreign materials are introduced into a newly applied finish, the analysis of paint defects has taken on unparalleled importance. Scanning electron microscopy with its attendant x-ray analysis capability is the premier method of examining defects and attempting to identify their root cause.Defects are normally examined by cutting out a coupon sized portion of the autobody and viewing in an SEM at various angles.

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