May 14, 2024 – Two Sargent & Lundy innovators will share their research in improving efficiency and supporting the economic sustainability of nuclear energy at this week’s Digital Instrumentation & Controls Workshop. Richard Paese and Steven Alonso will be presenting their insights as part of a two-day conference, May 15-16, organized by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and hosted by the Electric Power Research Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Paese, a leading authority in digital instrumentation and controls and human factors engineering, will offer insights on recent main control room modernization and HFE activities and their importance in maintaining the economic sustainability of the U.S. nuclear fleet. The former NASA International Space Station remote flight controller will also discuss ongoing efforts to clarify HFE regulations for modernization projects along with the increased use and benefits of glasstop nuclear power plant simulators supporting HFE work. He will also discuss how EPRI’s Digital Engineering Guide applies to projects with HFE elements.
Alonso will be discussing the use of computer virtualization as a tool to provide significant operational and maintenance cost savings for nuclear power plants. In his presentation, “Leveraging the Power of Operational Technologies Virtualization,” Alonso will present results from a nuclear industry-wide analysis of virtualization and how it can be used as part of a digital lifecycle management strategy. Virtualization has been widely adopted in other industries and modern information technology systems and has led to reduced costs and increased cybersecurity.
The sessions are part of INPO’s annual workshop intended to provide a forum for utilities to share information on digital upgrades. The insights are particularly useful as the industry undergoes a transformation in modernizing facilities as part of license renewals to extend the life of nuclear power plants for an additional 20 years.
Topics covered over the course of the workshop will range from innovative projects to industry activities from the Nuclear Energy Institute, Electric Power Research Institute, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Typical presenters include utility personnel, NEI, EPRI, and select vendors.
More
Nuclear Power Services at Sargent & Lundy
The Changing Role of Humans in Advanced Nuclear Plant Designs