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Summer 2015 BULLETIN
07/02/15

Summer 2015 BULLETIN

The Future of Nuclear Inspection

The theme of nuclear energy and the advancements being made therein continues in this companion issue to the winter 2015 special edition BULLETIN.

The cover story, penned by A. Thomas Roberts, is titled, Future Shifts in Nuclear Inservice Inspection: How ASME Section XI, Division 2 (Reliability and Integrity Management) is Developing New Rules to Accommodate Advanced Reactor Designs and What it Means for the Future of Inspection.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

In the last issue of the National Board BULLETIN, the article “An Overview of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)” identified a need for changes to current ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME Code), Section XI, Division 1, Rules for Inservice Inspection of Nuclear Power Plant Components. New rules are needed to accommodate innovative SMR designs and other non-SMR advanced design reactors to ensure long-term reliability and safe operation of these specific designs. The new rules will require a shift from the inservice inspection activities presently employed in ASME Code Section XI, Division 1, and used by inspection personnel.    

The ASME Code Section XI Standards Committee is developing to address these advanced reactor designs.  ASME Code Section XI, Division 2, will be a "technology neutral" inservice code that may be applied to all advanced reactor designs, including SMRs.  Included in Division 2 will be technology-specific appendices that are intended to account for different reactor designs with regard to inservice inspection (ISI) parameters.

In order to understand how authorized nuclear inservice inspector (ANII) inspections may change in the future, an overview of the technical basis for Division 2 and the process it employs is provided herewith. 

Other nuclear-themed articles include:

  • ASME’s Standards Development Establishes Roots around the World, by Christian Sanna and Ryan Crane, project engineering managers for ASME’s Nuclear Codes and Standards. 
  • Certification of Nuclear Pressure Relief Valves, by Joseph Ball, director of the National Board Pressure Relief Department. 
  • The Revised National Board NR Accreditation Program, by Charles Withers, assistant executive director – technical, at the National Board. 
  • Transparency op-ed, by James R. Chiles, BULLETIN contributor and technology/history author and speaker.

Also in this issue: The 2014 Report of Violation Findings, the 84th General Meeting Highlights, a tribute to Albert J. Justin, the 2015-2016 National Board Technical Scholarship Recipients, and more.

This summer BULLETIN is now mailing out. Click here to receive the BULLETIN. To view current or past issues of the publication in PDF format, check out the online archive here.