A recent meeting of the Nuclear Energy Standards Coordination Collaborative (NESCC) resulted in the establishment of a new task group (TG) on construction speed and quality improvement technology, which is now seeking members. Ken Barry, senior project manager for advanced nuclear technology at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), will serve as the group's Convenor. The new TG will be a standing study group focused on building techniques and materials intended to improve the speed and quality of nuclear-related construction while potentially lowering costs. Issues related to the speed and cost of nuclear power plant construction are of ongoing importance, with a total of 66 reactors currently under construction in 28 nations, along with hundreds of additional reactors proposed worldwide.
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As part of its work, the TG will assess the efficiency and cost benefits of specific technologies, such as moisture tolerant concrete epoxies, modular rebar, and threadless conduit couplers, at periodic meetings staffed by panels of experts in the field. Building on the data gathered in these meetings and through the analysis of current needs related to relevant codes and standards, the TG will work to develop research plans with the goal of identifying key code changes that could be pursued by the appropriate standards developing organizations (SDOs).
The application form for the new TG is available here. All interested parties are encouraged to join the new TG. For more information, please contact Sally Seitz, ANSI senior manager for standards facilitation, at nuclear@ansi.org.
The next meeting of the NESCC is scheduled for Thursday, March 28, 2013, at ANSI Headquarters in Washington, DC. Participation in NESCC is open to all stakeholders representing standards developing organizations, consortia and other forums, industry, government, and consumers. Click here to register.