ML23060A143

Lund - TH23 - v6

ML23060A143
Person / Time
Issue date:	03/16/2023
From:	NRC/RES/DE
To:
References
Download: ML23060A143 (10)

Text

Louise Lund TH23 Chair Director, Division of Engineering (DE)

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES)

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

Session TH23, 10:30 am-12:00 pm, March 16, 2023, Thursday Constructing Our Energy Future Opportunities and Challenges for Advanced Reactor Construction TH23 - Constructing Our Energy Future 2

Ashley Finan Director National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC)

Idaho National Laboratory (INL)

TH23Constructing Our Energy Future: Opportunities and Challenges for Advanced Reactor Construction Juswald Vedovi Senior Operations Leadership Manager General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH)

Bret Tegeler Consulting Engineer Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC)

Hasan Charkas Principal Project Manager Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

TH23Constructing Our Energy Future 3

• Advanced reactor designs use different nuclear technologies and take different approaches for civil/structural construction.

• The industry and research communities are making strides in developing advanced construction technologies to reduce construction costs and shorten schedules:

• Modular construction, steel-concrete composite construction, SteelBricksTM, seismic base isolation, floating platforms, augmented reality (AR) for construction management, digital twins (DT), artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), etc.

• The speakers will discuss various activities their organizations are conducting.

Advanced Reactor Construction TH23 - Constructing Our Energy Future 4

• Developing a technology-inclusive regulatory framework to accommodate different nuclear technologies.

• Staying current with the emerging advanced construction technologies and development of the related codes and standards, and how related NRC guidance may be updated.

• Ensuring that advanced construction technologies to reduce construction cost maintain the appropriate safety and defense in depth.

• Carefully assessing first-of-a-kind new advances for long-term performance and inspection and maintenance protocols.

• Considering how the fast pace in adopting and developing AR/AI/ML/DT in particular requires acquiring new skills quickly and proactively recruiting the next generation of tech-savvy engineers.

• Assessing the implications of building advanced reactors on sites that are normally not considered for large light-water-reactor designs.

Examples of NRC Activities and Challenges TH23 - Constructing Our Energy Future 5

• Participation in the application of advanced construction methodologies considered by the DOE/NRIC demonstration project.

• Development of risk-informed, performance-based, technology-inclusive regulatory guides on seismic design and seismic base isolation for advanced reactors.

• Continued engagement with standards development organizations, including the annual NRC Standards Forum.

• Future Focused Research program includes projects on DT, AI/ML, and natural language processing.

• University Nuclear Leadership Program grants:

Lapped connection for accelerated modularized construction Advanced sensors for structural integrity monitoring Soil-structure interaction framework for small modular reactors Concrete creep and creep fracture Hybrid risk tools for external hazard probabilistic risk assessment Examples of NRC Activities Related to Design and Construction TH23 - Constructing Our Energy Future 6

Presentations:

Ashley Finan, INL, National Reactor Innovation Center Advanced Construction Technology Initiative Juswald Vedovi, GEH, Progress and Lessons Learned on Advanced Construction Technologies for New Small Modular Reactor Projects Bret Tegeler, WEC, Design and Construction Considerations in Conceptual Design of Advanced Reactors Hasan Charkas, EPRI, EPRIs Advanced Construction ResearchEnabling the Deployment of Advanced Reactors TH23Constructing Our Energy Future: Opportunities and Challenges for Advanced Reactor Construction TH23 - Constructing Our Energy Future 7

Panel Discussion TH23Constructing Our Energy Future: Opportunities and Challenges for Advanced Reactor Construction TH23 - Constructing Our Energy Future 8

Continue engaging all stakeholders Closing Remarks Continue collaborating on shared research interests Continue enhancing engineering communication TH23 - Constructing Our Energy Future 9

Contact Information Louise Lund, Chair of Session TH23, Director, Division of Engineering, NRC/RES louise.lund@nrc.gov Jinsuo Nie, Coordinator of Session TH23, Structural Engineer, NRC/RES/DE jinsuo.nie@nrc.gov Frederick Sock, Liaison of Session TH23, Structural Engineer, NRC/RES/DE frederick.sock@nrc.gov TH23Constructing Our Energy Future: Opportunities and Challenges for Advanced Reactor Construction TH23 - Constructing Our Energy Future 10