ML18268A359

M181025: Welcome Letter to Dr. John P. Thomas

ML18268A359
Person / Time
Issue date:	09/25/2018
From:	Annette Vietti-Cook NRC/SECY
To:
References
Download: ML18268A359 (5)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 SECRETARY September 25, 2018 Dr. John P. Thomas Research Engineer/Scientist Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dear Dr. Thomas:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is pleased that you will participate in a public Commission briefing on digital instrumentation and control, on October 25, 2018, at 9:00 a.m.

The Commission is interested in hearing your views on addressing common cause failure hazards and evolving digital technologies as well as regulatory acceptance of digital instrumentation and control. The meeting will be held in the Commissioners' Conference Room on the first floor of the NRC's Headquarters building at One White Flint North, Rockville, Maryland. I am enclosing a copy of the meeting agenda for your information. My staff will keep you informed of any updates to the agenda.

To assist the Commission in preparing for the meeting, please e-mail any written material, including slides, to Ms. Denise McGovern (Denise.McGovern@nrc.gov) and Ms. Pamela Shea (Pamela.Shea@nrc.gov) in the Office of the Secretary, by October 18, 2018, so that it can be distributed to the Commission for review in advance of the meeting. PowerPoint is the preferred format, but other electronic presentation formats may be used. This Commission meeting will be webcast live at the Web address: www.nrc.gov, and materials provided for the meeting will be posted on the NRC public website prior to the meeting: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc collections/commission/tr/. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. McGovern at 301-415-0681.

Your presentation at the Commission meeting should be based on the assumption that Commissioners are familiar with the content of your written material. Please plan your oral presentation for about eight (8) minutes, discussing the important points on which you wish to focus the Commission's attention. Please avoid the use of acronyms where possible. If you do use acronyms, please explain them during your presentation.

The NRC Headquarters building is located opposite the White Flint Metro Station on Rockville Pike and Marinelli Drive, Rockville, Maryland. The White Flint Metro Station is on the Red Line of the Washington area subway system. Reserved visitor parking for Commission guests is available. If you wish to use reserved parking, please notify Ms. McGovern in advance. If reserved parking has been arranged, please check-in with the security staff at the entrance to the NRC campus on Marinelli Drive when you arrive. A Security Guard will call for an escort.

Please note that visitors will be screened through metal detectors, will have their packages X-rayed, and will be required to present a picture identification card prior to signing in at the registration desk.

Sincerely,

Enclosures:

Draft Agenda

AGENDA

Title:

Briefing on Digital Instrumentation and Control (Public Meeting)

Purpose:

To discuss with the Commission the progress in implementing the regulatory infrastructure for digital and instrumentation control (Dl&C) systems, and industry initiatives in implementing Dl&C Scheduled: October 25, 2018 9:00 am Duration: Approx. 3 hours3.472222e-5 days <br />8.333333e-4 hours <br />4.960317e-6 weeks <br />1.1415e-6 months <br /> Location: Commissioners' Conference Room, 151 Floor OWFN

Participants:

Presentation External Panel 40 mins.*

Bill Pitesa, Chief Nuclear Officer, Nuclear Energy Institute 8 mins.*

Topics:

• Industry perspectives on:

o Progress on publishing and implementing guidance for digital l&C upgrades at nuclear power plants o Planned digital l&C capital improvements at nuclear power plants o NRC licensing and oversight of digital l&C o Transformation Team Dl&C recommendations Frank Novak, Senior Systems Engineer, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, 8 mins.*

Instrumentation and Control Group; and Chair of IEEE Nuclear Power Engineering Committee (NPEC) Working Group 6.3 Topics:

• IEEE perspectives on:

o Recent digital l&C upgrades at nuclear power plants o NRC licensing of digital l&C o NRC Transformation Team recommendations Clayton Scott, Senior Vice President - Deputy, Global l&C Business, 8 mins.*

Framatome Inc.

Topic:

• Vendor's perspectives on international practices and standards, commercial grade dedication, and NRC's digital l&C platform approval process 1

George Romanski, Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for 8 mins.*

Aircraft Computer Software, Federal Aviation Administration Topics:

• Federal Agency's perspectives on approaches for software reliability in critical safety systems, experience in the aviation industry guidance and standards for digital l&C

• Digital implementation and operational experience Dr. John P. Thomas, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 8 mins.*

Topic:

• Subject matter experts views on addressing common cause failure hazards, addressing evolving digital technologies, and perspectives on regulatory acceptance of digital l&C Commission Q & A 50 mins.

Break 5mins.

NRC Staff Panel 40 mins.*

Margaret Doane, Executive Director for Operations Ho Nieh, Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR)

Eric Benner, Director, Division of Engineering, NRR Michael Waters, Chief, Instrumentation and Control Branch, NRR Rossnyev Alvarado, Digital l&C Engineer, NRR Dinesh Taneja, Sr. Electronics Engineer, NRO Topics:

• Status of Digital l&C Integrated Action Plans (SECY-16-0070) o Digital Upgrades under 10 CFR 50.59: Status of guidance development, implementation and inspection training and lessons-learned in guidance improvements o New Licensing Approaches for Major Digital Systems: Licensing and digital l&C platform approval status and status of guidance development, and future risk-informed approaches and digital l&C categorization o Addressing Digital Common Cause Failure (CCF): Key safety and regulatory issues; NRG and industry guidance development; and graded approaches for evaluating diversity and defense-in-depth o Broader Modernization Activities: Commercial grade dedication; risk-informing initiatives and CCF research; advanced reactor l&C framework; as well as relevant transformation team recommendations 2

Commission Q & A 50 mins.

Discussion - Wrap-Up 5 mins.

Documents:

• Slides due: October 18, 2018 3