The conference was held at Charlotte Marriott City Center and hosted by Rick Harris.
Charlotte Marriott City Center 100 West Trade Street Charlotte, North Carolina 28202
Charlotte is a major city and commercial hub in North Carolina. Its modern city center (Uptown) is home to the Levine Museum of the New South, which explores post–Civil War history in the South, and hands-on science displays at Discovery Place. Uptown is also known for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which celebrates the sport of auto racing through interactive exhibits and films.
Rick Harris will provide logistical information about conference activities.
Configuration Management and CMBG History - This presentation will present a chronology and evolution of configuration management as a practice and review the history and role of CMBG in CM
Debbie Williams will describe INPO's activities related to Technical Conscience and will also provide updates on other CM-related activities and current focus areas.
Engineering as Technical Conscience and Advocate – This presentation and breakout session will explore the attributes of technical conscience and the role of the engineer as advocate for sound engineering principles and judgments. The presentation will include the principles and implementation strategies for a strong nuclear safety culture that incorporates technical conscience. The breakout session will provide a forum to discuss technical conscience attributes in more detail and benchmark approaches being used in the industry to implement these principles.
Cyber Security for Digital Equipment – This presentation and breakout session is intended to educate the CM practitioner on current and upcoming changes to cyber security with respect to digital equipment and systems. The presentation will cover: (a) A history of cyber security from September 11 to NEI 04-04 to NEI 08-09 (b) Where the NRC and the industry currently stand (c) How these changes could affect Configuration Management.
Ed Freeman, Engineering Manager at Tennessee Valley Authority for the Watts Bar Unit 2 project, will speak on how TVA is managing configuration management for the planned startup of WBN2 in 2013, and how TVA incorporated lessons learned from the Browns Ferry Unit 1 restart in 2007.
This presentation will introduce AP-932, describe the concepts in the document and provide the reasons why the document was developed. The presentation will help prepare attendees for the workshop on INPO & EPRI new plant initiatives.
Ken Barry will provide an update on the many projects that the EPRI Advanced Nuclear Technology (ANT) group are working on including projects on Virtual Plant Configuration Management, Modular Equipment Testing, and NDE Digital Data Storage and Records Management.
Dave Matthews, Director, Division of New Reactor Licensing, will discuss issues related to new reactor license applications and reviews. The presentation will cover issues noted in some of the applications related to the use of certified designs, level of detail, and interface issues between the various parties developing the applications. The current status/progress of the submitted applications will also be presented. The relationship of some of these issues to configuration management, as appropriate, will also be discussed.
John Parler will discuss the importance of doing CM training, some of the basic elements of a good CM training program, training techniques used for engineering as well as other workgroups.
This presentation will briefly cover the types of processes that allow temporary configuration changes in the plant. However, the main focus will be the formal Temporary Design Change process including: 1) the criteria used to determine when a Temporary Design Change is needed, 2) the mechanism which ensures removal of the change, and 3) actions taken when the scheduled removal does not occur.
Paul Davis will give us a preview of the 2011 CMBG conference in Philadelphia, hosted by PSEG
How to sign up for the CMBG Google Group.
Panel members will each describe useful information, insights, or peer consensus that they will take back to their facilities to improve their CM. Audience and other panel members are invited to comment on the panel member's discussion and/or identify their own take-aways. The panel discussion is intended to encourage attendees to leverage the learning from the conference to improve their CM Programs.
Mike Fisher, managing director of the NASCAR R&D Center (NASCAR's sanctioning body) will describe some of the challenges with regulating high technology motorsports.
This breakout session is intended to help attendees share information about their Vendor Equipment Technical Information Program (VETIP). With numerous Vendor company buyouts and a "nuclear renaissance" on the horizon, companies may want to recontact vendors that were removed from your program for a variety of reasons. Also to be discussed are recent "OE" items and methods for determining what are "Key" safety related systems and components.
This breakout session will discuss how plants interface with line departments (operations, maintenance, RP, etc) during the design change development process to identify procedure changes and training needs.
Cyber Security for Digital Equipment – This presentation and breakout session is intended to educate the CM practitioner of current and upcoming changes to cyber security with respect to digital equipment and systems. The presentation will cover: (a)A history of cyber security from September 11 to NEI 04-04 to NEI 08-09 (b) Where the NRC and the industry currently stand (c) How these changes could affect Configuration Management.
Effective Margin Management (Implementing a New Program or Reinvigorating an existing program)- This breakout session will focus on benchmarking best practices and lessons-learned in implementing a new margin management program. Also to be discussed are methods to restart previously instituted margin programs that have languished. Attendees are encouraged to describe techniques that have been successful and those that have not in each of these areas.
Participants in this breakout will have an opportunity to discuss and share ideas on Calculation Integrity. Issues considered include documentation of design inputs, design outputs (such as drawings, specifications and Engineering Changes), assumptions and appropriate use of engineering judgment. ANSI N45-2.11 and 10CFR50 App B will be discussed as applicable to various calculations. The term "calculation of record" will be discussed.
Participants in this breakout will have an opportunity to discuss and share ideas on various ways to implement an effective CM training program. Who is in the "Training Population"? Who provides the training? How often is training or retraining done? Tools used in training. How in-depth does / should training go? Is the program formal or informal? Participants planning to attend should be able to provide or discuss any examples of programs at their site (successes, problems, pitfalls).
Proper management of Temporary Design Changes (i.e., "formal" Engineering Change package) is vital to facility configuration management. This break out session will focus on the various aspects of Temporary Design Changes (TDCs) including the criteria for use of the TDC process, problems related to the removal of TDCs, and site measures used to monitor TDCs. Attendees should be prepared to discuss how their plant manages TDCs, any problems related to the overdue removal of TDCs, and measures/metrics used to track TDCs. Time permitting, we will also discuss other types of processes other than the formal Temporary Design Change which allows configuration changes such as procedurally controlled changes, pre-engineered changes, and activities in support of plant maintenance.
This breakout session is part of a series intended to provide discussion on basic CM concepts. It is intended to help attendees share information about the development, maintenance and use of equipment databases. Attendees will be asked to describe their organizations approach to data integrity and 'ownership' of the database, as well as its uses. This will include a review of the 'rules' implied by 10CFR50, Appendix B and a sharing of information about audit results and feedback from INPO and the NRC.
Participants in this breakout will have an opportunity to discuss and share ideas on various ways to reduce FCI backlogs, including drawings, calculations, and other Engineering documents. This may include use of supplemental resources (internal or external), special or streamlined processes for bulk FCI updates, or any software or other tools to assist in managing and reducing the backlogs. Participants planning to attend should be able to provide or discuss any examples of FCI backlog reduction efforts at their respective sites.
This breakout session is intended to provide an open discussion of methods used to manage and provide oversight of engineering services vendors. Most plants are using outside engineering services organizations to support design and modification work. This is being done is several different ways. These consist of having an outside engineering firm with offices on-site or off-site or by using staff augmentation engineers in the utility engineering organization. Each of these methods results in unique management and oversight issues. Participants should come prepared to discuss and share how they approach these management and oversight issues.
This breakout session is part of a series intended to provide discussion on basic CM concepts. It is intended to help attendees share information about processes and rules associated with maintaining plant design and manufacturers drawings, including the use of a 'graded approach' to updates. This will include a review of the 'rules' implied by 10CFR50, Appendix B and a sharing of information about audit results and feedback from INPO and the NRC.
People attending the conference for the first time, or new to the field of configuration management, who want to review the basic principles of what CM means to the nuclear industry should attend this presentation and discussion. Participants are invited to bring questions or examples regarding their CM challenges at their locations for discussion and input from your peers.
INPO and EPRI are influencing the builders of new plants by providing guidance on establishing configuration control and designing Configuration Management processes and tools in conjunction with new plant design and construction. Building on the INPO and EPRI presentations, this workshop will provide a forum for participants to identify challenges, opportunities, issues, and solutions for this critical function of new plant design and construction. Expected participants include engineers and CM personnel assigned to new plant design and construction and experienced CM personnel interested in the challenges of designing and implementing CM processes. Participants should expect to complete a questionnaire to aid facilitators in tailoring the flow of this workshop.