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2026 Conference Information

Southern Nuclear Company

Presented
The 33rd Annual
Configuration Management Benchmarking Group Conference
July 21-23, 2026
Orlando, FL


The conference was held in Orlando, FL at the Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista - Disney Springs® Resort Area

View Agenda View Attendees
Orlando, FL
Orlando, Florida

Orlando, a city in central Florida, is home to more than a dozen theme parks. Chief among its claims to fame is Walt Disney World, comprised of parks like the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, as well as water parks. Another major destination, Universal Orlando, offers Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter straddling both.


  • Presentations

Tuesday Presentations


Introduction & Welcome Keynote
Andrew Neal & Josh Seales, Southern Nuclear

Welcome and keynote message. Logistical information about conference activities.

WANO/INPO
Zack Wei, Institute of Nuclear Plant Operations (INPO)

This presentation from an INPO representative is on the overall state of engineering and configuration management across the nuclear industry and describe INPO's CM-related activities and current focus areas.

Software Configuration Management OE
Andrew Neal, Southern Nuclear

Industry OE form Southern Nuclear company on control of configuration files in a Nuclear plant.

NUOG Update
Peter Girgis, NUOG

This presentation will be an update from NUOG.

International Nuclear Challenges & Solutions
Jan Kundrlik, CEZ Group

This presentation is on the processes and challenges that are faced in the configuration management area by one of our international participants.

CM Participant Burning Questions Panel
Panel of select conference speakers and breakout facilitators

This interactive session will focus on industry issues that conference attendees wish to address. Questions will be collected during both the registration process and the conference session, with a goal to allow attendees to bring up areas in which the utility is struggling, and gain OE from the industry in real time.

AI in Configuration Management
Matt Yarlett, Westinghouse Electric Company

This presentation is on the use of AI in configuration management. This will be an industry presentation on how a utility is using AI to aid in development of engineering changes.

SDP Refresher & Information
John Cope, Sargent & Lundy

The Standard Design Process has been used for several years now. This session will provide information to ensure attendees understand the intent and layout of the SDP procedure (IP-ENG-001).

Tuesday Breakouts


CM 101
Matt Yarlett, Westinghouse Electric Company

The objective of this session is to engage new conference attendees in the Configuration Management (CM) process as presented at the conference and provide them with a capsule summary of the process. CM 101 should provide an understanding of how the different plant organizations contribute to and support configuration control of design, processes, and equipment. There will be a discussion of the industry three-ball process model for CM equilibrium, examples of how the equilibrium can be upset, and recommended processes for restoring the equilibrium.

International Benchmarking
Young Son, KEPCO

This is an opportunity to discuss and benchmark best practices regarding challenges and solutions unique to plants outside the United States.

SDP Breakout
Jonathan Cope, S&L / Mike Arcand, TVA / Jason Brown, TVA

This is a discussion on what utilities have created to support the use of the SDP. Also, to provide a forum on how we can improve sharing across utilities of SDP engineering changes.

Wednesday Presentations


Bill of Materials (BOMs) Quality and Traceability
NUOG

This presentation is on the use of BOMs in design and documentation to support traceability.

AI-driven Obsolescence Solutions
Matt Yarlett, Westinghouse Electric Company

This presentation is on the use of AI in the industry.

50.69 in Support of Obsolescence
Carrie Gilbreath, Southern Nuclear

This presentation is on the implementation and benefits of the 50.69 program at a nuclear facility to support obsolescence issues.

Breakout Takeaways
Andrew Neal, Southern Nuclear

A quick Q&A on some of the findings from our breakout sessions.

50.69 Use in Design Changes
Carrie Gilbreath, Southern Nuclear

A presentation on how 50.69 is used in design changes in the industry.

SDP What Does Good Look Like
Ashley Taylor, TVA

Presentation by a utility to show what they consider is a good practice for the level of content in an engineering change. This will be a lead-in to the breakout session to develop a document that CMBG can endorse on what good looks like for an engineering change.

Wednesday Breakouts


50.69 in Support of Obsolescence
Carrie Gilbreath, Southern Nuclear / Andrew Neal, Southern Nuclear

This breakout will focus on questions concerning the implementation and use of 50.69.

AI-driven Obsolescence Solutions
Matt Yarlett, Westinghouse Electric Company

This is a discussion and benchmarking session of utilities that are currently using AI in IEs. This is also a session to brainstorm ideas on how we can possibly shape AI to support the use of AI.

Bill of Materials (BOMs) Quality and Traceability
Roger Andreasen, Ameren

This session provides a forum for the industry to benchmark the use of IEs and how can design organizations work more closely together on the development and support of IEs.

SDP What Does Good Look Like
Jason Brown, TVA / Andrew Neal, Southern Nuclear

A working session to develop a "what good looks like" document that can be used throughout the industry as guidance on what a responsible engineer should consider when developing an engineering change.

New Build Lessons Learned
Michael Arcand, TVA

This is an opportunity for new build attendees to benchmark best practices in the industry for new build opportunities.

Thursday Presentations


Breakout Takeaways
Andrew Neal, Southern Nuclear

A quick Q&A on some of the findings from our breakout sessions.

CM Participant Burning Questions Panel
Panel of select conference speakers and breakout facilitators

This interactive session will focus on industry issues that conference attendees wish to address. Questions will be collected during both the registration process and the conference session, with a goal to allow attendees to bring up areas in which the utility is struggling, and gain OE from the industry in real time.

Thursday Breakouts


Critical Drawing Updates
Roger Andreasen, Ameren

This industry benchmarking opportunity is on methods and success with updating critical drawings in a timely manner.

Managing Design Risk
Andrew Neal, Southern Nuclear

This benchmarking session is on the industry's process for assessing and mitigating risk of design or a engineering change project.

Stakeholder Engagement
Jason Brown, TVA / Mike Arcand, TVA

This session provides an opportunity for utilities to benchmark the methods used to ensure stakeholder engagement and possibilities for increasing the quality of impact review meetings and stakeholder comments.


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