The NEI has released a "Delivering the Nuclear Promise" initiative bulletin

Nuclear operators at an Entergy nuclear plant.
Nuclear operators at an Entergy nuclear plant. | Courtesy of the NEI

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) announced that a bulletin set has been released this week by leaders in the nuclear industry as part of the "Delivering the Nuclear Promise: Advancing Safety, Reliability and Economic Performance" initiative.

This first set of bulletins focuses on response to a contamination event, source checking and contamination tool monitors, elimination of administrative changes to maintenance work and walk-down approaches.

The group-developing initiative consists of chief nuclear officers, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, the NEI, the Electric Power Research Institute and working groups comprised of industry experts and analysts.

“In many cases, we started with a blank sheet of paper to determine how we could best redesign a process and whether there were technological innovations that could be applied to the process,” NEI Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Tony Pietrangelo said. “We want broad industry participation in this program, and we will leverage the strengths and innovation of our workforce to encourage fresh, bold ideas and not just tweak current processes. Once we understand where we may be able to reduce costs, we will determine the regulatory or business changes that need to be made to pursue those changes.”

Pietrangelo states these bulletins should be implemented as soon as possible with regard to current obligations and other factors.