The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with testing laboratories Kinectrics, NTS and Curtiss-Wright Corp. to help meet global nuclear power industry needs through consistent standards and practices, IEEE said on Wednesday.
The agreements aim to build more collaboration relating to certification needs through the IEEE Standards Association's (IEEE-SA) Conformity Assessment Program (ICAP).
“In the decades to come, more worldwide suppliers with no nuclear experience will enter the market,” the IEEE white paper "Proposed IEEE Certification for Nuclear Qualified Electrical Equipment" said. “This growth will be driven by a need to support the growing demand for components to aid in new power-plant construction. Failures in design, qualification testing or the validity of test results have a greater impact than ever on the nuclear power industry. Deficiencies in any of these areas can result in a large number of nuclear units being temporarily or permanently shut down. Entire countries can be adversely affected, and the economic and social cost would be devastating. The compliance, and validated compliance, with IEEE standards has never been more needed than it is today.”
Through these agreements, the IEEE aims to foster consistency in applications of standards to ensure the safe operation of nuclear power plants.
“Greater assurance that IEEE standards are effectively and properly implemented is a key step to cost-efficiently improve nuclear safety worldwide, and the collaboration that these MOUs allow will help move the industry toward that goal,” IEEE-SA Managing Director Konstantinos Karachalios said.
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