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magazine
Leading the way in Nuclear Information and Records Management
Inside
Issu
e #
01,
Sp
rin
g 2
018
Meet the
NIRMA Board
Members Visit us at: NIRMA.org
Connecting IT with Operational and Engineering Technology for Asset Performance Modeling
Chronicles of NIM: A Retrospective on Information Management in Nuclear Power
Contents
Feature Cover Stories
5
6
13
Connecting IT with Operational and Engineering Technology for Asset Performance Modeling
Chronicles of NIM: A Retrospective on
Information Management in Nuclear Power
Meet the NIRMA Board
NIRMA Publication Goes Digital
SavantX Delivers on the Nuclear Promise
You Can Do That With Microfilm?
Nominating Committee News
Controlled Unclassified Information, From the NRC
PLUS
Inside NIRMA NIRMA.org Spring 2018 3
4
7
8
18
19
in every issue
FROM YOUR PRESIDENT—9
FROM YOUR VP—10
SECRETARY NEWS—11
TREASURER’S REPORT—14
RIMBU NEWS—12
PDBU NEWS—16
INDUSTRY NEWS—17
NIRMA CONFERENCE—20
4 Spring 2018 NIRMA.org Inside NIRMA
NIRMA Publication
Goes Digital! Happy New Year, and welcome to the new Inside NIRMA digital magazine.
Each new year offers the opportunity to set goals, start fresh and embark on new adventures. And for NIRMA we’re kicking off 2018 with a brand-new look to our publication.
Our new digital magazine will be emailed to all NIRMA members three times per year (March, June and October). While some may miss receiving the hard copy edition, there are many other opportunities that now exist with the digital publication. This includes the ability to link to other websites and videos. It also helps us become more environmentally friendly. Think of all those trees we save by not printing the editions!
With the redesigned Inside NIRMA, we’re streamlining some of our content and will include some new features (Meet the NIRMA Board). It also enables us to provide more options to our advertisers and supporters.
As always, we welcome your feedback and are always looking for good stories to share with our membership. Should you have feedback or would like to put pen to paper for an article for our next edition, please contact us at [email protected].
We hope you enjoy the new look and we’re excited to start off another great year in this dynamic industry.
Inside NIRMA NIRMA.org Spring 2018 5
CONNECTING IT WITH OPERATIONAL
AND ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY
FOR ASSET PERFORMANCE
MODELING
By Bhupinder Singh, Chief Product Officer and Anne-Marie Walters, Global Marketing
Director, Bentley Systems
s operations technology (OT) leverages the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) with sensors on operating equipment and assets producing an enormous volume of big data, there is a need for
improved security, information sharing and data management. This, in turn, is driving an unprecedented convergence with IT. However, organizations are struggling to make use of the data from their OT and IT systems, causing them to miss opportunities to improve asset performance. This is due, in part, to the fact that the digital engineering models developed during the engineering phase of capital projects, are typically not playing a role in operations.
What if owner-operators could use these models in operations? Imagine how a digital engineering model—the engineering technology or ET of an asset—could help operations and maintenance people forecast problems, do better planning, and improve performance. It is now possible for companies to converge their IT, OT and ET – and seamlessly integrate process and information flows between them – to enable asset performance modeling to deliver actionable intelligence for decision support through an immersive environment for visual operations.
The Digital Engineering Model
Nuclear facilities have a mandate to maintain the licensed design basis. This is essentially the engineering model of the plant, and depending on each facility’s digital transformation progress, the model may be partially or completely digitized. There’s a staggering amount of information related to assets – detailed component specifications, precise geo-location, configuration management, fabrication details, cost information, predicted lifetimes, recommended maintenance and repair information. Today’s engineering technology makes it possible to bring all this information together within the federated digital engineering model, making it possible to track, access, and share across plant disciplines. Optimizing this information through operations and maintenance systems across the entire asset lifecycle is key to reducing OPEX.
The Beginning of IT/ET/OT Convergence
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is driving a convergence between operational technology and information technology. Digital engineering models can accelerate this convergence and add the visual representation of the real world needed to aid decision making; this can have far-reaching impacts on safety, productivity, efficiency and operations.
Making the Leap to Asset Performance Modeling
Taking the convergence of IT, OT, and ET one step further, it’s now possible to enable real-time asset performance modeling, which ensures that assets are safe, reliable, and efficient over their operating life. Asset performance management software can enable companies to develop both operational and asset strategies for improving reliability and maintaining asset performance and predictable production. Using a common data environment (CDE), companies can collect, consolidate, and analyze data and turn it into actionable intelligence.
See Bentley on page 14.
Digital engineering models bring together critical information in a virtual 3D environment.
6 Spring 2018 NIRMA.org Inside NIRMA
A Retrospective on Information Management in Nuclear Power
By Eugene Y. Yang, Principal Consultant,
KISMET Consulting, Inc.
his column takes a look back on information management (data, documents, and records) in the nuclear power industry. I have been fortunate
to either be employed by or consulted to many of the utilities and power plants in the U.S., seeing where things were and how they evolved over the past 35+ plus years. The plan is to make this a regular column in the Inside NIRMA magazine.
You know the story that you tell your children on how tough you had it growing up (“I had to walk five miles to school everyday, in the snow, winds howling, wind chill in minus 20’s…even in the spring…and it was uphill there and back!”)? You think you have it rough today? Scanning documents at 100 ppm, processing “born-digital” documents and records, uploading them into an electronic repository, so that you can view them in less than five seconds in a web browser, smartphone, or tablet (“Five seconds! Man, that’s SLOW.”). And then there are the times when the technology folks sound like a John Wayne movie (“We have to figure out how to build a cyber defense so Apache Tomcats don’t take our Red Hat!”).
Well, back in the day, at the start of my career, all this processing stuff was paper-based. I found myself helping the plant folks navigate the nascent use of computers in data, document and records (“…in howling winds, freezing temperatures.” Hmmm. Actually, for plants under construction, it was the truth!).
My first job in the nuclear power industry, in 1983, was with a southern-based utility. Computerization occurred
with mainframes and minicomputers, accessed through monochrome or color terminals. Even then, however, there was a need to envision integrated systems, linking plant control systems, management systems, and administrative systems. I had the opportunity to cut my teeth on “information systems architecture” – conceptualizing business and system architectures that sought to provide the path forward from current implementations to holistic integration. Back then, it was a fundamentally data-driven exercise; paper-based records were stored on shelves, in banker boxes, file cabinets, desks, floors, etc. At that time, there were three stations: one in construction, another in startup, and the third one in operation. For a young engineer in IT, it was great to be able to get into the battles of mainframe vs mini, integration vs. standalone, and plant vs. plant.
Three Mile Island caused the industry to address the need to have accurate record indexes, available to a wide audience, accessible in near real-time, and have it redundantly stored. One of the interesting reactions to these requirements was the use of Tandem Non-Stop systems, fault-tolerant computer systems (used for ATM networks, banks, stock exchanges, and other similar commercial transaction processing applications requiring maximum uptime and zero data loss). The thinking was that Tandem computers provided that redundant, “we’re always going to be up” that would allow access to records in case of another TMI incident.
Did you know there used to be word-processing pools? Word-processing computer equipment (think Wang; IBM Displaywriter) was so expensive, you could only justify having them by centralizing the resources. We would type up our drafts in the mainframe-based terminal text editor, print them out, then hand the printout to the word-processing staff to type it. Then we would “stet” or otherwise redline in a vicious cycle to get the final document. (Some luddites in our office wrote their stuff out WITH A PEN, and then handed it to word-processing. Hah. I was “modern”.)
But, then the emergence of the microcomputer. I was an early adopter of the Apple II+ and educated my way through spreadsheets using VisiCalc. At the office, we got our first IBM PC, shared among our section of 16 people. It had 256K RAM, a 5 ¼ “ floppy drive, and a whopping 10 Mbytes of awesome hard drive. Pretty much processed words and spread sheeted budgets with that puppy. Later, at another position, I actually had in my desk my own Iomega 10 Mbyte cartridge disk (think Banquet fried chicken dinner packaging…hmm, hungry…). I was being “efficient” by not clogging up the drive on the PC.
Eugene has been a member of NIRMA for over 32 years. At the time he joined, NIRMA had only been in existence for 10 years. He would love to hear about the early days from others, so please email stories and anecdotes to him at [email protected].
SavantX Delivers on the
Nuclear Promise
By Ed Heinbockel, President/CEO, SavantX, Inc.
Inside NIRMA NIRMA.org Spring 2018 7
rtificial Intelligence (A.I.) and Machine Learning (ML) are increasingly transforming business intelligence. The development of the SavantX Platform and advanced analytics spans a number of
years and two successful pilots at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. The Platform was optimized using station data for the volume and variety of unstructured nuclear data with worker input and guidance using the tool to solve outage-related challenges.
“If we had used the old way, it would have taken us days or weeks, and we would not have seen hidden trends.”
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant Senior Engineer
Station data coupled with SavantX A.I. helps Deliver on The Nuclear Promise by making all data easily retrievable, revealing relationships that point to safety and efficiency improvements, and significantly improving processes, not just automating processes.
Swimming in a Sea of Data
SavantX’s lineage includes open source intelligence gathering tools for the Defense Intelligence Agency. So, the base technology was an obvious fit to help nuclear power stations swimming in unstructured data locked away in many structured databases find what they needed to safely, efficiently and effectively operate. This operational experience demanded the development of new and novel technologies. For instance, the platform had to be self-healing and autonomous in its learning and adapting to new data without dedicated personnel keeping the platform operational and current with the latest data.
The SavantX platform offers state-of-the-art data visualization as well as a new take on ML for highly scalable A.I. apps. SavantX is focused on solving real-world problems through smart A.I. and autonomous, higher dimensional ML.
See SavantX on page 15.
8 Spring 2018 NIRMA.org Inside NIRMA
YOU CAN DO THAT WITH
MICROFILM?
New technology provides easier, faster and
affordable scanning solution to access
microfilmed information
By Matt Anderson, Vice President of Marketing, ST Imaging
dvancements in microfilm scanning equipment are helping shape the way professional record managers access their microfilm records. Users of older, antiquated reader/printers are in a constant struggle
of balancing the requirements of file retention with the advancement of the digital age. Now, in the time it would take someone to look up a single document, that individual can now scan an entire roll of microfilm and store it for fast, future retrieval.
In-House Conversion
While converting old microfilm to new digital files has been available for many years, the cost or concern over security has not allowed many organizations to convert their microfilm archives. This forces record managers of nuclear plants to use decades old reader/printer technology, many of which are in need of repair or are unrepairable because of a shortage of parts. The new FlexView from nextScan allows for secure, in-house conversion from a desktop device.
Recognizing this dilemma, nextScan determined that the record managers needed a solution that not only delivered production level image quality and processing results, but was affordable and within a simple easy-to-use platform. With the new FlexView roll film scanner, the scanning process is easy. The operator loads the film spool onto the scanner, similar to the way of loading the film on a reader/printer. Once the film is loaded, the scanning process can begin. nextScan’s proprietary LuminTec Stroboscopic LED light line technology freezes the motion of the film and creates archival quality images while allowing for a top speed of over 300 pages per minute (PPM). The line scan camera
ensures not a pixel is missed while the entire roll is captured electronically. This LED strobing light has never been offered on an affordable desktop scanner. The compact design, similar to ST Imaging’s ViewScan 4, makes it the perfect size to fit comfortably on a desktop.
Viewing Your Electronic Documents
A roll of microfilm has been converted to a digital file, now what? A simple retrieval method is required to accelerate the file lookup process. Developed specifically for microfilm,
See nextScan on page 16.
FlexView Roll Film Scanner
Inside NIRMA NIRMA.org Spring 2018 9
am excited about my new role as NIRMA president and looking forward to working with each of you. I would like to introduce the 2018 Board of Directors:
Janice Hoerber, Vice President
Lona Smith, Secretary
Anita Beren, Director of Infrastructure
Rebecca Wessman, Director of Technical Programs
Our 2018 Business Unit directors are:
Chris Boudreaux, RIMBU
Sheila Percy, Membership and Marketing
Tammy Cutts, Professional Development.
2018 is bringing additional organizational changes for NIRMA as well. You may have noticed that our newly elected Treasurer, Denise, is not listed with the introduction of our 2018 Board. Denise has resigned from the NIRMA Board. Denise felt that due to her increased work scope with her current employer she could not effectively dedicate the time necessary to adequately fill the NIRMA position. Thank you Denise for your time and contributions to NIRMA. We wish you the best in your new assignments.
The board considered several options of how best to fill this Board vacancy. The Board is pleased to announce the resolution achieved during the Face-to-Face February board meeting. Anita has graciously accepted the vacant Treasurer position. Anita’s Director of Infrastructure duties will be split between the Treasurer and Secretary, Lona. Anita will continue to be the Board Sponsor for PDBU and Vendor Program. Lona will be the Board Sponsor for the M&M Business Unit and the Secretary responsibilities. This coverage aligns with the NIRMA By-Laws, Article 7:
Cathy Lang our publicist for the past 25 years has resigned. Please join me in extending a warm thank you and show of appreciation for her years of service and dedication to NIRMA. Cathy has played an integral role in NIRMA and will be missed.
I would like to introduce and welcome Neal and Sandy Miller of Devereaux Consulting, Inc. to the NIRMA team. The Millers have accepted the role of NIRMA Publication Specialist Team. As publication specialists, Neal and Sandy will create, edit and publish our Inside NIRMA magazine, which will now be distributed electronically three times per year.
We have an exciting year ahead of us with many opportunities for the membership to work together to ensure that 2018 is a successful year for NIRMA.
The Spring RIMBU meeting, hosted by South Texas Project, was held on March 6-7, 2018, in Sugar Land, Texas at the Hilton Garden Inn. Laura Williams of American Nuclear Insurers (ANI) presented on Decommissioning and she will be presenting at the NIRMA Conference.
The following are key reminders that each of us can contribute so that we will help ensure our success in 2018.
Distinguished Recognition
Each year the NIRMA Board solicits the membership to identify those individuals who have demonstrated leadership and dedication to the Association. If you have someone that you would like to nominate for recognition this year, please submit your nominations to any Board member or Sarah Perkins, NIRMA Administrator at [email protected].
LinkedIn or Facebook or Monthly Emails
Sheila welcomes ideas and suggestions for updates to LinkedIn or Facebook and the monthly emails. If you learn something or have read something that is of interest to our members, please communicate this information to Membership & Marketing (M&M). We need everyone’s help to keep current with what is happening. Sheila’s contact is [email protected].
2018 Call for Nominations
If you are interested in running for the Board of Directors, contact Cedric Jones at [email protected] or Shana House at [email protected].
2018 Conference
If you would like to present or you want someone else to present, please contact Janice right away. The conference planning is underway. Likewise if you have ideas and suggestions, Janice would love to hear from you. Contact Janice at [email protected].
Michelle Smith
From the President
Article 7 Officers
SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF OFFICERS The Officers of the corporation shall be a President, a Vice President, a Secretary and a Treasurer. The corporation may also have one or more Vice Presidents, Assistant Secretaries, Assistant Treasurers, and other such Officers with such titles as may be determined from time to time by the Board. An individual may only hold one office at a time.
Get Ready for NIRMA’s 42nd
Information Management
Conference
By Janice Hoerber, NIRMA Vice President
10 Spring 2018 NIRMA.org Inside NIRMA
he 2018 Nuclear Information Management Conference will again be held at the beautiful JW Marriott in Summerlin, Nev. There will be three new training opportunities on Saturday, Aug. 4. A full
agenda of conference speakers and presentations will begin Sunday through Tuesday (Aug. 5-7), and the NIRMA Business Unit meetings will follow on Wednesday (Aug. 8).
We are delighted to have Tim Powell, Chief Nuclear Officer at South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, to kick off the conference with a keynote address on Sunday. ASME and ANI (American Nuclear Insurers) will also be among the guest organizations to speak at this year’s conference.
Consider Presenting at NIRMA! A Call for Papers
We invite you to participate at the conference as a speaker in the technical program. Consider your experiences, your lessons-learned, or expertise that you can share with peers at the conference. If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, please submit a 100-150 word abstract of your presentation by an extended date of March 30, 2018 via email to me at [email protected]. See the Conference Page on NIRMA.org for more information.
NIRMA has a rich history of serving its mission in the nuclear industry for four decades, but it also has given a platform for many attendees to get out of their comfort zone and advance their career skills in speaking and presenting before an audience. I encourage you to take advantage of the professional development opportunities that NIRMA has to offer, including running for the Board or participation in one of the three NIRMA Business Units, by planning an extra day (Wednesday, Aug. 8) in your conference travel. These opportunities continue to be an important aspect of NIRMA as we prepare a new generation for managing nuclear information and quality records.
Pass the Torch
Whether you are new in your career or nearing the final years, there is no doubt that you are affected by the digital transformation going on around us. The way we work and the skills we need will be dramatically different. The future “record” of valuable information will continue to evolve with technology advancements. Are you ready for exponential change? I invite you to watch this inspiring video and then challenge yourself to embrace the future and become more involved with NIRMA.
We have a great obligation to the industry that has served many of us well. Pass the torch, prepare the next generation for an exciting future. Share the regulations and the “why” from the past, then get ready to help NIRMA drive the changes needed to embrace new technologies while maintaining core business for the quality of records.
NIRMA Exhibitor/Vendor Events
We are planning some big things for the NIRMA Exhibitor/Vendor area this year. It will be open for business one full day Monday, Aug. 6 (with setup Sunday afternoon).
We are planning activities, raffles, and refreshments in the Exhibitor area to ensure the conference attendees make the most of networking with each other and to engage with our Exhibitors. After the technical sessions for the day, we will kick into a BEACH THEME for the evening extravaganza in the Exhibitor room. A special prize will go to the BEST attire for the Beach party, so dig out
those Hawaiian shirts, flip-flops, and whatever else you can imagine for a fun time.
We still have availability for more Exhibitors/Vendors at the Conference, as well as creative new Advertising
packages to offer, so reserve your spot soon on NIRMA.org!
Inside NIRMA NIRMA.org Spring 2018 11
he most recent news is that the newly reorganized board met in February in Summerlin, Nev. Our Board meeting was a brainstorming, planning, reviewing, revising and
decision making whirlwind. The board established our 2018 BOD Goals, Budget, and Strategic Plan, as well as the Sponsorship Levels and Opportunities. The 2017 Treasurer’s report of actuals vs budgeted was reviewed and the AD01 was also reviewed and approved. Plus, we managed to squeeze in a short meet and greet with our new Publications Specialists.
The weather was wonderful – not that we saw any daylight…. The resort is still lovely as ever. The Palm Tower walkway down thru restaurant row is looking much different. Those that frequented the Irish establishment will have to find new haunts. The hotel continues to make many improvements – be prepared for some changes.
As per our normal course of business, I would like to now bring to mind all of our accomplishments for 2017. If I left something out, please let me know.
2017 Accomplishments
Secured contracts through 2020 to hold our annual conference with JW Marriott, Summerlin, Nev.
Approved TG23, TG18-2017, TG23-2017
Retired WP-01 and WP-04
Revised By-Laws
Achieved Partnership with the Nuclear Plant Digitalization Conference
ICRM will now administer the exam process for NIRMA’s Nuclear Specialist designation
August 2017 held our Annual Conference!!!
• There were 30 First-Time Attendees at the Conference
• 19 CMP Credits awarded
• Eliminated the hard copy Resource Guide
• Implemented the conference app – CVENT
• Set the 2018 Nominating Committee:
Cedric Jones, Entergy
Shana House, Ameren
Lona Smith
News from the
Secretary
NIRMA Contact Information
Sarah Perkins
NIRMA Administrator
245 Sunnyridge Ave., #41
Fairfield, CT 06824
203.345.7237
Email: [email protected]
12 Spring 2018 NIRMA.org Inside NIRMA
Regulatory Information Management Business Unit
(RIMBU) News By Chris Boudreaux, RIMBU Business Unit Director
he 2018 RIMBU Spring meeting was held on March 6-7, 2018. RIMBU Meetings are a great opportunity for NIRMA
Members to participate in the efforts of the team to discuss emerging topics for our industry and develop technical guidelines to establish best practices. In addition, this is a great opportunity to network with peers in the nuclear industry, to exchange ideas around technology and process, and perhaps find some new ideas that would work for your company. The main topics of discussion at this year’s Spring Meeting were: Decommissioning, Electronic Signature, White Paper on Sustainable Long Term Storage of Records, and Migration to the Cloud.
Upcoming NIRMA ANSI Audit:
As an ANSI Approved Standards Developer, NIRMA undergoes periodic audits to verify its procedures and standards-related activities are in compliance with the ANSI Essential Requirements that govern ANSI Standards. A pre-audit conference call was held with ANSI staff in January. In February, NIRMA prepared and submitted a documentation package associated with the processing of the 2015 Reaffirmation of the ANSI/NIRMA Standard for Configuration Management. We expect to receive initial results of the audit in late March or early April. Updates on the status of the audit will be provided in future RIMBU reports.
Decommissioning White Paper:
With the recent decommissioning projects and impending projects on the near horizon, RIMBU decided that a
focus was needed to provide guidance on improving the decommissioning process related to information and records management (IRM). This means examining the effectiveness and efficiency of managing information and records throughout all phases of decommissioning. In January 2017, RIMBU assembled a working group with the goal of creating a “Decommissioning Playbook” for IRM. This “Playbook” is to provide guidance on delivering a consistent and repeatable process during the planning and implementation in executing the decommissioning of a plant.
Thus far, RIMBU has drafted a White Paper in order to understand the scope and magnitude of this issue. This White Paper includes the following:
An examination of record and information types needed during the various phases that constitute a decommissioning project. This involved reviewing regulatory and standards decommissioning documentation from the NRC and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Tables were assembled that listed the identified record and information types against the phase in decommissioning, that information was needed.
Lessons learned could be gleaned from decommissioning efforts from the past or are currently underway. Certain case studies from ongoing and past decommissioning projects were reviewed. The primary messages from these case studies are:
• Determining what records were needed (“what’s in; what’s out”)
• Determining how the retention schedule is applied
• What condition were the records – physical, category, accuracy, completeness, etc.
• The condition would then dictate scope, risk, and ultimately, cost
The primary lessons learned are:
• Too many records that must be culled
• Lack of records
• Unchecked or inaccurate records
• Wrong interpretation of records
What’s Next
RIMBU will ready the White Paper for the review cycle with the BU/membership and ultimately to the Board for approval.
Status of Technical Guidelines:
• TG’s 5 and 16 sent to NIRMA Board for Approval
Click here to visit the
NIRMA website.
In our newest column, we will meet NIRMA President, Michelle Smith. Michelle is the Electronic Records Management and Automation, Document Control and Training Support Supervisor at South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company where she is responsible for the development and implementation of the ERM&A strategic plan to automate real-time support for electronic, end-to-end submittal, storage and retrieval of STP required records.
Michelle has been a member of NIRMA since 2007 and has served in several leadership positions (Director and Co-Director of RIMBU, BOD as secretary ) before becoming President in 2018. Michelle also has involvement in Women in Nuclear as Program Director and Treasurer.
Michelle and spouse Anthony, have seven children together, I guess you can say they are the Brady Bunch of Angleton, Texas. Michelle has two girls and Anthony has five boys. Michelle loves traveling and spending time with her three grandchildren. In her spare time, she loves to bake from birthday to wedding cakes and she even enjoys teaching her grandkids to bake.
Question: NIRMA will host its annual conference in August. Besides the conference itself, what are you most looking forward to doing in Las Vegas?
Answer: I have been attending the NIRMA Conference since 2007. I have found the conference to be very rewarding. It has allowed me to build lasting relationships with Industry peers and we have ventured to the strip to take in a show or two. I love looking for the mom and pop restaurants to have a good home cooked meal. Contrary to what most people say, I can come to Vegas and not play the slots.
Q: What is your favorite all time movie line?
A: I love watching Hallmark movies, I can camp out all day on the couch watching movie after movie, but my favorite movie line is from Pretty Woman, when Richard Gere’s character says “I told you not to pick up the phone,” and Julia Roberts character replies with “Then stop calling me.”
Q: Dogs or Cats? Why?
A: As a child growing up we always had pet dogs, but in the early 80’s a co-worker gave me a black Himalayan cat and I named him spooky.
Q: If you could meet anyone from history, who would you meet and why?
A: I would have loved to meet Daniel Williams, the first open heart surgeon because he made such an awesome contribution to the world.
Q: What was the first live concert you ever attended?
A: When I was eighteen, I attended a Frankie Beverly and Maze concert. I remember having such good seats, that I could see the sweat on his forehead.
Q: What holiday would you invent to get the day off work?
A: Michelle’s day. I can truly say that I was able to have Michelle’s day once in my lifetime. It was wonderful, I spent the day in Houston, shopping and eating with friends.
Inside NIRMA NIRMA.org Spring 2018 13
Michelle Smith and
her husband, Anthony
Michelle enjoys decorating cakes in her free time. Here is one of her special creations.
To move to asset performance modeling, 3D digital engineering models
across all disciplines are integrated with the IT and OT systems used for asset performance monitoring. As the operating baseline for infrastructure assets, digital engineering models bring together schematics; engineering analyses; network models; 3D models; functional components, catalogs, and specifications. With the power of cloud computing companies can run complex simulations to explore the benefits of alternative decisions. This enables
owner-operators to optimize processes for the day-to-day running of assets, balancing capital and operational costs and maximizing production capability.
For example, nuclear plants can manage asset performance far more effectively when they have digital engineering models that intelligently bring together all infrastructure data. When IT and OT systems connect with this ET data, teams can view the asset performance history, see all failure alerts, geo-coordinate to the exact positioning within the infrastructure asset, and drill down into the 3D digital
engineering model to determine the cause of the alarm. Then they can refer to the manufacturer’s degradation data, access maintenance and repair data information, and take corrective action. Operational performance can be optimized by including data such as population, meteorological trends and forecasts, and usage and demand patterns to plan for efficiencies in distribution and energy usage.
Bentley’s AssetWise leverages the convergence of IT, OT, and ET information to help companies optimize asset performance, supporting an asset strategy of regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and risk mitigation. Built on a hybrid cloud-computing platform that leverages a common data environment, AssetWise facilitates the interoperation of multiple data sources, providing operations, maintenance, and engineering with accurate and reliable information, when it is needed, to make informed decisions, from capital planning through proactive asset maintenance.
For additional information about AssetWise, visit www.bentley.com/AssetWise.
Bentley
Continued from Page 5
Financial Holdings: 12/31/17
Checking Account $ 8,478.54 Investment Account $ 130,793.38 TOTAL $ 139,271.92
Anita S. Beren NIRMA Treasurer
The V-Model represents project lifecycle processes, including IT, OT, and ET. Digital engineering models create the digital twin, or digital replica of the physical assets.
14 Spring 2018 NIRMA.org Inside NIRMA
SavantX’s A.I. extends results to Related Terms, such as different terms, same meaning. Thus
making the platform forgiving if a search term is misspelled or abbreviated.
The capabilities that SavantX delivers encompass a broad scope, not the least of which is facilitating knowledge transfer and retention. The Patent Pending Technologies that drive SavantX allow for revealing hidden relationships and trends in the data which aids in having actionable information that a plant can use to help safeguard against repeating undesirable conditions/ incidents.
Making Search Easy
The overarching goal behind the technology is to make ALL station data quickly findable… by bringing the “consumer” search experience to the Enterprise. An easy-to-use User Experience (UX) utilizes natural language queries to return relevant results. A state-of-the-art data visualization tool allows users to interact with the data and gain much more relevant information than a run-of-the-mill search tool would allow for.
The SavantX Platform ingests all station databases directly to include attachments. The attachments are processed to make them machine-readable. Image files are OCR’d. All data is then searchable residing in a single data store or corpus continually updated with the latest documents.
Results are quickly returned to the user and automatically ranked with smart (A.I. enhanced) user-controlled filters. Key terms are identified, and relationships highlighted at the passage level from disparate data stores, disambiguating and enabling rapid navigation with large return sets. A discovery feature provides an interactive user experience of the search results so that users unfamiliar with the principal terms/concepts/relationships in a specific knowledge domain can instantly see and navigate to actionable information. By computing relationships in higher dimensions, SavantX is able to reveal 2nd, 3rd,4th, and 5th party relationships.
Making Operational Experience On-Demand
The initial focus for SavantX was to help the nuclear energy market solve their intractable problem of turning tens of millions of records across many datasets into critical insights to maximize safety and efficiency. The Company continues to
innovate and apply its technologies to new applications and domains to include the Department of Defense.
This Next Generation Search & Discovery Platform built especially for the Nuclear Power Industry to deliver on the Nuclear Promise will be at the upcoming 2018 NIRMA Conference where SavantX will be both exhibiting and presenting. In the meantime, you can learn more at http://www.SavantX.com.
About the Author:
Ed Heinbockel
Co-Founder, President, & CEO of SavantX, Inc. Ed Heinbockel has over thirty years of hands-on experience in the management of high-tech companies, with a proven record of success in building leading-edge software products in both public and private companies.
Ed has been a technologist since the eighties building teams around emerging technologies – from producing the first CD and DVD-ROM entertainment titles - to next-gen training simulations for three-letter government agencies and the DoD. Ed notched a successful IPO and is now on his third successful start-up.
Ed was named to Newsweek Magazine’s Century Club of the top “100 people to watch in the next millennium.” He was also named as one of Executive Excellence Magazine’s “Top 100 Thinkers of Our Time.”
Ed holds an engineering degree and an MBA from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. He holds several pending patents as co-inventor in Enterprise Search and Machine Learning.
SavantX
Continued from Page 7
Inside NIRMA NIRMA.org Spring 2018 15
SavantX screenshot from operating nuclear power station databases presenting the BIG PICTURE of >100,000 results.
nextScan’s Virtual Film archive creates an environment not unlike that found on reader/
printers. It is like you are scrolling through a roll of microfilm but at the speed of the digital age by going directly to any individual document instantly. Utilizing these advancements dramatically cuts down the time it takes for retrieval!
The other critical element of digital documents is having the ability to enhance the captured images. The Virtual Film software allows users to adjust and edit images if the quality of the microfilm images themselves are less than optimal. In addition, many rolls of microfilm were filmed under less than ideal conditions. Previously, a user could only duplicate the file up to the quality provided. By utilizing new software technology, the user is able to access easy on-screen controls to adjust lightness/darkness, sharpening, and contrast of scanned images.
With these enhancements, information that may have been lost forever might be salvageable. Those images now have a chance to be saved in the file format of your choice, whether PDF, JPEG, TIFF, and dozens more, for quick access for many years to come.
Storing Converted Files
Digital images captured by the FlexScan are sent to a server or Ribbon Storage Device (RSD) for quick and easy retrieval using Virtual Film. Now, when a request is received, instead of heading to the microfilm collection, any record manager can access the RSD, select the roll and document, and receive the file instantly!
Working with analog microfilm documents can be challenging. The team at nextScan continually strives to make working with those documents that much easier. Learn how nextScan conversion scanners can help in your facility by creating quicker and accurate information exchange.
Professional Development
Business Unit (PDBU) News
By Tammy Cutts, PDBU Director
nextScan
Continued from Page 8
reparations for the 2018 NIRMA Conference are underway, and the PDBU has some fantastic opportunities for you this year. Before I talk about those, I’d like to introduce myself to those who may
not know me. I am the (Nuc) Records Analyst for Pacific Gas and Electric Company in California, working at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in Avila Beach. I spent one year as a clerk scanning records before my promotion to analyst nearly 12 years ago. In 2016, I joined Anita Beren as the co-director of PDBU and took over as director this year with her appointment to the NIRMA Board of Directors.
Professional development is a component of my annual review at PG&E, and PDBU is working to provide conference attendees with opportunities to check that box if it’s a part of yours. Briefly, the following training sessions are planned for the conference. More detailed information about each will be coming in the future, so watch for that as you plan your conference attendance.
AIIM
Jesse Wilkins of AIIM, Director, Professional Development will be leading the Modern Records Management, (MRM) Specialist course. The MRM course gives you a thorough understanding of how to best automate the way digital information is managed in support of business goals and objectives. The course covers the entire lifecycle of
records and provides the skills needed to position records managers as business enablers.
Records Management University
Offered by Mitch Farbstein, Vice President of Sales for Feith Systems, this NIRMA one-day training session will be a unique combination of six one-hour long sessions from his Records Management University series, covering many of the essential elements of records management.
RIM Tech
Bruce Miller is President of RIMtech and will offer Managing Electronic Records with Microsoft SharePoint®. This seminar is a comprehensive review of Electronic Document & Records Management System (EDRMS) project implementation for Microsoft SharePoint. IT attendees will learn the essential recordkeeping science they’ll need to understand, and how to achieve successful SharePoint adoption.
Other professional development opportunities available for you to consider are the professional certifications of Certified Records Analyst (CRA) and Certified Records Manager (CRM). This CRA certification is obtained by
See PDBU on page 18.
16 Spring 2018 NIRMA.org Inside NIRMA
Inside NIRMA NIRMA.org Spring 2018 17
Ameren Workers Departing for Puerto Rico
Crews from Missouri, Illinois will help accelerate power restoration effort.
NEWS PROVIDED BY Ameren Corporation
ST. LOUIS, Jan. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A total of 76 Ameren line workers and support personnel from Missouri and Illinois fly to Puerto Rico tomorrow morning. Their mission will be to repair energy infrastructure and ultimately help restore power to the citizens of Puerto Rico due to the catastrophic destruction of electric infrastructure following Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Ameren and other U.S. energy companies who are members of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) are part of a contingent of 1,500 additional personnel arriving from the United States, increasing the total number of power restoration workers in Puerto Rico to more than 5,500. Ameren crews will be deployed for three week rotations. Equipment from Ameren, including trucks and trailers, left by barge from Norfolk, Virginia, earlier this month and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
"This restoration mission is a massive, unprecedented mutual aid effort," said Warner Baxter, chairman, president and CEO of Ameren Corporation. "We wish our co-workers, who volunteered for this assignment, and other crews from across the industry safe travels as they do extraordinary work to bring the power back to the citizens of Puerto Rico." The island has been sectored into seven regions for purposes of the restoration. Ameren co-workers will work in the Carolina Region, located on the northeast coast immediately east of San Juan. Read full article here.
Feb. 15, 2018—The U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills related to nuclear energy research and development. Earlier this week, the House passed H.R. 4378 supporting the construction of a versatile reactor-based fast neutron source and H.R. 4675 to increase the understanding of the health effects of low-dose radiation.
“This research reactor, a Versatile Neutron Source, is critical for the development of advanced reactor designs, materials, and nuclear fuels. This type of research requires access to fast neutrons, which are currently only available for civilian research in Russia,” said Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas).
The Nuclear Energy Research Infrastructure Act, sponsored by Weber, was introduced in November of last year. The bill would authorize construction of a fast neutron research reactor to be operational by Dec. 31, 2025. This new user facility would provide fast neutron irradiation capabilities which could be used to help develop new reactor designs, new fuel designs, and study ways to improve nuclear fuel fabrication and reactor performance.
Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) introduced the Low Dose Radiation Research Act of 2017 (H.R. 4675) in December of last year. Marshall said the bill will, among other things, direct the Department of Energy to carry out basic research on low dose radiation.
“Currently, there is ample data that demonstrates the harmful effects
that high-dose radiation has on the human body,” Rep. Marshall said. “Yet, as it stands today, there are few measurements or studies seeking to understand low-dose radiation’s effects. This absence of evidence does not give the medical community or government regulators the ability to accurately assess and make the very best decisions for their patients.”
NEI Vice President of Governmental Affairs Beverly Marshall said the industry welcomed passage of the two bills and looked forward to working with Capitol Hill to secure their swift enactment.
“NEI appreciates the hard work and strong congressional support for these two bills and we hope the United States Senate will do their part to get these bills to the president’s desk,” Marshall said.
“Having an American fast neutron research reactor will help researchers to discover new ways to improve nuclear power plant performance without relying on resources in foreign countries.
“The Low Dose Radiation Research Act will improve our knowledge about the impact, if any, of low radiation doses, to better shape policies and programs which ensure safety in a science-based and cost-effective manner.
House Passes Bills Supporting Neutron Reactor, Radiation Study
Article reprinted with permission of Nuclear Energy Institute. Read full article here.
completing parts 2-4 of the CRM exam cycle. The CRA can be a first step to obtaining the CRM or it
can stand on its own, based on your professional goals. Meanwhile, we continue to make progress on having the NS exam offered electronically through Pearson VUE. The Nuclear Specialist (NS) designation can be obtained by holders of either a CRA or a CRM. The new Federal Specialist designation will require the CRM.
I am also seeking one or two co-directors to assist me with the PDBU. For additional information about the above, the PDBU in general, or if you are interested in becoming a co-director, please contact me at [email protected].
PDBU
Continued from Page 16 Inside NIRMA Magazine
Wants Your Photos! With the 2018 launch of the new Inside NIRMA magazine, we would like to have some real "work pictures" to use (with permission) for backdrop shots, etc. We are interested in photos of people in your workplace performing tasks, particularly around records management, document control, engineering and IT, as examples. Other areas are also welcome! Be sure to obtain permission for use from the persons involved. No company or individual names would be included. Please email photos (JPG format preferred) to
NIRMA elections will occur in July and we need your HELP! Please send your nominations to the nominating committee members, myself ([email protected]) or Cedric Jones ([email protected]) by April 30, 2018. The committee is required to submit the list of nominees to NIRMA Secretary Lona Smith by May 8, 2018.
Board Elections:
Two board positions will be filled. Please consider nominating yourself or other individuals whom you consider qualified to fill these leadership positions. The nominating committee will then contact nominees to obtain the required supporting documentation. Factors to include in your consideration of nominees are length of time as a NIRMA member, committee activities, leadership positions held, service to NIRMA, professional qualifications and the desire/ability to serve on the Board. The term is three years.
Service Awards:
Nominations for annual Exemplary Service Awards are also being accepted. If you would like to nominate someone for their outstanding service to the association, please contact Sarah Perkins, NIRMA Administrator at [email protected].
Nominations needed!
Shana House, Nominating Committee
Nuclear operators urged to tackle growing threat from
cyber attack emails
In October, the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) warned of an advanced persistent threat activity targeting energy sectors including nuclear power. The alert followed investigations by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
"Since at least May 2017, threat actors have targeted government entities and the energy, water, aviation, nuclear, and critical manufacturing sectors, and, in some cases, have leveraged their capabilities to compromise victims’ networks," US-CERT said in a statement. "DHS assesses this activity as a multi-stage intrusion campaign by threat actors targeting low security and small networks to gain access and move laterally to networks of major, high value asset owners," it said.
In July, consultancy group PwC reported “suspected state actors” had used fake emails to penetrate the administration systems of multiple U.S. nuclear plants, as part of a cyber intrusion campaign codenamed Nuclear17. In September, cyber security firm Symantec said it believed a sophisticated cyber espionage group known as Dragonfly was behind a recent wave of cyber attacks on European and U.S. power generation companies. Targets reportedly included personnel working for power generation companies and manufacturers of plant control systems.
Article reprinted with permission of Nuclear Energy Insider. Read full article here.
18 Spring 2018 NIRMA.org Inside NIRMA
Editors
Neal and Sandra Miller
Advertising
NIRMA Headquarters
Sarah Perkins
NIRMA Administrator
245 Sunnyridge Ave., #41
Fairfield, CT 06824
Background
he NRC is hard at work developing policies and procedures to implement Executive Order 13556, dated November 4, 2010, “Controlled Unclassified Information” (CUI). This Order
established the CUI Program to standardize the way the executive branch handles information that requires safeguarding or dissemination control (excluding information that is classified under Executive Order 13526, Classified National Security Information, or any predecessor or successor order; or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954). As the CUI Executive Agent (EA), the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is developing and issuing policy and phased implementation guidance for the CUI Program with the consultative support of the CUI Advisory Council. The NRC along with many other Federal departments and agencies is a member of the Advisory Council and as such is providing input to NARA for consideration and resolution as appropriate, any disputes, complaints, and suggestions about the CUI Program.
Identify, Review, and Define Categories
The CUI Executive Order prescribes a bottom-up approach, in which each department and agency is required to:
•Identify all Sensitive but Unclassified markings being employed in their particular department or agency, such as “Official Use Only,” “Pre-Decisional,” or “Sensitive”;
•Identify the authority for those markings, i.e. law, regulation, or government-wide policy;
•Review those markings to identify any areas for consolidation across the Executive branch or the elimination of redundancy; and
Specifically define all categories, subcategories, and markings that the department or agency would like to continue to employ.
NARA Leadership
NARA led an interagency process to establish Executive branch-wide definitions and taxonomy of categories of CUI. The taxonomy and standardized definitions are published in a public CUI registry to increase transparency and ensure consistent application across the Executive branch of Government (see CUI Registry - Categories and
Subcategories here ).
On November 14, 2016, the CUI Rule became effective, but NARA has instructed Federal agencies to make no changes to existing processes at this time given the phased implementation approach underway.
Future updates will be posted as more information becomes available.
Inside NIRMA NIRMA.org Spring 2018 19
ImplementIng presIdent’s Order to Protect
Controlled Unclassified Information
By Marianne Narick, Senior IT/IM Manager and Records Team Lead, NRC
Learn the latest from experts in current trends.
Enhance your career through Saturday Training opportunities.
Be inspired by the message of industry leaders.
Retool your organization’s view for the future.
Re-energize your passion to make a difference.
The NIRMA Conference will be held at the
beautiful JW Marriott Las Vegas
Resort & Spa, located at 221 N Rampart Blvd, Las
Vegas, Nev.
The JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa is a luxury
getaway, providing spacious rooms and suites,
premium amenities and superb customer service.
Visit JW Marriott here.
Don’t wait a moment longer. Click here to register today!
20 Spring 2018 NIRMA.org Inside NIRMA
MICROFILM SCANNER
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NextStar PLUS SoftwareFlexView operates with NextStar PLUS Software providing optimum speed and functionality reducing overall conversion costs
The new FlexView, though small in size, is mighty when it comes to converting rolls of microfilm. With dimensions that allow for the scanner to be placed on a desktop, the FlexView delivers the high-quality images you have grown to expect from the nextScan family of scanners. It’s fast too! Able to scan at up to 300 FPM, the FlexView is the professional, portable microfilm conversion scanner you have been waiting for!
Capable of scanning: 16mm, 35mm and Blipped Film
Visit www.nextScan.com for more details and to download a brochure. Call 208-514-4000 or email [email protected] for more information.
