[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 169 (Friday, August 31, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50416-50417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-17299]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


U.S. Digital Instrumentation and Control and Human-Machine 
Interface Workshop

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Opportunity to provide input concerning digital instrumentation 
and control and human-machine interface test and research in the United 
States.

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SUMMARY: The increasing use of digital instrumentation and controls, 
and the growing prevalence of human interactions with such systems, in 
nuclear generating and fuel cycle facilities have introduced new 
regulatory challenges along with the potential benefit of improved 
plant safety. Currently, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
addresses these challenges by analyzing their scope, impact, and 
potential adverse plant interactions, and then conducting research on 
each safety-related topical issue identified through this analysis. 
Often, such analyses and research are performed under contracts that 
the NRC establishes with commercial entities, national laboratories, 
universities, and international research facilities. However, there may 
be advantages to alternative approaches such as establishing a single, 
integrated test facility with expertise in the areas of digital 
instrumentation and controls and human-machine interfaces (DIC&HMI).
    The NRC is conducting public workshops to review the current and 
future technical issues in the area of digital instrumentation and 
control and human-machine interface (I&C and HMI), to identify the 
capabilities that a facility or facilities would need to have to 
support their resolution. The workshop will review the capabilities of 
current facilities and consider lessons learned from their operation. 
Based on this information a set of options will be developed. Toward 
that end, the NRC invites stakeholders including those with existing 
capabilities, as well as others who may be interested in participating 
(such as national laboratories, universities, other Federal agencies, 
research and development centers, and vendors), to participate in the 
workshops. The workshops will seek to develop a consensus in the 
technical community regarding a set of overarching principles that 
should be met to ensure the success of any conceptual approaches 
discussed. Options may include relying on current facilities; upgrading 
current facilities; or developing a single, integrated facility. In 
addition, it is necessary to determine the number of organizations 
within the community that are interested in each option.
    Interested parties should note that the staff is working with 
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, to develop additional 
information on experiences that other similar facilities have had, in 
order to learn from their successes and challenges.
    DISCUSSION: The NRC will hold two workshops to engage potentially 
interested stakeholders. The first workshop will be held on September 
6-7, 2007, at the Clarion Hotel at Atlanta International Airport, which 
is located at 5010 Old National Highway in Atlanta, Georgia. This 
initial workshop will review, at a conceptual level the current and 
future technical issues in the area of digital instrumentation and 
control and human-machine interface (I&C and HMI) and will identify the 
capabilities that a facility or facilities would need to have to 
support their resolution. The workshop will review the capabilities of 
current facilities and consider lessons learned from their operation. 
Based on this information the workshop will develop a set of options 
for establishing additional capabilities, if needed, or ways to 
integrate current capabilities in a manner that creates synergies and 
efficiencies to support current and future needs of the technical 
community in the digital I&C and HMI areas.
    The second workshop will be held on September 11, 2007, at the 
Hilton Washington DC/Rockville Executive Meeting Center, which is 
located at 1750 Rockville Pike in Rockville, Maryland. This workshop 
will use information gathered at the Atlanta workshop regarding the 
additional capabilities (if any) that the community requires to address 
current and future Digital Instrumentation and Control (I&C) and Human 
Machine Interface (HMI) issues and the facility options available to 
perform this work. The workshop will discuss at a conceptual level how 
each of the facility options could be managed. These management issues 
include potential participants, funding arrangements, conflict of

[[Page 50417]]

interest (COI) considerations, and siting. Additional information about 
both workshops can be obtained at http://nrc-test-facility.pnl.gov.
    Additionally, to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of these 
workshops, the NRC invites interested stakeholders to provide comments 
in the following areas:
    (1) Which potential participants might be interested in joint 
participation, collaboration, and funding of such a facility, and to 
what extent might this include participants outside the nuclear 
industry?
    (2) If the nuclear industry participates, how could conflict-of-
interest issues be addressed?
    (3) Do similar facilities currently exist and, if so, what can be 
learned from their successes and challenges?
    (4) What siting options would be most viable (e.g., universities 
where integration with graduate studies might be encouraged, national 
laboratories, etc.), considering both cost and ease of technical 
information exchange?
    (5) To what extent could such a facility be designed to be 
reconfigurable to the expected variety of plant control room and HMI 
designs?
    (6) To what extent could such a facility be designed to also be 
used as an advanced reactor training simulator for NRC staff?
    (7) What impediments, if any, might exist to limit information 
sharing among participants and external stakeholders?
    (8) What could be the benefits, or adverse impacts, of existing and 
established international collaborative activities in this area?
    (9) What could be the NRC's legal, budgetary, and oversight role?
    (10) Would stakeholders potentially be interested in the 
establishment of a facility that would serve as a national technical 
center of excellence to support a wide range of agencies and industries 
that have needs and interests in the rapidly advancing areas of 
instrumentation and controls, digital safety systems, and human-machine 
interfaces?
    The workshop results and public comments received, along with other 
information developed as a result of the staff's discussions with 
interested stakeholders, will be used to support NRC decision making on 
this subject.
    AVAILABILITY AND DATES: Additional information is available through 
the NRC Test Facility Working Group Web page, at http://nrc-test-facility.pnl.gov. Comments would be most helpful if received by 
September 30, 2007.
    COMMENT PROCEDURES: The NRC staff encourages and welcomes 
stakeholder participation in the workshops, as well as submittal of 
related comments and suggestions from interested parties. Personal 
information, such as your name, address, telephone number, e-mail 
address, etc., will not be removed from your submission.
    You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Mail comments to Leonard Bond, Ph.D, Pacific Northwest 
National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Mail Stop K5-26, Richland, WA 99352.
     Provide comments on-line at http://nrc-test-facility.pnl.gov.
     E-mail comments to [email protected].
    CONTACT INFORMATION: General questions regarding this study or the 
related workshops should be addressed to Steven A. Arndt at (301) 415-
6502 or by e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17 day of August, 2007.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Sheron, Director,
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
 [FR Doc. E7-17299 Filed 8-30-07; 8:45 am]
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