PROSPER: an integrated feature-based tool for predicting protease substrate cleavage sites.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiangning Song

Full Text Available The ability to catalytically cleave protein substrates after synthesis is fundamental for all forms of life. Accordingly, site-specific proteolysis is one of the most important post-translational modifications. The key to understanding the physiological role of a protease is to identify its natural substrate(s. Knowledge of the substrate specificity of a protease can dramatically improve our ability to predict its target protein substrates, but this information must be utilized in an effective manner in order to efficiently identify protein substrates by in silico approaches. To address this problem, we present PROSPER, an integrated feature-based server for in silico identification of protease substrates and their cleavage sites for twenty-four different proteases. PROSPER utilizes established specificity information for these proteases (derived from the MEROPS database with a machine learning approach to predict protease cleavage sites by using different, but complementary sequence and structure characteristics. Features used by PROSPER include local amino acid sequence profile, predicted secondary structure, solvent accessibility and predicted native disorder. Thus, for proteases with known amino acid specificity, PROSPER provides a convenient, pre-prepared tool for use in identifying protein substrates for the enzymes. Systematic prediction analysis for the twenty-four proteases thus far included in the database revealed that the features we have included in the tool strongly improve performance in terms of cleavage site prediction, as evidenced by their contribution to performance improvement in terms of identifying known cleavage sites in substrates for these enzymes. In comparison with two state-of-the-art prediction tools, PoPS and SitePrediction, PROSPER achieves greater accuracy and coverage. To our knowledge, PROSPER is the first comprehensive server capable of predicting cleavage sites of multiple proteases within a single substrate

‘Raising righteous billionaires’: The prosperity gospel reconsidered

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ebenezer Obadare

2016-10-01

Full Text Available How should we think of development within an ideological format in which individual subjects are abstracted from the constraints and necessities of social policy and the political structure? Using this question as a spark, this article critically deconstructs the Pentecostal prosperity gospel in Africa. Two overlapping arguments are advanced. One is that, in atomising the individual, Pentecostal prosperity gospel discounts power relations and the political, effectively dislocating the individual believer from the social matrix within which his or her agency is forged. Secondly, it is suggested that this attitude towards both the individual and the state puts Pentecostalism firmly within the orbit of neoliberalism. This article leverages this affinity for an understanding of how neoliberal ideas and conceptions of wealth, accumulation and self-actualisation are embedded and reproduced in Pentecostalism. It concludes that, because, on the one hand, it has no lever – historical or philosophical – on which it might be grounded, and on the other hand, since it has developed no cogent political economy to speak of, prosperity gospel, nay Pentecostal spirituality, offers no realistic path out of the African economic crisis.

‘Raising righteous billionaires’: The prosperity gospel reconsidered

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ebenezer Obadare

2016-05-01

Full Text Available How should we think of development within an ideological format in which individual subjects are abstracted from the constraints and necessities of social policy and the political structure? Using this question as a spark, this article critically deconstructs the Pentecostal prosperity gospel in Africa. Two overlapping arguments are advanced. One is that, in atomising the individual, Pentecostal prosperity gospel discounts power relations and the political, effectively dislocating the individual believer from the social matrix within which his or her agency is forged. Secondly, it is suggested that this attitude towards both the individual and the state puts Pentecostalism firmly within the orbit of neoliberalism. This article leverages this affinity for an understanding of how neoliberal ideas and conceptions of wealth, accumulation and self-actualisation are embedded and reproduced in Pentecostalism. It concludes that, because, on the one hand, it has no lever – historical or philosophical – on which it might be grounded, and on the other hand, since it has developed no cogent political economy to speak of, prosperity gospel, nay Pentecostal spirituality, offers no realistic path out of the African economic crisis.

Prosperity without growth. Economics for a Finite Planet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, T.

2010-01-01

Is more economic growth the solution? Will it deliver prosperity and well-being for a global population projected to reach nine billion? In this explosive book, the author makes a compelling case against continued economic growth in developed nations. No one denies that development is essential for poorer nations. But in the advanced economies there is mounting evidence that ever-increasing consumption adds little to human happiness and may even impede it. More urgently, it is now clear that the ecosystems that sustain our economies are collapsing under the impacts of rising consumption. Unless we can radically lower the environmental impact of economic activity - and there is no evidence to suggest that we can - we will have to devise a path to prosperity that does not rely on continued growth. Economic heresy? Or an opportunity to improve the sources of well-being, creativity and lasting prosperity that lie outside the realm of the market? The author provides a credible vision of how human society can flourish - within the ecological limits of a finite planet. Fulfilling this vision is simply the most urgent task of our times. This book is a substantially revised and updated version of Jackson's controversial study for the Sustainable Development Commission, an advisory body to the UK Government. [nl

Software Dependability and Safety Evaluations ESA's Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Hernek, M.

ESA has allocated funds for an initiative to evaluate Dependability and Safety methods of Software. The objectives of this initiative are; · More extensive validation of Safety and Dependability techniques for Software · Provide valuable results to improve the quality of the Software thus promoting the application of Dependability and Safety methods and techniques. ESA space systems are being developed according to defined PA requirement specifications. These requirements may be implemented through various design concepts, e.g. redundancy, diversity etc. varying from project to project. Analysis methods (FMECA. FTA, HA, etc) are frequently used during requirements analysis and design activities to assure the correct implementation of system PA requirements. The criticality level of failures, functions and systems is determined and by doing that the critical sub-systems are identified, on which dependability and safety techniques are to be applied during development. Proper performance of the software development requires the development of a technical specification for the products at the beginning of the life cycle. Such technical specification comprises both functional and non-functional requirements. These non-functional requirements address characteristics of the product such as quality, dependability, safety and maintainability. Software in space systems is more and more used in critical functions. Also the trend towards more frequent use of COTS and reusable components pose new difficulties in terms of assuring reliable and safe systems. Because of this, its dependability and safety must be carefully analysed. ESA identified and documented techniques, methods and procedures to ensure that software dependability and safety requirements are specified and taken into account during the design and development of a software system and to verify/validate that the implemented software systems comply with these requirements [R1].

Ambient Intelligence 2.0: Towards Synergetic Prosperity

Science.gov (United States)

Aarts, Emile; Grotenhuis, Frits

Ten years of research in Ambient Intelligence have revealed that the original ideas and assertions about the way the concept should develop no longer hold and should be substantially revised. Early scenario's in Ambient Intelligence envisioned a world in which individuals could maximally exploit personalized, context aware, wireless devices thus enabling them to become maximally productive, while living at an unprecedented pace. Environments would become smart and proactive, enriching and enhancing the experience of participants thus supporting maximum leisure possibly even at the risk of alienation. New insights have revealed that these brave new world scenarios are no longer desirable and that people are more in for a balanced approach in which technology should serve people instead of driving them to the max. We call this novel approach Synergetic Prosperity, referring to meaningful digital solutions that balance mind and body, and society and earth thus contributing to a prosperous and sustainable development of mankind.

Enhancing NPP Safety Through an Effective Dependability Management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vieru, G., E-mail: g_vieru@yahoo.com [AREN, Bucharest (Romania)

2014-10-15

Taking into account the importance of the continuous improvement of the performance and reliability of a NPP and practical measures to strengthen nuclear safety and security, it is to be noted that a good management for a nuclear power reactor involves a ''good dependability management'' of the activities, such as: Reliability, Availability, Maintainability (RAM) and maintenance support. In order to evaluate certain safety assessment criteria intended to be applied at the level of the nuclear reactor unit management, equipment dependability indicators and their impact over the availability and reactor safety have to be evaluated. Reactor equipment dependability indicators provide a quantitative indication of equipment RAM performances (Reliability, Availability and Maintenance). One of the important benefits of maintenance and failure data gathering is that it can be used as a support of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). Also, a good dependability management implementation may be used to complement reactor level unit performance indicators in the field of safe operation, maintenance and improving operating parameters, as well as for Strengthening Safety and Improving Reliability of a NPP. This paper underlines the importance of nuclear safety and security as prerequisites for nuclear power. In addition, it demonstrates how different technical aspects, through implementation of a good dependability management, contribute to a strengthened safety and an improvement of availability of the NPP through dependability indicators determination and evaluation. (author)

Redefining prosperity : resource productivity, economic growth and sustainable development

OpenAIRE

Sustainable Development Commission

2003-01-01

This report seeks to stimulate debate on how we define prosperity and addresses the inadequacies of standard definitions of Gross Domestic Product and economic growth as yardsticks for well-being. Publisher PDF

Industrial ecology Prosperity Game{trademark}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beck, D.; Boyack, K.; Berman, M.

1998-03-01

Industrial ecology (IE) is an emerging scientific field that views industrial activities and the environment as an interactive whole. The IE approach simultaneously optimizes activities with respect to cost, performance, and environmental impact. Industrial Ecology provides a dynamic systems-based framework that enables management of human activity on a sustainable basis by: minimizing energy and materials usage; insuring acceptable quality of life for people; minimizing the ecological impact of human activity to levels that natural systems can sustain; and maintaining the economic viability of systems for industry, trade and commerce. Industrial ecology applies systems science to industrial systems, defining the system boundary to incorporate the natural world. Its overall goal is to optimize industrial activities within the constraints imposed by ecological viability, globally and locally. In this context, Industrial systems applies not just to private sector manufacturing and services but also to government operations, including provision of infrastructure. Sandia conducted its seventeenth Prosperity Game{trademark} on May 23--25, 1997, at the Hyatt Dulles Hotel in Herndon, Virginia. The primary sponsors of the event were Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory, who were interested in using the format of a Prosperity Game to address some of the issues surrounding Industrial Ecology. Honorary game sponsors were: The National Science Foundation; the Committee on Environmental Improvement, American Chemical Society; the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Division, American Chemical Society; the US EPA--The Smart Growth Network, Office of Policy Development; and the US DOE-Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development.

Dependency safety for Java - implementing failboxes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosnacki, D.; van den Brand, M.G.J.; Denissen, P.E.J.G.; Huizing, C.; Jacobs, B.; Kuiper, R.; Wijs, A.J.; Wiłkowski, M.; Zhang, D.

2016-01-01

Exception mechanisms help to ensure that a program satisfies the important robustness criterion of dependency safety: if an operation fails, no code that depends on the operation's successful completion is executed anymore nor will wait for the completion. However, the exception handling mechanisms

Contributing to Peace, Health and Prosperity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amano, Yukiya

2013-01-01

This issue of the IAEA Bulletin edition considers the ideas and innovations that led to the IAEA’s formation and influenced its evolution. In this issue of the IAEA Bulletin, you will learn more about how countries use nuclear technology to improve health and prosperity and protect the environment through the technical cooperation programme. Together, the Member States and the IAEA are making a lasting contribution to achieving the Millennium Development Goals that challenge us to significantly reduce hunger, poverty and disease

Prosperity against ecology? The environment in the America of G.W. Bush

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delbard, O.

2006-03-01

The author analysis replaces the Bush administration positions in their socio-cultural context and shows the two faces of the USA, the choice of the prosperity facing the ecology and in parallel a country of many free spaces with powerful groups for the environment preservation. After a presentation of the Bush policy in favor of the prosperity facing the environment, he shows the initiatives of movements in favor of the ecology and the environment, and concludes on the today mutations of the public opinion and some enterprises in theses domains. (A.L.B.)

The other face of the prosperity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carta Petrolera

2001-01-01

The petroleum Colombian exports and their derived overcame the 4.000 million dollars in the 2000, the highest figure reached by a product in the history of the country. Behind this prosperity that was translated in figures record in the revenues of Ecopetrol and in the transfers for the nation, there was a joint that happened inadvertent and that it also brought big benefits for the company and for the international trade of the country: the increment of the export of refined products as they are the ACPM, turbo-fuel or fuel-oil

Performance assessment of the PNM Prosperity electricity storage project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roberson, Dakota [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Ellison, James F. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Bhatnagar, Dhruv [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Schoenwald, David A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2014-05-01

The purpose of this study is to characterize the technical performance of the PNM Prosperity electricity storage project, and to identify lessons learned that can be used to improve similar projects in the future. The PNM Prosperity electricity storage project consists of a 500 kW/350 kWh advanced lead-acid battery with integrated supercapacitor (for energy smoothing) and a 250 kW/1 MWh advanced lead-acid battery (for energy shifting), and is co-located with a 500 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) resource. The project received American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) funding. The smoothing system is e ective in smoothing intermittent PV output. The shifting system exhibits good round-trip efficiencies, though the AC-to-AC annual average efficiency is lower than one might hope. Given the current utilization of the smoothing system, there is an opportunity to incorporate additional control algorithms in order to increase the value of the energy storage system.

Continent at a Crossroads: Prosperity, Justice, and Security in South America

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Scott, Frances K

2006-01-01

This Special Bibliography Series, Number 107, "Continent at the Crossroads: Prosperity, Justice, and Security in South America," was developed by Social Sciences Bibliographer and Reference Librarian Frances K...

CSIR eNews: Defence peace safety and security

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

CSIR

2008-03-01

Full Text Available At the CSIR, science and technology (S&T) is hard at work for a peaceful, safe and prosperous South Africa. The organisation has developed strong S&T capabilities through its associations with key players in defence, safety and security...

CSIR eNews: Defence, peace, safety and security

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

CSIR

2007-12-01

Full Text Available At the CSIR, science and technology (S&T) is hard at work for a peaceful, safe and prosperous South Africa. The organisation has developed strong S&T capabilities through its associations with key players in defence, safety and security...

Parameters Evaluation of PLC Dependability and Safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juraj Zdansky

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is focused on evaluation of dependability and safety parameters of PLC (Programmable Logic Controller. Achievement of requested level of these parameters is an application assumption for using PLC in control of safety critical processes. Evaluation of these parameters can be made on the base of suitable model and it can be influenced by system architecture when necessary.

Replication of LDL GWAs hits in PROSPER/PHASE as validation for future (pharmacogenetic analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stott David J

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The PHArmacogenetic study of Statins in the Elderly at risk (PHASE is a genome wide association study in the PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at risk for vascular disease (PROSPER that investigates the genetic variation responsible for the individual variation in drug response to pravastatin. Statins lower LDL-cholesterol in general by 30%, however not in all subjects. Moreover, clinical response is highly variable and adverse effects occur in a minority of patients. In this report we first describe the rationale of the PROSPER/PHASE project and second show that the PROSPER/PHASE study can be used to study pharmacogenetics in the elderly. Methods The genome wide association study (GWAS was conducted using the Illumina 660K-Quad beadchips following manufacturer's instructions. After a stringent quality control 557,192 SNPs in 5,244 subjects were available for analysis. To maximize the availability of genetic data and coverage of the genome, imputation up to 2.5 million autosomal CEPH HapMap SNPs was performed with MACH imputation software. The GWAS for LDL-cholesterol is assessed with an additive linear regression model in PROBABEL software, adjusted for age, sex, and country of origin to account for population stratification. Results Forty-two SNPs reached the GWAS significant threshold of p = 5.0e-08 in 5 genomic loci (APOE/APOC1; LDLR; FADS2/FEN1; HMGCR; PSRC1/CELSR5. The top SNP (rs445925, chromosome 19 with a p-value of p = 2.8e-30 is located within the APOC1 gene and near the APOE gene. The second top SNP (rs6511720, chromosome 19 with a p-value of p = 5.22e-15 is located within the LDLR gene. All 5 genomic loci were previously associated with LDL-cholesterol levels, no novel loci were identified. Replication in WOSCOPS and CARE confirmed our results. Conclusion With the GWAS in the PROSPER/PHASE study we confirm the previously found genetic associations with LDL-cholesterol levels. With this proof

A new growth path for Europe : Generating prosperity and jobs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jaeger, C.C.; et al.,; Paroussos, L.; Kupers, R.T.L.; Mangalagiu, D.

2011-01-01

The synthesis report of the study “A New Growth Path for Europe. Generating Prosperity and Jobs in the Low-Carbon Economy” has generated unusually strong interest and intense debate. It was performed by researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Oxford University, Université

Replication of LDL GWAs hits in PROSPER/PHASE as validation for future (pharmaco)genetic analyses

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Trompet, Stella

2011-10-06

Abstract Background The PHArmacogenetic study of Statins in the Elderly at risk (PHASE) is a genome wide association study in the PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at risk for vascular disease (PROSPER) that investigates the genetic variation responsible for the individual variation in drug response to pravastatin. Statins lower LDL-cholesterol in general by 30%, however not in all subjects. Moreover, clinical response is highly variable and adverse effects occur in a minority of patients. In this report we first describe the rationale of the PROSPER\\/PHASE project and second show that the PROSPER\\/PHASE study can be used to study pharmacogenetics in the elderly. Methods The genome wide association study (GWAS) was conducted using the Illumina 660K-Quad beadchips following manufacturer\\'s instructions. After a stringent quality control 557,192 SNPs in 5,244 subjects were available for analysis. To maximize the availability of genetic data and coverage of the genome, imputation up to 2.5 million autosomal CEPH HapMap SNPs was performed with MACH imputation software. The GWAS for LDL-cholesterol is assessed with an additive linear regression model in PROBABEL software, adjusted for age, sex, and country of origin to account for population stratification. Results Forty-two SNPs reached the GWAS significant threshold of p = 5.0e-08 in 5 genomic loci (APOE\\/APOC1; LDLR; FADS2\\/FEN1; HMGCR; PSRC1\\/CELSR5). The top SNP (rs445925, chromosome 19) with a p-value of p = 2.8e-30 is located within the APOC1 gene and near the APOE gene. The second top SNP (rs6511720, chromosome 19) with a p-value of p = 5.22e-15 is located within the LDLR gene. All 5 genomic loci were previously associated with LDL-cholesterol levels, no novel loci were identified. Replication in WOSCOPS and CARE confirmed our results. Conclusion With the GWAS in the PROSPER\\/PHASE study we confirm the previously found genetic associations with LDL-cholesterol levels. With this proof

Poverty Reduction and Shared Prosperity in Moldova : Progress and Prospects

OpenAIRE

World Bank Group

2016-01-01

Moldova has experienced rapid economic growth in the past decade, which has been accompanied by reductions in poverty and good performance in shared prosperity. Nonetheless, Moldova remains one of the poorest countries in Europe and faces challenges in sustaining the progress. The challenges for progress include spatial and cross-group inequalities, particularly because of unequal access t...

Comments on nuclear reactor safety in Ontario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-08-01

The Chalk River Technicians and Technologists Union representing 500 technical employees at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories of AECL submit comments on nuclear reactor safety to the Ontario Nuclear Safety Review. Issues identified by the Review Commissioner are addressed from the perspective of both a labour organization and experience in the nuclear R and D field. In general, Local 1568 believes Ontario's CANDU nuclear reactors are not only safe but also essential to the continued economic prosperity of the province

Selected Jesus sayings on materialism according to the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) in judging the so-called prosperity theology

OpenAIRE

2008-01-01

Prosperity theology is a variegated movement that overlaps both the Charismatic and non-Charismatic spectrums. This theology certainly has a Charismatic flavouring, but it is by no means limited to Pentecostalism. The prosperity message is being preached world-wide on TBN Television, radio and printed media. This gospel focuses on human potential for successful living, emphasizing health and wealth. There is a clear shift notable from theocentric providence to anthropocentric prosperity in th...

Pathways to Sustainability: 8-year follow-up from the PROSPER Project

Science.gov (United States)

Welsh, Janet A.; Chilenski, Sarah M.; Johnson, Lesley; Greenberg, Mark T.; Spoth, Richard L.

2016-01-01

The large-scale dissemination of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is often hindered by problems with sustaining initiatives past a period of initial grant funding. Communities often have difficulty generating resources needed to sustain and grow their initiatives, resulting in limited public health impact. The PROSPER project, initiated in 2001, provided community coalitions with intensive technical assistance around marketing, communications, and revenue generating strategies. Past reports from PROSPER have indicated that these coalitions were successful with sustaining their programming, and that sustainability could be predicted by early aspects of team functioning and leadership. The current study examines financial sustainability eight years following the discontinuation of grant funding, with an emphasis on sources of revenue and the relationships between revenue generation, team functioning, and EBP participation. This study used four waves of data related to resource generation collected between 2004-2010 by PROSPER teams in Iowa and Pennsylvania. Teams reported annually on the amount and sources of funding procured, as well as annual reports of team functioning and leadership and annual reports of EBP participation by youth and parents. Data revealed that teams' overall revenue generation increased over time. There was significant variation in success with revenue generation at both the community level and across the two states. Teams accessed a variety of sources. Cash revenue generation was positively and predictively associated with EBP participation, but relationships with team functioning and leadership ratings varied significantly by state. State level differences in in-kind support were also apparent. The results indicated that there are different pathways to sustainability, and that no one method works for all teams. The presence of state level infrastructures available to support prevention appeared to account for significant differences in

Prospering in Tough Economic Times Through Loyal Customers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anderson Rolph

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In severe economic downturns, only a few business leaders have the courage and wisdom to invest in customer loyalty to increase profits instead of reflexively cutting costs to try to maintain falling profit margins. Moreover, the usual research and advice tends to focus on how companies can effectively and efficiently reduce costs in order to survive an economic decline. This study contributes to the literature by offering a fresh look at how best to respond in tough economic times by examining companies who have responded traditionally with cost cutting strategies versus companies who instead have invested in customer loyalty. We make the unique and contrarian argument that the latter strategy can be the superior business strategy, which underscores the originality of this investigation. Thus, the purpose of this study is to highlight why investing resources in creating and retaining loyal customers is the best strategy for companies to survive and prosper in tough economic conditions while simultaneously gaining longer-run competitive advantage. Based on quantitative and qualitative survey research methodology, the study findings identify and explain key customer loyalty measures, including: customization for customers, communication interactivity, nurturing of customers, commitment to customers, customer sharing networks, customer focused product assortments, facile exchanges, and customer engagement. Perceptive company executives will measure, benchmark, and regularly compare their performances on these key customer loyalty measures with different customer groups versus their company's past performances, managerial goals, and competitors, then make appropriate adjustments to retain their loyal customers and prosper during tough economic times.

Pravastatin and cognitive function in the elderly. Results of the PROSPER study.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Trompet, Stella

2010-01-01

Observational studies have given conflicting results about the effect of statins in preventing dementia and cognitive decline. Moreover, observational studies are subject to prescription bias, making it hard to draw definite conclusions from them. Randomized controlled trials are therefore the preferred study design to investigate the association between statins and cognition. Here we present detailed cognitive outcomes from the randomized placebo-controlled PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER). Cognitive function was assessed repeatedly in all 5,804 PROSPER participants at six different time points during the study using four neuropsychological performance tests. After a mean follow-up period of 42 months, no difference in cognitive decline at any of the cognitive domains was found in subjects treated with pravastatin compared to placebo (all p > 0.05). Pravastatin treatment in old age did not affect cognitive decline during a 3 year follow-up period. Employing statin therapy in the elderly in an attempt to prevent cognitive decline therefore seems to be futile.

A prediction model for the radiation safety management behavior of medical cyclotrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Ji Hye; Han, Eun Ok; Kim, Ssang Tae

2008-01-01

This study attempted to provide reference materials for improving the behavior level in radiation safety managements by drawing a prediction model that affects the radiation safety management behavior because the radiation safety management of medical Cyclotrons, which can be used to produce radioisotopes, is an important factor that protects radiation caused diseases not only for radiological operators but average users. In addition, this study obtained follows results through the investigation applied from January 2 to January 30, 2008 for the radiation safety managers employed in 24 authorized organizations, which have already installed Cyclotrons, through applying a specific form of questionnaire in which the validity was guaranteed by reference study, site investigation, and focus discussion by related experts. The radiation safety management were configured as seven steps: step 1 is a production preparation step, step 2 is an RI production step, step 3 is a synthesis step, step 4 is a distribution step, step 5 is a quality control step, step 6 is a carriage container packing step, and step 7 is a transportation step. It was recognized that the distribution step was the most exposed as 15 subjects (62.5%), the items of 'the sanction and permission related works' and 'the guarantee of installation facilities and production equipment' were the most difficult as 9 subjects (37.5%), and in the trouble steps in such exposure, the item of 'the synthesis and distribution' steps were 4 times, respectively (30.8%). In the score of the behavior level in radiation safety managements, the minimum and maximum scores were 2.42 and 4.00, respectively, and the average score was 3.46 ± 0.47 out of 4. Prosperity and well-being programs in the behavior and job in radiation safety managements (r=0.529) represented a significant correlation statistically. In the drawing of a prediction model based on the factors that affected the behavior in radiation safety managements, general

Model Transformation for a System of Systems Dependability Safety Case

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Judy; Driskell, Steve

2011-01-01

The presentation reviews the dependability and safety effort of NASA's Independent Verification and Validation Facility. Topics include: safety engineering process, applications to non-space environment, Phase I overview, process creation, sample SRM artifact, Phase I end result, Phase II model transformation, fault management, and applying Phase II to individual projects.

A prediction model for the radiation safety management behavior of medical cyclotrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Ji Hye; Han, Eun Ok [Daegu Health College, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Ssang Tae [CareCamp Inc., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2008-06-15

This study attempted to provide reference materials for improving the behavior level in radiation safety managements by drawing a prediction model that affects the radiation safety management behavior because the radiation safety management of medical Cyclotrons, which can be used to produce radioisotopes, is an important factor that protects radiation caused diseases not only for radiological operators but average users. In addition, this study obtained follows results through the investigation applied from January 2 to January 30, 2008 for the radiation safety managers employed in 24 authorized organizations, which have already installed Cyclotrons, through applying a specific form of questionnaire in which the validity was guaranteed by reference study, site investigation, and focus discussion by related experts. The radiation safety management were configured as seven steps: step 1 is a production preparation step, step 2 is an RI production step, step 3 is a synthesis step, step 4 is a distribution step, step 5 is a quality control step, step 6 is a carriage container packing step, and step 7 is a transportation step. It was recognized that the distribution step was the most exposed as 15 subjects (62.5%), the items of 'the sanction and permission related works' and 'the guarantee of installation facilities and production equipment' were the most difficult as 9 subjects (37.5%), and in the trouble steps in such exposure, the item of 'the synthesis and distribution' steps were 4 times, respectively (30.8%). In the score of the behavior level in radiation safety managements, the minimum and maximum scores were 2.42 and 4.00, respectively, and the average score was 3.46 {+-} 0.47 out of 4. Prosperity and well-being programs in the behavior and job in radiation safety managements (r=0.529) represented a significant correlation statistically. In the drawing of a prediction model based on the factors that affected the behavior in

Security and Prosperity: Reexamining the Connection Between Economic, Homeland and National Security

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-01

security enterprise NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NS national security NSS National Security...all hazards, outcome driven, national security) of the person being asked. Some advocate a more holistic description that encompasses law enforcement...department rather than maintaining the artificial separation. 3. Create a Department of Prosperity The Preamble to the Constitution defines our federal

Case Studies: Improving Environmental Performance and Economic Prosperity at Ports and in Near-Port Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Case Study links for improving environmental performance and economic prosperity at ports and in near-port communities. Case studies on equipment upgrades, jobs and benefits, land use and transportation, port-community engagement, and citizen science.

Material wealth in 3D: Mapping multiple paths to prosperity in low- and middle- income countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Hruschka, Daniel J; Hadley, Craig; Hackman, Joseph

2017-01-01

Material wealth is a key factor shaping human development and well-being. Every year, hundreds of studies in social science and policy fields assess material wealth in low- and middle-income countries assuming that there is a single dimension by which households can move from poverty to prosperity. However, a one-dimensional model may miss important kinds of prosperity, particularly in countries where traditional subsistence-based livelihoods coexist with modern cash economies. Using multiple correspondence analysis to analyze representative household data from six countries-Nepal, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Guatemala-across three world regions, we identify a number of independent dimension of wealth, each with a clear link to locally relevant pathways to success in cash and agricultural economies. In all cases, the first dimension identified by this approach replicates standard one-dimensional estimates and captures success in cash economies. The novel dimensions we identify reflect success in different agricultural sectors and are independently associated with key benchmarks of food security and human growth, such as adult body mass index and child height. The multidimensional models of wealth we describe here provide new opportunities for examining the causes and consequences of wealth inequality that go beyond success in cash economies, for tracing the emergence of hybrid pathways to prosperity, and for assessing how these different pathways to economic success carry different health risks and social opportunities.

Material wealth in 3D: Mapping multiple paths to prosperity in low- and middle- income countries.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel J Hruschka

Full Text Available Material wealth is a key factor shaping human development and well-being. Every year, hundreds of studies in social science and policy fields assess material wealth in low- and middle-income countries assuming that there is a single dimension by which households can move from poverty to prosperity. However, a one-dimensional model may miss important kinds of prosperity, particularly in countries where traditional subsistence-based livelihoods coexist with modern cash economies. Using multiple correspondence analysis to analyze representative household data from six countries-Nepal, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Guatemala-across three world regions, we identify a number of independent dimension of wealth, each with a clear link to locally relevant pathways to success in cash and agricultural economies. In all cases, the first dimension identified by this approach replicates standard one-dimensional estimates and captures success in cash economies. The novel dimensions we identify reflect success in different agricultural sectors and are independently associated with key benchmarks of food security and human growth, such as adult body mass index and child height. The multidimensional models of wealth we describe here provide new opportunities for examining the causes and consequences of wealth inequality that go beyond success in cash economies, for tracing the emergence of hybrid pathways to prosperity, and for assessing how these different pathways to economic success carry different health risks and social opportunities.

Cacao Intensification in Sulawesi: A Green Prosperity Model Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moriarty, K.; Elchinger, M.; Hill, G.; Katz, J.; Barnett, J.

2014-09-01

NREL conducted eight model projects for Millennium Challenge Corporation's (MCC) Compact with Indonesia. Green Prosperity, the largest project of the Compact, seeks to address critical constraints to economic growth while supporting the Government of Indonesia's commitment to a more sustainable, less carbon-intensive future. This study evaluates techniques to improve cacao farming in Sulawesi Indonesia with an emphasis on Farmer Field Schools and Cocoa Development Centers to educate farmers and for train the trainer programs. The study estimates the economic viability of cacao farming if smallholder implement techniques to increase yield as well as social and environmental impacts of the project.

Safety aspects on dependability management for a TRIGA research reactor in Romania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vieru, Gheorghe

2002-01-01

Safety on the management for a nuclear research reactor involves a 'good dependability management' of the activities, such as: reliability, availability, maintainability and maintenance support. In order to evaluate the safety management aspects intended to be applied at a research reactor management, the performance dependability indicators and their impact over the availability and reactor safety have to be established. The document ISO 9000-4/IEC 300-1 'Dependability Management' (1995), describes five internationally agreed indicators of the reactor equipment dependability, each of them can be used for corrective maintenance or for preventive maintenance, such as: I 1 - equipment Maintenance Frequency; I 2 - equipment Maintenance Effort; I-3 - equipment Maintenance Downtime Factor; I 4 - equipment Maintenance Contribution to the System Function Downtime Factor; I 5 - equipment Maintenance Contribution to the reactor Capability Loss Factor. The paper presents an evaluation of those 5 mentioned indicators with referring only at the primary circuit of the INR's TRIGA research reactor and conclusion. The analyzed period was stated between 1994-1999. It is to be noted that this type of analyze is performed for the first time for a research reactor. (author)

Power law for the duration of recession and prosperity in Latin American countries

Science.gov (United States)

Redelico, Francisco O.; Proto, Araceli N.; Ausloos, Marcel

2008-11-01

Ormerod and Mounfield [P. Ormerod, C. Mounfield, Power law distribution of duration and magnitude of recessions in capitalist economies: Breakdown of scaling, Physica A 293 (2001) 573] and Ausloos et al. [M. Ausloos, J. Mikiewicz, M. Sanglier, The durations of recession and prosperity: Does their distribution follow a power or an exponential law? Physica A 339 (2004) 548] have independently analyzed the duration of recessions for developed countries through the evolution of the GDP in different time windows. It was found that there is a power law governing the duration distribution. We have analyzed data collected from 19 Latin American countries in order to observe whether such results are valid or not for developing countries. The case of prosperity years is also discussed. We observe that the power law of recession time intervals, see Ref. [1], is valid for Latin American countries as well. Thus an interesting point is discovered: the same scaling time is found in the case of recessions for the three data sets (ca. 1 year), and this could represent a universal feature. Other time scale parameters differ significantly from each other.

The impact of a prevention delivery system on perceived social capital: the PROSPER project.

Science.gov (United States)

Chilenski, Sarah M; Ang, Patricia M; Greenberg, Mark T; Feinberg, Mark E; Spoth, Richard

2014-04-01

The current study examined the impact of the PROSPER delivery system for evidence-based prevention programs on multiple indicators of social capital in a rural and semi-rural community sample. Utilizing a randomized blocked design, 317 individuals in 28 communities across two states were interviewed at three time points over the course of 2.5 years. Bridging, linking, and the public life skills forms of social capital were assessed via community members' and leaders' reports on the perceptions of school functioning and the Cooperative Extension System, collaboration among organizations, communication and collaboration around youth problems, and other measures. Longitudinal mixed model results indicate significant improvements in some aspects of bridging and linking social capital in PROSPER intervention communities. Given the strength of the longitudinal and randomized research design, results advance prevention science by suggesting that community collaborative prevention initiatives can significantly impact community social capital in a rural and semi-rural sample. Future research should further investigate changes in social capital in different contexts and how changes in social capital relate to other intervention effects.

Extinction of avoidance behavior by safety learning depends on endocannabinoid signaling in the hippocampus.

Science.gov (United States)

Micale, Vincenzo; Stepan, Jens; Jurik, Angela; Pamplona, Fabricio A; Marsch, Rudolph; Drago, Filippo; Eder, Matthias; Wotjak, Carsten T

2017-07-01

The development of exaggerated avoidance behavior is largely responsible for the decreased quality of life in patients suffering from anxiety disorders. Studies using animal models have contributed to the understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the acquisition of avoidance responses. However, much less is known about its extinction. Here we provide evidence in mice that learning about the safety of an environment (i.e., safety learning) rather than repeated execution of the avoided response in absence of negative consequences (i.e., response extinction) allowed the animals to overcome their avoidance behavior in a step-down avoidance task. This process was context-dependent and could be blocked by pharmacological (3 mg/kg, s.c.; SR141716) or genetic (lack of cannabinoid CB1 receptors in neurons expressing dopamine D1 receptors) inactivation of CB1 receptors. In turn, the endocannabinoid reuptake inhibitor AM404 (3 mg/kg, i.p.) facilitated safety learning in a CB1-dependent manner and attenuated the relapse of avoidance behavior 28 days after conditioning. Safety learning crucially depended on endocannabinoid signaling at level of the hippocampus, since intrahippocampal SR141716 treatment impaired, whereas AM404 facilitated safety learning. Other than AM404, treatment with diazepam (1 mg/kg, i.p.) impaired safety learning. Drug effects on behavior were directly mirrored by drug effects on evoked activity propagation through the hippocampal trisynaptic circuit in brain slices: As revealed by voltage-sensitive dye imaging, diazepam impaired whereas AM404 facilitated activity propagation to CA1 in a CB1-dependent manner. In line with this, systemic AM404 enhanced safety learning-induced expression of Egr1 at level of CA1. Together, our data render it likely that AM404 promotes safety learning by enhancing information flow through the trisynaptic circuit to CA1. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prosperous pacifists: The effects of development on initiators and targets of territorial conflict

OpenAIRE

Erik Gartzke; Dominic Rohner

2010-01-01

Scholars have suggested several ways in which economic development could affect interstate conflict. Supply side arguments view modern economies as more difficult to subdue or exploit through force (i.e., development creates states that are 'bitter pills'). The demand side perspective argues in contrast that development lessens the appeal of conquest among potential aggressors (i.e., development creates 'prosperous pacifists'). We offer a formal model that isolates contrasting consequences of...

Wealth and happiness across the world: material prosperity predicts life evaluation, whereas psychosocial prosperity predicts positive feeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Diener, Ed; Ng, Weiting; Harter, James; Arora, Raksha

2010-07-01

The Gallup World Poll, the first representative sample of planet Earth, was used to explore the reasons why happiness is associated with higher income, including the meeting of basic needs, fulfillment of psychological needs, increasing satisfaction with one's standard of living, and public goods. Across the globe, the association of log income with subjective well-being was linear but convex with raw income, indicating the declining marginal effects of income on subjective well-being. Income was a moderately strong predictor of life evaluation but a much weaker predictor of positive and negative feelings. Possessing luxury conveniences and satisfaction with standard of living were also strong predictors of life evaluation. Although the meeting of basic and psychological needs mediated the effects of income on life evaluation to some degree, the strongest mediation was provided by standard of living and ownership of conveniences. In contrast, feelings were most associated with the fulfillment of psychological needs: learning, autonomy, using one's skills, respect, and the ability to count on others in an emergency. Thus, two separate types of prosperity-economic and social psychological-best predict different types of well-being.

Costing Household Surveys for Monitoring Progress Toward Ending Extreme Poverty and Boosting Shared Prosperity

OpenAIRE

Kilic, Talip; Serajuddin, Umar; Uematsu, Hiroki; Yoshida, Nobuo

2017-01-01

On October 15, 2015, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced the World Bank Group’s commitment to support the 78 poorest countries to implement a multi-topic household survey every three years between 2016 and 2030, for monitoring progress toward ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. This paper estimates the resource requirements to achieve the objectives of impl...

The public knowledge challenge:Where the management of cities and business converge towards innovation and prosperity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rijn, van S.; Tissen, R.J.

2009-01-01

The creative and innovative power of cities and regions is of decisive importance in materializing the Knowledge Based Economy on such a scale, that it will ultimately have a positive impact on the prosperity of citizens. (Grotenhuis 2007, Van Winden, Van den Berg en Pol 2007, Florida 2005, Landers

A Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER): Screening Experience and Baseline Characteristics.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Ford, Ian

2002-05-20

BACKGROUND: PROSPER was designed to investigate the benefits of treatment with pravastatin in elderly patients for whom a typical doctor might consider the prescription of statin therapy to be a realistic option. METHODS: The PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER) is a randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial to test the hypothesis that treatment with pravastatin (40 mg\\/day) will reduce the risk of coronary heart disease death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and fatal or non-fatal stroke in elderly men and women with pre-existing vascular disease or with significant risk of developing this condition. RESULTS: In Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands, 23,770 individuals were screened, and 5,804 subjects (2,804 men and 3,000 women), aged 70 to 82 years (average 75 years) and with baseline cholesterol 4.0-9.0 mmol\\/l, were randomised. Randomised subjects had similar distributions with respect to age, blood pressure, and body mass index when compared to the entire group of screenees, but had a higher prevalence of smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and a history of vascular disease. The average total cholesterol level at baseline was 5.4 mmol\\/l (men) and 6.0 mmol\\/l (women). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with previous prevention trials of cholesterol-lowering drugs, the PROSPER cohort is significantly older and for the first time includes a majority of women. The study, having achieved its initial goal of recruiting more than 5,500 elderly high-risk men and women, aims to complete all final subject follow-up visits in the first half of 2002 with the main results being available in the fourth quarter of 2002.

A Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER): Screening Experience and Baseline Characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Ian; Blauw, Gerard Jan; Murphy, Michael B; Shepherd, James; Cobbe, Stuart M; Bollen, Edward LEM; Buckley, Brendan M; Jukema, J Wouter; Hyland, Michael; Gaw, Allan; Lagaay, A Margot; Perry, Ivan J; Macfarlane, Peter; Norrie, John; Meinders, A Edo; Sweeney, Brian J; Packard, Chris J; Westendorp, Rudi GJ; Twomey, Cillian; Stott, David J

2002-01-01

Background PROSPER was designed to investigate the benefits of treatment with pravastatin in elderly patients for whom a typical doctor might consider the prescription of statin therapy to be a realistic option. Methods The PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER) is a randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial to test the hypothesis that treatment with pravastatin (40 mg/day) will reduce the risk of coronary heart disease death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and fatal or non-fatal stroke in elderly men and women with pre-existing vascular disease or with significant risk of developing this condition. Results In Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands, 23,770 individuals were screened, and 5,804 subjects (2,804 men and 3,000 women), aged 70 to 82 years (average 75 years) and with baseline cholesterol 4.0–9.0 mmol/l, were randomised. Randomised subjects had similar distributions with respect to age, blood pressure, and body mass index when compared to the entire group of screenees, but had a higher prevalence of smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and a history of vascular disease. The average total cholesterol level at baseline was 5.4 mmol/l (men) and 6.0 mmol/l (women). Conclusions Compared with previous prevention trials of cholesterol-lowering drugs, the PROSPER cohort is significantly older and for the first time includes a majority of women. The study, having achieved its initial goal of recruiting more than 5,500 elderly high-risk men and women, aims to complete all final subject follow-up visits in the first half of 2002 with the main results being available in the fourth quarter of 2002. PMID:12097148

A Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER: Screening Experience and Baseline Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lagaay A Margot

2002-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background PROSPER was designed to investigate the benefits of treatment with pravastatin in elderly patients for whom a typical doctor might consider the prescription of statin therapy to be a realistic option. Methods The PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER is a randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial to test the hypothesis that treatment with pravastatin (40 mg/day will reduce the risk of coronary heart disease death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and fatal or non-fatal stroke in elderly men and women with pre-existing vascular disease or with significant risk of developing this condition. Results In Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands, 23,770 individuals were screened, and 5,804 subjects (2,804 men and 3,000 women, aged 70 to 82 years (average 75 years and with baseline cholesterol 4.0–9.0 mmol/l, were randomised. Randomised subjects had similar distributions with respect to age, blood pressure, and body mass index when compared to the entire group of screenees, but had a higher prevalence of smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and a history of vascular disease. The average total cholesterol level at baseline was 5.4 mmol/l (men and 6.0 mmol/l (women. Conclusions Compared with previous prevention trials of cholesterol-lowering drugs, the PROSPER cohort is significantly older and for the first time includes a majority of women. The study, having achieved its initial goal of recruiting more than 5,500 elderly high-risk men and women, aims to complete all final subject follow-up visits in the first half of 2002 with the main results being available in the fourth quarter of 2002.

A Coordinated Approach to Food Safety and Land Use Law at the Urban Fringe.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Stephen R

2015-01-01

Much has been written about the rise of the local food movement in urban and suburban areas. This essay tackles an emerging outgrowth of that movement: the growing desire of urban and suburban dwellers to engage rural areas where food is produced not only to obtain food but also as a means of tourism and cultural activity. This represents a potentially much-needed means of economic development for rural areas and small farmers who are increasingly dependent on non-farm income for survival. The problem, however, is that food safety and land use laws struggle to keep up with these changes, waffling between over-regulation and de-regulation. This essay posits a legal path forward to steer clear of regulatory extremes and to help the local food movement grow and prosper at the urban fringe. We must cultivate our garden.

15th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet

Science.gov (United States)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – as part of its People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Award Program – is seeking applications proposing to research, develop, design, and demonstrate solutions to real world challenges

First application of a partially automated road header at Prosper-Haniel colliery; Ersteinsatz einer teilautomatisierten Teilschnittmaschine auf dem Bergwerk Prosper-Haniel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reinewardt, Klaus-Juergen [Bergwerk Prosper-Haniel, Bottrop (Germany). Betrieb Produktion; Achilles, Peter [RAG Deutsche Steinkohle AG, Herne (Germany). Abt. PPE-V Vorleistungstechnik

2010-09-15

Mechanical road heading in the RAG Deutsche Steinkohle mines makes use of AM 105 road headers. Within the scope of an EU-subsidised R and D project the machine has been subjected to an automation of its control features and an integration of sensors for seam position identification and for navigation. The focal points of the automation are: - the scheduled performance of automated cutting operations, - the adherence to a defined loading height due to seam position identification and - the incorporation of first auxiliary functions for navigation (position sensing). In addition, the machine is expected to determine its respective functional state and recognised potential functional faults by itself, and - subject to its present load condition - it is to deliver the basis for a maintenance scheme geared to its current condition. This paper describes above-mentioned development steps and reports on the experience gathered in the underground use of that machine in the Prosper-Haniel colliery. (orig.)

Fuel prices around the world: From prosperity to turmoil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This issue examines price changes of petroleum products in some 40 countries around the world. Both political turmoil and economic prosperity shape government policy in managing consumer prices of petroleum products. Brazil has experienced extreme political and economic instability that sent prices skyrocketing and the national currency plummeting. Meanwhile, economic growth in South Korea has given the population the wealth for automobiles and stretched the country's ability to supply its unquenchable demand. Fuel prices around the world were higher in July 1992 than in January 1992, mainly due to higher crude prices. This issue also presents the following: (1) the ED Refining Netback Data Series for the US Gulf and West Coasts, Rotterdam, and Singapore as of October 23, 1992; and (2) the ED Fuel Price/Tax Series for countries of the Eastern Hemisphere, October 1992 edition

Prosperity without growth. Economics for a Finite Planet; Welvaart zonder groei. Economie voor een eindige planeet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jackson, T.

2010-07-01

Is more economic growth the solution? Will it deliver prosperity and well-being for a global population projected to reach nine billion? In this explosive book, the author makes a compelling case against continued economic growth in developed nations. No one denies that development is essential for poorer nations. But in the advanced economies there is mounting evidence that ever-increasing consumption adds little to human happiness and may even impede it. More urgently, it is now clear that the ecosystems that sustain our economies are collapsing under the impacts of rising consumption. Unless we can radically lower the environmental impact of economic activity - and there is no evidence to suggest that we can - we will have to devise a path to prosperity that does not rely on continued growth. Economic heresy? Or an opportunity to improve the sources of well-being, creativity and lasting prosperity that lie outside the realm of the market? The author provides a credible vision of how human society can flourish - within the ecological limits of a finite planet. Fulfilling this vision is simply the most urgent task of our times. This book is a substantially revised and updated version of Jackson's controversial study for the Sustainable Development Commission, an advisory body to the UK Government. [Dutch] De auteur stelt de noodzaak van economische groei ter discussie en wat het betekent welvarend te zijn. Hij biedt ons alternatieven om vol aan het leven deel te nemen zonder een beroep te hoeven doen op een onhoudbare accumulatie van materiele dingen. Hij biedt ons een perspectief op een transitie naar een ecologisch geletterde macro-economie, een verzoening van een goed leven met een eindige planeet.

The public knowledge challenge : Where the management of cities and businesses converge towards creativity, innovation and prosperity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rijn, van S.; Tissen, R.J.

2010-01-01

The creative and innovative power of cities and regions is of decisive importance in materialising the knowledge-based economy on such a scale, that it will ultimately have a positive impact on the prosperity of citizens (Grotenhuis 2007, Van Winden et al. 2007, Florida 2005). Similar to what

To make or buy patient safety solutions: a resource dependence and transaction cost economics perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Fareed, Naleef; Mick, Stephen S

2011-01-01

For almost a decade, public and private organizations have pressured hospitals to improve their patient safety records. Since 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has no longer been reimbursing hospitals for secondary diagnoses not reported during the point of admission. This ruling has motivated some hospitals to engage in safety-oriented programs to decrease adverse events. This study examined which hospitals may engage in patient safety solutions and whether they create these patient safety solutions within their structures or use suppliers in the market. We used a theoretical model that incorporates the key constructs of resource dependence theory and transaction cost economics theory to predict a hospital's reaction to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services "never event" regulations. We present propositions that speculate on how forces conceptualized from the resource dependence theory may affect adoption of patient safety innovations and, when they do, whether the adopting hospitals will do so internally or externally according to the transaction cost economics theory. On the basis of forces identified by the resource dependence theory, we predict that larger, teaching, safety net, horizontally integrated, highly interdependent, and public hospitals in concentrated, high public payer presence, competitive, and resource-rich environments will be more likely to engage in patient safety innovations. Following the logic of the transaction cost economics theory, we predict that of the hospitals that react positively to the never event regulation, most will internalize their innovations in patient safety solutions rather than approach the market, a choice that helps hospitals economize on transaction costs. This study helps hospital managers in their strategic thinking and planning in relation to current and future regulations related to patient safety. For researchers and policy analysts, our propositions provide the basis for empirical testing.

14th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet

Science.gov (United States)

EPA as part of its People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Award Program – is seeking applications proposing to research, develop, and design solutions to real world challenges involving sustainability.

Closing the Gap: Cybersecurity for U.S. Forces and Commands

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-30

organizations had historically been responsible for operating and defending the Global Information Grid ( GIG ), which is now known as the DoDIN. The...networked world. Prosperity and security increasingly depend on an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable Internet. Our economy , safety, and health are

Dependability analysis of proposed I and C architecture for safety systems of a large PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kabra, Ashutosh; Karmakar, G.; Tiwari, A.P.; Manoj Kumar; Marathe, P.P.

2014-01-01

Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems in a reactor provide protection against unsafe operation during steady-state and transient power operations. Indian reactors traditionally adopted 2-out-of-3 (2oo3) architecture for safety systems. But, contemporary reactor safety systems are employing 2-out-of-4 (2oo4) architecture in spite of the increased cost due to the additional channel. This motivated us to carry out a comparative study of 2oo3 and 2oo4 architecture, especially for their dependability attributes - safety and availability. Quantitative estimation of safety and availability has been used to adjudge the worthiness of adopting 2oo4 architecture in I and C safety systems of a large PWR. Our analysis using Markov model shows that 2oo4 architecture, even with lower diagnostic coverage and longer proof test interval, can provide better safety and availability in comparison of 2oo3 architecture. This reduces total life cycle cost of system during development phase and complexity and frequency of surveillance test during operational phase. The paper also describes the proposed architecture for Reactor Protection System (RPS), a representative safety system, and determines its dependability using Markov analysis and Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA). The proposed I and C safety system architecture also has been qualitatively analyzed for their effectiveness against common cause failures (CCFs). (author)

13th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet

Science.gov (United States)

The EPA, as part of the P3-People, Prosperity and the Planet Award Program, is seeking applications proposing to research, develop, and design solutions to real world challenges involving the overall sustainability of human society.

PROSPERE (SPM 211) - A code for spectrum and effective cross-section calculations in a cell with several media and with one or two moderators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tran Tuc Vi

1969-12-01

The PROSPERE code uses the CADILHAC model for neutron thermalization and the so-called 'zone-source' method for space treatment. First flight collision probabilities are calculated rapidly enough to allow fuel to be divided in concentric annuli. The ABH method is still used in the moderator (except in the case of thin moderators). Two moderators can be treated: one of them can be introduced in any media, eventually with variable densities. The PROSPERE code simplifies energy and space treatment and, as such, brings considerable computer-time savings with respect to THERMOS, in most cases with an accuracy of the same order. (author) [fr

Dependencies, human interactions and uncertainties in probabilistic safety assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirschberg, S.

1990-01-01

In the context of Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA), three areas were investigated in a 4-year Nordic programme: dependencies with special emphasis on common cause failures, human interactions and uncertainty aspects. The approach was centered around comparative analyses in form of Benchmark/Reference Studies and retrospective reviews. Weak points in available PSAs were identified and recommendations were made aiming at improving consistency of the PSAs. The sensitivity of PSA-results to basic assumptions was demonstrated and the sensitivity to data assignment and to choices of methods for analysis of selected topics was investigated. (author)

Operational Safety Assessment of Turbo Generators with Wavelet Rényi Entropy from Sensor-Dependent Vibration Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoli Zhang

2015-04-01

Full Text Available With the rapid development of sensor technology, various professional sensors are installed on modern machinery to monitor operational processes and assure operational safety, which play an important role in industry and society. In this work a new operational safety assessment approach with wavelet Rényi entropy utilizing sensor-dependent vibration signals is proposed. On the basis of a professional sensor and the corresponding system, sensor-dependent vibration signals are acquired and analyzed by a second generation wavelet package, which reflects time-varying operational characteristic of individual machinery. Derived from the sensor-dependent signals’ wavelet energy distribution over the observed signal frequency range, wavelet Rényi entropy is defined to compute the operational uncertainty of a turbo generator, which is then associated with its operational safety degree. The proposed method is applied in a 50 MW turbo generator, whereupon it is proved to be reasonable and effective for operation and maintenance.

Research reactors for the social safety and prosperous neutron use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Yasuo

2000-01-01

The present status of nuclear reactors in Japan and the world was briefly described in this report. Aiming to construct a background of stable future society dependent on nuclear energy, the necessity to establish an organization for research reactors in Japan was pointed out. There are a total of 468 reactors in the world, but only 248 of them are running at present and most of them are superannuated. In Japan, 15 research reactors are running and 8 of them are under collaborative utilization, but not a few of them have various problems. In the education of atomic energy, a reactor is dispensable for understanding its working principle through practice learning. Furthermore, a research reactor has important roles for development of power reactor in addition to various basic studies such as activation analysis, fission track, biological irradiation, neutron scattering, etc. Application of a reactor has been also progressing in industrial and medical fields. However, operation of the reactors has become more and more difficult in Japan because of a large running cost and a lack of residential consensus for nuclear reactor. Here, the author proposed an establishment of organization of research reactor in order to promote utilization of a reactor in the field of education, rearing of professionals and science and engineering. (M.N.)

An Evaluative Look Behind the Curtain : World Bank Group Staff's Early Experience with the Shared Prosperity Goal

OpenAIRE

Smets, Lodewijk; Bogetic, Zeljko

2018-01-01

In 2013, the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group endorsed two ambitious goals: eliminating extreme poverty in the world by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity. The latter is defined as fostering the growth in the income of the poorest 40 percent of the population in each country. In 2016-17, the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group conducted an evaluation on how well ...

A key to prosperity in hypercompetitive markets: organizational “hyperflexibility”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Carlopio

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Today’s global business mindset requires flexibility and the ability to make changes to our organization, at all levels, quickly. Organizational flexibility is achieved when any component of an organization, and any individual within an organization, can be flexible if and when needed We have been limiting ourselves by equating organizational flexibility with specific, narrowly conceived types of flexibility, such as strategic, operational or labor flexibility. In this paper, we apply the classic Katz and Kahn1 open systems conceptualization of an organization and its subsystems in order to more broadly conceive the concept of organizational flexibility. We then illustrate how the types of flexibility that have been discussed in the literature to date fit into these subsystems, and that the application of the open systems framework both grounds the concept of organizational flexibility in open systems theory and illuminates the ways in which organizations and individuals need to be flexible in order to prosper in today’s hypercompetitive markets.

Evaluation of design safety factors for time-dependent buckling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stone, C.M.; Nickell, R.E.

1977-02-01

The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code rules concerning time-dependent (creep) buckling for Class 1 nuclear components have recently been changed. Previous requirements for a factor of ten on service life have been replaced with a factor of safety of 1.5 on loading for load-controlled buckling. This report examines the supposed equivalence of the two rules from the standpoint of materials behavior--specifically, the secondary creep strain rate exponent. The comparison is made using results obtained numerically for an axially-loaded, cylindrical shell with varying secondary creep exponents. A computationally efficient scheme for analyzing creep buckling problems is also presented

State Strategies for Sustaining and Scaling Grades 9-14 Career Pathways: Toward a Policy Set for Pathways to Prosperity

Science.gov (United States)

Cahill, Charlotte; Hoffman, Nancy; Loyd, Amy; Vargas, Joel

2014-01-01

This brief begins with a discussion of the composition of state leadership teams and organizing structures for supporting a Pathways to Prosperity Network initiative, and then describes effective strategies currently at play in the network states for jumpstarting work in the regions. It goes on to review state policies that support 9-14…

Methane for Power Generation in Muaro Jambi: A Green Prosperity Model Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moriarty, K.; Elchinger, M.; Hill, G.; Katz, J.; Barnett, J.

2014-07-01

NREL conducted eight model projects for Millennium Challenge Corporation's (MCC) Compact with Indonesia. Green Prosperity, the largest project of the Compact, seeks to address critical constraints to economic growth while supporting the Government of Indonesia's commitment to a more sustainable, less carbon-intensive future. This study evaluates electricity generation from the organic content of wastewater at a palm oil mill in Muaro Jambi, Sumatra. Palm mills use vast amounts of water in the production process resulting in problematic waste water called palm oil mill effluent (POME). The POME releases methane to the atmosphere in open ponds which could be covered to capture the methane to produce renewable electricity for rural villages. The study uses average Indonesia data to determine the economic viability of methane capture at a palm oil mill and also evaluates technology as well as social and environmental impacts of the project.

Impact challenges in community science-with-practice: lessons from PROSPER on transformative practitioner-scientist partnerships and prevention infrastructure development.

Science.gov (United States)

Spoth, Richard; Greenberg, Mark

2011-09-01

At present, evidence-based programs (EBPs) to reduce youth violence are failing to translate into widespread community practice, despite their potential for impact on this pervasive public health problem. In this paper we address two types of challenges in the achievement of such impact, drawing upon lessons from the implementation of a partnership model called PROSPER. First, we address five key challenges in the achievement of community-level impact through effective community planning and action: readiness and mobilization of community teams; maintaining EBP implementation quality; sustaining community teams and EBPs; demonstrating community-level impact; and continuous, proactive technical assistance. Second, we consider grand challenges in the large-scale translation of EBPs: (1) building, linking and expanding existing infrastructures to support effective EBP delivery systems, and (2) organizing networks of practitioner-scientist partnerships-networks designed to integrate diffusion of EBPs with research that examines effective strategies to do so. The PROSPER partnership model is an evidence-based delivery system for community-based prevention and has evolved through two decades of NIH-funded research, assisted by land grant universities' Cooperative Extension Systems. Findings and lessons of relevance to each of the challenges are summarized. In this context, we outline how practitioner-scientist partnerships can serve to transform EBP delivery systems, particularly in conjunction with supportive federal policy.

Safety factor profile dependence of turbulent structure formation in relevant to internal transport barrier relaxation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokunaga, S.; Yagi, M.; Itoh, S.-I.; Itoh, K.

2009-01-01

Full text: It is widely understood that the improved confinement mode with transport barrier is necessary to achieve the self-ignition condition in ITER. The negative magnetic shear, mean ExB flow shear, and zonal flow are considered to play important roles for ITB formation. In our previous study, it is found that the non-linear interaction between the meso-scale modes produces non-local energy transfer to the off-resonant mode in the vicinity of q min surface and brings global relaxation of the temperature profile involving ITB collapse. Experimental studies indicate that a relationship exists between the ITB formation and safety factor q-profile, with a reversed magnetic shear (RS) configuration. Transitional ITB events occur on the low-order rational resonant surface. The ITB shape and location depend on the q-profile and q min position. These observations indicate that the q-profile might play an essential role in determining the turbulent structure. In this study, the effect of safety factor profile on the ion temperature gradient driven drift wave (ITG) turbulence is investigated using a global non-linear simulation code based on the gyro-fluid model. A heat source and toroidal momentum source are introduced. Dependence of safety factor profiles on ITB formation and its stability is examined to clarify the influence of the radial distribution of the rational surfaces and the q min value. It is found that the nonlinearly excited meso-scale mode in the vicinity of q min depends on the value of q min . A detailed analysis of the structure selection rule is in progress. (author)

Tincture of opium for treating opioid dependence: a systematic review of safety and efficacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Nikoo, Mohammadali; Nikoo, Nooshin; Anbardan, Sanam Javid; Amiri, Afshar; Vogel, Marc; Choi, Fiona; Sepehry, Amir Ali; Bagheri Valoojerdi, Amir Hooshang; Jang, Kerry; Schütz, Christian; Akhondzadeh, Shahin; Krausz, Michael

2017-03-01

Recently, there has been a growing interest in using opium tincture (OT) for treating opioid dependence in certain regions. We aimed to assess the evidence on its safety and efficacy for this indication. We searched several databases (CENTRAL, Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, PsychINFO, ProQuest Dissertation and Theses Database, Iran Medex, clinicaltrials.gov and who.int/trialsearch) with no language or publication date limitations. Two reviewers selected randomized controlled trials (RCT), cohort/case-control/cross-sectional studies and case-series on safety or efficacy of OT for treating opioid dependence and then extracted reported measures of mentioned outcomes from selected studies. We used the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) Quality Assessment tool for appraisal. From nine selected studies; in three RCTs and one cohort analytical analysis on detoxification, 110 patients were treated with 15-140 morphine equivalents/day (mEq/d) of OT; in four prospective and one retrospective uncontrolled case-series on long-term/maintenance treatment, 570 patients were treated with 100-400 mEq/d of OT. Only two studies on detoxification included a comparison: one concluded equal efficacy of OT and methadone in suppressing withdrawal symptoms (P = 0.32) and the other concluded OT to be less efficacious than buprenorphine/naloxone in suppressing withdrawal [OT = 12.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 11.00, 13.40]; control: 5.20 (95% CI = 4.69, 5.71) and craving (OT = 303.0, 95% CI = -144.664, 750.664; control: 0.0) but not significantly different (P = 0.26) in retaining participants in treatment. No major adverse events were reported. Conclusive recommendations about the safety and efficacy of opium tincture for treating opioid dependence are not possible at this time. © 2016 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Occupational health and safety challenges in China--focusing on township-village enterprises.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaorong; Wu, Siying; Song, Qingkun; Tse, Lap-Ah; Yu, Ignatius T S; Wong, Tze-Wai; Griffiths, Sian

2011-01-01

China has experienced dramatic industrialization, urbanization, and economic growth over the last 3 decades. The rapid transformation and dramatic prosperity of industries in rural areas have, in turn, created tremendous challenges for occupational health and safety (OHS). This article was prepared to address occupational health and safety issues in township- and village-owned enterprises (TVEs) from several aspects, including working conditions and workplace hazards, major recognized OHS problems, implications of TVE industries to environmental health, and migrant workers. Among the major recognized OHS problems, pneumoconiosis, chemical poisoning, and workplace accidents, especially in small-scale coal mines, are highlighted. It is suggested that the national polices and regulations that specifically target TVEs are indispensable and a more powerful administrative structure should be established to ensure that the pertinent polices, regulations, and OHS standards can be enforced widely and effectively in practice. Copyright © 2011 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Enhanced individual selection for selecting fast growing fish: the "PROSPER" method, with application on brown trout (Salmo trutta fario

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vandeputte Marc

2004-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Growth rate is the main breeding goal of fish breeders, but individual selection has often shown poor responses in fish species. The PROSPER method was developed to overcome possible factors that may contribute to this low success, using (1 a variable base population and high number of breeders (Ne > 100, (2 selection within groups with low non-genetic effects and (3 repeated growth challenges. Using calculations, we show that individual selection within groups, with appropriate management of maternal effects, can be superior to mass selection as soon as the maternal effect ratio exceeds 0.15, when heritability is 0.25. Practically, brown trout were selected on length at the age of one year with the PROSPER method. The genetic gain was evaluated against an unselected control line. After four generations, the mean response per generation in length at one year was 6.2% of the control mean, while the mean correlated response in weight was 21.5% of the control mean per generation. At the 4th generation, selected fish also appeared to be leaner than control fish when compared at the same size, and the response on weight was maximal (≈130% of the control mean between 386 and 470 days post fertilisation. This high response is promising, however, the key points of the method have to be investigated in more detail.

Enabling a sustainable and prosperous future through science and innovation in the bioeconomy at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkar, Sara F; Poon, Jacquelyne S; Lepage, Etienne; Bilecki, Lori; Girard, Benoit

2018-01-25

Science and innovation are important components underpinning the agricultural and agri-food system in Canada. Canada's vast geographical area presents diverse, regionally specific requirements in addition to the 21st century agricultural challenges facing the overall sector. As the broader needs of the agricultural landscape have evolved and will continue to do so in the next few decades, there is a trend in place to transition towards a sustainable bioeconomy, contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emission and our dependency on non-renewable resources. We highlight some of the key policy drivers on an overarching national scale and those specific to agricultural research and innovation that are critical to fostering a supportive environment for innovation and a sustainable bioeconomy. As well, we delineate some major challenges and opportunities facing agriculture in Canada, including climate change, sustainable agriculture, clean technologies, and agricultural productivity, and some scientific initiatives currently underway to tackle these challenges. The use of various technologies and scientific efforts, such as Next Generation Sequencing, metagenomics analysis, satellite image analysis and mapping of soil moisture, and value-added bioproduct development will accelerate scientific development and innovation and its contribution to a sustainable and prosperous bioeconomy. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Final Technical Report on Quantifying Dependability Attributes of Software Based Safety Critical Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smidts, Carol; Huang, Fuqun; Li, Boyuan; Li, Xiang

2016-01-01

With the current transition from analog to digital instrumentation and control systems in nuclear power plants, the number and variety of software-based systems have significantly increased. The sophisticated nature and increasing complexity of software raises trust in these systems as a significant challenge. The trust placed in a software system is typically termed software dependability. Software dependability analysis faces uncommon challenges since software systems' characteristics differ from those of hardware systems. The lack of systematic science-based methods for quantifying the dependability attributes in software-based instrumentation as well as control systems in safety critical applications has proved itself to be a significant inhibitor to the expanded use of modern digital technology in the nuclear industry. Dependability refers to the ability of a system to deliver a service that can be trusted. Dependability is commonly considered as a general concept that encompasses different attributes, e.g., reliability, safety, security, availability and maintainability. Dependability research has progressed significantly over the last few decades. For example, various assessment models and/or design approaches have been proposed for software reliability, software availability and software maintainability. Advances have also been made to integrate multiple dependability attributes, e.g., integrating security with other dependability attributes, measuring availability and maintainability, modeling reliability and availability, quantifying reliability and security, exploring the dependencies between security and safety and developing integrated analysis models. However, there is still a lack of understanding of the dependencies between various dependability attributes as a whole and of how such dependencies are formed. To address the need for quantification and give a more objective basis to the review process -- therefore reducing regulatory uncertainty

Final Technical Report on Quantifying Dependability Attributes of Software Based Safety Critical Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smidts, Carol [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Huang, Funqun [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Li, Boyuan [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Li, Xiang [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)

2016-03-25

With the current transition from analog to digital instrumentation and control systems in nuclear power plants, the number and variety of software-based systems have significantly increased. The sophisticated nature and increasing complexity of software raises trust in these systems as a significant challenge. The trust placed in a software system is typically termed software dependability. Software dependability analysis faces uncommon challenges since software systems’ characteristics differ from those of hardware systems. The lack of systematic science-based methods for quantifying the dependability attributes in software-based instrumentation as well as control systems in safety critical applications has proved itself to be a significant inhibitor to the expanded use of modern digital technology in the nuclear industry. Dependability refers to the ability of a system to deliver a service that can be trusted. Dependability is commonly considered as a general concept that encompasses different attributes, e.g., reliability, safety, security, availability and maintainability. Dependability research has progressed significantly over the last few decades. For example, various assessment models and/or design approaches have been proposed for software reliability, software availability and software maintainability. Advances have also been made to integrate multiple dependability attributes, e.g., integrating security with other dependability attributes, measuring availability and maintainability, modeling reliability and availability, quantifying reliability and security, exploring the dependencies between security and safety and developing integrated analysis models. However, there is still a lack of understanding of the dependencies between various dependability attributes as a whole and of how such dependencies are formed. To address the need for quantification and give a more objective basis to the review process -- therefore reducing regulatory uncertainty

The effect of the PROSPER partnership model on cultivating local stakeholder knowledge of evidence-based programs: a five-year longitudinal study of 28 communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Crowley, D Max; Greenberg, Mark T; Feinberg, Mark E; Spoth, Richard L; Redmond, Cleve R

2012-02-01

A substantial challenge in improving public health is how to facilitate the local adoption of evidence-based interventions (EBIs). To do so, an important step is to build local stakeholders' knowledge and decision-making skills regarding the adoption and implementation of EBIs. One EBI delivery system, called PROSPER (PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience), has effectively mobilized community prevention efforts, implemented prevention programming with quality, and consequently decreased youth substance abuse. While these results are encouraging, another objective is to increase local stakeholder knowledge of best practices for adoption, implementation and evaluation of EBIs. Using a mixed methods approach, we assessed local stakeholder knowledge of these best practices over 5 years, in 28 intervention and control communities. Results indicated that the PROSPER partnership model led to significant increases in expert knowledge regarding the selection, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based interventions. Findings illustrate the limited programming knowledge possessed by members of local prevention efforts, the difficulty of complete knowledge transfer, and highlight one method for cultivating that knowledge.

Enhancing operational nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sengoku, Katsuhisa

2008-01-01

's safety standards and program which provides the safety objective following the 10 fundamental safety principles. The safety requirements defines the functional conditions required for safety and the safety guides provides user-friendly and up-to-date practical guidance representing good/best practices to fulfill the requirements. The IAEA provides safety review services and fields safety review teams upon request of member states for the regulatory, the International Regulatory Review Team (IRRT) and Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) and Peer Review of the Operational and Safety Performance Experience Review (PROSPER). The OSART programme's purpose is to assist member states in enhancing the operational safety of individual nuclear power plants and to promote the continuous development of operational safety within all member states by the dissemination of information on good practice. The OSART Mission Results (OSMIR) database contains the results from 73 OSART missions and 54 follow up visits from 1991 and its continually updated. The Asian Nuclear Safety Network (ANSN) was established to pool and share existing and new technical knowledge and practical experience to further improve the safety of nuclear installation in Asia. In summary, the enhancement of the GNSR is anchored in the recognition that all the states are in the same boat and the increasing importance of sharing and mutual learning, sharing knowledge and experience through regional and global networking. It requires joint and coordinated strategy by all states. The IAEA is willing and ready to support the GNSR through the establishment and application of safety standards, and safety review and advisory services and international instruments. (Author)

Safety of intravenous ferric carboxymaltose versus oral iron in patients with nondialysis-dependent CKD

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roger, Simon D; Gaillard, Carlo A; Bock, Andreas H

2017-01-01

-label, multicenter, prospective study of patients with nondialysis-dependent CKD, anemia and iron deficiency randomized (1:1:2) to IV ferric carboxymaltose (FCM), targeting higher (400-600 µg/L) or lower (100-200 µg/L) ferritin, or oral iron. A post hoc analysis of adverse event rates per 100 patient......: These results further support the conclusion that correction of iron deficiency anemia with IV FCM is safe in patients with nondialysis-dependent CKD.......Background: The evidence base regarding the safety of intravenous (IV) iron therapy in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is incomplete and largely based on small studies of relatively short duration. Methods: FIND-CKD (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00994318) was a 1-year, open...

Surviving and prospering in a changing EPC business

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walls, D.; Blazewicz, S.; Rao, N.; Little, A.D.

1998-01-01

Countries worldwide continue to privatize national utilities and attract foreign investment to meet growing demand for power. As a result, the global power marketplace has become highly complex, competitive, and volatile. The changes that are occurring in the electric utility industry around the world are having a dramatic impact on the way new power and T and D projects are engineered, procured, and constructed (EPC). The power EPC business faces pressures of competition and price reductions. Deregulation uncertainties and slow demand growth in the west have caused many domestic EPC firms to look internationally for new opportunities. They face many challenges, most of which relate to dealing with a much higher level of risk than they had previously been exposed to. This paper discusses some of the critical issues EPC companies are facing worldwide, how leading companies are responding to these challenges, and which strategies are likely to allow EPC companies to prosper and sustain growth in the future. Some attractive future market opportunities are highlighted. This paper concludes that EPC firms will have to develop capabilities in certain key markets, and simultaneously operate globally. EPC firms will have to develop clearer strategies to remain profitable. Either they develop scale globally through consolidation and target aggressive market shares, or develop specialized niches, especially in the technology service areas. EPCs can continue to sustain growth by leveraging in other areas of the power industry what they do best: providing technical services and building infrastructure. EPC firms can capitalize on the growing need for system-level planning and design in fuel, power, and transmission and distribution, or target higher-growth opportunities in high-value market segments such as repowering, cogeneration, and environmental systems

People, planet, prosperity - how a welsh nuclear generating site is tackling the challenge of sustainability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, Iwan W.; Young, Einir M. [Welsh Institute for Natural Resources, Bangor University, Deiniol Road, Bangor, LL57 2UW (United Kingdom); JONES, JOHN IDRIS [Magnox North, Wylfa Site, Cemaes, LL67 0DH (United Kingdom)

2010-07-01

This paper will describe a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between Bangor University and Wylfa (a Magnox North generating site) to embed the wider principles of sustainability - 'beyond EHSS and Q' - into all the site's activities. Bangor University has created a sustainability health-check 'developed by academia but designed to bring understanding, innovation and culture change to businesses and other organisations on the ground'. This provided a starting point for the venture and gave Wylfa an opportunity to capture a snapshot of their current understanding of the dimensions and components of sustainable development, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and a chance to understand the interconnectedness of various activities - e.g. environmental health and safety, reducing risk, working to tight budgets, staff well-being, stakeholder engagement are all part of the same picture. In Wales, embedding sustainable development is a constitutional duty under Section 79 of the Government of Wales Act 2006. The current sustainable development scheme 'One Wales One Planet', launched on 22 May 2009 recognises that to achieve such aspirations a 'radical change is required in all sectors of society'. This has implications for the nuclear industry, especially at the dawn of a new build era, with regard to interactions with local authorities, supply chains and other stakeholders. Behavioural change is imperative, but how does this relate to the nuclear industry? Not only do we have to deliver on our core business with the obvious focus on risk management and environmental, health and safety and quality issues, but the site Director now finds him/herself being scrutinised on staff well-being, equality, diversity and equal opportunities, ethical trading, human rights, labour standards etc... All these may be 'good things' but there is a danger that this new obsession will divert attention from the core business. The findings

People, planet, prosperity - how a welsh nuclear generating site is tackling the challenge of sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, Iwan W.; Young, Einir M.; JONES, JOHN IDRIS

2010-01-01

This paper will describe a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between Bangor University and Wylfa (a Magnox North generating site) to embed the wider principles of sustainability - 'beyond EHSS and Q' - into all the site's activities. Bangor University has created a sustainability health-check 'developed by academia but designed to bring understanding, innovation and culture change to businesses and other organisations on the ground'. This provided a starting point for the venture and gave Wylfa an opportunity to capture a snapshot of their current understanding of the dimensions and components of sustainable development, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and a chance to understand the interconnectedness of various activities - e.g. environmental health and safety, reducing risk, working to tight budgets, staff well-being, stakeholder engagement are all part of the same picture. In Wales, embedding sustainable development is a constitutional duty under Section 79 of the Government of Wales Act 2006. The current sustainable development scheme 'One Wales One Planet', launched on 22 May 2009 recognises that to achieve such aspirations a 'radical change is required in all sectors of society'. This has implications for the nuclear industry, especially at the dawn of a new build era, with regard to interactions with local authorities, supply chains and other stakeholders. Behavioural change is imperative, but how does this relate to the nuclear industry? Not only do we have to deliver on our core business with the obvious focus on risk management and environmental, health and safety and quality issues, but the site Director now finds him/herself being scrutinised on staff well-being, equality, diversity and equal opportunities, ethical trading, human rights, labour standards etc... All these may be 'good things' but there is a danger that this new obsession will divert attention from the core business. The findings reported in this paper suggest that many of the actions

Neopentecostalism and Prosperity Theology in Latin America: A Religion for Late Capitalist Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Virginia Garrard-Burnett

2013-02-01

Full Text Available La iglesia brasileña 'Igreja Universal do Reino de Dios '(IURD es una de las denominaciones con más rápido crecimiento en el siglo XXI. La IURD es muy innovadora en sus creencias y en su liturgia, utilizando música de alabanza contemporánea. El culto es altamente participativo, y agresivamente incorpora técnicas modernas de ‘marketing’ en la evangelización. Esta es una variación moderna del Pentecostalismo que hace hincapié en la transformación milagrosa de la vida, no sólo en términos de espíritu y cuerpo, pero a veces incluso de forma de vida y patrones de consumo (teología de la prosperidad. La IURD se dirige a las necesidades materiales y los deseos de las personas que viven en un mundo donde el éxito se mide casi exclusivamente por la riqueza y el consumo, donde el pecado y la gracia se definen, respectivamente, por la pobreza y la riqueza. En este artículo se estudiará la ampliación de la teología de la prosperidad a través de la lente de la IURD como una respuesta a los desafíos de las políticas neoliberales económicas y las presiones de la economía global. English: The Brazilian-based 'Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus '(IURD is one of the most rapidly growing denominations in the early twenty-first century. Like most of the fast-growing mega-churches denominations the IURD is Pentecostal in its beliefs and practice and innovative in its liturgy, utilizing contemporary praise music, highly participatory worship, and it aggressively incorporates modern marketing techniques in evangelization. This is a modern-day variation of Pentecostalism that stresses miraculous transformation of life, in terms not only of spirit and body, but sometimes even of lifestyle and patterns of consumption (prosperity theology. The IURD speaks to the material wants and needs of people living in a world in which success is measured almost exclusively by affluence and consumption, where sin and grace are defined, respectively, by

Efficacy and safety of infliximab in steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Gavalas, Emmanuel; Kountouras, Jannis; Stergiopoulos, Christos; Zavos, Christos; Gisakis, Dimitrios; Nikolaidis, Nikolaos; Giouleme, Olga; Chatzopoulos, Dimitrios; Kapetanakis, Nikolaos

2007-06-01

Limited data exist concerning infliximab administration in steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of infliximab in steroid-dependent disease. Sixteen corticosteroid-dependent patients who received infusions of infliximab (5 mg/kg) at 0, 2 and 6 weeks and thereafter every 8 weeks (Group A), were compared with eight patients treated with methylprednisolone (0.8-1 mg/kg body weight) daily for three weeks followed by a tapering regimen up to the minimal dose to maintain a symptom-free condition (Group B). Steroid dependency was defined as recurrent flare-up on steroid reduction or withdrawal, or as the clinical need for steroid treatment twice within six consecutive months or three times within a year. Disease activity was assessed at recruitment, and clinical response was evaluated according to the two non-invasive indices [SEO and Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index (SCCAI) scores]. In Group A, complete long-term response occurred in 68.75% and partial response in 18.75% of patients. Moreover, in the long-term follow-up, both SCCAI (10.37 +/- 2.27 vs. 3.31 +/- 2.65, p < 0.001) and SEO (209.33 +/- 13.6 vs. 123.3 +/- 34.8, p < 0.001) scores demonstrated a significant improvement. In group B, comparable features were also obtained regarding complete long-term (62.5%) and partial (25%) responses; both SCCAI (7.37 +/- 1.4 vs. 3.5 +/- 3.58, p = 0.039) and SEO (181.0 +/- 27.1 vs. 135.3 +/- 44.1, p = 0.038) scores also improved significantly. Six of eight patients in the methylprednisolone-treated group B developed Cushing-like symptoms. Infliximab appears to be a good alternative therapeutic regimen in steroid-dependent UC patients associated with long-term potential toxicity.

Application of classification algorithms for analysis of road safety risk factor dependencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Oh Hoon; Rhee, Wonjong; Yoon, Yoonjin

2015-02-01

Transportation continues to be an integral part of modern life, and the importance of road traffic safety cannot be overstated. Consequently, recent road traffic safety studies have focused on analysis of risk factors that impact fatality and injury level (severity) of traffic accidents. While some of the risk factors, such as drug use and drinking, are widely known to affect severity, an accurate modeling of their influences is still an open research topic. Furthermore, there are innumerable risk factors that are waiting to be discovered or analyzed. A promising approach is to investigate historical traffic accident data that have been collected in the past decades. This study inspects traffic accident reports that have been accumulated by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) since 1973 for which each accident report contains around 100 data fields. Among them, we investigate 25 fields between 2004 and 2010 that are most relevant to car accidents. Using two classification methods, the Naive Bayes classifier and the decision tree classifier, the relative importance of the data fields, i.e., risk factors, is revealed with respect to the resulting severity level. Performances of the classifiers are compared to each other and a binary logistic regression model is used as the basis for the comparisons. Some of the high-ranking risk factors are found to be strongly dependent on each other, and their incremental gains on estimating or modeling severity level are evaluated quantitatively. The analysis shows that only a handful of the risk factors in the data dominate the severity level and that dependency among the top risk factors is an imperative trait to consider for an accurate analysis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Causes of Prosperity of Business in Yuan Dynasty%试论元朝商业繁荣的原因

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

梁凌霄; 魏楠; 李文文

2014-01-01

Nomads attaches great importance to business .Rulers of Yuan established water and land transporta-tion network extending in all directions after its grand unification , adopting a policy of opening to the outside world , which promoted business with west Asia countries , Europe, Africa.The government’s support, the shipbuilding industry and the progress of the seafaring are largely promoted the prosperity of the Yuan dynasty business .Yuan dynasty broken the traditional heavy farming business suppression policy , with prosperous business wrote a special page in the history of Chinese civilization .%游牧民族是重视商业的民族，蒙元统治者在大一统的国土上建立了四通八达的水陆交通网，实行对外开放政策，使得元朝西与西亚诸国、欧洲、非洲，南与缅甸等国都有商业往来。政府的支持，造船业和航海业的进步都在很大程度上促进了元朝商业的繁荣。元朝打破了传统的重农抑商政策，以繁荣的商业在中华五千年文明史上写下了别开生面的一页。

Student Work Safety Guidelines in Roadside Applications and Work Zones : Safety Guidelines for Transportation Researchers

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

The Smart City Demonstration Program is intended to improve access through expanded mobility options in major job centers, enhance visitor experience by better connecting visitors to transportation options, stimulate regional economic prosperity and ...

Why Nations Fail? Daron Acemoglu: The Role of Inclusive and Extractive Institutions on Shaping Technological Change, Innovation, and Prosperity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shlair Abdulkhaleq Al-Zanganee

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Professor Daron Acemoglu argues in his book Why Nations Fail? The Origin of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (2012, coauthored with James A. Robinson that the role played by inclusive and extractive institution is the main reason behind the huge gap in the standards of living between poor and rich nations. Such institutions emerge within the contextual political, economic, and social environment and they shape technological progress and innovation. By taking the United States as an example, Acemoglu argues that extractive institutions are enabling both economic and political inequality and contribute to the negative consequences of such types of inequality.

Chronotype-dependent circadian rhythmicity of driving safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Del Rio-Bermudez, Carlos; Diaz-Piedra, Carolina; Catena, Andrés; Buela-Casal, Gualberto; Di Stasi, Leandro Luigi

2014-05-01

Among the factors associated with driving safety, sleep-related variables constitute a leading cause of road accidents. Circadian fluctuations of driver's somnolence has been previously linked to road safety. However, the role of chronotype in this relationship has been poorly investigated. Thus, the aim of the present work was to address whether driving performance is influenced by circadian patterns, in turn modulated by the driver's chronotype and the time of day (i.e. synchrony effect). We assessed 47 healthy young adults with specific chronotypes in several simulated driving sessions, both in the morning and in the evening. We collected driving performance data, along with self-reported levels of activation prior to each driving session and other sleep-related variables. Participants drove less safely when testing times took place outside their optimal time of day, as determined by their chronotype and confirmed by self-reported levels of activation. These differences were more pronounced in the morning, when morning types shown a better driving performance. Our results suggest that chronotype plays an important role as a modulator of the relationship between the time of day and driving safety. Therefore, it is necessary to acknowledge this variable in theoretical models of driving behavior, and for the improvement of occupational accidents prevention programs.

Magical fetish about prosperity Os fetiches mágicos da prosperidade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José de Arimathéia Cordeiro Custódio

2010-08-01

Full Text Available This study turns its attention to an arranged set of arbitrated signs – a code – quite specific: the typically neopentecostal stage objects used on Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus´ TV programs. Such objects are divided in two categories – sacred and profane – and analyzed according its outcome meaning. Firstly, in order to give the aspect of sanctity and spirituality, even with magical powers. Profane´ signs symbolize the prosperity of the ones whom embraced the church. Nine programs broadcasted at night were analyzed in different channels, besides the consultation of IURD´s sites in the search for complementary information. Este estudo volta sua atenção para um conjunto sistematizado de signos arbitrados – um código – bastante específicos: os objetos de cena de programas de TV da Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, tipicamente neopentecostal. São objetos aqui divididos em duas categorias – sagrados e profanos – e analisados conforme o sentido gerado. No primeiro caso, para revestir os programas com uma aura de sacralidade e espiritualidade, e até poderes mágicos. Os signos profanos simbolizam a prosperidade de quem aderiu à igreja. Foram observados nove programas transmitidos na madrugada, em canais diferentes, além de consultados sites da IURD, para informações complementares.

Optimization of safety equipment outages improves safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cepin, Marko

2002-01-01

Testing and maintenance activities of safety equipment in nuclear power plants are an important potential for risk and cost reduction. An optimization method is presented based on the simulated annealing algorithm. The method determines the optimal schedule of safety equipment outages due to testing and maintenance based on minimization of selected risk measure. The mean value of the selected time dependent risk measure represents the objective function of the optimization. The time dependent function of the selected risk measure is obtained from probabilistic safety assessment, i.e. the fault tree analysis at the system level and the fault tree/event tree analysis at the plant level, both extended with inclusion of time requirements. Results of several examples showed that it is possible to reduce risk by application of the proposed method. Because of large uncertainties in the probabilistic safety assessment, the most important result of the method may not be a selection of the most suitable schedule of safety equipment outages among those, which results in similarly low risk. But, it may be a prevention of such schedules of safety equipment outages, which result in high risk. Such finding increases the importance of evaluation speed versus the requirement of getting always the global optimum no matter if it is only slightly better that certain local one

Practice Hospital Bed Safety

Science.gov (United States)

... Home For Consumers Consumer Updates Practice Hospital Bed Safety Share Tweet Linkedin Pin it More sharing options ... It depends on the complexity of the bed." Safety Tips CDRH offers the following safety tips for ...

METIS: Dependable Cooperative Systems for Public Safety

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hendriks, A.J.; Laar, P.J.L.J. van de

2013-01-01

Much, if not most, information needed to assess a crisis situation originates these days from cooperative sources such as the Internet and social networks. Public safety authorities face the challenge to compile this information of uncertain origin and quality in their situation understanding and

From PSAs to dependability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Desmas, T.; Lagrange, V.

1996-01-01

Dependability is all the concepts (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety) which are used to characterize the capabilities of a product to operate, to be repaired, and to not cause damage to objects or persons. PSAs (Probabilistic Safety Assessments) are a particular means of assessing the level of safety of hazardous installations. The purpose of this communication is to show that although it is still an emerging concept within EDF projects, the introduction of methods for taking account of dependability in design can be very useful at improving the safety of plants by, for example, establishing the link between operating feedback on one hand, and maintenance and operating policy on the other. Finally, we will extend our thinking on the insertion of dependability (and PSA) into design work to consideration of human factors in these projects. All too often kept apart, the technical and human aspects of design projects do have common characteristics: participation in safety and ease of operational of power plants, need for sufficiently early insertion in order to obtain pertinent result, etc. 8 figs

From PSAs to dependability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Desmas, T; Lagrange, V

1997-12-31

Dependability is all the concepts (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety) which are used to characterize the capabilities of a product to operate, to be repaired, and to not cause damage to objects or persons. PSAs (Probabilistic Safety Assessments) are a particular means of assessing the level of safety of hazardous installations. The purpose of this communication is to show that although it is still an emerging concept within EDF projects, the introduction of methods for taking account of dependability in design can be very useful at improving the safety of plants by, for example, establishing the link between operating feedback on one hand, and maintenance and operating policy on the other. Finally, we will extend our thinking on the insertion of dependability (and PSA) into design work to consideration of human factors in these projects. All too often kept apart, the technical and human aspects of design projects do have common characteristics: participation in safety and ease of operational of power plants, need for sufficiently early insertion in order to obtain pertinent result, etc. 8 figs.

Safety-barrier diagrams

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duijm, Nijs Jan

2007-01-01

Safety-barrier diagrams and the related so-called "bow-tie" diagrams have become popular methods in risk analysis. This paper describes the syntax and principles for constructing consistent and valid safety-barrier diagrams. The relation with other methods such as fault trees and Bayesian networks...... are discussed. A simple method for quantification of safety-barrier diagrams is proposed, including situations where safety barriers depend on shared common elements. It is concluded that safety-barrier diagrams provide a useful framework for an electronic data structure that integrates information from risk...... analysis with operational safety management....

Timing analysis of safety properties using fault trees with time dependencies and timed state-charts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magott, Jan; Skrobanek, Pawel

2012-01-01

Behavior in time domain is often crucial for safety critical systems. Standard fault trees cannot express time-dependent behavior. In the paper, timing analysis of safety properties using fault trees with time dependencies (FTTDs) and timed state-charts is presented. A new version of timed state-charts (TSCs) is also proposed. These state-charts can model the dynamics of technical systems, e.g. controllers, controlled objects, and people. In TSCs, activity and communication times are represented by time intervals. In the proposed approach the structure of FTTD is fixed by a human. Time properties of events and gates of FTTD are expressed by time intervals, and are calculated using TSCs. The minimal and maximal values of these time intervals of FTTD can be calculated by finding paths with minimal and maximal time lengths in TSCs, which is an NP-hard problem. In order to reduce the practical complexity of computing the FTTD time parameters, some reductions of TSCs are defined in the paper, such as sequential, alternative, loop (iteration), and parallel. Some of the reductions are intuitive, in case of others—theorems are required. Computational complexity of each reduction is not greater than linear in the size of reduced TSC. Therefore, the obtained results enable decreasing of the costs of FTTD time parameters calculation when system dynamics is expressed by TSCs. Case study of a railroad crossing with a controller that controls semaphores, gate, light-audio signal close to the gate will be analyzed.

A study on the dependency evaluation for multiple human actions in human reliability analysis of probabilistic safety assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, D. I.; Yang, J. E.; Jung, W. D.; Sung, T. Y.; Park, J. H.; Lee, Y. H.; Hwang, M. J.; Kim, K. Y.; Jin, Y. H.; Kim, S. C.

1997-02-01

This report describes the study results on the method of the dependency evaluation and the modeling, and the limited value of human error probability (HEP) for multiple human actions in accident sequences of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). THERP and Parry's method, which have been generally used in dependency evaluation of human reliability analysis (HRA), are introduced and their limitations are discussed. New dependency evaluation method in HRA is established to make up for the weak points of THERP and Parry's methods. The limited value of HEP is also established based on the review of several HRA related documents. This report describes the definition, the type, the evaluation method, and the evaluation example of dependency to help the reader's understanding. It is expected that this study results will give a guidance to HRA analysts in dependency evaluation of multiple human actions and enable PSA analysts to understand HRA in detail. (author). 23 refs., 3 tabs., 2 figs

Safety design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kunitomi, Kazuhiko; Shiozawa, Shusaku

2004-01-01

JAERI established the safety design philosophy of the HTTR based on that of current reactors such as LWR in Japan, considering inherent safety features of the HTTR. The strategy of defense in depth was implemented so that the safety engineering functions such as control of reactivity, removal of residual heat and confinement of fission products shall be well performed to ensure safety. However, unlike the LWR, the inherent design features of the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) enables the HTTR meet stringent regulatory criteria without much dependence on active safety systems. On the other hand, the safety in an accident typical to the HTGR such as the depressurization accident initiated by a primary pipe rupture shall be ensured. The safety design philosophy of the HTTR considers these unique features appropriately and is expected to be the basis for future Japanese HTGRs. This paper describes the safety design philosophy and safety evaluation procedure of the HTTR especially focusing on unique considerations to the HTTR. Also, experiences obtained from an HTTR safety review and R and D needs for establishing the safety philosophy for the future HTGRs are reported

Effective corrective actions to enhance operational safety of nuclear installations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-07-01

The safe operation of nuclear power plants around the world and the prevention of incidents in these installations remain key concerns for the nuclear community. In this connection the feedback of operating experience plays a major role: every nuclear plant operator needs to have a system in place to identify and feed back the lessons learned from operating experience and to implement effective corrective actions to prevent safety events from reoccurring. An effective operating experience programme also includes a proactive approach that is aimed at preventing the first-time occurrence of safety events. In April 2003, the IAEA issued the PROSPER guidelines for nuclear installations to strengthen and enhance their own operating experience process and for self-assessment on the effectiveness of the feedback process. Subsequently, in the course of the Operational Safety Review Teams missions conducted by the IAEA that focused on the operational safety practices of nuclear power plants, the IAEA enhanced the review of the operating experience in nuclear power plants by implementing a new module that is derived from these guidelines. In order to highlight the effective implementation of the operating experience programme and to provide practical assistance in this area, the IAEA organized workshops and conferences to discuss recent trends in operating experience. The IAEA also performed assistance and review missions at plants and corporate organizations. The IAEA is further developing advice and assistance on operating experience feedback programmes and is reporting on good practices. The present publication is the outcome of two years of coordinated effort involving the participation of experts of nuclear organizations in several Member States. It provides information and good practices for successfully establishing an effective corrective actions programme. This publication forms part of a series that develops the principles set forth in these guidelines

Towards a sustainable America: advancing prosperity, opportunity, and a healthy environment for the 21st century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

Humanity faces an unprecedented challenge as our numbers grow, while Earth and its capacity to support us do not. People across the United States and around the world aspire to better lives for themselves and for their chil- dren: food, shelter, a stie and healthy environment, education, jobs, and other material needs and conveniences. Industries strive to produce more goods, farmers to grow more crops; and human demands on forests, fields, rivers, and oceans increase. Our challenge is to create a future in which prosperity and opportunity increase while life flourishes and pressures on oceans, earth, and atmosphere - the biosphere - diminish; to create, as the Council's vision suggests, ''a life- sustaining Ear and that supports ''a dignified, peaceful, and equitable existence. '' It is a powerful vision, and the two of us, brought together as co-chairs of the President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCS D), fervently believe it is achievable - a uniting and necessary goal for the boundless capacity of human ingenuity so manifest in America. This document addresses climate change, environmental management, metropolitan and rural strategies, and international leadership

Towards a sustainable America: advancing prosperity, opportunity, and a healthy environment for the 21st century

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1999-05-01

Humanity faces an unprecedented challenge as our numbers grow, while Earth and its capacity to support us do not. People across the United States and around the world aspire to better lives for themselves and for their children: food, shelter, a safe and healthy environment, education, jobs, and other material needs and conveniences. Industries strive to produce more goods, farmers to grow more crops; and human demands on forests, fields, rivers, and oceans increase. Our challenge is to create a future in which prosperity and opportunity increase while life flourishes and pressures on oceans, earth, and atmosphere - the biosphere - diminish; to create, as the Council's vision suggests, "a life- sustaining Earth that supports "a dignified, peaceful, and equitable existence." It is a powerful vision, and the two co-chairs of the President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD), fervently believe it is achievable - a unifying and necessary goal for the boundless capacity of human ingenuity so manifest in America. This document addresses climate change, environmental management, metropolitan and rural strategies, and international leadership.

Analysing context-dependent deviations in interacting with safety-critical systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paterno, Fabio; Santoro, Carmen

2006-01-01

Mobile technology is penetrating many areas of human life. This implies that the context of use can vary in many respects. We present a method that aims to support designers in managing the complex design space when considering applications with varying contexts and help them to identify solutions that support users in performing their activities while preserving usability and safety. The method is a novel combination of an analysis of both potential deviations in task performance and most suitable information representations based on distributed cognition. The originality of the contribution is in providing a conceptual tool for better understanding the impact of context of use on user interaction in safety-critical domains. In order to present our approach we provide an example in which the implications of introducing new support through mobile devices in a safety-critical system are identified and analysed in terms of potential hazards

Modeling the safety impacts of driving hours and rest breaks on truck drivers considering time-dependent covariates.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chen; Xie, Yuanchang

2014-12-01

Driving hours and rest breaks are closely related to driver fatigue, which is a major contributor to truck crashes. This study investigates the effects of driving hours and rest breaks on commercial truck driver safety. A discrete-time logistic regression model is used to evaluate the crash odds ratios of driving hours and rest breaks. Driving time is divided into 11 one hour intervals. These intervals and rest breaks are modeled as dummy variables. In addition, a Cox proportional hazards regression model with time-dependent covariates is used to assess the transient effects of rest breaks, which consists of a fixed effect and a variable effect. Data collected from two national truckload carriers in 2009 and 2010 are used. The discrete-time logistic regression result indicates that only the crash odds ratio of the 11th driving hour is statistically significant. Taking one, two, and three rest breaks can reduce drivers' crash odds by 68%, 83%, and 85%, respectively, compared to drivers who did not take any rest breaks. The Cox regression result shows clear transient effects for rest breaks. It also suggests that drivers may need some time to adjust themselves to normal driving tasks after a rest break. Overall, the third rest break's safety benefit is very limited based on the results of both models. The findings of this research can help policy makers better understand the impact of driving time and rest breaks and develop more effective rules to improve commercial truck safety. Copyright © 2014 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Architecture Level Safety Analyses for Safety-Critical Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. S. Kushal

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The dependency of complex embedded Safety-Critical Systems across Avionics and Aerospace domains on their underlying software and hardware components has gradually increased with progression in time. Such application domain systems are developed based on a complex integrated architecture, which is modular in nature. Engineering practices assured with system safety standards to manage the failure, faulty, and unsafe operational conditions are very much necessary. System safety analyses involve the analysis of complex software architecture of the system, a major aspect in leading to fatal consequences in the behaviour of Safety-Critical Systems, and provide high reliability and dependability factors during their development. In this paper, we propose an architecture fault modeling and the safety analyses approach that will aid in identifying and eliminating the design flaws. The formal foundations of SAE Architecture Analysis & Design Language (AADL augmented with the Error Model Annex (EMV are discussed. The fault propagation, failure behaviour, and the composite behaviour of the design flaws/failures are considered for architecture safety analysis. The illustration of the proposed approach is validated by implementing the Speed Control Unit of Power-Boat Autopilot (PBA system. The Error Model Annex (EMV is guided with the pattern of consideration and inclusion of probable failure scenarios and propagation of fault conditions in the Speed Control Unit of Power-Boat Autopilot (PBA. This helps in validating the system architecture with the detection of the error event in the model and its impact in the operational environment. This also provides an insight of the certification impact that these exceptional conditions pose at various criticality levels and design assurance levels and its implications in verifying and validating the designs.

76 FR 2199 - Locomotive Safety Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-12

..., alcohol and drug testing, locomotive engineer certification, and workplace safety. In 1980, FRA issued the...) Association of State Rail Safety Managers (ASRSM) Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET... desirable to minimize the health and safety effects of temperature extremes. Depending upon the workplace...

Light water reactor safety

CERN Document Server

Pershagen, B

2013-01-01

This book describes the principles and practices of reactor safety as applied to the design, regulation and operation of light water reactors, combining a historical approach with an up-to-date account of the safety, technology and operating experience of both pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors. The introductory chapters set out the basic facts upon which the safety of light water reactors depend. The central section is devoted to the methods and results of safety analysis. The accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl are reviewed and their implications for light wate

Consideration of aging in probabilistic safety assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Titina, B.; Cepin, M.

2007-01-01

Probabilistic safety assessment is a standardised tool for assessment of safety of nuclear power plants. It is a complement to the safety analyses. Standard probabilistic models of safety equipment assume component failure rate as a constant. Ageing of systems, structures and components can theoretically be included in new age-dependent probabilistic safety assessment, which generally causes the failure rate to be a function of age. New age-dependent probabilistic safety assessment models, which offer explicit calculation of the ageing effects, are developed. Several groups of components are considered which require their unique models: e.g. operating components e.g. stand-by components. The developed models on the component level are inserted into the models of the probabilistic safety assessment in order that the ageing effects are evaluated for complete systems. The preliminary results show that the lack of necessary data for consideration of ageing causes highly uncertain models and consequently the results. (author)

Software for computer based systems important to safety in nuclear power plants. Safety guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

Computer based systems are of increasing importance to safety in nuclear power plants as their use in both new and older plants is rapidly increasing. They are used both in safety related applications, such as some functions of the process control and monitoring systems, as well as in safety critical applications, such as reactor protection or actuation of safety features. The dependability of computer based systems important to safety is therefore of prime interest and should be ensured. With current technology, it is possible in principle to develop computer based instrumentation and control systems for systems important to safety that have the potential for improving the level of safety and reliability with sufficient dependability. However, their dependability can be predicted and demonstrated only if a systematic, fully documented and reviewable engineering process is followed. Although a number of national and international standards dealing with quality assurance for computer based systems important to safety have been or are being prepared, internationally agreed criteria for demonstrating the safety of such systems are not generally available. It is recognized that there may be other ways of providing the necessary safety demonstration than those recommended here. The basic requirements for the design of safety systems for nuclear power plants are provided in the Requirements for Design issued in the IAEA Safety Standards Series.The IAEA has issued a Technical Report to assist Member States in ensuring that computer based systems important to safety in nuclear power plants are safe and properly licensed. The report provides information on current software engineering practices and, together with relevant standards, forms a technical basis for this Safety Guide. The objective of this Safety Guide is to provide guidance on the collection of evidence and preparation of documentation to be used in the safety demonstration for the software for computer based

Software for computer based systems important to safety in nuclear power plants. Safety guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

Computer based systems are of increasing importance to safety in nuclear power plants as their use in both new and older plants is rapidly increasing. They are used both in safety related applications, such as some functions of the process control and monitoring systems, as well as in safety critical applications, such as reactor protection or actuation of safety features. The dependability of computer based systems important to safety is therefore of prime interest and should be ensured. With current technology, it is possible in principle to develop computer based instrumentation and control systems for systems important to safety that have the potential for improving the level of safety and reliability with sufficient dependability. However, their dependability can be predicted and demonstrated only if a systematic, fully documented and reviewable engineering process is followed. Although a number of national and international standards dealing with quality assurance for computer based systems important to safety have been or are being prepared, internationally agreed criteria for demonstrating the safety of such systems are not generally available. It is recognized that there may be other ways of providing the necessary safety demonstration than those recommended here. The basic requirements for the design of safety systems for nuclear power plants are provided in the Requirements for Design issued in the IAEA Safety Standards Series.The IAEA has issued a Technical Report to assist Member States in ensuring that computer based systems important to safety in nuclear power plants are safe and properly licensed. The report provides information on current software engineering practices and, together with relevant standards, forms a technical basis for this Safety Guide. The objective of this Safety Guide is to provide guidance on the collection of evidence and preparation of documentation to be used in the safety demonstration for the software for computer based

Software for computer based systems important to safety in nuclear power plants. Safety guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

Computer based systems are of increasing importance to safety in nuclear power plants as their use in both new and older plants is rapidly increasing. They are used both in safety related applications, such as some functions of the process control and monitoring systems, as well as in safety critical applications, such as reactor protection or actuation of safety features. The dependability of computer based systems important to safety is therefore of prime interest and should be ensured. With current technology, it is possible in principle to develop computer based instrumentation and control systems for systems important to safety that have the potential for improving the level of safety and reliability with sufficient dependability. However, their dependability can be predicted and demonstrated only if a systematic, fully documented and reviewable engineering process is followed. Although a number of national and international standards dealing with quality assurance for computer based systems important to safety have been or are being prepared, internationally agreed criteria for demonstrating the safety of such systems are not generally available. It is recognized that there may be other ways of providing the necessary safety demonstration than those recommended here. The basic requirements for the design of safety systems for nuclear power plants are provided in the Requirements for Design issued in the IAEA Safety Standards Series.The IAEA has issued a Technical Report to assist Member States in ensuring that computer based systems important to safety in nuclear power plants are safe and properly licensed. The report provides information on current software engineering practices and, together with relevant standards, forms a technical basis for this Safety Guide. The objective of this Safety Guide is to provide guidance on the collection of evidence and preparation of documentation to be used in the safety demonstration for the software for computer based

An Overture for eCAM: Science, Technology and Innovation Initiation for Prosperous, Healthy Nepal.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaphle, Krishna; Bhuju, Dinesh Raj; Jha, Pramod Kr; Bhattarai, Hom Nath

2011-01-01

Nepal the "Shangri-La" in the lap of the Himalayas is gearing up for modern times as it starts rebuilding after a decade of senseless violence and destruction. The nation one of the poorest in the global development index is rich in natural resources and biodiversity. Reports of medicinal plants far exceeding those recorded and reported so far are encouraging and at the same time concerns for medicinal plants under threat as a result of overexploitation are emerging from Nepal. The harsh mountain terrains, lack of industrialization and harnessing potentiality of its areas of strength; water; natural resources and tourism make it poor in per capita income which averages ~ 300 US$, with half the population living under >1$ a day. Nepal is beginning to realize that the way ahead is only possible through the path of Science and Technology (ST). Nepal Academy of Science and Technology formerly known as Royal Academy of Science and Technology organized the fifth national conference held every 4 years that took place in the capital Kathmandu during November 10-12, 2008. The ST initiation event saw the participation of ~ 1400 people representing over 150 organizations from the country and experts from abroad. The theme for the fifth national meet was "Science, Technology and Innovation for Prosperous Nepal". Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) was an important theme in the event as the realization for the need of ST research focused in CAM for harnessing the chemo diversity potential was univocally approved.

Testing cognitive function in elderly populations: the PROSPER study. PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Houx, P J; Shepherd, J; Blauw, G-J; Murphy, M B; Ford, I; Bollen, E L; Buckley, B; Stott, D J; Jukema, W; Hyland, M; Gaw, A; Norrie, J; Kamper, A M; Perry, I J; MacFarlane, P W; Meinders, A Edo; Sweeney, B J; Packard, C J; Twomey, C; Cobbe, S M; Westendorp, R G

2002-10-01

For large scale follow up studies with non-demented patients in which cognition is an endpoint, there is a need for short, inexpensive, sensitive, and reliable neuropsychological tests that are suitable for repeated measurements. The commonly used Mini-Mental-State-Examination fulfils only the first two requirements. In the PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER), 5804 elderly subjects aged 70 to 82 years were examined using a learning test (memory), a coding test (general speed), and a short version of the Stroop test (attention). Data presented here were collected at dual baseline, before randomisation for active treatment. The tests proved to be reliable (with test/retest reliabilities ranging from acceptable (r=0.63) to high (r=0.88) and sensitive to detect small differences in subjects from different age categories. All tests showed significant practice effects: performance increased from the first measurement to the first follow up after two weeks. Normative data are provided that can be used for one time neuropsychological testing as well as for assessing individual and group change. Methods for analysing cognitive change are proposed.

Safety Evaluation of Roundabouts in Georgia

Science.gov (United States)

2018-02-28

Several previous studies have documented significant safety benefits of roundabouts in the United Sates. However, the safety benefits for a given roundabout may vary depending on factors such as the familiarity of the driving population to roundabout...

Quality and safety in radiotherapy

CERN Document Server

Pawlicki, Todd

2010-01-01

The first text to focus solely on quality and safety in radiotherapy, this work encompasses not only traditional, more technically oriented, quality assurance activities, but also general approaches of quality and safety. It includes contributions from experts both inside and outside the field to present a global view. The task of assuring quality is no longer viewed solely as a technical, equipment-dependent endeavor. Instead, it is now recognized as depending on both the processes and the people delivering the service. Divided into seven broad categories, the text covers: Quality Management

[Safety culture: definition, models and design].

Science.gov (United States)

Pfaff, Holger; Hammer, Antje; Ernstmann, Nicole; Kowalski, Christoph; Ommen, Oliver

2009-01-01

Safety culture is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Safety culture of a healthcare organization is high if it has a common stock in knowledge, values and symbols in regard to patients' safety. The article intends to define safety culture in the first step and, in the second step, demonstrate the effects of safety culture. We present the model of safety behaviour and show how safety culture can affect behaviour and produce safe behaviour. In the third step we will look at the causes of safety culture and present the safety-culture-model. The main hypothesis of this model is that the safety culture of a healthcare organization strongly depends on its communication culture and its social capital. Finally, we will investigate how the safety culture of a healthcare organization can be improved. Based on the safety culture model six measures to improve safety culture will be presented.

Resolving conflicting safety cultures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slider, J.E.; Patterson, M.

1993-01-01

Several nuclear power plant sites have been wounded in the crossfire between two distinct corporate cultures. The traditional utility culture lies on one side and that of the nuclear navy on the other. The two corporate cultures lead to different perceptions of open-quotes safety culture.close quotes This clash of safety cultures obscures a very important point about nuclear plant operations: Safety depends on organizational learning. Organizational learning provides the foundation for a perception of safety culture that transcends the conflict between utility and nuclear navy cultures. Corporate culture may be defined as the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs shared by employees of a given company. Safety culture is the part of corporate culture concerning shared attitudes and beliefs affecting individual or public safety. If the safety culture promotes behaviors that lead to greater safety, employees will tend to open-quotes do the right thingclose quotes even when circumstances and formal guidance alone do not ensure that actions will be correct. Safety culture has become particularly important to nuclear plant owners and regulators as they have sought to establish and maintain a high level of safety in today's plants

ELEMENTS OF SAFETY IN PARAGLIDING

OpenAIRE

Janez Mekinc; Katarina Mušič

2016-01-01

Paragliding is an opportunity for tourism development, depending on what position the sport has place in the local community, the restrictions for paragliders and the safety components of the region. The paper explores the phenomenon of paragliding and safety elements in the Upper Soča region, one of ten best paragliding sites in the world (Placestoseeinyourlifetime, 2015). The purpose of the research is to analyse the safety elements, the development and the risk of paragliding.The goals of ...

Improved methods for dependent failure analysis in PSA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballard, G.M.; Games, A.M.

1988-01-01

The basic design principle used in ensuring the safe operation of nuclear power plant is defence in depth. This normally takes the form of redundant equipment and systems which provide protection even if a number of equipment failures occur. Such redundancy is particularly effective in ensuring that multiple, independent equipment failures with the potential for jeopardising reactor safety will be rare events. However the achievement of high reliability has served to highlight the potentially dominant role of multiple, dependent failures of equipment and systems. Analysis of reactor operating experience has shown that dependent failure events are the major contributors to safety system failures and reactor incidents and accidents. In parallel PSA studies have shown that the results of a safety analysis are sensitive to assumptions made about the dependent failure (CCF) probability for safety systems. Thus a Westinghouse Analysis showed that increasing system dependent failure probabilities by a factor of 5 led to a factor 4 increase in core. This paper particularly refers to the engineering concepts underlying dependent failure assessment touching briefly on aspects of data. It is specifically not the intent of our work to develop a new mathematical model of CCF but to aid the use of existing models

A tool to diagnose context riskiness in view of food safety activities and microbiological safety output

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luning, P.A.; Marcelis, W.J.; Boekel, van M.A.J.S.; Rovira, J.; Uyttendaele, M.; Jacxsens, L.

2011-01-01

Stakeholders entail increasing demands on food safety management systems (FSMS) stimulating ongoing efforts of companies to progress to more advanced systems. However, the actual microbiological food safety (FS) output is not only a result of the performance of an FSMS, but it also depends on the

An Overture for eCAM: Science, Technology and Innovation Initiation for Prosperous, Healthy Nepal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krishna Kaphle

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Nepal the “Shangri-La” in the lap of the Himalayas is gearing up for modern times as it starts rebuilding after a decade of senseless violence and destruction. The nation one of the poorest in the global development index is rich in natural resources and biodiversity. Reports of medicinal plants far exceeding those recorded and reported so far are encouraging and at the same time concerns for medicinal plants under threat as a result of overexploitation are emerging from Nepal. The harsh mountain terrains, lack of industrialization and harnessing potentiality of its areas of strength; water; natural resources and tourism make it poor in per capita income which averages ~ 300 US$, with half the population living under >1$ a day. Nepal is beginning to realize that the way ahead is only possible through the path of Science and Technology (ST. Nepal Academy of Science and Technology formerly known as Royal Academy of Science and Technology organized the fifth national conference held every 4 years that took place in the capital Kathmandu during November 10-12, 2008. The ST initiation event saw the participation of ~ 1400 people representing over 150 organizations from the country and experts from abroad. The theme for the fifth national meet was “Science, Technology and Innovation for Prosperous Nepal”. Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM was an important theme in the event as the realization for the need of ST research focused in CAM for harnessing the chemo diversity potential was univocally approved.

Efficacy and Safety of a Multistrain Probiotic Formulation Depends from Manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vito Trinchieri

2017-11-01

in the Italian-made formulation were producing DHA. DHA reduced the viability of Streptococcus thermophilus, reduced IEC-6 cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, and also led to a lower rate of repair to scratched IEC-6 cell monolayer.ConclusionOur data, in conjunction with previously published findings, confirm that the new Italian-made formulation of VSL#3® is different from the previous US-made VSL#3 and therefore its efficacy and safety in HIV-infected subjects is still unproven.

DEPEND-HRA-A method for consideration of dependency in human reliability analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cepin, Marko

2008-01-01

A consideration of dependencies between human actions is an important issue within the human reliability analysis. A method was developed, which integrates the features of existing methods and the experience from a full scope plant simulator. The method is used on real plant-specific human reliability analysis as a part of the probabilistic safety assessment of a nuclear power plant. The method distinguishes dependency for pre-initiator events from dependency for initiator and post-initiator events. The method identifies dependencies based on scenarios, where consecutive human actions are modeled, and based on a list of minimal cut sets, which is obtained by running the minimal cut set analysis considering high values of human error probabilities in the evaluation. A large example study, which consisted of a large number of human failure events, demonstrated the applicability of the method. Comparative analyses that were performed show that both selection of dependency method and selection of dependency levels within the method largely impact the results of probabilistic safety assessment. If the core damage frequency is not impacted much, the listings of important basic events in terms of risk increase and risk decrease factors may change considerably. More efforts are needed on the subject, which will prepare the background for more detailed guidelines, which will remove the subjectivity from the evaluations as much as it is possible

Dependability Assessment by Static Analysis of Software Important to Nuclear Power Plant Safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ourghanlian, Alain [EDF Lab, Chatou (France)

2014-08-15

We describe a practical experimentation of safety assessment of safety-critical software used in Nuclear Power Plants. To enhance the credibility of safety assessments and to optimize safety justification costs, Electricite de France (EDF) investigates the use of methods and tools for source code semantic analysis, to obtain indisputable evidence and help assessors focus on the most critical issues. EDF has been using the PolySpace tool for more than 10 years. Today, new industrial tools, based on the same formal approach, Abstract Interpretation, are available. Practical experimentation with these new tools shows that the precision obtained on one of our shutdown systems software is very significantly improved. In a first part, we present the analysis principles of the tools used in our experimentation. In a second part, we present the main characteristics of protection-system software, and why these characteristics are well adapted for the new analysis tools. In the last part, we present an overview of the results and the limitation of the tools.

Applying a realistic evaluation model to occupational safety interventions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Louise Møller

2018-01-01

Background: Recent literature characterizes occupational safety interventions as complex social activities, applied in complex and dynamic social systems. Hence, the actual outcomes of an intervention will vary, depending on the intervention, the implementation process, context, personal characte......Background: Recent literature characterizes occupational safety interventions as complex social activities, applied in complex and dynamic social systems. Hence, the actual outcomes of an intervention will vary, depending on the intervention, the implementation process, context, personal...... and qualitative methods. This revised model has, however, not been applied in a real life context. Method: The model is applied in a controlled, four-component, integrated behaviour-based and safety culture-based safety intervention study (2008-2010) in a medium-sized wood manufacturing company. The interventions...... involve the company’s safety committee, safety manager, safety groups and 130 workers. Results: The model provides a framework for more valid evidence of what works within injury prevention. Affective commitment and role behaviour among key actors are identified as crucial for the implementation...

Time-independent and time-dependent contributions to the unavailability of standby safety system components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lofgren, E.V.; Uryasev, S.; Samanta, P.

1997-01-01

The unavailability of standby safety system components due to failures in nuclear power plants is considered to involve a time-independent and a time-dependent part. The former relates to the component's unavailability from demand stresses due to usage, and the latter represents the component's unavailability due to standby-time stresses related to the environment. In this paper, data from the nuclear plant reliability data system (NPRDS) were used to partition the component's unavailability into the contributions from standby-time stress (i.e., due to environmental factors) and demand stress (i.e., due to usage). Analyses are presented of motor-operated valves (MOVs), motor-driven pumps (MDPs), and turbine-driven pumps (TDPs). MOVs fail predominantly (approx. 78 %) from environmental factors (standby-time stress failures). MDPs fail slightly more frequently from demand stresses (approx. 63 %) than standby-time stresses, while TDPs fail predominantly from standby-time stresses (approx. 78 %). Such partitions of component unavailability have many uses in risk-informed and performance-based regulation relating to modifications to Technical Specification, in-service testing, precise determination of dominant accident sequences, and implementation of maintenance rules

Supply chain management - safety aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Developing economy, growing customer requirements and competition make the service level higher. Delivery safety - as the highest priority - has to be maintained at the same time. Customers more and more often require transport to be very flexible, fast, and complex in terms of carrying every quantity of goods of different sizes, from and to different countries, through customs clearance, storing and distribution of shipments. Meeting these requirements depends on complex information on transport processes and their safety. The article presents safety foundations and institution Authorized Economic Operator - AEO in supply chains.

Development of time dependent safety analysis code for plasma anomaly events in fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Honda, Takuro; Okazaki, Takashi; Bartels, H.W.; Uckan, N.A.; Seki, Yasushi.

1997-01-01

A safety analysis code SAFALY has been developed to analyze plasma anomaly events in fusion reactors, e.g., a loss of plasma control. The code is a hybrid code comprising a zero-dimensional plasma dynamics and a one-dimensional thermal analysis of in-vessel components. The code evaluates the time evolution of plasma parameters and temperature distributions of in-vessel components. As the plasma-safety interface model, we proposed a robust plasma physics model taking into account updated data for safety assessment. For example, physics safety guidelines for beta limit, density limit and H-L mode confinement transition threshold power, etc. are provided in the model. The model of the in-vessel components are divided into twenty temperature regions in the poloidal direction taking account of radiative heat transfer between each surface of each region. This code can also describe the coolant behavior under hydraulic accidents with the results by hydraulics code and treat vaporization (sublimation) from plasma facing components (PFCs). Furthermore, the code includes the model of impurity transport form PFCs by using a transport probability and a time delay. Quantitative analysis based on the model is possible for a scenario of plasma passive shutdown. We examined the possibility of the code as a safety analysis code for plasma anomaly events in fusion reactors and had a prospect that it would contribute to the safety analysis of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). (author)

SAFETY PLATFORM OF POLISH TRANSPORT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna CHRUZIK

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Analyzing the level of Polish transport safety culture can be seen that it is now dependent on the culture of safety management within the organization and the requirements and recommendations of law in this field for different modes of transport (air, rail, road, water. Of the four basic types of transport requirements are widely developed in the aviation, rail, and water – the sea. In order to harmonize the requirements for transport safety so it appears advisable to develop a platform for exchange of safety information for different modes of transport, and the development of good practices multimodal offering the possibility of improving Polish transport safety. Described in the publication of the proposal in addition to the alignment platform experience and knowledge in the field of transport safety in all its kinds, it can also be a tool for perfecting new operators of public transport.

Surveillance of the North-Eastern Atlantic dumpsite for low-level radioactive waste. The Swiss oceanographic research program 'PROSPER'. Progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyffeler, F.; Ruch, P.; Hanselmann, K.

1984-08-01

This report describes the results of the research undertaken within the CRESP program by the Swiss group PROSPER, for the surveillance of the current dumpsite for low-level radioactive waste in the North-Eastern Atlantic. About 100 nephelometric profiles obtained during three cruises in the vicinity of the site provide a sound basis for the description of the benthic nepheloid layer structure. Statistical analyses show that the last 1000 m of water above the bottom are influenced by resuspension processes or by lateral advection of particles detached from the surrounding relief. A mapping performed over a large area (200 x 200 km) confirms the accumulation of particles in topographic lows. Geochemical analysis of suspended matter and surficial sediment has been carried out in order to compare their elemental composition, and to determine the classes of particles which are more likely to be resuspended. The discrepancy between BNL and local sediment composition suggests that advective transport or resuspension of older bottom sediment, exposed following slumping from the hill slopes, could act in addition to the local resuspension of recent sediment. (author)

Defining safety culture and the nexus between safety goals and safety culture. 1. An Investigation Study on Practical Points of Safety Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasegawa, Naoko; Takano, Kenichi; Hirose, Ayako

2001-01-01

among those of existing questionnaires about safety culture, organizational climate, and individual safety consciousness. From the results of investigations, it was supposed that the establishment of a safety management system to which the whole organization is committed and that has top-down and bottom-up cycles is necessary to enhance organization safety. For example, it was clarified that employee safety consciousness is relevant to 'the action of safety management section' and to two kinds of organization climate, i.e., 'good human relationship' and 'frequent discussion on safety'. As for worker motivation for safety, it was clarified that commitment to safety activities was directly influenced by 'safety activities adhering to actual work sites', 'advance check', and 'frequent discussion on safety' as a result of correlation analysis among traits of safety activity, attitude during daily work, and organizational climate (Fig. 1). In addition, it was also supposed that the commitment was influenced by 'good human relationship', 'pride in work', and 'communication between head office and work sites' indirectly according to the result of the same analysis. Thus, it is supposed that ideas to make safety activities adhere to actual work sites and good human relationships are necessary for organization safety as well as for the establishment of the safety management system. The state of the organization and work sites before the safety system and activities are enforced must also be assessed. According to the results, the construction, chemical, and manufacturing industries differed in types of safety systems and activities conducted because the system types and activities to be conducted depended on the type of work or work site. Hence, to diagnose an organization and to provide an appropriate safety system and activities that reflect the diagnosis are important to enforce safety culture from the viewpoint of usability and interface of the safety management system

[Organisational responsibility versus individual responsibility: safety culture? About the relationship between patient safety and medical malpractice law].

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, Dieter

2009-01-01

The contribution is concerned with the correlations between risk information, patient safety, responsibility and liability, in particular in terms of liability law. These correlations have an impact on safety culture in healthcare, which can be evaluated positively if--in addition to good quality of medical care--as many sources of error as possible can be identified, analysed, and minimised or eliminated by corresponding measures (safety or risk management). Liability influences the conduct of individuals and enterprises; safety is (probably) also a function of liability; this should also apply to safety culture. The standard of safety culture does not only depend on individual liability for damages, but first of all on strict enterprise liability (system responsibility) and its preventive effects. Patient safety through quality and risk management is therefore also an organisational programme of considerable relevance in terms of liability law.

PSA methodology including new design, operational and safety factors, 'Level of recognition of phenomena with a presumed dominant influence upon operational safety' (failures of conventional as well as non-conventional passive components, dependent failures, influence of operator, fires and external threats, digital control, organizational factors)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jirsa, P.

2001-10-01

The document represents a specific type of discussion of existing methodologies for the creation and application of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) in light of the EUR document summarizing requirements placed by Western European NPP operators on the future design of nuclear power plants. A partial goal of this discussion consists in mapping, from the PSA point of view, those selected design, operational and/or safety factors of future NPPs that may be entirely new or, at least, newly addressed. Therefore, the terms of reference for this stage were formulated as follows: Assess current level of knowledge and procedures in the analysis of factors and phenomena with a dominant influence upon operational safety of new generation reactors, especially in the following areas: (1) Phenomenology of failure types and mechanisms and reliability of conventional passive safety system components; (2) Phenomenology of failure types and mechanisms and reliability of non-conventional passive components of newly designed safety systems; (3) Phenomenology of types and mechanisms of dependent failures; (4) Human factor role in new generation reactors and its effect upon safety; (5) Fire safety and other external threats to new nuclear installations; (6) Reliability of the digital systems of the I and C system and their effect upon safety; and (7) Organizational factors in new nuclear installations. (P.A.)

NASA's Software Safety Standard

Science.gov (United States)

Ramsay, Christopher M.

2007-01-01

NASA relies more and more on software to control, monitor, and verify its safety critical systems, facilities and operations. Since the 1960's there has hardly been a spacecraft launched that does not have a computer on board that will provide command and control services. There have been recent incidents where software has played a role in high-profile mission failures and hazardous incidents. For example, the Mars Orbiter, Mars Polar Lander, the DART (Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology), and MER (Mars Exploration Rover) Spirit anomalies were all caused or contributed to by software. The Mission Control Centers for the Shuttle, ISS, and unmanned programs are highly dependant on software for data displays, analysis, and mission planning. Despite this growing dependence on software control and monitoring, there has been little to no consistent application of software safety practices and methodology to NASA's projects with safety critical software. Meanwhile, academia and private industry have been stepping forward with procedures and standards for safety critical systems and software, for example Dr. Nancy Leveson's book Safeware: System Safety and Computers. The NASA Software Safety Standard, originally published in 1997, was widely ignored due to its complexity and poor organization. It also focused on concepts rather than definite procedural requirements organized around a software project lifecycle. Led by NASA Headquarters Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, the NASA Software Safety Standard has recently undergone a significant update. This new standard provides the procedures and guidelines for evaluating a project for safety criticality and then lays out the minimum project lifecycle requirements to assure the software is created, operated, and maintained in the safest possible manner. This update of the standard clearly delineates the minimum set of software safety requirements for a project without detailing the implementation for those

Research on software systems dependability at the OECD Halden Reactor Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sivertsen, Terje; Owre, Fridtjov

2011-01-01

Two central issues related to software systems dependability are those of safety integrity and safety demonstration. A proper understanding of these two issues are important for the selection of process, methods, techniques and tools to be used in the different life cycle phases of the software. Following a brief discussion on the concept of software safety integrity and its relationship to software systems dependability, this paper gives an introduction to research problems addressed by the OECD Halden Reactor Project within this area. The paper concludes with a discussion on the important role of safety demonstration in this context. (author)

Inherent safety characteristics of innovative reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heil, J.A.

1995-11-01

The added safety value of innovative or third generation reactor designs has been evaluated in order to determine the most suitable candidate for Dutch government funded research and development support. To this end, four innovative reactor concepts, viz. PIUS (Process Inherent Ultimate Safety), PRISM (Power Reactor Innovative Small), HTR-M (High Temperature Reactor Module) and MHTGR (Modular High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor), have been studied and their passive and inherent safety characteristics have been outlined. Also the outlook for further technological and industrial development has been considered. The results of the study confirm the perspective of the innovative reactors for reduced dependence on active safety provisions and for a further reduced vulnerability to technical failures and human errors. The accident responses to generic accident initiators, viz. reactivity and cooling accidents, and also to reactor specific accidents show that neither active safety systems nor short term operator actions are required for maintaining the reactor core in a controlled and coolable condition. Whether this gives rise to a higher total safety of the innovative reactor designs, compared to evolutionary or advanced reactors, cannot be concluded. Supplementary experimental and analytical analyses of reactor specific accidents are required to be able to assess the safety of these innovative designs in a more quantitative manner. It is believed that the safety case of innovative reactors, which are less dependent on active safety systems, can be communicated with the general public in a more transparent way. Considering the perspective for further technological and industrial development it is not expected that any of the considered innovative reactor concepts will become commercially available within the next one to two decades. However, they could be made available earlier if they would receive sufficient financial backing. Considering the added safety perspectives

Safety control and risk management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasmussen, J.

1987-01-01

The acceptable probability of major accidents in nuclear power is very small, and can not be determined from direct empirical evidence. Therefore, control of the level of safety is a complex problem. The difficulty is related to the fact that a variable, 'safety', which is not accessible to direct measurement, is to be tightly controlled. Control, therefore, depends on a systematic, analytical prediction of the target state, i.e., the level of safety, from indirect evidence. From a control theoretic point of view this means that safety is controlled by a system which includes openloop as well as closed loop control paths. The aim of the paper is to take a general systems view on the complex mechanisms involved in the control of safety of industrial installations like nuclear power. From this, the role of probabilistic risk analysis is evaluated and needs for further development discussed. (author)

Safety analysis reports - new strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Booth, J.A.

1994-01-01

Within the past year there have been many external changes in the requirements of safety analysis reports. Now there is emphasis on open-quotes graded approachesclose quotes depending on the Hazard Classification of the project. The Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) has a Safety Analysis Working Group. The results of this group for the past year are discussed as well as the implications for EG ampersand G. New strategies include ideas for incorporating the graded approach, auditable safety documents, additional guidance for Hazard Classification per DOE-STD-1027-92. The emphasis in the paper is on those projects whose hazard classification is category three or less

Safety of intravenous ferric carboxymaltose versus oral iron in patients with nondialysis-dependent CKD: an analysis of the 1-year FIND-CKD trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Roger, Simon D; Gaillard, Carlo A; Bock, Andreas H; Carrera, Fernando; Eckardt, Kai-Uwe; Van Wyck, David B; Cronin, Maureen; Meier, Yvonne; Larroque, Sylvain; Macdougall, Iain C

2017-09-01

The evidence base regarding the safety of intravenous (IV) iron therapy in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is incomplete and largely based on small studies of relatively short duration. FIND-CKD (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00994318) was a 1-year, open-label, multicenter, prospective study of patients with nondialysis-dependent CKD, anemia and iron deficiency randomized (1:1:2) to IV ferric carboxymaltose (FCM), targeting higher (400-600 µg/L) or lower (100-200 µg/L) ferritin, or oral iron. A post hoc analysis of adverse event rates per 100 patient-years was performed to assess the safety of FCM versus oral iron over an extended period. The safety population included 616 patients. The incidence of one or more adverse events was 91.0, 100.0 and 105.0 per 100 patient-years in the high ferritin FCM, low ferritin FCM and oral iron groups, respectively. The incidence of adverse events with a suspected relation to study drug was 15.9, 17.8 and 36.7 per 100 patient-years in the three groups; for serious adverse events, the incidence was 28.2, 27.9 and 24.3 per 100 patient-years. The incidence of cardiac disorders and infections was similar between groups. At least one ferritin level ≥800 µg/L occurred in 26.6% of high ferritin FCM patients, with no associated increase in adverse events. No patient with ferritin ≥800 µg/L discontinued the study drug due to adverse events. Estimated glomerular filtration rate remained the stable in all groups. These results further support the conclusion that correction of iron deficiency anemia with IV FCM is safe in patients with nondialysis-dependent CKD. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA.

ERGONOMICS AND ROAD SAFETY

NARCIS (Netherlands)

BROOKHUIS, K; BROWN, [No Value

1992-01-01

Modifications to the design of vehicles and road infrastructures have improved road safety significantly over the past decades, but all such developments depend upon user acceptance and institutional backing for their success. New R&D programmes combining ergonomic and engineering approaches are

Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aikaterini Toska

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Due to a variety of circumstances and world-wide research findings, patient safety andquality care during hospitalization have emerged as major issues. Patient safety deficits may burdenhealth systems as well as allocated resources. The international community has examined severalproposals covering general and systemic aspects in order to improve patient safety; several long-termprograms and strategies have also been implemented promoting the participation of health-relatedagents, and also government agencies and non-governmental organizations.Aim: Those factors that have negative correlations with patient safety and quality healthcare weredetermined; WHO and EU programs as well as the Greek health policy were also reviewed.Method: Local and international literature was reviewed, including EU and WHO official publications,by using the appropriate keywords.Conclusions: International cooperation on patient safety is necessary in order to improvehospitalization and healthcare quality standards. Such incentives depend heavily on establishing worldwideviable and effective health programs and planning. These improvements also require further stepson safe work procedures, environment safety, hazard management, infection control, safe use ofequipment and medication, and sufficient healthcare staff.

ITER safety and operational scenario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimomura, Y.; Saji, G.

1998-01-01

The safety and environmental characteristics of ITER and its operational scenario are described. Fusion has built-in safety characteristics without depending on layers of safety protection systems. Safety considerations are integrated in the design by making use of the intrinsic safety characteristics of fusion adequate to the moderate hazard inventories. In addition to this, a systematic nuclear safety approach has been applied to the design of ITER. The safety assessment of the design shows how ITER will safely accommodate uncertainties, flexibility of plasma operations, and experimental components, which is fundamental in ITER, the first experimental fusion reactor. The operation of ITER will progress step by step from hydrogen plasma operation with low plasma current, low magnetic field, short pulse and low duty factor without fusion power to deuterium-tritium plasma operation with full plasma current, full magnetic field, long pulse and high duty factor with full fusion power. In each step, characteristics of plasma and optimization of plasma operation will be studied which will significantly reduce uncertainties and frequency/severity of plasma transient events in the next step. This approach enhances reliability of ITER operation. (orig.)

Material & equipment, procurement & maintenance: Impact on blood safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Emmanuel, Jean C

2010-01-01

Blood Transfusion Safety is dependent on effectively organised and managed blood services, which have adequate financial resources, skilled manpower, appropriate infrastructure and quality management systems in place. 80% of the world's population has access to 20% of the supply blood products, of which little is consistently safe. HIV highlighted the importance of blood safety. The lack of effective blood services in low human development index (LHDI), developing countries, has lead to international funding and capacity building for more than three decades. The initial strategies focused on providing HIV testing reagents to prevention transmission, however this only addresses one part of blood safety. Blood safety is not only dependent on preventing HIV transmission. In many populations there are other infectious agents, which have a higher prevalence. Ensuring the correct blood is provided to the patient depends on: well managed services with effective leadership and adequate budgets; capacity building and retention of skilled experienced staff; availability of laboratory equipment, correctly maintained; blood cold chain systems; procedures for tendering, purchasing and ensuring an unbroken supply of reagents and consumables; and quality management systems. Barriers for simplified effective tendering, procurement and contracting require urgent attention and coordination of all funding organisations to ensure an unbroken supply of reagents. Copyright 2009. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Time-dependent reliability analysis of flood defences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buijs, F.A.; Hall, J.W.; Sayers, P.B.; Gelder, P.H.A.J.M. van

2009-01-01

This paper describes the underlying theory and a practical process for establishing time-dependent reliability models for components in a realistic and complex flood defence system. Though time-dependent reliability models have been applied frequently in, for example, the offshore, structural safety and nuclear industry, application in the safety-critical field of flood defence has to date been limited. The modelling methodology involves identifying relevant variables and processes, characterisation of those processes in appropriate mathematical terms, numerical implementation, parameter estimation and prediction. A combination of stochastic, hierarchical and parametric processes is employed. The approach is demonstrated for selected deterioration mechanisms in the context of a flood defence system. The paper demonstrates that this structured methodology enables the definition of credible statistical models for time-dependence of flood defences in data scarce situations. In the application of those models one of the main findings is that the time variability in the deterioration process tends to be governed the time-dependence of one or a small number of critical attributes. It is demonstrated how the need for further data collection depends upon the relevance of the time-dependence in the performance of the flood defence system.

Safety indicators for the peat industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berezhnoy, S A; Sedov, Yu I; Yenoshevskiy, B A

1981-01-01

Members of the inter-institutional department of 'Labor Protection' of the KPI, in cooperation with members of the peat industry, have developed safety indicators for the peat industry in accordance with the requirements of GOST 12.4.026-76 SSBT, and established the range and order for their use. The safety indicators for the peat industry are divided into four groups (prohibiting, warning, regulating, and indicating), depending on the function.

Safety culture as an element of contact and cooperation between utilities, research and safety authorities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoegberg, L.

1994-01-01

The safety culture approach may simply be seen as a recognition of the close interdependence between safety and organisational processes: achievement of technical safety objectives will largely depend on the quality of the implementation processes in the organisations concerned. With a slight modification of the original INSAG formulation, SKI defines safety culture as 'a consciously formulated and implemented set of values in an organisation, which establishes that, as an overriding priority, safety issues receive the attention warranted by their significance'. In practice, a high level of safety culture means the systematic organisation and implementation of a number of activities aimed at creating a high quality defence in depth against both technical and human failures that may cause accidents. An enquiring and learning attitude is a key element of such a safety culture. For example, to prevent accidents, the organisation always needs to be reactive to incidents, by performing proper root cause analysis of both technical and organisational factors, and taking appropriate corrective actions. The long term organisational objective should be to be proactive and identify deficiencies in technology and organisation that may lead to serious incidents or, at worst, accidents and take corrective action even before actual occurrence of incidents of substantial safety significance. (author) 13 refs

Dependency Defence and Dependency Analysis Guidance. Volume 2: Appendix 3-8. How to analyse and protect against dependent failures. Summary report of the Nordic Working Group on Common Cause Failure Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johanson, Gunnar; Hellstroem, Per; Makamo, Tuomas; Bento, Jean-Pierre; Knochenhauer, Michael; Poern, Kurt

2003-10-01

The safety systems in Nordic nuclear power plants are characterised by substantial redundancy and/or diversification in safety critical functions, as well as by physical separation of critical safety systems, including their support functions. Viewed together with the evident additional fact, that the single failure criterion has been systematically applied in the design of safety systems, this means that the plant risk profile as calculated in existing PSA:s is usually strongly dominated by failures caused by dependencies resulting in the loss of more than one system sub. The overall objective with the working group is to support safety by studying potential and real CCF events, process statistical data and report conclusions and recommendations that can improve the understanding of these events eventually resulting in increased safety. The result is intended for application in NPP operation, maintenance, inspection and risk assessments. The NAFCS project is part of the activities of the Nordic PSA Group (NPSAG), and is financed jointly by the Nordic utilities and authorities. The work is divided into one quantitative and one qualitative part with the following specific objectives: Qualitative objectives-The goal with the qualitative analysis is to compile experience data and generate insights in terms of relevant failure mechanisms and effective CCF protection measures. The results shall be presented as a guide with checklists and recommendations on how to identify current CCF protection standard and improvement possibilities regarding CCF defences decreasing the CCF vulnerability. Quantitative objectives-The goal with the quantitative analysis is to prepare a Nordic C-book where quantitative insights as Impact Vectors and CCF parameters for different redundancy levels are presented. Uncertainties in CCF data shall be reduced as much as possible. The high redundancy systems sensitivity to CCF events demand a well structured quantitative analysis in support of

Discussion on safety culture general contract model of consultation enterprises

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong Huimin; Zhang Hao

2012-01-01

With a high safety requirement, long construction period, a large amount of investment and many influencing factors of the preparation and implementation of project schedule, local nuclear power always is built through EPC. Safety level depends on EPC. Some measures should be taken for local consultation enterprises to improve situation of safety. Some suggestion as follows: safety culture should be received enough attention; management system should be established in according with requirement of safety culture; try to encourage employee involvement; to assess it in time; safety system should be entirely compatible with enterprises system. (authors)

Increased earthquake safety through optimised mounting concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kollmann, Dieter; Senechal, Holger

2013-01-01

Since Fukushima, there has been intensive work on earthquake safety in all nuclear power plants. A large part of these efforts aim at the earthquake safety of safety-relevant pipeline systems. The problem with earthquake safety here is not the pipeline system itself but rather its mountings and connections to components. This is precisely the topic that the KAE dealt with in years of research and development work. It has developed an algorithm that determines the optimal mounting concept with a few iteration steps depending on arbitrary combinations of loading conditions whilst maintaining compliance with relevant regulations for any pipeline systems. With this tool at hand, we are now in a position to plan and realise remedial measures accurately with minimum time and hardware expenditure, and so distinctly improve the earthquake safety of safety-relevant systems. (orig.)

Margins Associated with Loss of Assured Safety for Systems with Multiple Time-Dependent Failure Modes.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Helton, Jon C. [Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States); Brooks, Dusty Marie [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sallaberry, Cedric Jean-Marie. [Engineering Mechanics Corp. of Columbus, OH (United States)

2018-02-01

Representations for margins associated with loss of assured safety (LOAS) for weak link (WL)/strong link (SL) systems involving multiple time-dependent failure modes are developed. The following topics are described: (i) defining properties for WLs and SLs, (ii) background on cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) for link failure time, link property value at link failure, and time at which LOAS occurs, (iii) CDFs for failure time margins defined by (time at which SL system fails) – (time at which WL system fails), (iv) CDFs for SL system property values at LOAS, (v) CDFs for WL/SL property value margins defined by (property value at which SL system fails) – (property value at which WL system fails), and (vi) CDFs for SL property value margins defined by (property value of failing SL at time of SL system failure) – (property value of this SL at time of WL system failure). Included in this presentation is a demonstration of a verification strategy based on defining and approximating the indicated margin results with (i) procedures based on formal integral representations and associated quadrature approximations and (ii) procedures based on algorithms for sampling-based approximations.

[Quantitative models between canopy hyperspectrum and its component features at apple tree prosperous fruit stage].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ling; Zhao, Geng-xing; Zhu, Xi-cun; Lei, Tong; Dong, Fang

2010-10-01

Hyperspectral technique has become the basis of quantitative remote sensing. Hyperspectrum of apple tree canopy at prosperous fruit stage consists of the complex information of fruits, leaves, stocks, soil and reflecting films, which was mostly affected by component features of canopy at this stage. First, the hyperspectrum of 18 sample apple trees with reflecting films was compared with that of 44 trees without reflecting films. It could be seen that the impact of reflecting films on reflectance was obvious, so the sample trees with ground reflecting films should be separated to analyze from those without ground films. Secondly, nine indexes of canopy components were built based on classified digital photos of 44 apple trees without ground films. Thirdly, the correlation between the nine indexes and canopy reflectance including some kinds of conversion data was analyzed. The results showed that the correlation between reflectance and the ratio of fruit to leaf was the best, among which the max coefficient reached 0.815, and the correlation between reflectance and the ratio of leaf was a little better than that between reflectance and the density of fruit. Then models of correlation analysis, linear regression, BP neural network and support vector regression were taken to explain the quantitative relationship between the hyperspectral reflectance and the ratio of fruit to leaf with the softwares of DPS and LIBSVM. It was feasible that all of the four models in 611-680 nm characteristic band are feasible to be used to predict, while the model accuracy of BP neural network and support vector regression was better than one-variable linear regression and multi-variable regression, and the accuracy of support vector regression model was the best. This study will be served as a reliable theoretical reference for the yield estimation of apples based on remote sensing data.

Dependability Evaluation of Advanced Diverse Protection System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, Yang Gyun; Lee, Yoon Hee; Sohn, Se Do; Baek, Seung Min; Lee, Sang Jeong

2014-01-01

For the mitigation of anticipated transients without scram (ATWS) as well as common cause failure (CCF) within the plant protection system (PPS) and the emergency safety feature . component control system (ESF-CCS), the diverse protection system (DPS) has been designed by KEPCO Engineering and Construction Company. Recently KEPCO E and C has developed the advanced diverse protection system (ADPS), which has four redundant channels, in an attempt to enhance a fault-tolerant capability of the system. For the evaluation of overall system improvement effects of the ADPS compared with the DPS, the dependability evaluation results are described herein. For all dependability attributes, this paper suggests a practical dependability evaluation method which uses quantitative dependability scores and indices. An overall dependability evaluation index (DEI) for the ADPS is evaluated with the average value of reliability/ security/maintainability/safety indices (i.e., RID, SID, MID, and SID') for dependability. The evaluation results show that the DEI value of ADPS can be improved by approximately 23% compared with that of the DPS, thanks to its fault-tolerant system architecture, software design changes, and external interface design features. Several suggestions have been made, in this paper, of an overall quantitative dependability evaluation method for the nuclear instrumentation and control (I and C) systems including the DPS and ADPS, and the usefulness of dependability evaluation on nuclear I and C systems has been confirmed

Validity of your safety awareness training

CERN Multimedia

DG Unit

2010-01-01

AIS is setting up an automatic e-mail reminder system for safety training. You are invited to forward this message to everyone concerned. Reminder: Please check the validity of your Safety courses Since April 2009 the compulsory basic Safety awareness courses (levels 1, 2 and 3) have been accessible on a "self-service" basis on the web (see CERN Bulletin). Participants are required to pass a test at the end of each course. The test is valid for 3 years so courses must be repeated on a regular basis. A system of automatic e-mail reminders already exists for level 4 courses on SIR and will be extended to the other levels shortly. The number of levels you are required to complete depends on your professional category. Activity Personnel concerned Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4     Basic safety Basic Safety ...

Researchers' Roles in Patient Safety Improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Pietikäinen, Elina; Reiman, Teemu; Heikkilä, Jouko; Macchi, Luigi

2016-03-01

In this article, we explore how researchers can contribute to patient safety improvement. We aim to expand the instrumental role researchers have often occupied in relation to patient safety improvement. We reflect on our own improvement model and experiences as patient safety researchers in an ongoing Finnish multi-actor innovation project through self-reflective narration. Our own patient safety improvement model can be described as systemic. Based on the purpose of the innovation project, our improvement model, and the improvement models of the other actors in the project, we have carried out a wide range of activities. Our activities can be summarized in 8 overlapping patient safety improvement roles: modeler, influencer, supplier, producer, ideator, reflector, facilitator, and negotiator. When working side by side with "practice," researchers are offered and engage in several different activities. The way researchers contribute to patient safety improvement and balance between different roles depends on the purpose of the study, as well as on the underlying patient safety improvement models. Different patient safety research paradigms seem to emphasize different improvement roles, and thus, they also face different challenges. Open reflection on the underlying improvement models and roles can help researchers with different backgrounds-as well as other actors involved in patient safety improvement-in structuring their work and collaborating productively.

Optimization of the availability and safety relationship: case study of naval nuclear propulsion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guimaraes, Leonam dos Santos

2005-01-01

The relationship between energy generation availability and the safety of the nuclear installation which produces this energy assumes a very special characteristic when we are dealing with naval propulsion plants. This relationship has no parallel with commercial nuclear power plants. A ship at sea is in safety only if she could dispose quickly of the energy produced by your nuclear propulsion plant. If the nuclear steam production is not assured, specially due to safety reasons, the ship maneuverability, and so its own safety it is seriously affected. We could then perceive that safety of the nuclear installation is depends on safety of the ship, which depends by its side on the availability of nuclear power. This paper intends to present briefly the main aspects of this relation. (author)

Research project of P3 (Protected Plutonium Production) and global academy for 3S (Safety, Security, Safeguard) for peace and sustainable prosperity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, Masaki

2013-01-01

Full text:Nuclear engineering education has been initiated in 1957 at the graduate school of Tokyo Institute of Technology. Higher Educational activities have been conducted for more than half century. More than 1000 Master students and 200 Doctoral students graduated from the Department of Nuclear Engineering in Tokyo Institute of Technology. Many of them are working in nuclear industries and institutes. International course of nuclear engineering was initiated in 1994, and 130 students from 20 overseas countries have graduated from Master and Doctoral Programs. In the national research program, Protected Plutonium Production (P 3 ) has been proposed to enhance the proliferation resistance of plutonium by the transmutation of Minor Actinides (MAs). In 2011, Academy for Global Nuclear Safety and Security Agent was initiated with the unique features of a full boarding system and a curriculum that combines education in liberal arts and science/ engineering. Both educational and research programs have been supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan. In the conference, the current nuclear educational and research activities in Tokyo Institute of Technology will be presented. (author)

Segmentation Scheme for Safety Enhancement of Engineered Safety Features Component Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sangseok; Sohn, Kwangyoung; Lee, Junku; Park, Geunok

2013-01-01

Common Caused Failure (CCF) or undetectable failure would adversely impact safety functions of ESF-CCS in the existing nuclear power plants. We propose the segmentation scheme to solve these problems. Main function assignment to segments in the proposed segmentation scheme is based on functional dependency and critical function success path by using the dependency depth matrix. The segment has functional independence and physical isolation. The segmentation structure is that prohibit failure propagation to others from undetectable failures. Therefore, the segmentation system structure has robustness to undetectable failures. The segmentation system structure has functional diversity. The specific function in the segment defected by CCF, the specific function could be maintained by diverse control function that assigned to other segments. Device level control signals and system level control signals are separated and also control signal and status signals are separated due to signal transmission paths are allocated independently based on signal type. In this kind of design, single device failure or failures on signal path in the channel couldn't result in the loss of all segmented functions simultaneously. Thus the proposed segmentation function is the design scheme that improves availability of safety functions. In conventional ESF-CCS, the single controller generates the signal to control the multiple safety functions, and the reliability is achieved by multiplication within the channel. This design has a drawback causing the loss of multiple functions due to the CCF (Common Cause Failure) and single failure Heterogeneous controller guarantees the diversity ensuring the execution of safety functions against the CCF and single failure, but requiring a lot of resources like manpower and cost. The segmentation technology based on the compartmentalization and functional diversification decreases the CCF and single failure nonetheless the identical types of controllers

Segmentation Scheme for Safety Enhancement of Engineered Safety Features Component Control System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Sangseok; Sohn, Kwangyoung [Korea Reliability Technology and System, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Junku; Park, Geunok [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-05-15

Common Caused Failure (CCF) or undetectable failure would adversely impact safety functions of ESF-CCS in the existing nuclear power plants. We propose the segmentation scheme to solve these problems. Main function assignment to segments in the proposed segmentation scheme is based on functional dependency and critical function success path by using the dependency depth matrix. The segment has functional independence and physical isolation. The segmentation structure is that prohibit failure propagation to others from undetectable failures. Therefore, the segmentation system structure has robustness to undetectable failures. The segmentation system structure has functional diversity. The specific function in the segment defected by CCF, the specific function could be maintained by diverse control function that assigned to other segments. Device level control signals and system level control signals are separated and also control signal and status signals are separated due to signal transmission paths are allocated independently based on signal type. In this kind of design, single device failure or failures on signal path in the channel couldn't result in the loss of all segmented functions simultaneously. Thus the proposed segmentation function is the design scheme that improves availability of safety functions. In conventional ESF-CCS, the single controller generates the signal to control the multiple safety functions, and the reliability is achieved by multiplication within the channel. This design has a drawback causing the loss of multiple functions due to the CCF (Common Cause Failure) and single failure Heterogeneous controller guarantees the diversity ensuring the execution of safety functions against the CCF and single failure, but requiring a lot of resources like manpower and cost. The segmentation technology based on the compartmentalization and functional diversification decreases the CCF and single failure nonetheless the identical types of

20 CFR 410.351 - Determination of dependency; divorced wife.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Determination of dependency; divorced wife... AND SAFETY ACT OF 1969, TITLE IV-BLACK LUNG BENEFITS (1969- ) Relationship and Dependency § 410.351 Determination of dependency; divorced wife. An individual who is the miner's divorced wife (see § 410.311) will...

Altered cropping pattern and cultural continuation with declined prosperity following abrupt and extreme arid event at ~4,200 yrs BP: Evidence from an Indus archaeological site Khirsara, Gujarat, western India.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anil K Pokharia

Full Text Available Archaeological sites hold important clues to complex climate-human relationships of the past. Human settlements in the peripheral zone of Indus culture (Gujarat, western India are of considerable importance in the assessment of past monsoon-human-subsistence-culture relationships and their survival thresholds against climatic stress exerted by abrupt changes. During the mature phase of Harappan culture between ~4,600-3,900yrsBP, the ~4,100±100yrsBP time slice is widely recognized as one of the major, abrupt arid-events imprinted innumerous well-dated palaeo records. However, the veracity of this dry event has not been established from any archaeological site representing the Indus (Harappan culture, and issues concerning timing, changes in subsistence pattern, and the likely causes of eventual abandonment (collapse continue to be debated. Here we show a significant change in crop-pattern (from barley-wheat based agriculture to 'drought-resistant' millet-based crops at ~4,200 yrs BP, based on abundant macrobotanical remains and C isotopes of soil organic matter (δ13CSOM in an archaeological site at Khirsara, in the Gujarat state of western India. The crop-change appears to be intentional and was likely used as an adaptation measure in response to deteriorated monsoonal conditions. The ceramic and architectural remains of the site indicate that habitation survived and continued after the ~4,200yrsBP dry climatic phase, but with declined economic prosperity. Switching to millet-based crops initially helped inhabitants to avoid immediate collapse due to climatic stresses, but continued aridity and altered cropping pattern led to a decline in prosperity levels of inhabitants and eventual abandonment of the site at the end of the mature Harappan phase.

Operational safety evaluation for minor reactor accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, O.S.

1981-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to address a concern of applying conservatism in analysing minor reactor incidents. A so-called ''conservative'' safety analysis may exaggerate the system responses and result in a reactor scram tripped by the reactor protective system (RPS). In reality, a minor incident may lead the reactor to a new thermal hydraulic steady-state without scram, and the mitigation or termination of the incident may entirely depend on operator actions. An example on a small steamline break evaluation for a pressurized water reactor recently investigated by the staff at the Washington Public Power Supply System is presented to illustrate this point. A safety evaluation using mainly the safety-related systems to be consistent with the conservative assumptions used in the Safety Analysis Report was conducted. For comparison, a realistic analysis was also performed using both the safety- and control-related systems. The analyses were performed using the RETRAN plant simulation computer code. The ''conservative'' safety analysis predicts that the incident can be turned over by the RPS scram trips without operator intervention. However, the realistic analysis concludes that the reactor will reach a new steady-state at a different plant thermal hydraulic condition. As a result, the termination of the incident at this stage depends entirely on proper operator action. On the basis of this investigation it is concluded that, for minor incidents, ''conservative'' assumptions are not necessary, sometimes not justifiable. A realistic investigation from the operational safety point of view is more appropriate. It is essential to highlight the key transient indications for specific incident recognition in the operator training program

FLIGHT SAFETY MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS AND EVALUATION OF FLIGHT SAFETY LEVEL OF AN AVIATION ENTERPRISE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. V. Zubkov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article is devoted to studying the problem of safety management system (SMS and evaluating safety level of an aviation enterprise.This article discusses the problems of SMS, presented at the 41st meeting of the Russian Aviation Production Commanders Club in June 2014 in St. Petersburg in connection with the verification of the status of the CA of the Russian Federation by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO in the same year, a set of urgent measures to eliminate the deficiencies identified in the current safety management system by participants of this meeting were proposed.In addition, the problems of evaluating flight safety level based on operation data of an aviation enterprise were analyzed. This analysis made it possible to take into account the problems listed in this article as a tool for a comprehensive study of SMS parameters and allows to analyze the quantitative indicators of the flights safety level.The concepts of Acceptable Safety Level (ASL indicators are interpreted differently depending on the available/applicable methods of their evaluation and how to implement them in SMS. However, the indicators for assessing ASL under operational condition at the aviation enterprise should become universal. Currently, defined safety levels and safety indicators are not yet established functionally and often with distorted underrepresented models describing their contextual contents, as well as ways of integrating them into SMS aviation enterprise.The results obtained can be used for better implementation of SMS and solving problems determining the aviation enterprise technical level of flight safety.

Geo-economics and geo-strategic agendas in the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPPNA questioning the Neo-liberal model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaime Preciado Coronado

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Burn in 2005, in the context of post-9/11 crisis, and eleven years past of NAFTA’s beginning functions, the SPPNA emphasizes the security agenda of the United States of America, with a partial vision of anti terrorism, the preventive war, and the homeland security based upon anti immigrants policies and “sealed” frontiers. The results of that Partnership means an aggressive inter-American policy (geostrategics against the left inspired governments in Latin-America, it also means a struggle against narcotic dealers and producers, that ends in the criminalization of the protestors social movements, and finally means a hardest control of the immigration policies, through the enhancement of military forces at the frontiers space. In the other hand, the SPPNA has a perverse impact on the Latin-American integration by the way of a kind of geoeconomics of fragmentation. The “Prosperity” agenda, suppose to adopt the free trade agreements within the neo-liberal orthodoxy, which means without a social agenda and against the communitarian experiences that are growing at Latin America. Prosperity is the key word in the USA hegemony upon the energetic and natural resources of the region.

The impact of the European health and safety directives on engineering in higher education

Science.gov (United States)

Crisp, Alan Roy

to one part of the legislation at a time rather than take the integrated approach that was intended. This has further increased the workload with much testing and replacement of equipment taking place unnecessarily, as would be realised if all legislation were being applied simultaneously. The usefulness of this thesis therefore lies in showing that an integrated approach to Health and Safety is simply part of an overall integrated approach by the EU to increasing prosperity through responsible, sustainable economic development and is not intended to restrict productivity.

20 CFR 410.361 - Determination of dependency; surviving divorced wife.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Determination of dependency; surviving... HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT OF 1969, TITLE IV-BLACK LUNG BENEFITS (1969- ) Relationship and Dependency § 410.361 Determination of dependency; surviving divorced wife. An individual who is the miner's surviving...

A hybrid approach to quantify software reliability in nuclear safety systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arun Babu, P.; Senthil Kumar, C.; Murali, N.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► A novel method to quantify software reliability using software verification and mutation testing in nuclear safety systems. ► Contributing factors that influence software reliability estimate. ► Approach to help regulators verify the reliability of safety critical software system during software licensing process. -- Abstract: Technological advancements have led to the use of computer based systems in safety critical applications. As computer based systems are being introduced in nuclear power plants, effective and efficient methods are needed to ensure dependability and compliance to high reliability requirements of systems important to safety. Even after several years of research, quantification of software reliability remains controversial and unresolved issue. Also, existing approaches have assumptions and limitations, which are not acceptable for safety applications. This paper proposes a theoretical approach combining software verification and mutation testing to quantify the software reliability in nuclear safety systems. The theoretical results obtained suggest that the software reliability depends on three factors: the test adequacy, the amount of software verification carried out and the reusability of verified code in the software. The proposed approach may help regulators in licensing computer based safety systems in nuclear reactors.

Estimating Impact and Frequency of Risks to Safety and Mission Critical Systems Using CVSS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Houmb, S.H.; Nunes Leal Franqueira, V.; Engum, E.A.

2008-01-01

Many safety and mission critical systems depend on the correct and secure operation of both supportive and core software systems. E.g., both the safety of personnel and the effective execution of core missions on an oil platform depend on the correct recording storing, transfer and interpretation of

Experience With Laser Safety In The USA--A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Sliney, David H.

1986-10-01

Following several research programs in the 1960's aimed at studying the adverse biological effects of lasers and other optical radiation sources, laser occupational exposure limits were set and general safety standards were developed. Today, the experience from laser accidents and the development of new lasers and new applications have altered the format of the exposure limits and the safety procedures. It is critically important to distinguish between different biological injury mechanisms. The biological effects of ultraviolet radiation upon the skin and eye are additive over a period of at least one workday, and require different safety procedures. The scattered UV irradiance from excimer lasers may be quite hazardous, depending upon wavelength and action spectra. Since laser technology is young, the exposure of an individual in natural sunlight must be studied to evaluate the potential for chronic effects. The safety measures necessary in the use of lasers depend upon a hazard evaluation. The appropriate control measures and alternate means of enclosure, baffling, and operational control measures are presented. Present laser safety standards are explained briefly. Eye protective techniques and eyewear are considered for a variety of sources. The optical properties of enclosure materials are also discussed.

Safety management in research and development organisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nivedha, T.

2016-01-01

Health and safety is one of the most important aspects of an organizations smooth and effective functioning. It depends on the safety management, health management, motivation, leadership and training, welfare facilities, accident statistics, policy, organization and administration, hazard control and risk analysis, monitoring, statistics and reporting. Workplace accidents are increasingly common, main causes are untidiness, noise, too hot or cold environments, old or poorly maintained machines, and lack of training or carelessness of employees. One of the biggest issues facing employers today is the safety of their employees. This study aims at analyzing the occupational health and safety of Research organization in Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research by gathering information on health management, safety management, motivation, leadership and training, welfare facilities, accident statistics, organization and administration, hazard control and risk analysis, monitoring, statistics and reporting. Data were collected by using questionnaires which were developed on health and safety management system. (author)

Safety Training: a right or an obligation?

CERN Multimedia

HSE Unit

2014-01-01

CERN’s Safety Training programme currently offers around 50 classroom courses and 17 e-learning courses. Although anyone can attend any of these courses, some are compulsory for everyone working at CERN. In particular, “CERN Safety Introduction” and “Safety during LS1” are compulsory for all new arrivals.   The "Self-Rescue Mask" training course. Photo: Christoph Balle. However, depending on the type of activities, the type of workstation, the role you have been assigned (TSO, project leader, etc.) and/or the area where you will be working (e.g. confined spaces), you might be required to follow additional safety training provided by CERN. In accordance with the provisions of the CERN Safety Policy, members of the personnel must keep themselves informed of their obligations in terms of safety training and of the actions they must take to keep up to date. Most training courses are valid for three years, and as they reach the ...

The safety of nuclear installations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

This Safety Fundamental publication sets out basic objectives, concepts and principles for ensuring safety that can be used both by the IAEA in its international assistance operations and by Member States in their national nuclear programmes. These Safety Fundamentals apply primarily to those nuclear installations in which the stored energy developed in certain situations could potentially results in the release of radioactive material from its designated location with the consequent risk of radiation exposure of people. These principles are applicable to a broad range of nuclear installations, but their detailed application will depend on the particular technology and the risks posed by it. In addition to nuclear power plants, such installations may include: research reactors and facilities, fuel enrichment, manufacturing and reprocessing plants; and certain facilities for radioactive waste treatment and storage

State-dependent choice and ecological rationality.

Science.gov (United States)

Nevai, Andrew L; Waite, Thomas A; Passino, Kevin M

2007-08-07

Decision makers who minimize costly errors should flexibly adjust the way they trade off competing demands, depending on their current state. We explore how state (amount of hoarded food) affects willingness to take extra predation risk to obtain larger food rewards, particularly in animals that may overemphasize safety. Assuming a sigmoid fitness function, we explore how a supplement in state influences this willingness trade danger for food energy. Above a threshold, the model predicts the supplement will weaken this willingness. Incremental increases in state in the deceleratory phase yield smaller fitness gains, so it pays to increase emphasis on safety after receiving a supplement. Below this threshold, the model makes the opposite prediction because incremental increases in state yield bigger fitness gains and so it pays to decrease emphasis on safety. We use the model to explain why hoarding gray jays (Perisoreus canadensis) were induced by an experimental subsidy to accept greater danger. This formerly puzzling finding makes sense if the jays' effective hoard was relatively small, due to theft and decomposition. We discuss adaptive state-dependent choice as a general explanation for apparently irrational behavior.

Ship inspection strategies: effects on maritime safety and environmental protection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heij, C.; Bijwaard, G.E.; Knapp, S.

2011-01-01

Global trade largely depends on maritime transport, and appropriate ships are needed to protect cargo but to minimize environmental damage and to this end, flag and port state authorities expend considerable effort in ship safety inspections. This paper investigates the safety gains of current

A Multi-Agent System for Tracking the Intent of Surface Contacts in Ports and Waterways

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tan, Kok S

2005-01-01

Maritime security is especially critical for countries like Singapore, an island nation situated on the world's busiest shipping routes, whose economic prosperity is highly dependent on international...

ESRS guidelines for software safety reviews. Reference document for the organization and conduct of Engineering Safety Review Services (ESRS) on software important to safety in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

The IAEA provides safety review services to assist Member States in the application of safety standards and, in particular, to evaluate and facilitate improvements in nuclear power plant safety performance. Complementary to the Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) and the International Regulatory Review Team (IRRT) services are the Engineering Safety Review Services (ESRS), which include reviews of siting, external events and structural safety, design safety, fire safety, ageing management and software safety. Software is of increasing importance to safety in nuclear power plants as the use of computer based equipment and systems, controlled by software, is increasing in new and older plants. Computer based devices are used in both safety related applications (such as process control and monitoring) and safety critical applications (such as reactor protection). Their dependability can only be ensured if a systematic, fully documented and reviewable engineering process is used. The ESRS on software safety are designed to assist a nuclear power plant or a regulatory body of a Member State in the review of documentation relating to the development, application and safety assessment of software embedded in computer based systems important to safety in nuclear power plants. The software safety reviews can be tailored to the specific needs of the requesting organization. Examples of such reviews are: project planning reviews, reviews of specific issues and reviews prior final acceptance. This report gives information on the possible scope of ESRS software safety reviews and guidance on the organization and conduct of the reviews. It is aimed at Member States considering these reviews and IAEA staff and external experts performing the reviews. The ESRS software safety reviews evaluate the degree to which software documents show that the development process and the final product conform to international standards, guidelines and current practices. Recommendations are

The socio-technical system and nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefanescu, Petre; Mihailescu, Nicolae; Dragusin, Octavian

1999-01-01

In the field of nuclear safety there have been defined notions like 'technical factors' and 'human factors'. The technical factors depend on designing and manufacturing of components/equipment, actually depend on the people's work. The study of human factors consists in analyzing and recommending the terms that allow an individual to be a reliable and safety agent. Accordingly, he/she is placed in working conditions corresponding to human abilities, associating the means of three levels: - designing, i.e. the action upon the technical system and upon work organization; - correction, i.e. the action upon the evolution of the technical system and organizing; - formation/training, i.e. action upon operators. The paper presents a characterization of the socio-technical system and on this basis discusses the issue of individual adjustment to the socio-technical system and reciprocally, the issue of the socio-technical system adjustment to the individual. Concepts as: ergonomics, physical medium, man/machine interface and support of the operator, man/machine task sharing, the work organizing are put in relation with the central subject, the nuclear safety

A Study of Time Response for Safety-Related Operator Actions in Non-LOCA Safety Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Min Seok; Lee, Sang Seob; Park, Min Soo; Lee, Gyu Cheon; Kim, Shin Whan [KEPCO E and C Company, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

The classification of initiating events for safety analysis report (SAR) chapter 15 is categorized into moderate frequency events (MF), infrequent events (IF), and limiting faults (LF) depending on the frequency of its occurrence. For the non-LOCA safety analysis with the purpose to get construction or operation license, however, it is assumed that the operator response action to mitigate the events starts at 30 minutes after the initiation of the transient regardless of the event categorization. Such an assumption of corresponding operator response time may have over conservatism with the MF and IF events and results in a decrease in the safety margin compared to its acceptance criteria. In this paper, the plant conditions (PC) are categorized with the definitions in SAR 15 and ANS 51.1. Then, the consequence of response for safety-related operator action time is determined based on the PC in ANSI 58.8. The operator response time for safety analysis regarding PC are reviewed and suggested. The clarifying alarm response procedure would be required for the guideline to reduce the operator response time when the alarms indicate the occurrence of the transient.

Code of safety for nuclear merchant ships

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

The Code is in chapters, entitled: general (including general safety principles and principles of risk acceptance); design criteria and conditions; ship design, construction and equipment; nuclear steam supply system; machinery and electrical installations; radiation safety (including radiological protection design; protection of persons; dosimetry; radioactive waste management); operation (including emergency operation procedures); surveys. Appendices cover: sinking velocity calculations; seaway loads depending on service periods; safety assessment; limiting dose-equivalent rates for different areas and spaces; quality assurance programme; application of single failure criterion. Initial application of the Code is restricted to conventional types of ships propelled by nuclear propulsion plants with pressurized light water type reactors. (U.K.)

Dependency Defence and Dependency Analysis Guidance. Volume 1: Summary and Guidance (Appendix 1-2). How to analyse and protect against dependent failures. Summary report of the Nordic Working group on Common Cause Failure Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johanson, Gunnar; Hellstroem, Per; Makamo, Tuomas; Bento, Jean-Pierre; Knochenhauer, Michael; Poern, Kurt

2003-10-01

The safety systems in Nordic nuclear power plants are characterised by substantial redundancy and/or diversification in safety critical functions, as well as by physical separation of critical safety systems, including their support functions. Viewed together with the evident additional fact, that the single failure criterion has been systematically applied in the design of safety systems, this means that the plant risk profile as calculated in existing PSA:s is usually strongly dominated by failures caused by dependencies resulting in the loss of more than one system sub. The overall objective with the working group is to support safety by studying potential and real CCF events, process statistical data and report conclusions and recommendations that can improve the understanding of these events eventually resulting in increased safety. The result is intended for application in NPP operation, maintenance, inspection and risk assessments. The NAFCS project is part of the activities of the Nordic PSA Group (NPSAG), and is financed jointly by the Nordic utilities and authorities. The work is divided into one quantitative and one qualitative part with the following specific objectives: Qualitative objectives-The goal with the qualitative analysis is to compile experience data and generate insights in terms of relevant failure mechanisms and effective CCF protection measures. The results shall be presented as a guide with checklists and recommendations on how to identify current CCF protection standard and improvement possibilities regarding CCF defences decreasing the CCF vulnerability. Quantitative objectives-The goal with the quantitative analysis is to prepare a Nordic C-book where quantitative insights as Impact Vectors and CCF parameters for different redundancy levels are presented. Uncertainties in CCF data shall be reduced as much as possible. The high redundancy systems sensitivity to CCF events demand a well structured quantitative analysis in support of

Simulation modeling on the growth of firm's safety management capability

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIU Tie-zhong; LI Zhi-xiang

2008-01-01

Aiming to the deficiency of safety management measure, established simulation model about firm's safety management capability(FSMC) based on organizational learning theory. The system dynamics(SD) method was used, in which level and rate system, variable equation and system structure flow diagram was concluded. Simulation model was verified from two aspects: first, model's sensitivity to variable was tested from the gross of safety investment and the proportion of safety investment; second, variables dependency was checked up from the correlative variable of FSMC and organizational learning. The feasibility of simulation model is verified though these processes.

Ship Inspection Strategies: Effects on Maritime Safety and Environmental Protection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C. Heij (Christiaan); G.E. Bijwaard (Govert); S. Knapp (Sabine)

2010-01-01

textabstractGlobal trade depends for a large part on maritime transport, and safe ships are needed not only to protect precious cargo but also to prevent environmental damage. Flag state and port state authorities spend much effort in ship safety inspections to ensure a minimum safety level and to

Safety issues for superconducting fusion magnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsieh, S.Y.; Reich, M.; Powell, J.R.

1978-01-01

Safety issues for future superconducting fusion magnet systems are examined. It is found that safety and failure experience with existing superconducting magnets is not very applicable to predictions as to the safety and reliability of fusion magnets. Such predictions will have to depend on analysis and judgement for many years to come, rather than on accumulated experience. A number of generic potential structural, thermal-hydraulic, and electrical safety problems are identified and analyzed. Prevention of quenches and non-uniform temperature distributions, if quenches should occur, is of great importance, since such events can trigger processes which lead to magnet damage or failure. Engineered safety features will be necessary for fusion magnets. Two of these, an energy dispersion system and external coil containment, appear capable of reducing the probability of coil disruption to very low levels. However, they do not prevent loss of function accidents which are of economic concern. Elaborate detector, temperature equalization, and energy removal systems will be required to minimize the chances of loss of function accidents

Patient safety: Safety culture and patient safety ethics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Marlene Dyrløv

2006-01-01

,demonstrating significant, consistent and sometimes large differences in terms of safety culture factors across the units participating in the survey. Paper 5 is the results of a study of the relation between safety culture, occupational health andpatient safety using a safety culture questionnaire survey......Patient safety - the prevention of medical error and adverse events - and the initiative of developing safety cultures to assure patients from harm have become one of the central concerns in quality improvement in healthcare both nationally andinternationally. This subject raises numerous...... challenging issues of systemic, organisational, cultural and ethical relevance, which this dissertation seeks to address through the application of different disciplinary approaches. The main focus of researchis safety culture; through empirical and theoretical studies to comprehend the phenomenon, address...

Acute and chronic safety and efficacy of dose dependent creatine nitrate supplementation and exercise performance

OpenAIRE

Galvan, Elfego; Walker, Dillon K.; Simbo, Sunday Y.; Dalton, Ryan; Levers, Kyle; O?Connor, Abigail; Goodenough, Chelsea; Barringer, Nicholas D.; Greenwood, Mike; Rasmussen, Christopher; Smith, Stephen B.; Riechman, Steven E.; Fluckey, James D.; Murano, Peter S.; Earnest, Conrad P.

2016-01-01

Background Creatine monohydrate (CrM) and nitrate are popular supplements for improving exercise performance; yet have not been investigated in combination. We performed two studies to determine the safety and exercise performance-characteristics of creatine nitrate (CrN) supplementation. Methods Study 1 participants (N?=?13) ingested 1.5?g CrN (CrN-Low), 3?g CrN (CrN-High), 5?g CrM or a placebo in a randomized, crossover study (7d washout) to determine supplement safety (hepatorenal and musc...

Safety culture aspects of managing for safety. Experience of a large nuclear reprocessing site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rycraft, H.S.

1996-01-01

The Nuclear Industry is going through turbulent times both in terms of public acceptance and business issues. Safety is one area which impacts on whether the business is allowed to continue, and how an organisation organizes itself. The need to cut costs to make nuclear power a viable energy resource, has forced the nuclear utilities to review manning policies, and management style, and in particular how to maintain safety standards during a period of change, and ultimately support continuing improvement of standards. The shrinking workforce requires a new style of management, one that depends more on the people of the organisation taking responsibility for safety at all levels of the organisation. Not only personal safety but the safety of their colleagues, general public and the environment. The safety culture of an organisation is indivisible from the company culture, each aspect of a culture influences the whole and so the balance between business, safety and quality, has to be managed. BNFL provides a full fuel cycle service to nuclear power plants, and associated services to many national and international organisations. The following notes are taken from the work carried out in the company, and mostly at the Nuclear Reprocessing and Waste storage Site at Sellafield, based in the North West of England. Following the recent re-organisation, the site now employs 6200 people and has a further 1500 contractors working on construction activities on the site. Activities on the site range from remote handling to hands on tasks, involving highly active materials to low level waste. (author)

The deconstruction of safety arguments through adversarial counter-argument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armstrong, James M.; Paynter, Stephen E.

2007-01-01

The project Deconstructive Evaluation of Risk In Dependability Arguments and Safety Cases (DERIDASC) has recently experimented with techniques borrowed from literary theory as safety case analysis techniques [Armstrong. Danger: Derrida at work. Interdiscipl Sci Rev 2003;28(2):83-94. ; Armstrong J, Paynter S. Safe systems: construction, destruction, and deconstruction. In: Redmill F, Anderson T, editors. Proceedings of the 11th safety critical systems symposium, Bristol, UK. Berlin: Springer; 2003. p. 62-76. ISBN:1-85233-696-X. ]. This paper introduces our high-level framework for 'deconstructing' safety arguments. Our approach is quite general and should be applicable to different types of safety argumentation framework. As one example, we outline how the approach would work in the context of the Goal Structure Notation (GSN)

IAEA Contribution to International Peace, Security and Prosperity, 27 July 2011, Matsumoto, Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amano, Y.

2011-01-01

It is a great honour for me to address this 23rd United Nations Conference on Disarmament Issues. I would like to begin by expressing my deepest sympathy, on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to the Government and people of Japan on the terrible earthquake and tsunami which devastated the country in March. Our thoughts are with the many thousands of people who lost loved ones or whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed. As you know, this natural disaster of unprecedented severity led to a serious accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The IAEA has been working at full stretch since the accident happened on March 11 to assist the plant operator and the Japanese authorities in bringing the situation back under control. Before talking about the Agency's work in nuclear non-proliferation, I would like to update you on recent developments concerning Fukushima Daiichi. The IAEA has served as the international focal point for assistance, information-sharing and follow-up. We have shared authenticated information about the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant with Member States and sent specialist technical teams to advise Japan in areas such as radiological monitoring and food safety. Throughout the crisis, we have worked closely with our key partners in the UN system. In fact, this has been a good example of the UN ''one house'' approach at work. I convened an IAEA Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety which took place in Vienna last month. It agreed a Ministerial Declaration which I am confident will lead to a significant strengthening of nuclear safety, emergency preparedness and radiation protection of people and the environment throughout the world. I was encouraged by the fact that proposals which I made in five key areas were included in the Ministerial Declaration. These were: To strengthen IAEA Safety Standards; To systematically review the safety of all nuclear power plants, including by expanding the IAEA's programme of

SCALE 5: Powerful new criticality safety analysis tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowman, Stephen M.; Hollenbach, Daniel F.; Dehart, Mark D.; Rearden, Bradley T.; Gauld, Ian C.; Goluoglu, Sedat

2003-01-01

Version 5 of the SCALE computer software system developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scheduled for release in December 2003, contains several significant new modules and sequences for criticality safety analysis and marks the most important update to SCALE in more than a decade. This paper highlights the capabilities of these new modules and sequences, including continuous energy flux spectra for processing multigroup problem-dependent cross sections; one- and three-dimensional sensitivity and uncertainty analyses for criticality safety evaluations; two-dimensional flexible mesh discrete ordinates code; automated burnup-credit analysis sequence; and one-dimensional material distribution optimization for criticality safety. (author)

Interface management: Effective communication to improve process safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, Brian; Berger, Scott

2006-01-01

Failure to successfully communicate maintenance activities, abnormal conditions, emergency response procedures, process hazards, and hundreds of other items of critical information can lead to disaster, regardless of the thoroughness of the process safety management system. Therefore, a well-functioning process safety program depends on maintaining successful communication interfaces between each involved employee or stakeholder and the many other employees or stakeholders that person must interact with. The authors discuss a process to identify the critical 'Interfaces' between the many participants in a process safety management system, and then to establish a protocol for each critical interface

Improvement of safety by analysis of costs and benefits of the system

OpenAIRE

T. Karkoszka; M. Andraczke

2011-01-01

Purpose: of the paper has been the assessment of the dependence between improvement of the implemented occupational health and safety management system and both minimization of costs connected with occupational health and safety assurance and optimization of real work conditions.Design/methodology/approach: used for the analysis has included definition of the occupational health and safety system with regard to the rules and tool allowing for occupational safety assurance in the organisationa...

No way out? The double-bind in seeking global prosperity alongside mitigated climate change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. J. Garrett

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In a prior study (Garrett, 2011, I introduced a simple economic growth model designed to be consistent with general thermodynamic laws. Unlike traditional economic models, civilization is viewed only as a well-mixed global whole with no distinction made between individual nations, economic sectors, labor, or capital investments. At the model core is a hypothesis that the global economy's current rate of primary energy consumption is tied through a constant to a very general representation of its historically accumulated wealth. Observations support this hypothesis, and indicate that the constant's value is λ = 9.7 ± 0.3 milliwatts per 1990 US dollar. It is this link that allows for treatment of seemingly complex economic systems as simple physical systems. Here, this growth model is coupled to a linear formulation for the evolution of globally well-mixed atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. While very simple, the coupled model provides faithful multi-decadal hindcasts of trajectories in gross world product (GWP and CO₂. Extending the model to the future, the model suggests that the well-known IPCC SRES scenarios substantially underestimate how much CO₂ levels will rise for a given level of future economic prosperity. For one, global CO₂ emission rates cannot be decoupled from wealth through efficiency gains. For another, like a long-term natural disaster, future greenhouse warming can be expected to act as an inflationary drag on the real growth of global wealth. For atmospheric CO₂ concentrations to remain below a "dangerous" level of 450 ppmv (Hansen et al., 2007, model forecasts suggest that there will have to be some combination of an unrealistically rapid rate of energy decarbonization and nearly immediate reductions in global civilization wealth. Effectively, it appears that civilization may be in a double-bind. If civilization does not collapse quickly this century, then CO₂

The Circle of Prosperity: Tribal Colleges, Tradition, and Technology -- Building Synergistic Cross-Community Collaborations

Science.gov (United States)

Billy, C. L.

2003-12-01

For more than three decades, American Indian Tribal Colleges and Universities have been working to sustain what is ours: our land, our language, our communities, and our culture. Tribal Colleges have achieved success by helping our communities, located in some of the poorest and most geographically remote areas of the country, develop systems for higher education, research, and economic development that are accessible, culturally responsive, and place-based. American Indian higher education is holistic, focused on the mind, body, spirit, and family. Research is respectful of culture, mindful of community values, and essential to community well-being. Economic development strategies are based on national and international trends, but focused on relationships between local people and their land. In this environment, applied research flourishes and new knowledge, integrating traditional ways of knowing with western science, is created and used. In the 1990s, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, which is composed of 35 Tribal Colleges and Universities in the U.S. and Canada, launched a major initiative to expand and enhance this capacity through new collaborations and state-of-the-art information and communications technologies. Through a multi-phase effort, the Tribal Colleges developed and are currently implementing a dynamic and broad-based strategic plan. The goal: to reach a "Circle of Prosperity," a place where tribal traditions and new technologies are woven together to build stronger and more sustainable communities through enhanced STEM education and research programs. Our plan, the "Tribal College Framework for Community Technology," is a framework of strategic partnerships, resources, and tools that is helping us create locally based economic and social opportunities through information and communications technology and use of the Internet. During this presentation, we will: (a) discuss the innovative collaborative process we are using to build

20 CFR 410.380 - Determination of dependency; parent, brother, or sister.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Determination of dependency; parent, brother... MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT OF 1969, TITLE IV-BLACK LUNG BENEFITS (1969- ) Relationship and Dependency § 410.380 Determination of dependency; parent, brother, or sister. An individual who is the miner's...

Life time estimation of SSCs for decommissioning safety of nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Kwan-Seong; Lee, Kune-Woo; Moon, Jei-Kwon; Jeong, Seong-Young; Lee, Jung-Jun; Kim, Geun-Ho; Choi, Byung-Seon

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► This paper suggests the expectation algorithm of SSCs life time for decommissioning safety of nuclear facilities. ► The life time of SSCs can be estimated by using fuzzy theory. ► The estimated results depend on the membership functions and performance characteristic functions. - Abstract: This paper suggests the estimation algorithm for life time of structure, system and components (SSCs) for decommissioning safety of nuclear facilities using the performance data of linguistic languages and fuzzy theory. The fuzzy estimation algorithm of life time can be easily applicable but the estimated results depend on the relevant membership functions and performance characteristic functions. This method will be expected to be very useful for maintenance and decommissioning of nuclear facilities’ SSCs as a safety assessment tool.

Improving Safety through Human Factors Engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Siewert, Bettina; Hochman, Mary G

2015-10-01

Human factors engineering (HFE) focuses on the design and analysis of interactive systems that involve people, technical equipment, and work environment. HFE is informed by knowledge of human characteristics. It complements existing patient safety efforts by specifically taking into consideration that, as humans, frontline staff will inevitably make mistakes. Therefore, the systems with which they interact should be designed for the anticipation and mitigation of human errors. The goal of HFE is to optimize the interaction of humans with their work environment and technical equipment to maximize safety and efficiency. Special safeguards include usability testing, standardization of processes, and use of checklists and forcing functions. However, the effectiveness of the safety program and resiliency of the organization depend on timely reporting of all safety events independent of patient harm, including perceived potential risks, bad outcomes that occur even when proper protocols have been followed, and episodes of "improvisation" when formal guidelines are found not to exist. Therefore, an institution must adopt a robust culture of safety, where the focus is shifted from blaming individuals for errors to preventing future errors, and where barriers to speaking up-including barriers introduced by steep authority gradients-are minimized. This requires creation of formal guidelines to address safety concerns, establishment of unified teams with open communication and shared responsibility for patient safety, and education of managers and senior physicians to perceive the reporting of safety concerns as a benefit rather than a threat. © RSNA, 2015.

The nuclear safety in France, in 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-08-01

In the scope of the nuclear safety program, in France, a state of the art of the projects on the 1st August 1988, is given. The different domains related to the nuclear safety are summarized. The purposes, the actions and the available means of the nuclear safety interministerial committee, are examined. The problems concerning the radiation protection of the personnel and reactor components, the application of the regulations and the nuclear materials management, are also examined. In the case of a nuclear accident, the protection operations depend on the responsibilities and on the different fields of action. In the world scale, the international cooperation and the example of the Tchernobyl accident are of relevant importance [fr

Educating future leaders in patient safety

Science.gov (United States)

Leotsakos, Agnès; Ardolino, Antonella; Cheung, Ronny; Zheng, Hao; Barraclough, Bruce; Walton, Merrilyn

2014-01-01

Education of health care professionals has given little attention to patient safety, resulting in limited understanding of the nature of risk in health care and the importance of strengthening systems. The World Health Organization developed the Patient Safety Curriculum Guide: Multiprofessional Edition to accelerate the incorporation of patient safety teaching into higher educational curricula. The World Health Organization Curriculum Guide uses a health system-focused, team-dependent approach, which impacts all health care professionals and students learning in an integrated way about how to operate within a culture of safety. The guide is pertinent in the context of global educational reforms and growing recognition of the need to introduce patient safety into health care professionals’ curricula. The guide helps to advance patient safety education worldwide in five ways. First, it addresses the variety of opportunities and contexts in which health care educators teach, and provides practical recommendations to learning. Second, it recommends shared learning by students of different professions, thus enhancing student capacity to work together effectively in multidisciplinary teams. Third, it provides guidance on a range of teaching methods and pedagogical activities to ensure that students understand that patient safety is a practical science teaching them to act in evidence-based ways to reduce patient risk. Fourth, it encourages supportive teaching and learning, emphasizing the need to establishing teaching environments in which students feel comfortable to learn and practice patient safety. Finally, it helps educators incorporate patient safety topics across all areas of clinical practice. PMID:25285012

Defining safety culture and the nexus between safety goals and safety culture. 4. Enhancing Safety Culture Through the Establishment of Safety Goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tateiwa, Kenji; Miyata, Koichi; Yahagi, Kimitoshi

2001-01-01

Safety culture is the perception of each individual and organization of a nuclear power plant that safety is the first priority, and at Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), we have been practicing it in everyday activities. On the other hand, with the demand for competitiveness of nuclear power becoming even more intense these days, we need to pursue efficient management while maintaining the safety level at the same time. Below, we discuss how to achieve compatibility between safety culture and efficient management as well as enhance safety culture. Discussion at Tepco: safety culture-nurturing activities such as the following are being implemented: 1. informing the employees of the 'Declaration of Safety Promotion' by handing out brochures and posting it on the intranet home page; 2. publishing safety culture reports covering stories on safety culture of other industry sectors, recent movements on safety culture, etc.; 3. conducting periodic questionnaires to employees to grasp how deeply safety culture is being established; 4. carrying out educational programs to learn from past cases inside and outside the nuclear industry; 5. committing to common ownership of information with the public. The current status of safety culture in Japan sometimes seems to be biased to the quest of ultimate safety; rephrasing it, there have been few discussions regarding the sufficiency of the quantitative safety level in conjunction with the safety culture. Safety culture is one of the most crucial foundations guaranteeing the plant's safety, and for example, the plant safety level evaluated by probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) could be said to be valid only on the ground that a sound and sufficient safety culture exists. Although there is no doubt that the safety culture is a fundamental and important attitude of an individual and organization that keeps safety the first priority, the safety culture in itself should not be considered an obstruction to efforts to implement

Analysis of criticality safety of coupled fast-thermal core 'HERBE'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pesic, M.

1991-01-01

Power excursion during possible fast core flooding is analyzed as serious accident. Model gives short filling time of fast zone with moderator after break of fast core tank. Reactivity increase is determined by computer codes and verified in specific experiments. Measurements of safety rods drop time and reactivity worth are performed. Coupled core kinetics parameters are determined according to model of Avery. Power excursion study, depending on power level threshold and safety instrumentation response time is performed. It was shown that safety system can shut-down reactor safely even in case of highly set power thresholds and partially failure of safety chain. (author)

Squale: evaluation criteria of functioning safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deswarte, Y.; Kaaniche, M.; Benoit, P.

1998-05-01

The SQUALE (security, safety and quality evaluation for dependable systems) project is part of the ACTS (advanced communications, technologies and services) European program. Its aim is to develop confidence evaluation criteria to test the functioning safety of systems. All industrial sectors that use critical applications (nuclear, railway, aerospace..) are concerned. SQUALE evaluation criteria differ from the classical evaluation methods: they are independent of the application domains and industrial sectors, they take into account the overall functioning safety attributes, and they can progressively change according to the level of severity required. In order to validate the approach and to refine the criteria, a first experiment is in progress with the METEOR automatic underground railway and another will be carried out on a telecommunication system developed by Bouygues company. (J.S.)

On dependence of thermal transport on the safety factor q in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirose, A.; Singh, A.; Livingstone, S.; Liu, D.

2005-01-01

Mixing length estimates of the anomalous ion and electron thermal diffusivities caused by the ITG and ETG mode, respectively, have revealed that both diffusivities are proportional to the safety factor q. In the case of ITG mode, the maximum χ i occurs at long wavelengths where coupling to the ion acoustic mode is dominant while ETG driven χ e peaks at wavelengths comparable to the electron skin depth. (author)

The Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Panel's Galileo safety evaluation report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, R.C.; Gray, L.B.; Huff, D.A.

1989-01-01

The safety evaluation report (SER) for Galileo was prepared by the Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Panel (INSRP) coordinators in accordance with Presidential directive/National Security Council memorandum 25. The INSRP consists of three coordinators appointed by their respective agencies, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). These individuals are independent of the program being evaluated and depend on independent experts drawn from the national technical community to serve on the five INSRP subpanels. The Galileo SER is based on input provided by the NASA Galileo Program Office, review and assessment of the final safety analysis report prepared by the Office of Special Applications of the DOE under a memorandum of understanding between NASA and the DOE, as well as other related data and analyses. The SER was prepared for use by the agencies and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the Present for use in their launch decision-making process. Although more than 20 nuclear-powered space missions have been previously reviewed via the INSRP process, the Galileo review constituted the first review of a nuclear power source associated with launch aboard the Space Transportation System

Reliability evaluation of the power supply of an electrical power net for safety-relevant applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dominguez-Garcia, Alejandro D.; Kassakian, John G.; Schindall, Joel E.

2006-01-01

In this paper, we introduce a methodology for the dependability analysis of new automotive safety-relevant systems. With the introduction of safety-relevant electronic systems in cars, it is necessary to carry out a thorough dependability analysis of those systems to fully understand and quantify the failure mechanisms in order to improve the design. Several system level FMEAs are used to identify the different failure modes of the system and, a Markov model is constructed to quantify their probability of occurrence. A new power net architecture with application to new safety-relevant automotive systems, such as Steer-by-Wire or Brake-by-Wire, is used as a case study. For these safety-relevant loads, loss of electric power supply means loss of control of the vehicle. It is, therefore, necessary and critical to develop a highly dependable power net to ensure power to these loads under all circumstances

SACS2: Dynamic and Formal Safety Analysis Method for Complex Safety Critical System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koh, Kwang Yong; Seong, Poong Hyun

2009-01-01

Fault tree analysis (FTA) is one of the most widely used safety analysis technique in the development of safety critical systems. However, over the years, several drawbacks of the conventional FTA have become apparent. One major drawback is that conventional FTA uses only static gates and hence can not capture dynamic behaviors of the complex system precisely. Although several attempts such as dynamic fault tree (DFT), PANDORA, formal fault tree (FFT) and so on, have been made to overcome this problem, they can not still do absolute or actual time modeling because they adapt relative time concept and can capture only sequential behaviors of the system. Second drawback of conventional FTA is its lack of rigorous semantics. Because it is informal in nature, safety analysis results heavily depend on an analyst's ability and are error-prone. Finally reasoning process which is to check whether basic events really cause top events is done manually and hence very labor-intensive and timeconsuming for the complex systems. In this paper, we propose a new safety analysis method for complex safety critical system in qualitative manner. We introduce several temporal gates based on timed computational tree logic (TCTL) which can represent quantitative notion of time. Then, we translate the information of the fault trees into UPPAAL query language and the reasoning process is automatically done by UPPAAL which is the model checker for time critical system

People-Technology-Ecosystem Integration: A Framework to Ensure Regional Interoperability for Safety, Sustainability, and Resilience of Interdependent Energy, Water, and Seafood Sources in the (Persian) Gulf.

Science.gov (United States)

Meshkati, Najmedin; Tabibzadeh, Maryam; Farshid, Ali; Rahimi, Mansour; Alhanaee, Ghena

2016-02-01

The aim of this study is to identify the interdependencies of human and organizational subsystems of multiple complex, safety-sensitive technological systems and their interoperability in the context of sustainability and resilience of an ecosystem. Recent technological disasters with severe environmental impact are attributed to human factors and safety culture causes. One of the most populous and environmentally sensitive regions in the world, the (Persian) Gulf, is on the confluence of an exponentially growing number of two industries--nuclear power and seawater desalination plants--that is changing its land- and seascape. Building upon Rasmussen's model, a macrosystem integrative framework, based on the broader context of human factors, is developed, which can be considered in this context as a "meta-ergonomics" paradigm, for the analysis of interactions, design of interoperability, and integration of decisions of major actors whose actions can affect safety and sustainability of the focused industries during routine and nonroutine (emergency) operations. Based on the emerging realities in the Gulf region, it is concluded that without such systematic approach toward addressing the interdependencies of water and energy sources, sustainability will be only a short-lived dream and prosperity will be a disappearing mirage for millions of people in the region. This multilayered framework for the integration of people, technology, and ecosystem--which has been applied to the (Persian) Gulf--offers a viable and vital approach to the design and operation of large-scale complex systems wherever the nexus of water, energy, and food sources are concerned, such as the Black Sea. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Maritime Safety and Security Challenges – 3D Simulation Based Training

OpenAIRE

Christoph Felsenstein; Knud Benedict; Michael Baldauf

2013-01-01

Maritime Safety and Security on board ships very much depends on well trained crews. That is why training and exercising emergency response procedures as well as efficiency in reliable management are extremely necessary. On the other hand research as well as technological development in safety and security, tools and other kinds of technical and organizational systems contribute to further improvement and guarantee high levels of safety and security in maritime transportation. Simulation faci...

Safety logic systems of PFBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sambasivan, S. Ilango

2004-01-01

Full text : PFBR is provided with two independent, fast acting and diverse shutdown systems to detect any abnormalities and to initiate safety action. Each system consists of sensors, signal processing systems, logics, drive mechanisms and absorber rods. The absorber rods of the first system are Control and Safety Rods (CSR) and that of the second are called as Diverse Safety Rods (DSR). There are nine CSR and three DSR. While CSR are used for startup, control of reactor power, controlled shutdown and SCRAM, the DSR are used only for SCRAM. The respective drive mechanisms are called as CSRDM and DSRDM. Each of these two systems is capable of executing the shutdown satisfactorily with single failure criteria. Two independent safety logic systems based on diverse principles have been designed for the two shut down systems. The analog outputs of the sensors of Core Monitoring Systems comprising of reactor flux monitoring, core temperature monitoring, failed fuel detection and core flow monitoring systems are processed and converted into binary signals depending on their instantaneous values. Safety logic systems receive the binary signals from these core-monitoring systems and process them logically to protect the reactor against postulated initiating events. Neutronic and power to flow (P/Q) signals form the inputs to safety logic system-I and temperature signals are inputs to the safety logic system II. Failed fuel detection signals are processed by both the shut down systems. The two logic systems to actuate the safety rods are also based on two diverse designs and implemented with solid-state devices to meet all the requirements of safety systems. Safety logic system I that caters to neutronic and P/Q signals is designed around combinational logic and has an on-line test facility to detect struck at faults. The second logic system is based on dynamic logic and hence is inherently safe. This paper gives an overview of the two logic systems that have been

Differences between users of six public parks in Barcelona depending on the level of perceived safety in the neighborhood

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Félix Pérez Tejera

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Research on the relation between fear of crime and public space has been often limited to psychosocial processes (place attachment, social cohesion, collective efficacy and the effect of environmental variables (brightness, graffitis, cleaness. Most of the behavioral aspects involved, however, have been neglected. In this work we carried out a systematic observational study of the types of users (gender, age, ethnicity, signs of poverty of six public parks in Barcelona. We examined whether there would be differences between users of three parks in the neighbourhood with the highest level of fear of crime and the users of three public parks in the neighbourhoods with the highest levels of perceived safety. The analysis showed significant differences in the spatial occupancy patterns between the two neighbourhoods. The differences highlighted processes of avoidance of public space by women, children and the elderly, and processes of spatial segregation depending on ethnicity and the presence of signs of poverty.

Assessing Risk-Based Performance Indicators in Safety-Critical Systems for Nuclear Power Plants

OpenAIRE

TONT Gabriela

2011-01-01

The paper proposes framework for a multidisciplinary nuclear risk and safety assessment by modeling uncertainty and combining diverse evidence provided in such a way that it could be used to represent an entire argument about a system's dependability. The identified safety issues are being treated by means of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). The behavior simulation of power plant in thepresence of risk factors is analyzed from the vulnerability, risk and functional safety viewpoints, hi...

Analysis of dependent failures in the ORNL precursor study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballard, G.M.

1985-01-01

The study of dependent failures (or common cause/mode failures) in the safety assessment of potentially hazardous plant is one of the significant areas of uncertainty in performing probabilistic safety studies. One major reason for this uncertainty is that data on dependent failures is apparently not readily available in sufficient quantity to assist in the development and validation of models. The incident reports that were compiled for the ORNL study on Precursors to Severe Core Damage Accidents (NUREG/CR-2497) provide an opportunity to look at the importance of dependent failures in the most significant incidents of recent reactor operations, to look at the success of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) methods in accounting for the contribution of dependent failures, and to look at the dependent failure incidents with the aim of identifying the most significant problem areas. In this paper an analysis has been made of the incidents compiled in NUREG/CR-2497 and events involving multiple failures which were not independent have been identified. From this analysis it is clear that dependent failures are a very significant contributor to the precursor incidents. The method of enumeration of accident frequency used in NUREG-2497 can be shown to take account of dependent failures and this may be a significant factor contributing to the apparent difference between the precursor accident frequency and typical PRA frequencies

Ketamine Dependence in an Anesthesiologist: An Occupational Hazard?

OpenAIRE

Goyal, Shrigopal; Ambekar, Atul; Ray, Rajat

2014-01-01

Substance abuse among medical professionals is a cause for concern. Certain psychotropic substances such as ketamine are at easy dispense to anesthesiologists increasing the likelihood of misuse and dependence and raise several issues including safety of patients. We discuss a case demonstrating ketamine dependence in an anesthesiologist from India. The reported psychotropic effects of ketamine ranged from dissociation and depersonalization to psychotic experiences. There was also development...

Using the Job Demands-Resources model to investigate risk perception, safety climate and job satisfaction in safety critical organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Morten Birkeland; Mearns, Kathryn; Matthiesen, Stig Berge; Eid, Jarle

2011-10-01

Using the Job Demands-Resources model (JD-R) as a theoretical framework, this study investigated the relationship between risk perception as a job demand and psychological safety climate as a job resource with regard to job satisfaction in safety critical organizations. In line with the JD-R model, it was hypothesized that high levels of risk perception is related to low job satisfaction and that a positive perception of safety climate is related to high job satisfaction. In addition, it was hypothesized that safety climate moderates the relationship between risk perception and job satisfaction. Using a sample of Norwegian offshore workers (N = 986), all three hypotheses were supported. In summary, workers who perceived high levels of risk reported lower levels of job satisfaction, whereas this effect diminished when workers perceived their safety climate as positive. Follow-up analyses revealed that this interaction was dependent on the type of risks in question. The results of this study supports the JD-R model, and provides further evidence for relationships between safety-related concepts and work-related outcomes indicating that organizations should not only develop and implement sound safety procedures to reduce the effects of risks and hazards on workers, but can also enhance other areas of organizational life through a focus on safety. © 2011 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2011 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

The dependence level analysis between the human actions in NPP Operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farcasiu, M.; Nitoi, M.; Apostol, M.; Florescu, G.; Prisecaru, Ilie

2009-01-01

The Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) is an important method in Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) studies and offers desirability for concrete improvement of the man - machine - organization interfaces, reliability and safety. An important step in HRA is the dependence level analysis between the human actions performed by the same person or between the actions performed by different persons, step in quantitative analysis of the human errors probabilities. The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to analyze the dependence level between human actions for Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) operation. The model estimates the conditional human error probabilities (CHEP) and joint human error probabilities (JHEP). The achieved sensitivity analyses determine human performance sensibility to systematic variations for dependence level between human actions. The human error probabilities estimated in this paper are adequate values for integration both in HRA and in PSA realized for NPP. This type of analysis helps in finding and analyzing the ways of reducing the likelihood of human errors, so that the impact of human factor to systems availability, reliability and safety can be realistically estimated. In order to demonstrate the usability of this model an analysis is performed upon the dependences between the necessary human actions in mitigating the consequences of LOCA events, particularly for the case of Cernavoda NPP. (authors)

Implementing and measuring safety goals and safety culture. 4. Utility's Activities for Better Safety Culture After the JCO Accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omoto, Akira

2001-01-01

depended heavily on operators strictly abiding by the prescribed procedures. This would become a design fault if operators are not well educated in background procedures and do not take the procedures seriously. Although NPSs are designed in such a way that an appropriate combination of operational rules and electromechanical interlocks would prevent plant systems from going wrong, areas still exist where safety is mostly dependent on human actions and on operators strictly following the procedures. We have initiated research into such possibilities using semi-probabilistic analysis and are implementing modifications to the interlocks to augment safety and reliability. Review of lessons learned has resulted in activities to augment safety and reliability: (a) self-diagnosis of safety culture, (b) improvement of on-site education and training, and (c) review of plant safety from the viewpoint of interface between design and operation. (author)

Assessment of the Safety of Some On-The-Shelf Canned Food ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There is also the possibility of these organisms posing food safety issues and pharmaceutical risks in case of possible out break, assayed through plasmid profiling of the culture-dependent isolates. A major concern in this study is the lack of adherence to food safety regulations. The products still been marketed on the ...

Radiotherapy professionals faced with the obligation of treatments safety improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

The occurrence of a major accident in Epinal (2006), followed by one in Toulouse (2007), led the Ministry of Health to mobilize the whole actors in radiotherapy in order to define national measures intended to improve health care security. Compiled in the so-called 'road map', these measures were presented in November 2007, and implemented in the 2009-2013 cancer programme. The French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) undertook a study aiming at assessing the effects of the above-mentioned measures on organization and safety management of radiotherapy facilities, but also on treatment achievement procedures and health professionals. More specifically, IRSN sought to examine the ability of health professionals to take into account new safety demands and to adapt their practices accordingly. With these purposes objectives, a qualitative study using the methods of ergonomics and sociology of organizations was completed in 2009-2010. The results of the study presented in this report show an effective improvement of health care safety along with a variable integration of safety measures depending on radiotherapy facilities and units. In particular, integration depends on 1) the governance mode of the health care facility, more or less conducive to promoting safety, 2) the pre-existence of a safety culture and safety organization, and 3) the facility commitment to health care safety improvement actions. The study also reveals that the implementation of new safety demands and the changes they involve create new constraints, which put pressure on health professionals and may threaten the durability of the improvements made. In order to facilitate the appropriation and implementation by radiotherapy units of the measures meant to improve health care safety, IRSN identifies 6 lines of thought: - strengthen coordination between institutional actors in order to ensure the consistency of the requests addressed to the facilities and limit their

The safety evaluation guide for laboratories and plants a tool for enhancing safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lhomme, Veronique; Daubard, Jean-Paul

2013-01-01

The Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) acts as technical support for the French government Authorities competent in nuclear safety and radiation protection for civil and defence activities. In this frame, the Institute's performs safety assessments of the safety cases submitted by operators to these Authorities for each stage in the life cycle of a nuclear facility, including dismantling operations, which is subjected to a licensing procedure. In the fuel cycle field, this concerns a large variety of facilities. Very often, depending on facilities and on safety cases, safety assessment to be performed is multidisciplinary and involves the supervisor in charge of the facility and several safety experts, particularly to cover the whole set of risks (criticality, exposure to radiation, fire, handling, containment, human and organisational factors...) encountered during facility's operations. Taking these into account, and in order to formalize the assessment process of the fuel cycle facilities, laboratories, irradiators, particle accelerators, under-decommissioning reactors and radioactive waste management, the 'Plants, Laboratories, Transports and Waste Safety' Division of IRSN has developed an internal guide, as a tool: - To present the methodological framework, and possible specificities, for the assessment according to the 'Defence in Depth Concept' (Part 1); - To provide key questions associated to the necessary contradictory technical review of the safety cases (Part 2); - To capitalise on experience on the basis of technical examples (coming from incident reports, previous safety assessments...) demonstrating the questioning (Part 3). The guide is divided in chapters, each dedicated to a type of risk (dissemination of radioactive material, external or internal exposure from ionising radiation, criticality, radiolysis mechanisms, handling operations, earthquake, human or organisational factors...) or to a type

Halden project activities on software dependability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dahll, G.; Sivertsen.

1994-01-01

Since 1977, the OECD Halden Reactor Project has been working in the field of software dependability. Special emphasis has been put on the use of software in safety critical systems. All phases in software development, from specification through software development, verification, and validation have been covered and are discussed in this article

Management of technical knowledge in strengthening the global nuclear safety regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, C.-S.

2006-01-01

The management of technical knowledge is becoming one of the key issues and challenges in strengthening global nuclear safety. The success of the industry depends on how to optimize knowledge acquisition, transfer and deployment. In this presentation, joint conduct of large-scale R and D work, assurance of free flow of safety-related knowledge from developed to developing nations, and potential imposition of a trade agreement between nuclear exporting and importing nations are discussed. The introduction of a 'Global Nuclear Safety Treaty' could be an excellent mechanism for achieving effective knowledge management and eventually enforcing a global safety regime. (author)

Safety and licensing of nuclear heating plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snell, V.G.; Hilborn, J.W.; Lynch, G.F.; McAuley, S.J.

1989-09-01

World attention continues to focus on nuclear district heating, a low-cost energy from a non-polluting fuel. It offers long-term security for countries currently dependent on fossil fuels, and can reduce the burden of fossil fuel transportation on railways and roads. Current initiatives encompass large, centralized heating plants and small plants supplying individual institutions. The former are variants of their power reactor cousins but with enhanced safety features. The latter face the safety and licensing challenges of urban siting and remotely monitored operation, through use of intrinsic safety features such as passive decay heat removal, low stored energy and limited reactivity speed and depth in the control systems. Small heating reactor designs are compared, and the features of the SLOWPOKE Energy System, in the forefront of these designs, are summarized. The challenge of public perception must be met by clearly presenting the characteristics of small heating reactors in terms of scale and transparent safety in design and operation, and by explaining the local benefits

Nuclear safety culture and nuclear safety supervision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chai Jianshe

2013-01-01

In this paper, the author reviews systematically and summarizes up the development process and stage characteristics of nuclear safety culture, analysis the connotation and characteristics of nuclear safety culture, sums up the achievements of our country's nuclear safety supervision, dissects the challenges and problems of nuclear safety supervision. This thesis focused on the relationship between nuclear safety culture and nuclear safety supervision, they are essential differences, but there is a close relationship. Nuclear safety supervision needs to introduce some concepts of nuclear safety culture, lays emphasis on humanistic care and improves its level and efficiency. Nuclear safety supervision authorities must strengthen nuclear safety culture training, conduct the development of nuclear safety culture, make sure that nuclear safety culture can play significant roles. (author)

Influence of Malfunctions of Selected Bus Subsystems on Bus Transportation Safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bojar Piotr

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This article introduces division of transport systems into land transport systems (road and rail as well as land and water transport systems (inland and sea, depending on the type of environment in which these systems carry out their tasks. Such systems comprise the class of social engineering systems of the Man – Technological Object – Environment (M – TO – E type. Such systems are influenced by forcing factors, leading to changes in their condition. Such factors may be divided into operational, external and anthropotechnical and they cause the degradation of the system on various levels, including a decrease of the degree of its safety. The article attempts to evaluate the safety of the operation of transport systems on the basis of the evaluation of the safety of the transport process carried out over a defined time interval Δt. The evaluation of the safety of the implemented transport process was prepared on the basis of a set of calculated index values determined depending on the type of transport.

Improving plant state information for better operational safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girard, C.; Olivier, E.; Grimaldi, X.

1994-01-01

Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) safety is strongly dependent on components' reliability and particularly on plant state information reliability. This information, used by the plant operators in order to produce appropriate actions, have to be of a high degree of confidence, especially in accidental conditions where safety is threatened. In this perspective, FRAMATOME, EDF and CEA have started a joint research program to prospect different solutions aiming at a better reliability for critical information needed to safety operate the plant. This paper gives the main results of this program and describes the developments that have been made in order to assess reliability of different information systems used in a Nuclear Power Plant. (Author)

A probabilistic method for optimization of fire safety in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosser, D.; Sprey, W.

1986-01-01

As part of a comprehensive fire safety study for German Nuclear Power Plants a probabilistic method for the analysis and optimization of fire safety has been developed. It follows the general line of the American fire hazard analysis, with more or less important modifications in detail. At first, fire event trees in selected critical plant areas are established taking into account active and passive fire protection measures and safety systems endangered by the fire. Failure models for fire protection measures and safety systems are formulated depending on common parameters like time after ignition and fire effects. These dependences are properly taken into account in the analysis of the fire event trees with the help of first-order system reliability theory. In addition to frequencies of fire-induced safety system failures relative weights of event paths, fire protection measures within these paths and parameters of the failure models are calculated as functions of time. Based on these information optimization of fire safety is achieved by modifying primarily event paths, fire protection measures and parameters with the greatest relative weights. This procedure is illustrated using as an example a German 1300 MW PWR reference plant. It is shown that the recommended modifications also reduce the risk to plant personnel and fire damage

Safety balance: Analysis of safety systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delage, M.; Giroux, C.

1990-12-01

Safety analysis, and particularly analysis of exploitation of NPPs is constantly affected by EDF and by the safety authorities and their methodologies. Periodic safety reports ensure that important issues are not missed on daily basis, that incidents are identified and that relevant actions are undertaken. French safety analysis method consists of three principal steps. First type of safety balance is analyzed at the normal start-up phase for each unit including the final safety report. This enables analysis of behaviour of units ten years after their licensing. Second type is periodic operational safety analysis performed during a few years. Finally, the third step consists of safety analysis of the oldest units with the aim to improve the safety standards. The three steps of safety analysis are described in this presentation in detail with the aim to present the objectives and principles. Examples of most recent exercises are included in order to illustrate the importance of such analyses

Independent assessment for new nuclear reactor safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D'Auria Francesco

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A rigorous framework for safety assessment is established in all countries where nuclear technology is used for the production of electricity. On the one side, industry, i.e. reactor designers, vendors and utilities perform safety analysis and demonstrate consistency between results of safety analyses and requirements. On the other side, regulatory authorities perform independent assessment of safety and confirm the acceptability of safety of individual reactor units. The process of comparing results from analyses by reactor utilities and regulators is very complex. The process is also highly dependent upon mandatory approaches pursued for the analysis and from very many details which required the knowledge of sensitive proprietary data (e.g. spacer designs. Furthermore, all data available for the design, construction and operation of reactors produced by the nuclear industry are available to regulators. Two areas for improving the process of safety assessment for individual Nuclear Power Plant Units are identified: New details introduced by industry are not always and systematically requested by regulators for the independent assessment; New analytical techniques and capabilities are not necessarily used in the analyses by regulators (and by the industry. The established concept of independent assessment constitutes the way for improving the process of safety assessment. This is possible, or is largely facilitated, by the recent availability of the so-called Best Estimate Plus Uncertainty approach.

Performance of balanced bellows safety relief valves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lai, Y.S.

1992-01-01

By the nature of its design, the set point and lift of a conventional spring loaded safety relief valve are sensitive to back pressure. One way to reduce the adverse effects of the back pressure on the safety relief valve function is to install a balanced bellows in a safety relief valve. The metallic bellows has a rather wide range of manufacturing tolerance which makes the design of the bellows safety relief valve very complicated. The state-of-the-art balanced bellows safety relief valve can only substantially minimize, but cannot totally eliminate the back pressure effects on its set point and relieving capacity. Set point change is a linear function of the back pressure to the set pressure ratio. Depending on the valve design, the set point correction factor can be either greater or smaller than unity. There exists an allowable back pressure and critical back pressure for each safety relief valve. When total back pressure exceeds the R a , the relieving capacity will be reduced mainly resulting from the valve lift being reduced by the back pressure and the capacity reduction factor should be applied in valve sizing. Once the R c is exceeded, the safety relief valve becomes unstable and loses its over pressure protection capability. The capacity reduction factor is a function of system overpressure, but their relationship is non-linear in nature. (orig.)

Independent assessment for new nuclear reactor safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Auria, F.; Glaeser, H.; Debrecin, N.

2017-01-01

A rigorous framework for safety assessment is established in all countries where nuclear technology is used for the production of electricity. On one side, industry, i.e. reactor designers, vendors and utilities perform safety analysis and demonstrate consistency between results of safety analyses and requirements. On the other side, regulatory authorities perform independent assessment of safety and confirm the acceptability of safety of individual reactor units. The process of comparing results from analyses by reactor utilities and regulators is very complex. The process is also highly dependent upon mandatory approaches pursued for the analysis and from very many details which required the knowledge of sensitive proprietary data (e.g. spacer designs). Furthermore, all data available for the design, construction and operation of reactors produced by the nuclear industry are available to regulators. Two areas for improving the process of safety assessment for individual Nuclear Power Plant Units are identified: New details introduced by industry are not always and systematically requested by regulators for the independent assessment; New analytical techniques and capabilities are not necessarily used in the analyses by regulators (and by the industry). The established concept of independent assessment constitutes the way for improving the process of safety assessment. This is possible, or is largely facilitated, by the recent availability of the so-called Best Estimate Plus Uncertainty (BEPU) approach. (authors)

Pre-surgery briefings and safety climate in the operating theatre.

Science.gov (United States)

Allard, Jon; Bleakley, Alan; Hobbs, Adrian; Coombes, Lee

2011-08-01

In 2008, the WHO produced a surgical safety checklist against a background of a poor patient safety record in operating theatres. Formal team briefings are now standard practice in high-risk settings such as the aviation industry and improve safety, but are resisted in surgery. Research evidence is needed to persuade the surgical workforce to adopt safety procedures such as briefings. To investigate whether exposure to pre-surgery briefings is related to perception of safety climate. Three Safety Attitude Questionnaires, completed by operating theatre staff in 2003, 2004 and 2006, were used to evaluate the effects of an educational intervention introducing pre-surgery briefings. Individual practitioners who agree with the statement 'briefings are common in the operating theatre' also report a better 'safety climate' in operating theatres. The study reports a powerful link between briefing practices and attitudes towards safety. Findings build on previous work by reporting on the relationship between briefings and safety climate within a 4-year period. Briefings, however, remain difficult to establish in local contexts without appropriate team-based patient safety education. Success in establishing a safety culture, with associated practices, may depend on first establishing unidirectional, positive change in attitudes to create a safety climate.

Safety research plan, JFY 2013 edition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-09-01

As for the regulatory issues the governments or JNES considered necessary, JNES had updated every year 'safety research plan' in respective research areas necessary for solving the regulatory issues (safety research needs) and was conducting safety research to obtain the results, etc. 'Safety research plan, JFY 2013 Edition' was compiled aiming at promotion of appropriate reflection and flexible application of research achievements for tacking the regulatory issues taking account of importance and urgency dependent on trend of nuclear safety regulations as well as collective management of safety research and safety survey. 5 new research projects were established with 4 unified research projects and 6 terminated research projects. Finally modified safety research areas, subjects and research projects, JFY 2013 Edition were as follows: design review of nuclear power plant (7 subjects and each subject having several research projects totaled 19), control management of nuclear power plant (one subject having 4 research projects), nuclear fuel cycle (2 subjects and each subject having several research projects totaled 4), nuclear fuel cycle backend (2 subjects and each subject having several research projects totaled 5), nuclear emergency preparedness and response (3 subjects and each subject having several research projects totaled 7) and bases of nuclear safety technology (3 subjects and each subject having several research projects totaled 6). Safety reviews consisted of 6 projects in 3 areas extracting the regulatory issues. As for urgent research projects on the basis of the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident, 7 research projects in 4 urgent subjects were as follows: examination for new safety regulation (4 research projects generalized in the above research projects), development of newly necessary evaluation methods (one research project generalized in the above research project), evaluation of the validity for the work for convergence at Fukushima

Nuclear installations safety in France. Compilation of regulatory guides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

General plan: 1. General organization of public officials. Procedures 1.1. Texts defining the general organization and the procedures 1.2. Interventing organisms; 2. Texts presenting a technical aspect other than basic safety rules and associated organization texts; 2.1. Dispositions relating to safety of nuclear installations 2.2. Dispositions relating to pressure vessels 2.3. Dispositions relating to quality 2.4. Dispositions relating to radioactive wastes release 2.5. Dispositions relating to activities depending of classified installations; 3. Basic Safety Rules (BSR) 3.1. BSR relating to PWR 3.2. BSR relating to nuclear installations other than PWR 3.3. Other BSR [fr

Forschungszentrum Rossendorf, Institute of Safety Research. Annual report 1996

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weiss, F.P.; Rindelhardt, U.

1997-08-01

The research of the institute aims at the safety assessment of the design of nuclear and chemical facilities, the development of accident management procedures, and the increase of operational safety by improved plant surveillance. Physical models and computer codes are developed for multiphase/multicomponent flows and for the space and time dependent power release in nuclear and chemical reactors to be able to analyse the thermo-fluiddynamic phenomena during assumed accident scenarios. Emphasis is particularly focussed on spatial flow phenomena and the time dependent change of flow patterns. Sustainable void fraction probes and tomographic systems are developed to measure those parameters of two phase flows that characterize the exchange of pulse, energy and mass between the phases and components. The research related to materials safety is directed to the behaviour of components exposed to neutron and gamma radiation. The susceptibility to irradiation induced embrittlement and the behaviour of annealed material during reirradiation are investigated by fracture mechanical methods in dependence on the materials composition. The work on process and plant diagnostics makes available basic methods for early failure detection and operational monitoring which are important means of accident prevention. Recent initiatives of the institute are concerned with the transport of pollutants in the geosphere. Particularly, codes are developed for the simulation of physical and chemical processes during the transport of pollutants in unsaturated zones of the soil. (orig.)

Forschungszentrum Rossendorf, Institute of Safety Research. Annual report 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weiss, F P; Rindelhardt, U [eds.

1997-08-01

The research of the institute aims at the safety assessment of the design of nuclear and chemical facilities, the development of accident management procedures, and the increase of operational safety by improved plant surveillance. Physical models and computer codes are developed for multiphase/multicomponent flows and for the space and time dependent power release in nuclear and chemical reactors to be able to analyse the thermo-fluiddynamic phenomena during assumed accident scenarios. Emphasis is particulary focussed on spatial flow phenomena and the time dependent change of flow patterns. Sustainable void fraction probes and tomographic systems are developed to measure those parameters of two phase flows that characterize the exchange of pulse, energy and mass between the phases and components. The research related to materials safety is directed to the behaviour of components exposed to neutron and gamma radiation. The susceptibility to irradiation induced embrittlement and the behaviour of annealed material during reirradiation are investigated by fracture mechanical methods in dependence on the materials composition. The work on process and plant diagnostics makes available basic methods for early failure detection and operational monitoring which are important means of accident prevention. Recent initiatives of the institute are concerned with the transport of pollutants in the geosphere. Particularly, codes are developed for the simulation of physical and chemical processes during the transport of pollutants in unsaturated zones of the soil. (orig.)

Anticonvulsants for cocaine dependence.

Science.gov (United States)

Minozzi, Silvia; Cinquini, Michela; Amato, Laura; Davoli, Marina; Farrell, Michael F; Pani, Pier Paolo; Vecchi, Simona

2015-04-17

Cocaine dependence is a major public health problem that is characterised by recidivism and a host of medical and psychosocial complications. Although effective pharmacotherapy is available for alcohol and heroin dependence, none is currently available for cocaine dependence, despite two decades of clinical trials primarily involving antidepressant, anticonvulsivant and dopaminergic medications. Extensive consideration has been given to optimal pharmacological approaches to the treatment of individuals with cocaine dependence, and both dopamine antagonists and agonists have been considered. Anticonvulsants have been candidates for use in the treatment of addiction based on the hypothesis that seizure kindling-like mechanisms contribute to addiction. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of anticonvulsants for individuals with cocaine dependence. We searched the Cochrane Drugs and Alcohol Group Trials Register (June 2014), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (2014, Issue 6), MEDLINE (1966 to June 2014), EMBASE (1988 to June 2014), the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) (1982 to June 2014), Web of Science (1991 to June 2014) and the reference lists of eligible articles. All randomised controlled trials and controlled clinical trials that focus on the use of anticonvulsant medications to treat individuals with cocaine dependence. We used the standard methodological procedures expected by The Cochrane Collaboration. We included a total of 20 studies with 2068 participants. We studied the anticonvulsant drugs carbamazepine, gabapentin, lamotrigine, phenytoin, tiagabine, topiramate and vigabatrin. All studies compared anticonvulsants versus placebo. Only one study had one arm by which the anticonvulsant was compared with the antidepressant desipramine. Upon comparison of anticonvulsant versus placebo, we found no significant differences for any of the efficacy and safety measures. Dropouts: risk ratio (RR) 0.95, 95

Safety margins in deterministic safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Viktorov, A.

2011-01-01

The concept of safety margins has acquired certain prominence in the attempts to demonstrate quantitatively the level of the nuclear power plant safety by means of deterministic analysis, especially when considering impacts from plant ageing and discovery issues. A number of international or industry publications exist that discuss various applications and interpretations of safety margins. The objective of this presentation is to bring together and examine in some detail, from the regulatory point of view, the safety margins that relate to deterministic safety analysis. In this paper, definitions of various safety margins are presented and discussed along with the regulatory expectations for them. Interrelationships of analysis input and output parameters with corresponding limits are explored. It is shown that the overall safety margin is composed of several components each having different origins and potential uses; in particular, margins associated with analysis output parameters are contrasted with margins linked to the analysis input. While these are separate, it is possible to influence output margins through the analysis input, and analysis method. Preserving safety margins is tantamount to maintaining safety. At the same time, efficiency of operation requires optimization of safety margins taking into account various technical and regulatory considerations. For this, basic definitions and rules for safety margins must be first established. (author)

Flight safety measurements of UAVs in congested airspace

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiang Jinwu

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Describing spatial safety status is crucial for high-density air traffic involving multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs in a complex environment. A probabilistic approach is proposed to measure safety situation in congested airspace. The occupancy distribution of the airspace is represented with conflict probability between spatial positions and UAV. The concept of a safety envelope related to flight performance and response time is presented first instead of the conventional fixed-size protected zones around aircraft. Consequently, the conflict probability is performance-dependent, and effects of various UAVs on safety can be distinguished. The uncertainty of a UAV future position is explicitly accounted for as Brownian motion. An analytic approximate algorithm for the conflict probability is developed to decrease the computational consumption. The relationship between safety and flight performance are discussed for different response times and prediction intervals. To illustrate the applications of the approach, an experiment of three UAVs in formation flight is performed. In addition, an example of trajectory planning is simulated for one UAV flying over airspace where five UAVs exist. The validation of the approach shows its potential in guaranteeing flight safety in highly dynamic environment.

Power learning or path dependency? Investigating the roots of the European Food Safety Authority.

Science.gov (United States)

Roederer-Rynning, Christilla; Daugbjerg, Carsten

2010-01-01

A key motive for establishing the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was restoring public confidence in the wake of multiplying food scares and the BSE crisis. Scholars, however, have paid little attention to the actual political and institutional logics that shaped this new organization. This article explores the dynamics underpinning the making of EFSA. We examine the way in which learning and power shaped its organizational architecture. It is demonstrated that the lessons drawn from the past and other models converged on the need to delegate authority to an external agency, but diverged on its mandate, concretely whether or not EFSA should assume risk management responsibilities. In this situation of competitive learning, power and procedural politics conditioned the mandate granted to EFSA. The European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council shared a common interest in preventing the delegation of regulatory powers to an independent EU agency in food safety policy.

PSA in design of passive/active safety reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, T.; Tanabe, A.; Kondo, S.

1995-01-01

PSAs in the design of advanced reactors are applied mainly in level 1 PSA areas. However, even in level 1 PSA, there are certain areas where special care must be taken depending on plant design concepts. This paper identifies these areas both for passive and active safety reactor concepts. For example, 'long-term PSA' and shutdown PSA are very important for a passive safety reactor concept from the standpoint of effectiveness of a grace period and passive safety systems. External events are also important for an active safety reactor concept. These kinds of special PSAs are difficult to conduct precisely in a conceptual design stage. This paper shows methods of conducting these kinds of special PSAs simply and conveniently and the use of acquired insights for the design of advanced reactors. This paper also clarifies the meaning or definition of a grace period from the standpoint of PSA

Substitute safety rods: Physics design and NTG calibration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baumann, N.P.

1991-07-01

Under certain assumed accident conditions, an SRS reactor may loose most of its bulk moderator while maintaining flow to fuel assemblies. If this occurs immediately after operation at power, components normally dependent on convective heat transfer to the moderator will heat up with the possibility of melting that component. One component at risk is the safety rod. Tests have shown that the current cadmium safety rod, which contains aluminum as well as cadmium, can fail at temperatures only slightly in excess of 500 deg C. Computations indicate that such temperatures can be reached with operating powers well below the 50% power limit now imposed by other accident scenarios. Safety rod melting would thus establish a new lower operating limit. A substitute safety rod that could tolerate much higher temperatures would eliminate this limit. This memorandum details the physics characteristics of a suitable replacement rod. 7 refs

Investigation of Fire Safety Awareness and Management in Mall

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Rahim N.

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In spite of having sufficient fire safety system installed in buildings, the incidence of fire hazard becomes the furthermost and supreme threat to health and safety, as well as property to any community. In order to make sure that the safety of the building and its users, the fundamental features depends on the fire precaution system and equipment which should be according to the standard requirements. Nevertheless, the awareness on fire safety could necessarily alleviate the damages or rate of fatality during the event of fire. This paper presents the results on the investigation of fire safety awareness and management, concentrating on shopping mall. The endeavour of this study is to explore the level of fire safety knowledge of the users in the mall, and to study the effectiveness level of fire safety management in a mall. From the study, public awareness is highly related to understanding human behaviour and their personal background. The respondents’ levels of awareness are rather low, which reflects on their poor action when facing emergency situation during fire. The most effective methods identified to improve the awareness and effectiveness of fire safety level is through involvement in related fire safety programmes, distribution of pamphlets or brochures on fire safety and appointing specific personnel for Emergency Response Team in the mall.

Work stress and patient safety: observer-rated work stressors as predictors of characteristics of safety-related events reported by young nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Elfering, A; Semmer, N K; Grebner, S

This study investigates the link between workplace stress and the 'non-singularity' of patient safety-related incidents in the hospital setting. Over a period of 2 working weeks 23 young nurses from 19 hospitals in Switzerland documented 314 daily stressful events using a self-observation method (pocket diaries); 62 events were related to patient safety. Familiarity of safety-related events and probability of recurrence, as indicators of non-singularity, were the dependent variables in multilevel regression analyses. Predictor variables were both situational (self-reported situational control, safety compliance) and chronic variables (job stressors such as time pressure, or concentration demands and job control). Chronic work characteristics were rated by trained observers. The most frequent safety-related stressful events included incomplete or incorrect documentation (40.3%), medication errors (near misses 21%), delays in delivery of patient care (9.7%), and violent patients (9.7%). Familiarity of events and probability of recurrence were significantly predicted by chronic job stressors and low job control in multilevel regression analyses. Job stressors and low job control were shown to be risk factors for patient safety. The results suggest that job redesign to enhance job control and decrease job stressors may be an important intervention to increase patient safety.

The safety indicators program in Taiwan, China : a six-year trend

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, Mingte

1998-01-01

This paper presents data on the current operating status and the safety indicators (SI) of the six nuclear power units in Taiwan. Analysis of the data collected in a six-year period has been made to obtain trends for each safety indicator. An overview of the trends of the plant operational data during the same period are also provided and discussed. On the whole, the trends of safety indicators are improving during the observed period 1991-1996. The plant operational data have depicted coherent improvement with the safety indicator trends. This result supports the premise that improvements in safety performance and in operational reliability are correspondingly inter-dependent. Both the safety indicators quarterly report and the annual report are available to the public. The public can also approach this information from the AEC's World Wide Web site (http://www.aec.gov.tw). (author)

Safety Culture for Regulator Competence Management in Embarking States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kandil, M.

2016-01-01

Full text: Safety is based on preventive actions where the ability of a regulatory body to fulfill its responsibilities depends largely on the competence of its staff. Building employees’ skills and knowledge is an investment for each employee and in the future of the organization. This building must be the competence of its staff integration with their safety culture, the essential to ensure competent human resources as required in the IAEA safety standards and other documents, in which the need and importance of ensuring regulatory competence is emphasized. As it involves both operational and management issues, safety culture is a sensitive topic for regulators whose role is to ensure compliance with safety requirements and not to intervene in management decisions. A number of embarking States are aspiring to develop nuclear power generation and this means that, among other things, regulatory bodies have to be established and rapidly expanded. This paper reports major considerations on the integration of safety culture with an adequate competence management system for regulators in embarking states. (author

Tokamak βaB/I limit and its dependence on the safety factor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramos, J.J.

1990-01-01

It is shown that, for a given tokamak cross-sectional shape and arbitrary values of the magnetic axis safety factor q 0 , the first stability condition against pressure-driven magnetohydrodynamic modes has the form 40πβaB 0 /I≤C R (q 0 )/q 0 . Moreover, in the limit of large q 0 , C R (q 0 ) becomes independent of q 0 and independent of the toroidal mode number

System safety education focused on flight safety

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, E.

1971-01-01

The measures necessary for achieving higher levels of system safety are analyzed with an eye toward maintaining the combat capability of the Air Force. Several education courses were provided for personnel involved in safety management. Data include: (1) Flight Safety Officer Course, (2) Advanced Safety Program Management, (3) Fundamentals of System Safety, and (4) Quantitative Methods of Safety Analysis.

CCF analysis of high redundancy systems safety/relief valve data analysis and reference BWR application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mankamo, T.; Bjoere, S.; Olsson, Lena

1992-12-01

Dependent failure analysis and modeling were developed for high redundancy systems. The study included a comprehensive data analysis of safety and relief valves at the Finnish and Swedish BWR plants, resulting in improved understanding of Common Cause Failure mechanisms in these components. The reference application on the Forsmark 1/2 reactor relief system, constituting of twelve safety/relief lines and two regulating relief lines, covered different safety criteria cases of reactor depressurization and overpressure protection function, and failure to re close sequences. For the quantification of dependencies, the Alpha Factor Model, the Binomial Probability Model and the Common Load Model were compared for applicability in high redundancy systems

Preliminary investigation on reliability assessment of passive safety system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Changfan; Kuang Bo

2012-01-01

The reliability evaluation of passive safety system plays an important part in probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) of nuclear power plant applying passive safety design, which depends quantitatively on reliabilities of passive safety system. According to the object of reliability assessment of passive safety system, relevant parameters are identified. Then passive system behavior during accident scenarios are studied. A practical example of this method is given for the case of reliability assessment of AP1000 passive heat removal system in loss of normal feedwater accident. Key and design parameters of PRHRS are identified and functional failure criteria are established. Parameter combinations acquired by Latin hyper~ cube sampling (LHS) in possible parametric ranges are input and calculations of uncertainty propagation through RELAP5/MOD3 code are carried out. Based on the calculations, sensitivity assessment on PRHRS functional criteria and reliability evaluation of the system are presented, which might provide further PSA with PRHR system reliability. (authors)

Labor unions and safety climate: perceived union safety values and retail employee safety outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sinclair, Robert R; Martin, James E; Sears, Lindsay E

2010-09-01

Although trade unions have long been recognized as a critical advocate for employee safety and health, safety climate research has not paid much attention to the role unions play in workplace safety. We proposed a multiple constituency model of workplace safety which focused on three central safety stakeholders: top management, ones' immediate supervisor, and the labor union. Safety climate research focuses on management and supervisors as key stakeholders, but has not considered whether employee perceptions about the priority their union places on safety contributes contribute to safety outcomes. We addressed this gap in the literature by investigating unionized retail employee (N=535) perceptions about the extent to which their top management, immediate supervisors, and union valued safety. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that perceived union safety values could be distinguished from measures of safety training, workplace hazards, top management safety values, and supervisor values. Structural equation analyses indicated that union safety values influenced safety outcomes through its association with higher safety motivation, showing a similar effect as that of supervisor safety values. These findings highlight the need for further attention to union-focused measures related to workplace safety as well as further study of retail employees in general. We discuss the practical implications of our findings and identify several directions for future safety research. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nuclear energy and civilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soentono, S.

1996-01-01

The role of energy is indeed very important since without it there will be no living-things in this world. A country's ability to cultivate energy determines the levels of her civilization and wealth. Sufficient energy supply is needed for economic growth, industrialization, and modernization. In a modern civilization, the prosperity and security of a country depends more on the capability of her people rather than the wealth of her natural resources. Energy supplies the wealth, prosperity and security, and sufficient reliable continuous supply of energy secures the sustainable development. The energy supply to sustain the development has to improve the quality of life covering also the quality of environment to support the ever increasing demand of human race civilization. Energy has a closer relationship with civilization in a modern society and will have to become even closer in the future more civilized and more modern society. The utilization of nuclear energy has, however, some problems and challenges, e.g. misleading information and understanding which need serious efforts for public information, public relation, and public acceptance, and possible deviation of nuclear materials for non-peaceful uses which needs serious efforts for technological and administrative barriers, precaution, prevention, safety, physical protection, safeguard, and transparency. These require cooperation among nuclear community. The cooperation should be more pronounced by heterogeneous growing Asian countries to reach harmony for mutual benefits toward better civilization. (J.P.N.)

Linking Safety Analysis to Safety Requirements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kirsten Mark

Software for safety critical systems must deal with the hazards identified by safety analysistechniques: Fault trees, event trees,and cause consequence diagrams can be interpreted as safety requirements and used in the design activity. We propose that the safety analysis and the system design use...

Safety of Research Reactors. Safety Requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

The main objective of this Safety Requirements publication is to provide a basis for safety and a basis for safety assessment for all stages in the lifetime of a research reactor. Another objective is to establish requirements on aspects relating to regulatory control, the management of safety, site evaluation, design, operation and decommissioning. Technical and administrative requirements for the safety of research reactors are established in accordance with these objectives. This Safety Requirements publication is intended for use by organizations engaged in the site evaluation, design, manufacturing, construction, operation and decommissioning of research reactors as well as by regulatory bodies

Safety Characteristics in System Application Software for Human Rated Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Mango, E. J.

2016-01-01

NASA and its industry and international partners are embarking on a bold and inspiring development effort to design and build an exploration class space system. The space system is made up of the Orion system, the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) system. All are highly coupled together and dependent on each other for the combined safety of the space system. A key area of system safety focus needs to be in the ground and flight application software system (GFAS). In the development, certification and operations of GFAS, there are a series of safety characteristics that define the approach to ensure mission success. This paper will explore and examine the safety characteristics of the GFAS development.

A Study of Kofi Annan’s Leadership as the United Nations Secretary General and His Impact on the Implementation and Success of a Sub-Saharan Africa Agenda

Science.gov (United States)

2009-12-11

some tasks that involve strict adherence to safety demand directive leadership behavior. When a leader wishes to introduce a new marketing strategy , it...on Leadership through the Ages (New York: The Free Press 1995). 4P . Drucker, The Practice of Management (New York: Harper Collins, 1993), 158-159...prosperity in the turbulent and unpredictable operating environment. Therefore, organizations devise many strategies that they perceive to be essential

Evaluation of safety test needs for the gas cooled breeder reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emon, D.E.; Buttemer, D.R.; Sevy, R.H.

1976-01-01

This paper deals with the process used in determining the safety test needs for the Gas Cooled Fast Breeder Reactor (GCFR), reports existing tentative conclusions, and indicates the direction that the process is taking at this time. The process is based upon two ideas: (1) that the safety information needs will be identified through risk analysis directly dependent on the various design features of the GCFR and (2) that the safety program will be determined by a safety review committee. The paper limits itself to presenting thoughts on the safety test needs directly associated with the GCFR core during severe beyond design basis accident situations involving the loss of coolable core geometry. Representative event sequence diagrams are reported for the three generic classes of accidents considered. The following categories of information are identified: safety information needs, safety tests required to fulfill these information needs, and the facilities required to perform the tests

General internal medicine at the crossroads of prosperity and despair: caring for patients with chronic diseases in an aging society.

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, E B

2001-05-15

During the past quarter century, general internal medicine has emerged as a vital discipline. In the realm of patient care, it is the integrating discipline par excellence. Ironically, as general internists face the challenge of integrating advances of dizzying speed and complexity, and as their clinical practice becomes increasingly effective, it has become much more difficult for them to earn a living. General internists find themselves at the crossroads of prosperity and despair. Although general medicine research leads the research agenda in many departments of medicine, it is particularly vulnerable. The necessary multidisciplinary "programmatic" infrastructure is expensive, and results often take many years to obtain, particularly in the study of chronic disease. The educational environment in many institutions is particularly difficult for general medicine, both because the current emphasis on technical skills obscures patients' and learners' real needs and because complex patients on general medicine services are now so ill and their turnover so rapid. General internal medicine and geriatrics are synergistic, especially in today's marketplace. A focus on geriatric medicine could help general medicine continue to flourish. General internists are ideally suited to the integrated care of elderly patients with multiple problems, research opportunities are enormous in the geriatric population, and the teaching of geriatrics requires a high level of generalist skills. Problems that plague current generalist practice have unique significance to older patients. Organizations that represent general internists would do well to join forces with many other advocacy groups, especially those representing the interests of elderly patients and geriatric medicine.

Economic Techniques of Occupational Health and Safety Management

Science.gov (United States)

Sidorov, Aleksandr I.; Beregovaya, Irina B.; Khanzhina, Olga A.

2016-10-01

The article deals with the issues on economic techniques of occupational health and safety management. Authors’ definition of safety management is given. It is represented as a task-oriented process to identify, establish and maintain such a state of work environment in which there are no possible effects of hazardous and harmful factors, or their influence does not go beyond certain limits. It was noted that management techniques that are the part of the control mechanism, are divided into administrative, organizational and administrative, social and psychological and economic. The economic management techniques are proposed to be classified depending on the management subject, management object, in relation to an enterprise environment, depending on a control action. Technoeconomic study, feasibility study, planning, financial incentives, preferential crediting of enterprises, pricing, profit sharing and equity, preferential tax treatment for enterprises, economic regulations and standards setting have been distinguished as economic techniques.

Developing Probabilistic Safety Performance Margins for Unknown and Underappreciated Risks

Science.gov (United States)

Benjamin, Allan; Dezfuli, Homayoon; Everett, Chris

2015-01-01

Probabilistic safety requirements currently formulated or proposed for space systems, nuclear reactor systems, nuclear weapon systems, and other types of systems that have a low-probability potential for high-consequence accidents depend on showing that the probability of such accidents is below a specified safety threshold or goal. Verification of compliance depends heavily upon synthetic modeling techniques such as PRA. To determine whether or not a system meets its probabilistic requirements, it is necessary to consider whether there are significant risks that are not fully considered in the PRA either because they are not known at the time or because their importance is not fully understood. The ultimate objective is to establish a reasonable margin to account for the difference between known risks and actual risks in attempting to validate compliance with a probabilistic safety threshold or goal. In this paper, we examine data accumulated over the past 60 years from the space program, from nuclear reactor experience, from aircraft systems, and from human reliability experience to formulate guidelines for estimating probabilistic margins to account for risks that are initially unknown or underappreciated. The formulation includes a review of the safety literature to identify the principal causes of such risks.

Patient Safety Movement: History and Future Directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lark, Meghan E; Kirkpatrick, Kay; Chung, Kevin C

2018-02-01

Despite progress within the past 15 years, improving patient safety in health care remains an important public health issue. The history of safety policies, research, and development has revealed that this issue is more complex than initially perceived and is pertinent to all health care settings. Solutions, therefore, must be approached at the systems level and supplemented with a change in safety culture, especially in higher risk fields such as surgery. To do so, health care agents at all levels have started to prioritize the improvement of nontechnical skills such as teamwork, communication, and accountability, as reflected by the development of various checklists and safety campaigns. This progress may be sustained by adopting teamwork training programs that have proven successful in other high-risk industries, such as crew resource management in aviation. These techniques can be readily implemented among surgical teams; however, successful application depends heavily on the strong leadership and vigilance of individual surgeons. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Risk management for existing energy facilities. A global approach to numerical safety goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pate-Cornell, M.E.

1993-01-01

This paper presents a structured set of numerical safety goals for risk management of existing energy facilities. The rationale behind these safety goals is based on principles of equity and economic efficiency. Some of the issues involved when using probabilistic risk analyses results for safety decisions are discussed. A brief review of existing safety targets and open-quotes floating numbersclose quotes is presented, and a set of safety goals for industrial risk management is proposed. Relaxation of these standards for existing facilities, the relevance of the lifetime of the plant, the treatment of uncertainties, and problems of failure dependencies are discussed briefly. 17 refs., 1 fig

Wealth and the nation's health.

Science.gov (United States)

Blackburn, C

1993-07-01

Social and economic prosperity to a great extent depend on a healthy population; similarly good health depends on adequate income, writes Clare Blackburn. The government strategy for health promotion outlined most recently in The health of the nation, fails to acknowledge this. Nevertheless health visitors and school nurses cannot ignore the links between health and wealth.

An analysis of local stakeholder values for tropical protected areas in Madagascar

Science.gov (United States)

Donald F. Dennis; Michel Masozera

2009-01-01

The continued delivery of ecosystem services produced in tropical areas is essential to economic prosperity and human welfare. The success of tropical land protection strategies may depend on the input and support of local people, who often have an intimate and dependent relationship with the land. This study uses conjoint analytic techniques to assess and analyze...

Nursing involvement in risk and patient safety management in Primary Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Coronado-Vázquez, Valle; García-López, Ana; López-Sauras, Susana; Turón Alcaine, José María

Patient safety and quality of care in a highly complex healthcare system depends not only on the actions of professionals at an individual level, but also on interaction with the environment. Proactive risk management in the system to prevent incidents and activities targeting healthcare teams is crucial in establishing a culture of safety in centres. Nurses commonly lead these safety strategies. Even though safety incidents are relatively infrequent in primary care, since the majority are preventable, actions at this level of care are highly effective. Certification of services according to ISO standard 9001:2008 focuses on risk management in the system and its use in certifying healthcare centres is helping to build a safety culture amongst professionals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Planning an outing from hospital for ventilator-dependent children.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilgoff, I S; Helgren, J

1992-10-01

Returning ventilator-dependent children to the home environment has become a well-accepted occurrence. The success of a home program depends on careful pre-discharge planning in order to ensure the child's medical safety, and adequate preparation to ensure the child's and family's adjustment to an active community life after discharge. To achieve this, involvement in community activities must begin while the child is still in hospital. As part of a complete rehabilitation program, nine ventilator-dependent children were taken on an inpatient outing to Disneyland. The planning and goals of the outing are described.

Transformational leadership, intrinsic motivation, and trust: a moderated-mediated model of workplace safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Conchie, Stacey M

2013-04-01

Two studies examine the role of motivation and trust in the relationship between safety-specific transformational leadership and employees' safety behavior. Study 1 tested the prediction that intrinsic and identified regulation motivations mediate the relationship between safety-specific transformational leadership and employees' safety behaviors. Study 2 further explored this relationship by testing the prediction that the mediating role of intrinsic motivation is dependent on employees' level of trust in their leader. Survey data from the U.K. construction industry supported both predictions. However, the mediating role of intrinsic motivation was found only for challenge safety citizenship behaviors (i.e., voice) and not for affiliative safety citizenship behaviors (i.e., helping). These findings suggest that employees' intrinsic motivation is important to the effectiveness of leaders' efforts to promote some but not all forms of safety behavior.

Testing existing software for safety-related applications. Revision 7.1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scott, J.A.; Lawrence, J.D.

1995-12-01

The increasing use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software products in digital safety-critical applications is raising concerns about the safety, reliability, and quality of these products. One of the factors involved in addressing these concerns is product testing. A tester's knowledge of the software product will vary, depending on the information available from the product vendor. In some cases, complete source listings, program structures, and other information from the software development may be available. In other cases, only the complete hardware/software package may exist, with the tester having no knowledge of the internal structure of the software. The type of testing that can be used will depend on the information available to the tester. This report describes six different types of testing, which differ in the information used to create the tests, the results that may be obtained, and the limitations of the test types. An Annex contains background information on types of faults encountered in testing, and a Glossary of pertinent terms is also included. This study is pertinent for safety-related software at reactors

ELEMENTS OF SAFETY IN PARAGLIDING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janez Mekinc

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Paragliding is an opportunity for tourism development, depending on what position the sport has place in the local community, the restrictions for paragliders and the safety components of the region. The paper explores the phenomenon of paragliding and safety elements in the Upper Soča region, one of ten best paragliding sites in the world (Placestoseeinyourlifetime, 2015. The purpose of the research is to analyse the safety elements, the development and the risk of paragliding.The goals of the research are to propose solutions in order to improve the safety conditions for paragliding and to make suggestions on the further development of paragliding within the framework of tourism in the Upper Soča destination. According to the interviewees, paragliding is becoming safer from year to year. This is also supported with the ever-growing numbers of pilots, and on the other hand, the number of accidents that do not follow the same trend. The identified causes for the accidents are human errors or weather conditions. The statistical data confirmed the paragliding in the Upper Soča region, with its unique geographical location, has a positive impact on local tourism and its development. The results of the study are useful for paragliders, local tourism stakeholders, researchers of sport tourism, as well to municipalities in the Upper Soča region.

A study on the assessment of safety culture impacts on risk of nuclear power plants using common uncertainty source model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yong Suk; Bang, Young Suk; Chung, Chang Hyun; Jeong, Ji Hwan

2004-01-01

Since International Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) introduced term 'safety culture', it has been widely recognized that safety culture has an important role in safety of nuclear power plants. Research on the safety culture can be divided in the following two parts. 1) Assessment of safety culture (by interview, questionnaire, etc.) 2) Assessment of link between safety culture and safety of nuclear power plants. There is a substantial body of literature that addresses the first part, but there is much less work that addresses the second part. To address the second part, most work focused on the development of model incorporating safety culture into Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). One of the most advanced methodology in the area of incorporating safety culture quantitatively into PSA is System Dynamics (SD) model developed by Kwak et al. It can show interactions among various factors which affect employees' productivity and job quality. Also various situations in nuclear power plant can be simulated and time-dependent risk can be recalculated with this model. But this model does not consider minimal cut set (MCS) dependency and uncertainty of risk. Another well-known methodology is Work Process Analysis Model (WPAM) developed by Davoudian. It considers MCS dependency by modifying conditional probability values using SLI methodology. But we found that the modified conditional probability values in WPAM are somewhat artificial and have no sound basis. WPAM tend to overestimate conditional probability of hardware failure, because it uses SLI methodology which is normally used in Human Reliability Analysis (HRA). WPAM also does not consider uncertainty of risk. In this study, we proposed methodology to incorporate safety culture into PSA quantitatively that can deal with MCS dependency and uncertainty of risk by applying the Common Uncertainty Source (CUS) model developed by Zhang. CUS is uncertainty source that is common to basic events, and this can be physical

Development and application of a living probabilistic safety assessment tool: Multi-objective multi-dimensional optimization of surveillance requirements in NPPs considering their ageing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kančev, Duško; Čepin, Marko; Gjorgiev, Blaže

2014-01-01

The benefits of utilizing the probabilistic safety assessment towards improvement of nuclear power plant safety are presented in this paper. Namely, a nuclear power plant risk reduction can be achieved by risk-informed optimization of the deterministically-determined surveillance requirements. A living probabilistic safety assessment tool for time-dependent risk analysis on component, system and plant level is developed. The study herein focuses on the application of this living probabilistic safety assessment tool as a computer platform for multi-objective multi-dimensional optimization of the surveillance requirements of selected safety equipment seen from the aspect of the risk-informed reasoning. The living probabilistic safety assessment tool is based on a newly developed model for calculating time-dependent unavailability of ageing safety equipment within nuclear power plants. By coupling the time-dependent unavailability model with a commercial software used for probabilistic safety assessment modelling on plant level, the frames of the new platform i.e. the living probabilistic safety assessment tool are established. In such way, the time-dependent core damage frequency is obtained and is further on utilized as first objective function within a multi-objective multi-dimensional optimization case study presented within this paper. The test and maintenance costs are designated as the second and the incurred dose due to performing the test and maintenance activities as the third objective function. The obtained results underline, in general, the usefulness and importance of a living probabilistic safety assessment, seen as a dynamic probabilistic safety assessment tool opposing the conventional, time-averaged unavailability-based, probabilistic safety assessment. The results of the optimization, in particular, indicate that test intervals derived as optimal differ from the deterministically-determined ones defined within the existing technical specifications

Early Safety Assessment of Automotive Systems Using Sabotage Simulation-Based Fault Injection Framework

OpenAIRE

Juez, Garazi; Amparan, Estíbaliz; Lattarulo, Ray; Ruíz, Alejandra; Perez, Joshue; Espinoza, Huascar

2017-01-01

As road vehicles increase their autonomy and the driver reduces his role in the control loop, novel challenges on dependability assessment arise. Model-based design combined with a simulation-based fault injection technique and a virtual vehicle poses as a promising solution for an early safety assessment of automotive systems. To start with, the design, where no safety was considered, is stimulated with a set of fault injection simulations (fault forecasting). By doing so, safety strategies ...

Human factors in safety assessment. Safety culture assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Li; Deng Zhiliang; Wang Yiqun; Huang Weigang

1996-01-01

This paper analyses the present conditions and problems in enterprises safety assessment, and introduces the characteristics and effects of safety culture. The authors think that safety culture must be used as a 'soul' to form the pattern of modern safety management. Furthermore, they propose that the human safety and synthetic safety management assessment in a system should be changed into safety culture assessment. Finally, the assessment indicators are discussed

German data for risk based fire safety assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roewekamp, M.; Berg, H.P.

1998-01-01

Different types of data are necessary to perform risk based fire safety assessments and, in particular, to quantify the fire event tree considering the plant specific conditions. Data on fire barriers, fire detection and extinguishing, including also data on secondary effects of a fire, have to be used for quantifying the potential hazard and damage states. The existing German database on fires in nuclear power plants (NPPs) is very small. Therefore, in general generic data, mainly from US databases, are used for risk based safety assessments. Due to several differences in the plant design and conditions generic data can only be used as conservative assumptions. World-wide existing generic data on personnel failures in case of fire fighting have only to be adapted to the plant specific conditions inside the NPP to be investigated. In contrary, unavailabilities of fire barrier elements may differ strongly depending on different standards, testing requirements, etc. In addition, the operational behaviour of active fire protection equipment may vary depending on type and manufacturer. The necessity for more detailed and for additional plant specific data was the main reason for generating updated German data on the operational behaviour of active fire protection equipment/features in NPPs to support risk based fire safety analyses being recommended to be carried out as an additional tool to deterministic fire hazard analyses in the frame of safety reviews. The results of these investigations revealed a broader and more realistic database for technical reliability of active fire protection means, but improvements as well as collection of further data are still necessary. (author)

System reliability time-dependent models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debernardo, H.D.

1991-06-01

A probabilistic methodology for safety system technical specification evaluation was developed. The method for Surveillance Test Interval (S.T.I.) evaluation basically means an optimization of S.T.I. of most important system's periodically tested components. For Allowed Outage Time (A.O.T.) calculations, the method uses system reliability time-dependent models (A computer code called FRANTIC III). A new approximation, which was called Independent Minimal Cut Sets (A.C.I.), to compute system unavailability was also developed. This approximation is better than Rare Event Approximation (A.E.R.) and the extra computing cost is neglectible. A.C.I. was joined to FRANTIC III to replace A.E.R. on future applications. The case study evaluations verified that this methodology provides a useful probabilistic assessment of surveillance test intervals and allowed outage times for many plant components. The studied system is a typical configuration of nuclear power plant safety systems (two of three logic). Because of the good results, these procedures will be used by the Argentine nuclear regulatory authorities in evaluation of technical specification of Atucha I and Embalse nuclear power plant safety systems. (Author) [es

Overview of IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monti, Stefano

2012-01-01

The IAEA Action Plan represents a work programme to strengthen and improve nuclear safety world wide. The plan identifies actions for Member States and the IAEA. Success depends upon: • Cooperation between IAEA, Member States, and other stakeholders; • Availability of appropriate financial resources (MS voluntary contributions)

The safety-incentive theory of liability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marshall, J.M.

1977-11-01

The use of liability law to improve incentives for safety is supported by certain recent theoretical results. The main ideas and the key argumants are summarized. Basic weaknesses of the theory are discussed, namely: (1) the simple model of Calabresi does not generalize; (2) the more complex systems of J.P. Brown, P. Diamond, and J. Green require that courts possess a great deal of information and use it to set appropriate standards of due care; (3) in practice safety incentives also depend upon fear of criminal penalties and the sense of social responsibility. The questions whether and when liability rules can significantly affect incentives are addressed. It is concluded that the theory in its present state can hardly serve as a basis for altering liability rules

Research on safety evaluation for TRU waste disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Senoo, M.; Shirahashi, K.; Sakamoto, Y.; Moriyama, N.; Konishi, M.

1989-01-01

Studies on adsorption behavior of transuranic (TRU) elements have been performed from the view point of validating the data for safety assessment and investigating adsorption behavior of TRU elements. Distribution coefficient (Kd value) of plutonium between groundwater and soils sampled at the planning site of low level waste disposal facility were measured for safety assessment. Kd values measured were the order of 10 3 ml/g. For investigating adsorption behavior, pH dependency of Kd value of neptunium and Am for soils were studied. It was concluded that pH dependency of Kd value of neptunium was mainly owing to amount of surface charge of soils, on the other hand that of Am was due to chemical form of Am. Influence of carbonation of cement for adsorption behavior of neptunium and plutonium was also investigated and it was concluded that Kd value of carbonated cement was lower than that of fresh cement

Fundamental safety principles. Safety fundamentals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

This publication states the fundamental safety objective and ten associated safety principles, and briefly describes their intent and purpose. The fundamental safety objective - to protect people and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation - applies to all circumstances that give rise to radiation risks. The safety principles are applicable, as relevant, throughout the entire lifetime of all facilities and activities - existing and new - utilized for peaceful purposes, and to protective actions to reduce existing radiation risks. They provide the basis for requirements and measures for the protection of people and the environment against radiation risks and for the safety of facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks, including, in particular, nuclear installations and uses of radiation and radioactive sources, the transport of radioactive material and the management of radioactive waste

Fundamental safety principles. Safety fundamentals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

This publication states the fundamental safety objective and ten associated safety principles, and briefly describes their intent and purpose. The fundamental safety objective - to protect people and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation - applies to all circumstances that give rise to radiation risks. The safety principles are applicable, as relevant, throughout the entire lifetime of all facilities and activities - existing and new - utilized for peaceful purposes, and to protective actions to reduce existing radiation risks. They provide the basis for requirements and measures for the protection of people and the environment against radiation risks and for the safety of facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks, including, in particular, nuclear installations and uses of radiation and radioactive sources, the transport of radioactive material and the management of radioactive waste

Substitute safety rods: Physics of operation and irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baumann, N.P.

1991-01-01

Under certain assumed accidents, an SRS reactor may lose most of its bulk moderator while maintaining flow to fuel assemblies. If this occurs immediately after operation at power, components normally dependent on convective heat transfer to the moderator will heat up with the possibility of melting that component. One component at risk is the currently used cadmium safety rod. A substitute safety rod consisting solely of sintered B 4 C and stainless steel has been designed which is capable of withstanding much higher temperatures. This memorandum provides the physics basis for the adequacy of the rod for reactor shutdown and provides a set of criteria for acceptance in the NTG tests. This memorandum provides physics data for other aspects of operation. These include: Heat production and helium production, along with related phenomena, resulting from inadvertent irradiation at power. Gamma heat input under drained tank conditions. An equivalent rod design suitable for charge design and safety analyses. Degradation under normal operation. Thermal flux ripple in adjacent fuel due to axial striping of alternate B 4 C and steel pellets. Possible effect on safety analyses. Safety rod withdrawal during reactor startup

An overview-probabilistic safety analysis for research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Jinlin; Peng Changhong

2015-01-01

For long-term application, Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) has proved to be a valuable tool for improving the safety and reliability of power reactors. In China, 'Nuclear safety and radioactive pollution prevention 'Twelfth Five Year Plan' and the 2020 vision' raises clearly that: to develop probabilistic safety analysis and aging evaluation for research reactors. Comparing with the power reactors, it reveals some specific features in research reactors: lower operating power, lower coolant temperature and pressure, etc. However, the core configurations may be changed very often and human actions play an important safety role in research reactors due to its specific experimental requirement. As a result, there is a necessary to conduct the PSA analysis of research reactors. This paper discusses the special characteristics related to the structure and operation and the methods to develop the PSA of research reactors, including initiating event analysis, event tree analysis, fault tree analysis, dependent failure analysis, human reliability analysis and quantification as well as the experimental and external event evaluation through the investigation of various research reactors and their PSAs home and abroad, to provide the current situation and features of research reactors PSAs. (author)

Management of safety, safety culture and self assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carnino, A.

2000-01-01

Safety management is the term used for the measures required to ensure that an acceptable level of safety is maintained throughout the life of an installation, including decommissioning. The safety culture concept and its implementation are described in part one of the paper. The principles of safety are now quite well known and are implemented worldwide. It leads to a situation where harmonization is being achieved as indicated by the entry into force of the Convention on Nuclear Safety. To go beyond the present nuclear safety levels, management of safety and safety culture will be the means for achieving progress. Recent events which took place in major nuclear power countries have shown the importance of the management and the consequences on safety. At the same time, electricity deregulation is coming and will impact on safety through reductions in staffing and in operation and maintenance cost at nuclear installations. Management of safety as well as its control and monitoring by the safety authorities become a key to the future of nuclear energy.(author)

Measuring E-cigarette dependence: Initial guidance.

Science.gov (United States)

Bold, Krysten W; Sussman, Steve; O'Malley, Stephanie S; Grana, Rachel; Foulds, Jonathan; Fishbein, Howard; Krishnan-Sarin, Suchitra

2018-04-01

E-cigarette use rates are increasing among youth and adults, despite limited knowledge about the safety, risks, and potential for this product in substituting for or reducing other tobacco use. Understanding how to characterize and assess e-cigarette dependence will be important for evaluating the public health impact of e-cigarettes and considering prevention and intervention strategies. To provide an initial review of constructs to consider when assessing e-cigarette dependence, a content expert group within the Tobacco Center for Regulatory Science (TCORS) Measurement Workgroup engaged in a review of published manuscripts and 12 tobacco dependence measures, followed by review of suggested dependence domains by a 10-person external subject-matter expert panel. The final domains selected to be considered in the development of a measure of e-cigarette dependence included: 1) Quantity and frequency of use, 2) Tolerance, 3) Perceived benefits, 4) Withdrawal symptoms, 5) Craving/urge to use, 6) Use despite harm, 7) Impaired control, 8) Automaticity, 9) Preferred over competing rewards, and 10) Sensory dependence. Similarities and differences in potential features of e-cigarette dependence compared with dependence on other tobacco products is discussed. Future work will evaluate these dependence items and constructs in a sample of e-cigarette users with a goal of developing a valid, brief, standardized measure of e-cigarette dependence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Boosted gain programmable OpAmp with embedded gain monitor for dependable SoCs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wan, J.; Kerkhoff, Hans G.

2011-01-01

SoCs used in safety-critical applications need to be dependable. However in the deep-submicron region, different kinds of aging effects like negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) make the SoCs, especially the analog/mixed-signal parts, undependable. In this paper, a dependability-improved

Integration of Safety in the Building Delivery System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Kirsten; Sander, Dag; Staghøj, Aage

2010-01-01

become a natural part of the construction process and thereby also have them incorporated into the detailed design process. The practical value of the concept depends on how you manage and organise the detailed design process. Keeping health and safety at work in mind through all phases...... of a building assignment, then it becomes much easier to organise the construction site in a safety wise responsible way. In Denmark a report has been drawn up which illustrates how this could be done. The method for implementing this illustration is based on the lean construction model, which is the method...

Safety indicators for the safety assessment of radioactive waste disposal. Sixth report of the Working Group on Principles and Criteria for Radioactive Waste Disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-09-01

The report describes a few indicators that are considered to be the most promising for assessing the long term safety of disposal systems. The safety indicators that are discussed here may be applicable to a range of disposal systems for different waste types, including near surface disposal facilities for low level waste. The appropriateness of the different indicators may, however, vary depending on the characteristics of the waste, the facility and the assessment context. The focus of the report is thus on the use of time-scales of containment and transport, and radionuclide concentrations and fluxes, as indicators of disposal system safety, that may complement the more usual safety indicators of dose and risk. Summarised are the broad elements that a safety case for an underground radioactive waste disposal facility should possess and the role and use of performance and safety indicators within these elements. An overview of performance and safety indicators is given. The use is discussed of dose and risk as safety indicators and, in particular, problems that can arise in their use. Also presented are some specific indicators that have the potential to be used as complementary safety indicators. Discussed is also how fluxes of naturally occurring elements and radionuclides due to the operation of natural processes such as erosion and groundwater discharge may be quantified for comparison with fluxes of waste derived contaminants

Role of computer techniques for knowledge propagation about nuclear energetics safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osachkin, V.S.

1996-01-01

The development of nuclear power engineering depends on the levels of nuclear, radiological and ecological safety. To ensure the approval of such levels by the community to spread the knowledge on Safety of Nuclear Engineering in understandable forms. New computer technologies may play an important role in the safety education of the public and upgrading of qualification of personnel. The progress in computer nets development makes it possible to use besides e-mail qualification of personnel. The progress in computer in nets development makes it possible to use besides e-mail and BBS the Internet system for remote education. As an example a computer course on Atomic Energy and its safety presented. This course now written in Russian consists of 6 parts, namely: physical basis of utilization of Nuclear energy; technical bases of uses of Nuclear energy; nuclear Reactors and their Systems; safety Principles, Goals, Nuclear Safety Regulation; the Environmental Impact of the us of Nuclear Power, severe accident consequences and scenarios

Behavioral integrity for safety, priority of safety, psychological safety, and patient safety : a team-level study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leroy, H.; Dierynck, B.; Anseel, F.; Simons, T.; Halbesleben, J.R.; McCaughey, D.; Savage, G.T.; Sels, L.

2012-01-01

This article clarifies how leader behavioral integrity for safety helps solve follower's double bind between adhering to safety protocols and speaking up about mistakes against protocols. Path modeling of survey data in 54 nursing teams showed that head nurse behavioral integrity for safety

Safety Culture in New Build Projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reiman, T.

2016-01-01

The concept of culture emphasises the social factors that have an effect on the way hazards are perceived, risks are evaluated, risk management is conducted, the current safety level is interpreted, and what is considered normal and what abnormal. It also contributes to defining the correct ways to behave in situations and correct ways to talk about safety, risks or uncertainty. Culture is something the company has created for itself that then has an effect on the company. This effect is not necessarily perceived by the company itself, since the members of the organization consider all things that happen according to their cultural taken-for-granted assumptions (“business as usual”). Thus, safety culture can either hinder or advance nuclear safety. This depends on what the shared values and assumptions are, and how they are in line with, and influence, the organizational structures, practices, personnel and technology. Safety culture requires constant and systematic development, monitoring and review during the entire life-cycle of a nuclear facility. The pre-operational phase sets many unique requirements for nuclear safety culture. For example, some of the organizations and individuals involved in the project may have no insight on how safety culture relates to nuclear power plants. Companies that work in the conventional industry typically associate safety with occupational safety issues, not with nuclear safety. Further, it may be unclear how the construction phase affects nuclear safety of an operating plant. When workers are asked to perform their work differently than previously (e.g., in conventional construction sites), explanation has to be given. For example, structures, systems and components may have different functions during emergency that exceed or differ from their quality requirements during normal operation. The strict quality requirements and use of certain methods and procedures, documentation requirements, etc., may seem unimportant if

Playground Safety

Science.gov (United States)

... Prevention Fall Prevention Playground Safety Poisoning Prevention Road Traffic Safety Sports Safety Get Email Updates To receive ... at the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Playground Safety website . References U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Injuries and ...

Evolution of Safety Analysis to Support New Exploration Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Thrasher, Chard W.

2008-01-01

NASA is currently developing the Ares I launch vehicle as a key component of the Constellation program which will provide safe and reliable transportation to the International Space Station, back to the moon, and later to Mars. The risks and costs of the Ares I must be significantly lowered, as compared to other manned launch vehicles, to enable the continuation of space exploration. It is essential that safety be significantly improved, and cost-effectively incorporated into the design process. This paper justifies early and effective safety analysis of complex space systems. Interactions and dependences between design, logistics, modeling, reliability, and safety engineers will be discussed to illustrate methods to lower cost, reduce design cycles and lessen the likelihood of catastrophic events.

Calculational study for criticality safety data of fissionable actinides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nojiri, Ichiro; Fukasaku, Yasuhiro.

1997-01-01

This study has been carried out to obtain basic criticality safety characteristics of minor actinides nuclides. Criticality safety data of minor actinides nuclides have been surveyed through public literatures. Critical mass of seven nuclides, Np-237, Am-241, Am-242m, Am-243, Cm-243, Cm-244 and Cm-245, have been calculated by using two code systems of criticality safety analysis, SCALE-4 and MCNP4A, under some material and reflector conditions. Some applicable cross-section libraries have been used for each code systems. Calculated data have been compared with each other and with published data. The results of this comparison shows that there is no discrepancy within the computational codes and the calculated data is strongly depend on the cross-section library. (author)

More safety by improving the safety culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laaksonen, J.

1993-01-01

In its meeting in 1986, after Chernobyl accident, the INSAG group concluded, that the most important reason for the accident was lack of safety culture. Later the group realized that the safety culture, if it is well enough, can be used as a powerful tool to assess and develop practices affecting safety in any country. A comprehensive view on the various aspects of safety culture was presented in the INSAG-4 report published in 1991. Finland was among the first nations include the concept of safety culture in its regulations. This article describes the roles of government and the regulatory body in creating a national safety culture. How safety culture is seen in the operation of a nuclear power plant is also discussed. (orig.)

Safety and efficacy of the CD95-ligand inhibitor asunercept in transfusion-dependent patients with low and intermediate risk MDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Boch, Tobias; Luft, Thomas; Metzgeroth, Georgia; Mossner, Maximilian; Jann, Johann-Christoph; Nowak, Daniel; Meir, Franziska La; Schumann, Christiane; Klemmer, Jennifer; Brendel, Susanne; Fricke, Harald; Kunz, Claudia; Weiß, Christel; Hofmann, Wolf-Karsten; Nolte, Florian

2018-05-01

In low risk MDS, increased apoptosis of erythroid progenitors mediated via CD95 (Fas) activation has been described to result in peripheral cytopenia. Blockade of the CD95 system can improve erythropoiesis in MDS. Asunercept (APG101) is a fusion protein consisting of the extracellular domain of human CD95 and the Fc domain of human IgG1 blocking the interaction between CD95 and its ligand. Here we report on results from a phase I study in 20 transfusion-dependent low and intermediate risk MDS patients treated with intravenous asunercept (EudraCT 2012-003027-37). Primary objectives were safety and tolerability as well as pharmacodynamic effects. Secondary objectives were hematologic improvement, incidence and time to leukemic progression as well as overall survival. Frequency and severity of adverse events were in range of what could be expected in a patient cohort comprising of elderly MDS patients. Two patients experienced a serious adverse event with a suspected relationship to asunercept. The incidence of disease progression was low. In the 20 patients a decrease of the transfusion need from a mean of 10,8 (±5,1) pRBCs during the 12 weeks treatment phase to a mean of 10,0 (±4,2) pRBCs at the end of the study was observed. In conclusion, asunercept was well tolerated and showed efficacy in transfusion-dependent low and intermediate risk MDS patients. Further clinical investigation is warranted, particularly in combination with erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs). Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Self-reported Impacts of LED Lighting Technology Compared to Fuel-based Lighting on Night Market Business Prosperity in Kenya

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnstone, Peter; Jacobson, Arne; Mills, Evan; Mumbi, Maina

2009-02-11

The notion of"productive use" is often invoked in discussions about whether new technologies improve productivity or otherwise enhance commerce in developing-country contexts. It an elusive concept,especially when quantitative measures are sought. Improved and more energy efficient illumination systems for off-gridapplication--the focus of the Lumina Project--provide a case in which a significant productivity benefit can be imagined, given the importance of light to the successful performance of many tasks, and the very low quality of baseline illumination provided by flame-based source. This Research Note summarizes self-reported quantitative and qualitative impacts of switching to LED lighting technology on the prosperity of night-market business owners and operators. The information was gathered in the context of our 2008 market testing field work in Kenya?s Rift Valley Province, which was performed in the towns of Maai Mahiu and Karagita by Arne Jacobson, Kristen Radecsky, Peter Johnstone, Maina Mumbi, and others. Maai Mahiu is a crossroads town; provision of services to travelers and freight carriers is a primary income source for the residents. In contrast, the primary income for Karagita's residents is from work in the large, factory style flower farms on the eastern shores of Lake Naivasha that specialize in producing cut flowers for export to the European market. According to residents, both towns had populations of 6,000 to 8,000 people in June 2008. We focused on quantifying the economics of fuel-based and LED lighting technology in the context of business use by night market vendors and shop keepers. Our research activities with the business owners and operators included baseline measurement of their fuel-based lighting use, an initial survey, offering for sale data logger equipped rechargeable LED lamps, monitoring the adoption of the LED lamps, and a follow-up survey.

Considerations on assessment of different time depending models adequacy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Constantinescu, C.

2015-01-01

The operating period of nuclear power plants can be prolonged if it can be shown that their safety has remained on a high level, and for this, it is necessary to estimate how the aged systems, structures and components (SSCs) influence the NPP reliability and safety. To emphasize the ageing aspects the case study presented in this paper will assess different time depending models for rate of occurrence of failures with the goal to obtain the best fitting model. A sensitivity analysis for the impact of burn-in failures was performed to improve the result of the goodness of fit test. Based on the analysis results, a conclusion about the existence or the absence of an ageing trend could be developed. A sensitivity analysis regarding of the reliability parameters was performed, and the results were used to observe the impact over the time-dependent rate of occurrence of failures. (authors)

SAFETY

CERN Multimedia

Niels Dupont

2013-01-01

CERN Safety rules and Radiation Protection at CMS The CERN Safety rules are defined by the Occupational Health & Safety and Environmental Protection Unit (HSE Unit), CERN’s institutional authority and central Safety organ attached to the Director General. In particular the Radiation Protection group (DGS-RP1) ensures that personnel on the CERN sites and the public are protected from potentially harmful effects of ionising radiation linked to CERN activities. The RP Group fulfils its mandate in collaboration with the CERN departments owning or operating sources of ionising radiation and having the responsibility for Radiation Safety of these sources. The specific responsibilities concerning "Radiation Safety" and "Radiation Protection" are delegated as follows: Radiation Safety is the responsibility of every CERN Department owning radiation sources or using radiation sources put at its disposition. These Departments are in charge of implementing the requi...

Request from nuclear fuel cycle and criticality safety design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamasaki, Manabu; Sakashita, Kiichiro; Natsume, Toshihiro

2005-01-01

The quality and reliability of criticality safety design of nuclear fuel cycle systems such as fuel fabrication facilities, fuel reprocessing facilities, storage systems of various forms of nuclear materials or transportation casks have been largely dependent on the quality of criticality safety analyses using qualified criticality calculation code systems and reliable nuclear data sets. In this report, we summarize the characteristics of the nuclear fuel cycle systems and the perspective of the requirements for the nuclear data, with brief comments on the recent issue about spent fuel disposal. (author)

The application of new mathematical structures to safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooper, J.A.; Ross, T.J.

1997-10-01

Probabilistic safety analyses (PSAs) often depend on significant subjectivity. The recent successes of fuzzy logic and fuzzy and hybrid mathematics in portraying subjectivity is a reminder that a selection made from the most applicable mathematical tools is more important than forced adaptation of conventional tools. In this paper, the authors consider new approaches that enhance conventional and fuzzy PSA by improved handling of subjectivity. The most significant of the mathematical structures were have investigated (from a standpoint of safety analysis applications) will be described, and the general types of applications will be outlined

Organizational factors and nuclear power plant safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haber, S.B.

1995-01-01

There are many organizations in our society that depend on human performance to avoid incidents involving significant adverse consequences. As our culture and technology have become more sophisticated, the management of risk on a broad basis has become more and more critical. The safe operation of military facilities, chemical plants, airlines, and mass transit, to name a few, are substantially dependent on the performance of the organizations that operate those facilities. The nuclear power industry has, within the past 15 years, increased the attention given to the influence of human performance in the safe operation of nuclear power plants (NPP). While NPPs have been designed through engineering disciplines to intercept and mitigate events that could cause adverse consequences, it has been clear from various safety-related incidents that human performance also plays a dominant role in preventing accidents. Initial efforts following the 1979 Three Mile Island incident focused primarily on ergonomic factors (e.g., the best design of control rooms for maximum performance). Greater attention was subsequently directed towards cognitive processes involved in the use of NPP decision support systems and decision making in general, personnel functions such as selection systems, and the influence of work scheduling and planning on employees' performance. Although each of these approaches has contributed to increasing the safety of NPPS, during the last few years, there has been a growing awareness that particular attention must be paid to how organizational processes affect NPP personnel performance, and thus, plant safety. The direct importance of organizational factors on safety performance in the NPP has been well-documented in the reports on the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents as well as numerous other events, especially as evaluated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

Generalization of risk concept in case risk components depend on time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volkov, Yu.V.

2006-01-01

Ratios of risk assessments vs. nuclear technologies objects have been obtained for cases when that kind of risk components as accident probability and the consequent damage depend on time. Such generalization of risk concept ensures new possibilities for performing the probabilistic safety analysis which have been demonstrated with simple models in the present paper. As an example safety of radioactive storage with one-component activity has been analyzed with a very simple model [ru

The United States facing their petroleum dependence; Les Etats-Unis face a leur dependance petroliere

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noel, P. [Institut francais des Relations Internationals, 75 - Paris (France); Universite Pierre Mendes-France-IEPE-CNRS, 38 - Grenoble (France)

2002-06-01

In the framework of ''the energy crisis of 2000-2001'', the Cheney report and the petroleum dependence, this study presents a critical examination of the United States petroleum situation, its perception in the american political milieu and the public policies implementing during the last ten years. The first section is devoted to the petroleum supply. In the second section, the american petroleum policy and the energy safety are studied. (A.L.B.)

Miles, speed, and technology: Traffic safety under oligopolistic insurance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dementieva, M.; Verhoef, E.T.

2016-01-01

We study road safety when insurance companies have market power, and can influence drivers' behavior via insurance premiums. We obtain first- and second-best premiums for different insurance market structures. The insurance program consists of an insurance premium, and marginal dependencies of that

Safety in waste management plants: An Indian perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shekhar, P.; Ozarde, P.D.; Gandhi, P.M.

2000-01-01

Assurance of safety of public and plant workers and protection of the environment are prime objectives in the design and construction of Waste Management Plants. In India, waste management principles and strategies have been evolved in accordance with national and international regulations and standards for radiation protection. The regulations governing radiation protection have a far-reaching impact on the management of the radioactive waste. The wastes arise at each stages of the fuel cycle with varying chemical nature, generation rate and specific activity levels depending upon the type of the facility. Segregation of waste based on its chemical nature and specific activity levels is an essential feature, as its aids in selection of treatment and conditioning process. Selection of the process, equipment and materials in the plant, are governed by safety consideration alongside factors like efficiency and simplicity. The plant design considerations like physical separation, general arrangement, ventilation zoning, access control, remote handling, process piping routing, decontamination etc. have major role in realizing waste safety. Stringent quality control measures during all stages of construction have helped in achieving the design intended safety. These aspects together with operating experience gained form basis for the improved safety features in the design and construction of waste management plants. The comprehensive safety is derived from adoption of waste management strategies and appropriate plant design considerations. The paper briefly brings safety in waste management programme in India, in its current perspective. (author)

Wanted! Possible links between religious coping and safety

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Fabienne; Grøn, Sisse

. The injuries, though, are not evenly distributed and seem to depend on a range of factors, of which the type of ship and the nationality of the seafarer are critical. Statistics show that Filipino seafarers working on Danish ships have less than 50% reported accidents compared to Danes - the Danes having...... lower risk of occupational accidents than seafarers from Western Europe. Therefore, the project will seek to identify relevant aspects of both reporting practice and safety culture in Danish seafaring.   The objective of the project is to identify causes behind the registered difference in numbers...... of injuries among Danish seafarers and their foreign colleagues, in order to direct future safety initiative towards the relevant factors. The research questions are as follows: How is safety learnt, conceived of, communicated and practiced, within the national groupings, and between the national groupings...

Safety of nuclear power plants: Design. Safety requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

The present publication supersedes the Code on the Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design (Safety Series No. 50-C-D (Rev. 1), issued in 1988). It takes account of developments relating to the safety of nuclear power plants since the Code on Design was last revised. These developments include the issuing of the Safety Fundamentals publication, The Safety of Nuclear Installations, and the present revision of various safety standards and other publications relating to safety. Requirements for nuclear safety are intended to ensure adequate protection of site personnel, the public and the environment from the effects of ionizing radiation arising from nuclear power plants. It is recognized that technology and scientific knowledge advance, and nuclear safety and what is considered adequate protection are not static entities. Safety requirements change with these developments and this publication reflects the present consensus. This Safety Requirements publication takes account of the developments in safety requirements by, for example, including the consideration of severe accidents in the design process. Other topics that have been given more detailed attention include management of safety, design management, plant ageing and wearing out effects, computer based safety systems, external and internal hazards, human factors, feedback of operational experience, and safety assessment and verification. This publication establishes safety requirements that define the elements necessary to ensure nuclear safety. These requirements are applicable to safety functions and the associated structures, systems and components, as well as to procedures important to safety in nuclear power plants. It is expected that this publication will be used primarily for land based stationary nuclear power plants with water cooled reactors designed for electricity generation or for other heat production applications (such as district heating or desalination). It is recognized that in the case of

Safety of nuclear power plants: Design. Safety requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

The present publication supersedes the Code on the Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design (Safety Series No. 50-C-D (Rev. 1), issued in 1988). It takes account of developments relating to the safety of nuclear power plants since the Code on Design was last revised. These developments include the issuing of the Safety Fundamentals publication, The Safety of Nuclear Installations, and the present revision of various safety standards and other publications relating to safety. Requirements for nuclear safety are intended to ensure adequate protection of site personnel, the public and the environment from the effects of ionizing radiation arising from nuclear power plants. It is recognized that technology and scientific knowledge advance, and nuclear safety and what is considered adequate protection are not static entities. Safety requirements change with these developments and this publication reflects the present consensus. This Safety Requirements publication takes account of the developments in safety requirements by, for example, including the consideration of severe accidents in the design process. Other topics that have been given more detailed attention include management of safety, design management, plant ageing and wearing out effects, computer based safety systems, external and internal hazards, human factors, feedback of operational experience, and safety assessment and verification. This publication establishes safety requirements that define the elements necessary to ensure nuclear safety. These requirements are applicable to safety functions and the associated structures, systems and components, as well as to procedures important to safety in nuclear power plants. It is expected that this publication will be used primarily for land based stationary nuclear power plants with water cooled reactors designed for electricity generation or for other heat production applications (such as district heating or desalination). It is recognized that in the case of

Implementation of the safety culture for HANARO safety management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Jong Sup; Han, Gee Yang; Kim, Ik Soo [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2008-11-15

Safety is the fundamental principal upon which a management system is based. The IAEA INSAG(International Nuclear Safety Group) states the general aims of a safety management system. One of which is to foster and support a strong safety culture through the development and reinforcement of good safety attitudes and behavior in individuals and teams, so as to allow them to carry out their tasks safety. The safety culture activities have been implemented and the importance of a safety management in nuclear activities for a reactor application and utilization has also been emphasized for more than 10 years in HANARO which is a 30 MW multi purpose research reactor that achieved its first criticality in February 1995. The safety culture activities and implementation have been conducted continuously to enhance its safe operation such as the seminars and lectures related to safety matters, participation in international workshops and the development of safety culture indicators, a survey on the attitude of HANARO staff toward the safety culture indicators, a survey on the attitude of HANARO staff toward the safety culture, the development of operational safety performance indicators (SPIs), the preparation of a safety text book and the development of an e Learning program for a safety education purpose.

Implementation of the safety culture for HANARO safety management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Jong Sup; Han, Gee Yang; Kim, Ik Soo

2008-01-01

Safety is the fundamental principal upon which a management system is based. The IAEA INSAG(International Nuclear Safety Group) states the general aims of a safety management system. One of which is to foster and support a strong safety culture through the development and reinforcement of good safety attitudes and behavior in individuals and teams, so as to allow them to carry out their tasks safety. The safety culture activities have been implemented and the importance of a safety management in nuclear activities for a reactor application and utilization has also been emphasized for more than 10 years in HANARO which is a 30 MW multi purpose research reactor that achieved its first criticality in February 1995. The safety culture activities and implementation have been conducted continuously to enhance its safe operation such as the seminars and lectures related to safety matters, participation in international workshops and the development of safety culture indicators, a survey on the attitude of HANARO staff toward the safety culture indicators, a survey on the attitude of HANARO staff toward the safety culture, the development of operational safety performance indicators (SPIs), the preparation of a safety text book and the development of an e Learning program for a safety education purpose

Implementation of the safety culture for HANARO Safety Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Jongsup; Han, Geeyang; Kim, Iksoo

2008-01-01

Safety is the fundamental principal upon which the management system is based. The IAEA INSAG(International Nuclear Safety Group) states the general aims of the safety management system. One of which is to foster and support a strong safety culture through the development and reinforcement of good safety attitudes and behavior in individuals and teams so as to allow them to carry out their tasks safety. The safety culture activities have been implemented and the importance of safety management in nuclear activities for a reactor application and utilization has also been emphasized more than 10 years in HANARO which is a 30 MW multi-purpose research reactor and achieved its first criticality in February 1995. The safety culture activities and implementations have been conducted continuously to enhance its safe operation like the seminars and lectures related to safety matters, participation in international workshops, the development of safety culture indicators, the survey on the attitude of safety culture, the development of operational safety performance indicators (SPIs), the preparation of a safety text book and the development of an e-Learning program for safety education. (author)

Nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tarride, Bruno

2015-10-01

The author proposes an overview of methods and concepts used in the nuclear industry, at the design level as well as at the exploitation level, to ensure an acceptable safety level, notably in the case of nuclear reactors. He first addresses the general objectives of nuclear safety and the notion of acceptable risk: definition and organisation of nuclear safety (relationships between safety authorities and operators), notion of acceptable risk, deterministic safety approach and main safety principles (safety functions and confinement barriers, concept of defence in depth). Then, the author addresses the safety approach at the design level: studies of operational situations, studies of internal and external aggressions, safety report, design principles for important-for-safety systems (failure criterion, redundancy, failure prevention, safety classification). The next part addresses safety during exploitation and general exploitation rules: definition of the operation domain and of its limits, periodic controls and tests, management in case of incidents, accidents or aggressions

Formal Safety versus Real Safety: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches to Safety Culture – Evidence from Estonia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Järvis Marina

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This paper examines differences between formal safety and real safety in Estonian small and medium-sized enterprises. The results reveal key issues in safety culture assessment. Statistical analysis of safety culture questionnaires showed many organisations with an outstanding safety culture and positive safety attitudes. However, qualitative data indicated some important safety weaknesses and aspects that should be included in the process of evaluation of safety culture in organisations.

A web-based tool for the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP).

Science.gov (United States)

Pronovost, Peter J; King, Jay; Holzmueller, Christine G; Sawyer, Melinda; Bivens, Shauna; Michael, Michelle; Haig, Kathy; Paine, Lori; Moore, Dana; Miller, Marlene

2006-03-01

An organization's ability to change is driven by its culture, which in turn has a significant impact on safety. The six-step Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program (CUSP) is intended to improve local culture and safety. A Web-based project management tool for CUSP was developed and then pilot tested at two hospitals. HOW ECUSP WORKS: Once a patient safety concern is identified (step 3), a unit-level interdisciplinary safety committee determines issue criticality and starts up the projects (step 4), which are managed using project management tools within eCUSP (step 5). On a project's completion, the results are disseminated through a shared story (step 6). OSF St. Joseph's Medical Center-The Medical Birthing Center (Bloomington, Illinois), identified 11 safety issues, implemented 11 projects, and created 9 shared stories--including one for its Armband Project. The Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore) Medical Progressive Care (MPC4) Unit identified 5 safety issues and implemented 4 ongoing projects, including the intravenous (IV) Tubing Compliance Project. The eCUSP tool's success depends on an organizational commitment to creating a culture of safety.

HealthLines: Quick Tips for Seasonal Health, Safety and Fun... "Ah, when the sun beats down…"

Science.gov (United States)

... Current Issue Past Issues HealthLines: Quick Tips for Seasonal Health, Safety and Fun Past Issues / Spring 2007 ... and protect against reflected UV radiation (from sand, water, or snow). UV radiation ... and stress fractures. Remember safety gear. Depending on the sport, ...

Integration of safety culture in transient analyses for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stosic, Zoran V.; Stoll, Uwe

2009-01-01

In the nuclear field Safety Culture is the arrangement of attitudes and characteristics in individuals and organisations which determines first and foremost that nuclear power plant safety issues receive adequate attention due to their outstanding significance. It differs from general Corporate Culture via its concept of core hazards and the potentially large effects associated with the release of radioactivity. One can talk about positive and negative Safety Cultures. A positive Safety Culture assumes that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. The different parts interact to increase the overall effectiveness. In a negative Safety Culture the opposite is the case, with the action of some individuals restricted by the cynicism of others. Some examples of issues that contribute to a negative safety culture are: non-adherence to the established instructions and procedures, unclear definition of responsibilities, disinterest and inattentiveness, overestimation of own capabilities and arrogance, unclear rules, and mistrust between involved organisations. In addition to differentiation and importance of Safety Culture, necessary commitment levels, safety management framework, the paper discusses integration of Safety Culture in transient analyses of nuclear power plants. In this course the commitment to Safety Culture is defined as: a good Safety Culture depends on the continuous commitment and fulfilment of all involved organizations, persons and processes without any exception. (author)

Priming patient safety: A middle-range theory of safety goal priming via safety culture communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Groves, Patricia S; Bunch, Jacinda L

2018-05-18

The aim of this paper is discussion of a new middle-range theory of patient safety goal priming via safety culture communication. Bedside nurses are key to safe care, but there is little theory about how organizations can influence nursing behavior through safety culture to improve patient safety outcomes. We theorize patient safety goal priming via safety culture communication may support organizations in this endeavor. According to this theory, hospital safety culture communication activates a previously held patient safety goal and increases the perceived value of actions nurses can take to achieve that goal. Nurses subsequently prioritize and are motivated to perform tasks and risk assessment related to achieving patient safety. These efforts continue until nurses mitigate or ameliorate identified risks and hazards during the patient care encounter. Critically, this process requires nurses to have a previously held safety goal associated with a repertoire of appropriate actions. This theory suggests undergraduate educators should foster an outcomes focus emphasizing the connections between nursing interventions and safety outcomes, hospitals should strategically structure patient safety primes into communicative activities, and organizations should support professional development including new skills and the latest evidence supporting nursing practice for patient safety. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Highway Safety Program Manual: Volume 3: Motorcycle Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (DOT), Washington, DC.

Volume 3 of the 19-volume Highway Safety Program Manual (which provides guidance to State and local governments on preferred highway safety practices) concentrates on aspects of motorcycle safety. The purpose and specific objectives of a State motorcycle safety program are outlined. Federal authority in the highway safety area and general policies…

Safety of nuclear power plants: Operation. Safety requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

The safety of a nuclear power plant is ensured by means of its proper siting, design, construction and commissioning, followed by the proper management and operation of the plant. In a later phase, proper decommissioning is required. This Safety Requirements publication supersedes the Code on the Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Operation, which was issued in 1988 as Safety Series No. 50-C-O (Rev. 1). The purpose of this revision was: to restructure Safety Series No. 50-C-O (Rev. 1) in the light of the basic objectives, concepts and principles in the Safety Fundamentals publication The Safety of Nuclear Installations. To be consistent with the requirements of the International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources. And to reflect current practice and new concepts and technical developments. Guidance on fulfillment of these Safety Requirements may be found in the appropriate Safety Guides relating to plant operation. The objective of this publication is to establish the requirements which, in the light of experience and the present state of technology, must be satisfied to ensure the safe operation of nuclear power plants. These requirements are governed by the basic objectives, concepts and principles that are presented in the Safety Fundamentals publication The Safety of Nuclear Installations. This publication deals with matters specific to the safe operation of land based stationary thermal neutron nuclear power plants, and also covers their commissioning and subsequent decommissioning

Safety of nuclear power plants: Operation. Safety requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

The safety of a nuclear power plant is ensured by means of its proper siting, design, construction and commissioning, followed by the proper management and operation of the plant. In a later phase, proper decommissioning is required. This Safety Requirements publication supersedes the Code on the Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Operation, which was issued in 1988 as Safety Series No. 50-C-O (Rev. 1). The purpose of this revision was: to restructure Safety Series No. 50-C-O (Rev. 1) in the light of the basic objectives, concepts and principles in the Safety Fundamentals publication The Safety of Nuclear Installations. To be consistent with the requirements of the International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources. And to reflect current practice and new concepts and technical developments. Guidance on fulfillment of these Safety Requirements may be found in the appropriate Safety Guides relating to plant operation. The objective of this publication is to establish the requirements which, in the light of experience and the present state of technology, must be satisfied to ensure the safe operation of nuclear power plants. These requirements are governed by the basic objectives, concepts and principles that are presented in the Safety Fundamentals publication The Safety of Nuclear Installations. This publication deals with matters specific to the safe operation of land based stationary thermal neutron nuclear power plants, and also covers their commissioning and subsequent decommissioning

Safety of nuclear power plants: Operation. Safety requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

The safety of a nuclear power plant is ensured by means of its proper siting, design, construction and commissioning, followed by the proper management and operation of the plant. In a later phase, proper decommissioning is required. This Safety Requirements publication supersedes the Code on the Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Operation, which was issued in 1988 as Safety Series No. 50-C-O (Rev. 1). The purpose of this revision was: to restructure Safety Series No. 50-C-O (Rev. 1) in the light of the basic objectives, concepts and principles in the Safety Fundamentals publication The Safety of Nuclear Installations; to be consistent with the requirements of the International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources; and to reflect current practice and new concepts and technical developments. Guidance on fulfillment of these Safety Requirements may be found in the appropriate Safety Guides relating to plant operation. The objective of this publication is to establish the requirements which, in the light of experience and the present state of technology, must be satisfied to ensure the safe operation of nuclear power plants. These requirements are governed by the basic objectives, concepts and principles that are presented in the Safety Fundamentals publication The Safety of Nuclear Installations. This publication deals with matters specific to the safe operation of land based stationary thermal neutron nuclear power plants, and also covers their commissioning and subsequent decommissioning

Safety prediction technique for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henry, C.D. III; Anderson, R.T.

1985-01-01

This paper presents a safety prediction technique (SPT) developed by Reliability Technology Associates (RTA) for nuclear power plants. It is based on a technique applied by RTA to assess the flight safety of US Air Force aircraft. The purpose of SPT is to provide a computerized technique for objective measurement of the effect on nuclear plant safety of component failure or procedural, software, or human error. A quantification is determined, called criticality, which is proportional to the probability that a given component or procedural-human action will cause the plant to operate in a hazardous mode. A hazardous mode is characterized by the fact that there has been a failure/error and the plant, its operating crew, and the public are exposed to danger. Whether the event results in an accident, an incident, or merely the exposure to danger is dependent on the skill and reaction of the operating crew as well as external influences. There are three major uses of SPT: (a) to predict unsafe situations so that corrective action can be taken before accidents occur, (b) to quantify the impact of equipment malfunction or procedural, software, or human error on safety and thereby establish priorities for proposed modifications, and (c) to provide a means of evaluating proposed changes for their impact on safety prior to implementation and to provide a method of tracking implemented changes

Implementation of the safety culture for HANARO safety management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Jongsup; Han, Geeyang; Kim, Iksoo [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2008-11-15

Safety is the fundamental principal upon which a management system is based. The IAEA INSAG (International Nuclear Safety Group) states the general aims of a safety management system. One of which is to foster and support a strong safety culture through the development and reinforcement of good safety attitudes and behavior in individuals and teams, so as to allow them to carry out their tasks safely. The safety culture activities have been implemented and the importance of a safety management in nuclear activities for a reactor application and utilization has also been emphasized for more than 10 years in HANARO which is a 30MW multi-purpose research reactor that achieved its first criticality in February 1995. The safety culture activities and implementations have been conducted continuously to enhance its safe operation such as the seminars and lectures related to safety matters, participation in international workshops and the development of safety culture indicators, a survey on the attitude of HANARO staff toward the safety culture, the development of operational safety performance indicators (SPIs), the preparation of a safety text book and the development of a e-learning program for a safety education purpose.

Implementation of the safety culture for HANARO safety management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Jongsup; Han, Geeyang; Kim, Iksoo

2008-01-01

Safety is the fundamental principal upon which a management system is based. The IAEA INSAG (International Nuclear Safety Group) states the general aims of a safety management system. One of which is to foster and support a strong safety culture through the development and reinforcement of good safety attitudes and behavior in individuals and teams, so as to allow them to carry out their tasks safely. The safety culture activities have been implemented and the importance of a safety management in nuclear activities for a reactor application and utilization has also been emphasized for more than 10 years in HANARO which is a 30MW multi-purpose research reactor that achieved its first criticality in February 1995. The safety culture activities and implementations have been conducted continuously to enhance its safe operation such as the seminars and lectures related to safety matters, participation in international workshops and the development of safety culture indicators, a survey on the attitude of HANARO staff toward the safety culture, the development of operational safety performance indicators (SPIs), the preparation of a safety text book and the development of a e-learning program for a safety education purpose

Blood safety in the world updated

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Silvano Wandel

2010-01-01

@@ Blood safety is of paramount importance in any medical context, given that it represents one of the most impor-tant supportive procedures in medicine. Nearly all medical fields that lead with very critical patients will depend on blood products as part of supporting medical strategies (both clinical and surgical). Thus, it is im-portant that every country in the world relies on a well established national blood program.

The impact of masculinity on safety oversights, safety priority and safety violations in two male-dominated occupations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Kent; Hansen, Claus D.; Bloksgaard, Lotte

2015-01-01

Background Although men have a higher risk of occupational injuries than women the role of masculinity for organizational safety outcomes has only rarely been the object of research. Aim The current study investigated the association between masculinity and safety oversights, safety priority......-related context factors (safety leadership, commitment of the safety representative, and safety involvement) and three safety-related outcome factors (safety violations, safety oversights and safety priority) were administered twice 12 months apart to Danish ambulance workers (n = 1157) and slaughterhouse workers...

Age-dependent reliability model considering effects of maintenance and working conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martorell, Sebastian; Sanchez, Ana; Serradell, Vicente

1999-01-01

Nowadays, there is some doubt about building new nuclear power plants (NPPs). Instead, there is a growing interest in analyzing the possibility to extend current NPP operation, where life management programs play an important role. The evolution of the NPP safety depends on the evolution of the reliability of its safety components, which, in turn, is a function of their age along the NPP operational life. In this paper, a new age-dependent reliability model is presented, which includes parameters related to surveillance and maintenance effectiveness and working conditions of the equipment, both environmental and operational. This model may be used to support NPP life management and life extension programs, by improving or optimizing surveillance and maintenance tasks using risk and cost models based on such an age-dependent reliability model. The results of the sensitivity study in the example application show that the selection of the most appropriate maintenance strategy would directly depend on the previous parameters. Then, very important differences are expected to appear under certain circumstances, particularly, in comparison with other models that do not consider maintenance effectiveness and working conditions simultaneously

Workplace activities to promote small attempts for safety. Toward development of safety culture in a nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukui, Hirokazu; Sugiman, Toshio

2007-01-01

Activities that could possibly grow into learning activities for developing safety culture were explored by intensive fieldwork in a nuclear power plant depending on Engestroem's activity theory. As a first step to achieve this goal, workers' small attempts that might contribute to nurturing a safety culture were investigated. Eight kinds of activity were observed and interpreted as having the possibility to facilitate small recognition and small practice, i.e., activities including (1) workgroup as community, (2) other workgroups and other departments as community, (3) meeting drawing remarks as mediating artifacts, (4) study session and Off-the-Job-Training as mediating artifact, (5) award as mediating artifact, (6) extended leave as mediating artifact, (7) check sheet as mediating artifact, and (8) skill-transfer system as mediating artifact. (author)

Leadership and Management for Safety. General Safety Requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

This Safety Requirements publication establishes requirements that support Principle 3 of the Fundamental Safety Principles in relation to establishing, sustaining and continuously improving leadership and management for safety and an integrated management system. It emphasizes that leadership for safety, management for safety, an effective management system and a systemic approach (i.e. an approach in which interactions between technical, human and organizational factors are duly considered) are all essential to the specification and application of adequate safety measures and to the fostering of a strong safety culture. Leadership and an effective management system will integrate safety, health, environmental, security, quality, human-and-organizational factor, societal and economic elements. The management system will ensure the fostering of a strong safety culture, regular assessment of performance and the application of lessons from experience. The publication is intended for use by regulatory bodies, operating organizations (registrants and licensees) and other organizations concerned with facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks

Determinants of safety outcomes and performance: A systematic literature review of research in four high-risk industries.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelissen, Pieter A; Van Hoof, Joris J; De Jong, Menno D T

2017-09-01

In spite of increasing governmental and organizational efforts, organizations still struggle to improve the safety of their employees as evidenced by the yearly 2.3 million work-related deaths worldwide. Occupational safety research is scattered and inaccessible, especially for practitioners. Through systematically reviewing the safety literature, this study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of behavioral and circumstantial factors that endanger or support employee safety. A broad search on occupational safety literature using four online bibliographical databases yielded 27.527 articles. Through a systematic reviewing process 176 online articles were identified that met the inclusion criteria (e.g., original peer-reviewed research; conducted in selected high-risk industries; published between 1980-2016). Variables and the nature of their interrelationships (i.e., positive, negative, or nonsignificant) were extracted, and then grouped and classified through a process of bottom-up coding. The results indicate that safety outcomes and performance prevail as dependent research areas, dependent on variables related to management & colleagues, work(place) characteristics & circumstances, employee demographics, climate & culture, and external factors. Consensus was found for five variables related to safety outcomes and seven variables related to performance, while there is debate about 31 other relationships. Last, 21 variables related to safety outcomes and performance appear understudied. The majority of safety research has focused on addressing negative safety outcomes and performance through variables related to others within the organization, the work(place) itself, employee demographics, and-to a lesser extent-climate & culture and external factors. This systematic literature review provides both scientists and safety practitioners an overview of the (under)studied behavioral and circumstantial factors related to occupational safety behavior. Scientists

Does Employee Safety Matter for Patients Too? Employee Safety Climate and Patient Safety Culture in Health Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohr, David C; Eaton, Jennifer Lipkowitz; McPhaul, Kathleen M; Hodgson, Michael J

2015-04-22

We examined relationships between employee safety climate and patient safety culture. Because employee safety may be a precondition for the development of patient safety, we hypothesized that employee safety culture would be strongly and positively related to patient safety culture. An employee safety climate survey was administered in 2010 and assessed employees' views and experiences of safety for employees. The patient safety survey administered in 2011 assessed the safety culture for patients. We performed Pearson correlations and multiple regression analysis to examine the relationships between a composite measure of employee safety with subdimensions of patient safety culture. The regression models controlled for size, geographic characteristics, and teaching affiliation. Analyses were conducted at the group level using data from 132 medical centers. Higher employee safety climate composite scores were positively associated with all 9 patient safety culture measures examined. Standardized multivariate regression coefficients ranged from 0.44 to 0.64. Medical facilities where staff have more positive perceptions of health care workplace safety climate tended to have more positive assessments of patient safety culture. This suggests that patient safety culture and employee safety climate could be mutually reinforcing, such that investments and improvements in one domain positively impacts the other. Further research is needed to better understand the nexus between health care employee and patient safety to generalize and act upon findings.

Strengthening safety compliance in nuclear power operations: a role-based approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Córcoles, Mario; Gracia, Francisco J; Tomás, Inés; Peiró, José M

2014-07-01

Safety compliance is of paramount importance in guaranteeing the safe running of nuclear power plants. However, it depends mostly on procedures that do not always involve the safest outcomes. This article introduces an empirical model based on the organizational role theory to analyze the influence of legitimate sources of expectations (procedures formalization and leadership) on workers' compliance behaviors. The sample was composed of 495 employees from two Spanish nuclear power plants. Structural equation analysis showed that, in spite of some problematic effects of proceduralization (such as role conflict and role ambiguity), procedure formalization along with an empowering leadership style lead to safety compliance by clarifying a worker's role in safety. Implications of these findings for safety research are outlined, as well as their practical implications. © 2014 Society for Risk Analysis.

Software Safety Risk in Legacy Safety-Critical Computer Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Janice L.; Baggs, Rhoda

2007-01-01

Safety Standards contain technical and process-oriented safety requirements. Technical requirements are those such as "must work" and "must not work" functions in the system. Process-Oriented requirements are software engineering and safety management process requirements. Address the system perspective and some cover just software in the system > NASA-STD-8719.13B Software Safety Standard is the current standard of interest. NASA programs/projects will have their own set of safety requirements derived from the standard. Safety Cases: a) Documented demonstration that a system complies with the specified safety requirements. b) Evidence is gathered on the integrity of the system and put forward as an argued case. [Gardener (ed.)] c) Problems occur when trying to meet safety standards, and thus make retrospective safety cases, in legacy safety-critical computer systems.

Safety assessment and verification for nuclear power plants. Safety guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

This publication supports the Safety Requirements on the Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design. This Safety Guide was prepared on the basis of a systematic review of all the relevant publications including the Safety Fundamentals, Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design, current and ongoing revisions of other Safety Guides, INSAG reports and other publications that have addressed the safety of nuclear power plants. This Safety Guide also provides guidance for Contracting Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety in meeting their obligations under Article 14 on Assessment and Verification of Safety. The Safety Requirements publication entitled Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design states that a comprehensive safety assessment and an independent verification of the safety assessment shall be carried out before the design is submitted to the regulatory body. This publication provides guidance on how this requirement should be met. This Safety Guide provides recommendations to designers for carrying out a safety assessment during the initial design process and design modifications, as well as to the operating organization in carrying out independent verification of the safety assessment of new nuclear power plants with a new or already existing design. The recommendations for performing a safety assessment are suitable also as guidance for the safety review of an existing plant. The objective of reviewing existing plants against current standards and practices is to determine whether there are any deviations which would have an impact on plant safety. The methods and the recommendations of this Safety Guide can also be used by regulatory bodies for the conduct of the regulatory review and assessment. Although most recommendations of this Safety Guide are general and applicable to all types of nuclear reactors, some specific recommendations and examples apply mostly to water cooled reactors. Terms such as 'safety assessment', 'safety analysis' and 'independent

Reactor safety research and safety technology. Pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Theenhaus, R.; Wolters, J.

1987-01-01

The state of HTR safety research work reached permits a comprehensive and reliable answer to be given to questions which have been raised by the reactor accident at Chernobyl, regarding HTR safety. Together with the probability safety analyses, the way to a safety concept suitable for an HTR is cleared; instructions are given for design optimisation with regard to safety technique and economy. The consequences of a graphite fire, the neutron physics design and the consequenes of the lack of a safety containment are briefly described. (DG) [de

Safety culture in the maintenance of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

Safety culture is the complexity of beliefs, shared values and behaviour reflected in making decisions and performing work in a nuclear power plant or nuclear facility. The definition of safety culture and the related concepts presented in the IAEA literature are widely known to experts. Since the publication of Safety Culture, issued by the IAEA as INSAG-4 in 1991, the IAEA has produced a number of publications on strengthening the safety culture in organizations that operate nuclear power plants and nuclear facilities. However, until now the focus has been primarily on the area of operations. Apart from operations, maintenance in plants and nuclear facilities is an aspect that deserves special attention, as maintenance activities can have both a direct and an indirect effect on equipment reliability. Adverse safety effects can arise, depending upon the level of skill of the personnel involved, safety awareness and the complexity of the work process. Any delayed effects resulting from challenges to maintenance can cause interruptions in operation, and hence affect the safety of a plant or facility. Building upon earlier IAEA publications on this topic, this Safety Report reviews how challenges to the maintenance of nuclear power plants can affect safety culture. It also highlights indications of a weakening safety culture. The challenges described are in areas such as maintenance management; human resources management; plant condition assessment and the business environment. The steps that some Member States have taken to address safety culture aspects are detailed and singled out as good practices, with a view to disseminating and exchanging experiences and lessons learned. Although this report is primarily directed at plant maintenance organizations, the subject matter is applicable to a wider audience, including plant contracting organizations and regulatory authorities

Fall Protection Characteristics of Safety Belts and Human Impact Tolerance.

Science.gov (United States)

Hino, Yasumichi; Ohdo, Katsutoshi; Takahashi, Hiroki

2014-08-23

Many fatal accidents due to falls from heights have occurred at construction sites not only in Japan but also in other countries. This study aims to determine the fall prevention performance of two types of safety belts: a body belt 1) , which has been used for more than 40 yr in the Japanese construction industry as a general type of safety equipment for fall accident prevention, and a full harness 2, 3) , which has been used in many other countries. To determine human tolerance for impact trauma, this study discusses features of safety belts with reference 4-9) to relevant studies in the medical science, automobile crash safety, and aircrew safety. For this purpose, simple drop tests were carried out in a virtual workplace to measure impact load, head acceleration, and posture in the experiments, the Hybrid-III pedestrian model 10) was used as a human dummy. Hybrid-III is typically employed in official automobile crash tests (New Car Assessment Program: NCAP) and is currently recognized as a model that faithfully reproduces dynamic responses. Experimental results shows that safety performance strongly depends on both the variety of safety belts used and the shock absorbers attached onto lanyards. These findings indicate that fall prevention equipment, such as safety belts, lanyards, and shock absorbers, must be improved to reduce impact injuries to the human head and body during falls.

Safety climate and safety behaviors in the construction industry: The importance of co-workers commitment to safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwatka, Natalie V; Rosecrance, John C

2016-06-16

There is growing empirical evidence that as safety climate improves work site safety practice improve. Safety climate is often measured by asking workers about their perceptions of management commitment to safety. However, it is less common to include perceptions of their co-workers commitment to safety. While the involvement of management in safety is essential, working with co-workers who value and prioritize safety may be just as important. To evaluate a concept of safety climate that focuses on top management, supervisors and co-workers commitment to safety, which is relatively new and untested in the United States construction industry. Survey data was collected from a cohort of 300 unionized construction workers in the United States. The significance of direct and indirect (mediation) effects among safety climate and safety behavior factors were evaluated via structural equation modeling. Results indicated that safety climate was associated with safety behaviors on the job. More specifically, perceptions of co-workers commitment to safety was a mediator between both management commitment to safety climate factors and safety behaviors. These results support workplace health and safety interventions that build and sustain safety climate and a commitment to safety amongst work teams.

Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

A brief account of activities carried out by the Nuclear power plants Jaslovske Bohunice in 1997 is presented. These activities are reported under the headings: (1) Nuclear safety; (2) Industrial and health safety; (3) Radiation safety; and Fire protection

Renal Safety of Iodinated Contrast Media Depending on Their Osmolarity – Current Outlooks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mruk, Bartosz

2016-01-01

Iodinated contrast media (ICM) are commonly administered pharmaceutical agents. Most often they are used intravenously and intraarterially. Although iodinated contrast agents are relatively safe and widely used, adverse events occur and questions remain about their use, safety, and interactions. The most important adverse effects of contrast media include hypersensitivity reactions, thyroid dysfunction, and contrast-induced nephropathy. Radiologists must be aware of the risk factors for reactions to contrast media. Nonionic iodinated contrast agents can be divided into monomeric, low-osmolar, and dimeric, iso-osmolar classes. The osmotic characteristics of contrast media have been a significant focus in many investigations of contrast-induced nephropathy

Lessons learned from the safety assistance program for soviet-designed reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steinberg, N.

1999-01-01

Two examples of nuclear power situation were compared in this conference paper - the situation in Lithuania and the situation in the Ukraine. Based on the examples mentioned, author conclude that the effectiveness of the Multi-National Safety Assistance Program for Soviet -Designed Reactors in a given recipient country does not depend, in practice, on engineering issues. The principal aspects that determine this effectiveness are: first, the level of safety culture in the country, beginning at the Governmental level but also at the level of the senior managers of nuclear power. The other important factor which contributes is the availability of a well-developed national program for upgrading NPP safety. The economical well-being of nuclear power and of the country as a whole also has a major effect on the effectiveness of the western technical assistance programs that are trying to upgrade reactor safety in a particular recipient country. And finally, international community should have well coordinated and well substantiated safety assistance program for specific country

Maritime Safety and Security Challenges – 3D Simulation Based Training

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christoph Felsenstein

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Maritime Safety and Security on board ships very much depends on well trained crews. That is why training and exercising emergency response procedures as well as efficiency in reliable management are extremely necessary. On the other hand research as well as technological development in safety and security, tools and other kinds of technical and organizational systems contribute to further improvement and guarantee high levels of safety and security in maritime transportation. Simulation facilities are essential for both exercising and training but also for research and technological development. This paper introduces the innovative concept of a safety and security training simulator (SST7 and describes research work related to the implementation of training scenarios. Selected results of a case study will be presented. A shorter version of this paper was originally presented at the International Conference on “Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation” at Gdynia in June 2013.

Safety Justification and Safety Case for Safety-critical Software in Digital Reactor Protection System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Kee-Choon; Lee, Jang-Soo; Jee, Eunkyoung

2016-01-01

Nuclear safety-critical software is under strict regulatory requirements and these regulatory requirements are essential for ensuring the safety of nuclear power plants. The verification & validation (V and V) and hazard analysis of the safety-critical software are required to follow regulatory requirements through the entire software life cycle. In order to obtain a license from the regulatory body through the development and validation of safety-critical software, it is essential to meet the standards which are required by the regulatory body throughout the software development process. Generally, large amounts of documents, which demonstrate safety justification including standard compliance, V and V, hazard analysis, and vulnerability assessment activities, are submitted to the regulatory body during the licensing process. It is not easy to accurately read and evaluate the whole documentation for the development activities, implementation technology, and validation activities. The safety case methodology has been kwon a promising approach to evaluate the level and depth of the development and validation results. A safety case is a structured argument, supported by a body of evidence that provides a compelling, comprehensible, and valid case that a system is safe for a given application in a given operating environment. It is suggested to evaluate the level and depth of the results of development and validation by applying safety case methodology to achieve software safety demonstration. A lot of documents provided as evidence are connected to claim that corresponds to the topic for safety demonstration. We demonstrated a case study in which more systematic safety demonstration for the target system software is performed via safety case construction than simply listing the documents

Safety Justification and Safety Case for Safety-critical Software in Digital Reactor Protection System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Kee-Choon; Lee, Jang-Soo [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Jee, Eunkyoung [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Nuclear safety-critical software is under strict regulatory requirements and these regulatory requirements are essential for ensuring the safety of nuclear power plants. The verification & validation (V and V) and hazard analysis of the safety-critical software are required to follow regulatory requirements through the entire software life cycle. In order to obtain a license from the regulatory body through the development and validation of safety-critical software, it is essential to meet the standards which are required by the regulatory body throughout the software development process. Generally, large amounts of documents, which demonstrate safety justification including standard compliance, V and V, hazard analysis, and vulnerability assessment activities, are submitted to the regulatory body during the licensing process. It is not easy to accurately read and evaluate the whole documentation for the development activities, implementation technology, and validation activities. The safety case methodology has been kwon a promising approach to evaluate the level and depth of the development and validation results. A safety case is a structured argument, supported by a body of evidence that provides a compelling, comprehensible, and valid case that a system is safe for a given application in a given operating environment. It is suggested to evaluate the level and depth of the results of development and validation by applying safety case methodology to achieve software safety demonstration. A lot of documents provided as evidence are connected to claim that corresponds to the topic for safety demonstration. We demonstrated a case study in which more systematic safety demonstration for the target system software is performed via safety case construction than simply listing the documents.

New Safety rules

CERN Multimedia

Safety Commission

2008-01-01

The revision of CERN Safety rules is in progress and the following new Safety rules have been issued on 15-04-2008: Safety Procedure SP-R1 Establishing, Updating and Publishing CERN Safety rules: http://cern.ch/safety-rules/SP-R1.htm; Safety Regulation SR-S Smoking at CERN: http://cern.ch/safety-rules/SR-S.htm; Safety Regulation SR-M Mechanical Equipment: http://cern.ch/safety-rules/SR-M.htm; General Safety Instruction GSI-M1 Standard Lifting Equipment: http://cern.ch/safety-rules/GSI-M1.htm; General Safety Instruction GSI-M2 Standard Pressure Equipment: http://cern.ch/safety-rules/GSI-M2.htm; General Safety Instruction GSI-M3 Special Mechanical Equipment: http://cern.ch/safety-rules/GSI-M3.htm. These documents apply to all persons under the Director General’s authority. All Safety rules are available at the web page: http://www.cern.ch/safety-rules The Safety Commission

Conception and activity directions of journal ''Nuclear and radiation safety''

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olena, M.; Volodymyr, S.

2000-01-01

In connection with the State Scientific and Technical Centre onr Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SSTC NRA) and Odessa State Polytechnic University the journal 'Nuclear and Radiation Safety' was established in 1998. In Ukraine many people are interested in nuclear energy problems. The accident in Chernobyl NPP unit 4 touches all Ukrainians and brings about strong and regular attention to nuclear and radiation safety of nuclear installations and nuclear technology, on the other side more than 50 per cent of electric power is produced in 5 NPPs and as following national power supply depends on stability of NPPs work. Main goals of the journal are: Support to Nuclear Regulatory Administration (NRA) of MEPNS of Ukraine, creation of information space for effective exchange of results of scientific, scientific and technical, scientific and analytical work in the field of Nuclear and Radiation Safety, assistance in integrated development of research for Nuclear and Radiation Safety by publication in a single issue of scientific articles, involvement of state scientific potential in resolving actual problems, participation in international collaboration in the framework of agreements, programs and plans. (orig.)

Method of operator safety assessment for underground mobile mining equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Działak, Paulina; Karliński, Jacek; Rusiński, Eugeniusz

2018-01-01

The paper presents a method of assessing the safety of operators of mobile mining equipment (MME), which is adapted to current and future geological and mining conditions. The authors focused on underground mines, with special consideration of copper mines (KGHM). As extraction reaches into deeper layers of the deposit it can activate natural hazards, which, thus far, have been considered unusual and whose range and intensity are different depending on the field of operation. One of the main hazards that affect work safety and can become the main barrier in the exploitation of deposits at greater depths is climate threat. The authors have analysed the phenomena which may impact the safety of MME operators, with consideration of accidents that have not yet been studied and are not covered by the current safety standards for this group of miners. An attempt was made to develop a method for assessing the safety of MME operators, which takes into account the mentioned natural hazards and which is adapted to current and future environmental conditions in underground mines.

Method of operator safety assessment for underground mobile mining equipment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Działak Paulina

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a method of assessing the safety of operators of mobile mining equipment (MME, which is adapted to current and future geological and mining conditions. The authors focused on underground mines, with special consideration of copper mines (KGHM. As extraction reaches into deeper layers of the deposit it can activate natural hazards, which, thus far, have been considered unusual and whose range and intensity are different depending on the field of operation. One of the main hazards that affect work safety and can become the main barrier in the exploitation of deposits at greater depths is climate threat. The authors have analysed the phenomena which may impact the safety of MME operators, with consideration of accidents that have not yet been studied and are not covered by the current safety standards for this group of miners. An attempt was made to develop a method for assessing the safety of MME operators, which takes into account the mentioned natural hazards and which is adapted to current and future environmental conditions in underground mines.

Probabilistic safety assessment activities at Ignalina NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bagdonas, A.

1999-01-01

The Barselina Project was initiated in the summer 1991. The project was a multilateral co-operation between Lithuania, Russia and Sweden up until phase 3, and phase 4 has been performed as a bilateral between Lithuania and Sweden. The long-range objective is to establish common perspectives and unified bases for assessment of severe accident risks and needs for remedial measures for the RBMK reactors. During phase 3, from 1993 to 1994, a full scope Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) model of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant unit 2 was developed to identify possible safety improvement of risk importance. The probabilistic methodology was applied on a plant specific basis for a channel type reactor of RBMK design. During phase 4, from 1994 to 1996, the PSA was further developed, taking into account plant changes, improved modelling methods and extended plant information concerning dependencies (area events, dynamic effects, electrical and signal dependencies). The model reflected the plant status before the outage 1996. During phase 4+, 1998 to 1999 the PSA model was upgraded taking into account the newest plant modifications. The new PSA model of CPS/AZRT was developed. Modelling was based on the Single Failure Analysis

HTGR safety research program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barsell, A.W.; Olsen, B.E.; Silady, F.A.

1981-01-01

An HTGR safety research program is being performed supporting and guided in priorities by the AIPA Probabilistic Risk Study. Analytical and experimental studies have been conducted in four general areas where modeling or data assumptions contribute to large uncertainties in the consequence assessments and thus, in the risk assessment for key core heat-up accident scenarios. Experimental data have been obtained on time-dependent release of fission products from the fuel particles, and plateout characteristics of condensible fission products in the primary circuit. Potential failure modes of primarily top head PCRV components as well as concrete degradation processes have been analyzed using a series of newly developed models and interlinked computer programs. Containment phenomena, including fission product deposition and potential flammability of liberated combustible gases have been studied analytically. Lastly, the behaviour of boron control material in the core and reactor subcriticality during core heatup have been examined analytically. Research in these areas has formed the basis for consequence updates in GA-A15000. Systematic derivation of future safety research priorities is also discussed. (author)

Sources of Safety Data and Statistical Strategies for Design and Analysis: Clinical Trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Zink, Richard C; Marchenko, Olga; Sanchez-Kam, Matilde; Ma, Haijun; Jiang, Qi

2018-03-01

There has been an increased emphasis on the proactive and comprehensive evaluation of safety endpoints to ensure patient well-being throughout the medical product life cycle. In fact, depending on the severity of the underlying disease, it is important to plan for a comprehensive safety evaluation at the start of any development program. Statisticians should be intimately involved in this process and contribute their expertise to study design, safety data collection, analysis, reporting (including data visualization), and interpretation. In this manuscript, we review the challenges associated with the analysis of safety endpoints and describe the safety data that are available to influence the design and analysis of premarket clinical trials. We share our recommendations for the statistical and graphical methodologies necessary to appropriately analyze, report, and interpret safety outcomes, and we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of safety data obtained from clinical trials compared to other sources. Clinical trials are an important source of safety data that contribute to the totality of safety information available to generate evidence for regulators, sponsors, payers, physicians, and patients. This work is a result of the efforts of the American Statistical Association Biopharmaceutical Section Safety Working Group.

The role of probabilistic safety assessment and probabilistic safety criteria in nuclear power plant safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

The purpose of this Safety Report is to provide guidelines on the role of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) and a range of associated reference points, collectively referred to as probabilistic safety criteria (PSC), in nuclear safety. The application of this Safety Report and the supporting Safety Practice publication should help to ensure that PSA methodology is used appropriately to assess and enhance the safety of nuclear power plants. The guidelines are intended for use by nuclear power plant designers, operators and regulators. While these guidelines have been prepared with nuclear power plants in mind, the principles involved have wide application to other nuclear and non-nuclear facilities. In Section 2 of this Safety Report guidelines are established on the role PSA can play as part of an overall safety assurance programme. Section 3 summarizes guidelines for the conduct of PSAs, and in Section 4 a PSC framework is recommended and guidance is provided for the establishment of PSC values

Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design. Specific Safety Requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

On the basis of the principles included in the Fundamental Safety Principles, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SF-1, this Safety Requirements publication establishes requirements applicable to the design of nuclear power plants. It covers the design phase and provides input for the safe operation of the power plant. It elaborates on the safety objective, safety principles and concepts that provide the basis for deriving the safety requirements that must be met for the design of a nuclear power plant. Contents: 1. Introduction; 2. Applying the safety principles and concepts; 3. Management of safety in design; 4. Principal technical requirements; 5. General plant design; 6. Design of specific plant systems.

Discussion on the safety classification of nuclear safety mechanical equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen Wei

2010-01-01

The purpose and definition of the equipment safety classification in nuclear plant are introduced. The differences of several safety classification criterions are compared, and the object of safety classification is determined. According to the regulation, the definition and category of the safety functions are represented. The safety classification method, safety classification process, safety class interface, and the requirement for the safety class mechanical equipment are explored. At last, the relation of the safety classification between the mechanical and electrical equipment is presented, and the relation of the safety classification between mechanical equipment and system is also presented. (author)

Traceability of Software Safety Requirements in Legacy Safety Critical Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Janice L.

2007-01-01

How can traceability of software safety requirements be created for legacy safety critical systems? Requirements in safety standards are imposed most times during contract negotiations. On the other hand, there are instances where safety standards are levied on legacy safety critical systems, some of which may be considered for reuse for new applications. Safety standards often specify that software development documentation include process-oriented and technical safety requirements, and also require that system and software safety analyses are performed supporting technical safety requirements implementation. So what can be done if the requisite documents for establishing and maintaining safety requirements traceability are not available?

The Psychological Aspect of Safety Culture: Application of the Theory of Generations for the Formation of Safety Culture Among Personnel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melnitckaia, T.B.

2016-01-01

The formation of safety culture is an attempt of constructive influence on the socio psychological atmosphere of the team and the behavior of employees. By way of creating specific settings, the value system for the organization staff as part of the organizational culture, it is possible to forecast, plan and promote the desired behavior. However, it is necessary to take into account the corporate culture spontaneously established in the organization. The leaders often try to establish a safety culture, where the progressive values, norms are declared, and the results obtained are not those expected. This is partly because the organizational norms and values implemented come into conflict with reality and, therefore, are actively rejected by many members of the organization. The theory of generations developed by the American scientists (N. Howe, W. Strauss) helps in the analysis and consideration of the staff values formed under the influence of many factors, depending on the age of employees, in the course of safety culture formation. (author)

Online probabilistic operational safety assessment of multi-mode engineering systems using Bayesian methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Yufei; Chen, Maoyin; Zhou, Donghua

2013-01-01

In the past decades, engineering systems become more and more complex, and generally work at different operational modes. Since incipient fault can lead to dangerous accidents, it is crucial to develop strategies for online operational safety assessment. However, the existing online assessment methods for multi-mode engineering systems commonly assume that samples are independent, which do not hold for practical cases. This paper proposes a probabilistic framework of online operational safety assessment of multi-mode engineering systems with sample dependency. To begin with, a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is used to characterize multiple operating modes. Then, based on the definition of safety index (SI), the SI for one single mode is calculated. At last, the Bayesian method is presented to calculate the posterior probabilities belonging to each operating mode with sample dependency. The proposed assessment strategy is applied in two examples: one is the aircraft gas turbine, another is an industrial dryer. Both examples illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method

Improving safety margin of LWRs by rethinking the emergency core cooling system criteria and safety system capacity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Youho, E-mail: euo@kaist.ac.kr; Kim, Bokyung, E-mail: bkkim2@kaist.ac.kr; NO, Hee Cheon, E-mail: hcno@kaist.ac.kr

2016-10-15

Highlights: • Zircaloy embrittlement criteria can increase to 1370 °C for CP-ECR lower than 13%. • The draft ECCS criteria of U.S. NRC allow less than 5% in power margin. • The Japanese fracture-based criteria allow around 5% in power margin. • Increasing SIT inventory is effective in assuring safety margin for power uprates. - Abstract: This study investigates the engineering compatibility between emergency core cooling system criteria and safety water injection systems, in the pursuit of safety margin increase of light water reactors. This study proposes an acceptable temperature increase to 1370 °C as long as equivalent cladding reacted calculated by the Cathcart–Pawel equation is below 13%, after an extensive literature review. The influence of different ECCS criteria on the safety margin during large break loss of coolant accident is investigated for OPR-1000 by the system code MARS-KS, implemented with the KINS-REM method. The fracture-based emergency core cooling system (ECCS) criteria proposed in this study are shown to enable power margins up to 10%. In the meantime, the draft U.S. NRC’s embrittlement criteria (burnup-sensitive) and Japanese fracture-based criteria are shown to allow less than 5%, and around 5% of power margins, respectively. Increasing safety injection tank (SIT) water inventory is the key, yet convenient, way of assuring safety margin for power increase. More than 20% increase in the SIT water inventory is required to allow 15% power margins, for the U.S. NRC’s burnup-dependent embrittlement criteria. Controlling SIT water inventory would be a useful option that could allow the industrial desire to pursue power margins even under the recent atmosphere of imposing stricter ECCS criteria for the considerable burnup effects.

Synergistic behaviour of nuclear radiation, temperature-humidity extremes and LOCA situation on safety and safety-related equipment in Indian nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulkarni, R.D.; Bora, J.S.; Prakash, Ravi; Agarwal, Vivek; Sundersingh, V.P.

2002-01-01

Full text: The general philosophy for the instrumentation in nuclear power plants is based on the use of equipment/instruments which are capable of continuous satisfactory operation over a long period of time with minimum attention. Long term reliability under varying service conditions is of prime importance. The reliability of nuclear power plant depends on the reliability of safety and safety-related electronic instruments/ equipment used for performing the crucial tasks. The electrical and electronic systems/ circuits/ components of the equipment used in reactor safety systems (e.g. reactor protection system, emergency core cooling system, etc.) and reactor safety-related systems (e.g. reactor containment isolation and cooling system, reactor shutdown system, etc.) are responsible for safe and reliable operation of a nuclear power plant. The performance of reactor safety and safety-related equipment/instruments viz. pressure and differential pressure transmitter, amplifier for ion chamber, etc. has been evaluated under synergistic atmosphere including LOCA to find out the critical link in the circuits and subsequent modifications are suggested. The mathematical representation of the generated database has been done to estimate the life span of the instruments and accordingly the guidelines has been prepared for the operational staff to avoid the forced outage of the plant. All the details are included and mathematical models are presented to predict the future performances

Safety KPIs - Monitoring of safety performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrej Lališ

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to provide brief overview of aviation safety development focusing on modern trends represented by implementation of Safety Key Performance Indicators. Even though aviation is perceived as safe means of transport, it is still struggling with its complexity given by long-term growth and robustness which it has reached today. Thus nowadays safety issues are much more complex and harder to handle than ever before. We are more and more concerned about organizational factors and control mechanisms which have potential to further increase level of aviation safety. Within this paper we will not only introduce the concept of Key Performance Indicators in area of aviation safety as an efficient control mechanism, but also analyse available legislation and documentation. Finally we will propose complex set of indicators which could be applied to Czech Air Navigation Service Provider.

HSE's safety assessment principles for criticality safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simister, D N; Finnerty, M D; Warburton, S J; Thomas, E A; Macphail, M R

2008-01-01

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published its revised Safety Assessment Principles for Nuclear Facilities (SAPs) in December 2006. The SAPs are primarily intended for use by HSE's inspectors when judging the adequacy of safety cases for nuclear facilities. The revised SAPs relate to all aspects of safety in nuclear facilities including the technical discipline of criticality safety. The purpose of this paper is to set out for the benefit of a wider audience some of the thinking behind the final published words and to provide an insight into the development of UK regulatory guidance. The paper notes that it is HSE's intention that the Safety Assessment Principles should be viewed as a reflection of good practice in the context of interpreting primary legislation such as the requirements under site licence conditions for arrangements for producing an adequate safety case and for producing a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (SI1999/3232 www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/uksi_19993232_en.pdf). (memorandum)

ITER safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raeder, J.; Piet, S.; Buende, R.

1991-01-01

As part of the series of publications by the IAEA that summarize the results of the Conceptual Design Activities for the ITER project, this document describes the ITER safety analyses. It contains an assessment of normal operation effluents, accident scenarios, plasma chamber safety, tritium system safety, magnet system safety, external loss of coolant and coolant flow problems, and a waste management assessment, while it describes the implementation of the safety approach for ITER. The document ends with a list of major conclusions, a set of topical remarks on technical safety issues, and recommendations for the Engineering Design Activities, safety considerations for siting ITER, and recommendations with regard to the safety issues for the R and D for ITER. Refs, figs and tabs

Safety culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keen, L.J.

2003-01-01

Safety culture has become a topic of increasing interest for industry and regulators as issues are raised on safety problems around the world. The keys to safety culture are organizational effectiveness, effective communications, organizational learning, and a culture that encourages the identification and resolution of safety issues. The necessity of a strong safety culture places an onus on all of us to continually question whether the safety measures already in place are sufficient, and are being applied. (author)

Safety Climate, Perceived Risk, and Involvement in Safety Management

OpenAIRE

Kouabenan , Dongo Rémi; Ngueutsa , Robert ,; Safiétou , Mbaye

2015-01-01

International audience; This article examines the relationship between safety climate, risk perception and involvement in safety management by first-line managers (FLM). Sixty-three FLMs from two French nuclear plants answered a questionnaire measuring perceived workplace safety climate, perceived risk, and involvement in safety management. We hypothesized that a positive perception of safety climate would promote substantial involvement in safety management, and that this effect would be str...

10 CFR 70.62 - Safety program and integrated safety analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...; (iv) Potential accident sequences caused by process deviations or other events internal to the... have experience in nuclear criticality safety, radiation safety, fire safety, and chemical process... this safety program; namely, process safety information, integrated safety analysis, and management...

Safety Assessment for Research Reactors and Preparation of the Safety Analysis Report. Specific Safety Guide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-11-15

The IAEA's Statute authorizes the Agency to 'establish or adopt' standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property' - standards that the IAEA must use in its own operations, and which States can apply by means of their regulatory provisions for nuclear and radiation safety. The IAEA does this in consultation with the competent organs of the United Nations and with the specialized agencies concerned. A comprehensive set of high quality standards under regular review is a key element of a stable and sustainable global safety regime, as is the IAEA's assistance in their application. The IAEA commenced its safety standards programme in 1958. The emphasis placed on quality, fitness for purpose and continuous improvement has led to the widespread use of the IAEA standards throughout the world. The Safety Standards Series now includes unified Fundamental Safety Principles, which represent an international consensus on what must constitute a high level of protection and safety. With the strong support of the Commission on Safety Standards, the IAEA is working to promote the global acceptance and use of its standards. Standards are only effective if they are properly applied in practice. The IAEA's safety services encompass design, siting and engineering safety, operational safety, radiation safety, safe transport of radioactive material and safe management of radioactive waste, as well as governmental organization, regulatory matters and safety culture in organizations. These safety services assist Member States in the application of the standards and enable valuable experience and insights to be shared. Regulating safety is a national responsibility, and many States have decided to adopt the IAEA's standards for use in their national regulations. For parties to the various international safety conventions, IAEA standards provide a consistent, reliable means of ensuring the effective fulfilment of obligations under the conventions

Safety Assessment for Research Reactors and Preparation of the Safety Analysis Report. Specific Safety Guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

The IAEA's Statute authorizes the Agency to 'establish or adopt' standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property' - standards that the IAEA must use in its own operations, and which States can apply by means of their regulatory provisions for nuclear and radiation safety. The IAEA does this in consultation with the competent organs of the United Nations and with the specialized agencies concerned. A comprehensive set of high quality standards under regular review is a key element of a stable and sustainable global safety regime, as is the IAEA's assistance in their application. The IAEA commenced its safety standards programme in 1958. The emphasis placed on quality, fitness for purpose and continuous improvement has led to the widespread use of the IAEA standards throughout the world. The Safety Standards Series now includes unified Fundamental Safety Principles, which represent an international consensus on what must constitute a high level of protection and safety. With the strong support of the Commission on Safety Standards, the IAEA is working to promote the global acceptance and use of its standards. Standards are only effective if they are properly applied in practice. The IAEA's safety services encompass design, siting and engineering safety, operational safety, radiation safety, safe transport of radioactive material and safe management of radioactive waste, as well as governmental organization, regulatory matters and safety culture in organizations. These safety services assist Member States in the application of the standards and enable valuable experience and insights to be shared. Regulating safety is a national responsibility, and many States have decided to adopt the IAEA's standards for use in their national regulations. For parties to the various international safety conventions, IAEA standards provide a consistent, reliable means of ensuring the effective fulfilment of obligations under the conventions

Publications | Page 223 | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

... innovative, liveable and prosperous Asian megacities (open access). Innovation in poor countries occurs mostly in informal settings and is less dependent on formal firms or research and development (R&D) programs. Despite this, innovation studies have paid scant attention to informal settings and the informal economy.

IAEA Safety Standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-09-01

The IAEA Safety Standards Series comprises publications of a regulatory nature covering nuclear safety, radiation protection, radioactive waste management, the transport of radioactive material, the safety of nuclear fuel cycle facilities and management systems. These publications are issued under the terms of Article III of the IAEA’s Statute, which authorizes the IAEA to establish “standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property”. Safety standards are categorized into: • Safety Fundamentals, stating the basic objective, concepts and principles of safety; • Safety Requirements, establishing the requirements that must be fulfilled to ensure safety; and • Safety Guides, recommending measures for complying with these requirements for safety. For numbering purposes, the IAEA Safety Standards Series is subdivided into General Safety Requirements and General Safety Guides (GSR and GSG), which are applicable to all types of facilities and activities, and Specific Safety Requirements and Specific Safety Guides (SSR and SSG), which are for application in particular thematic areas. This booklet lists all current IAEA Safety Standards, including those forthcoming

78 FR 53790 - Public Forum-Safety Culture: Enhancing Transportation Safety

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-30

... NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD Public Forum--Safety Culture: Enhancing Transportation Safety On Tuesday and Wednesday, September 10-11, 2013, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will convene a forum titled, ``Safety Culture: Enhancing Transportation Safety.'' The forum will begin at 9:00...

Safety considerations and countermeasures against fire and explosion at an HTGR-hydrogen production system. Proposal of safety design concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishihara, T.; Hada, K.; Shibata, T.; Shiozawa, S.

1996-01-01

Establishment of safety design concept and countermeasures against fire and explosion accidents is among key safety-related issues in an HTGR-hydrogen production system. We propose the different safety design concepts depending upon the origin of fire and explosion which may happen in the HTGR-hydrogen production plant. Against fire and explosion originated outside the reactor building (R/B), namely in the area of hydrogen production plant, the safety design concept is primarily to take a safe distance for preventing the damage on safety-related items or a proof wall if necessary. Because the hydrogen production plant is designed in the same safety level as a conventional chemical plant. The safe distance is proposed to limit an incident overpressure to 10 kPa so as not to suffer any damage on the items and to limit a wall-averaged temperature of concrete structures of the R/B to 175degC according to the current regulation. On the other hand, against a potential possibility of explosion originated inside the R/B, the safety design concept is to minimize the possibility of explosion low enough to assume no occurrence inside the R/B. That is, the measure is to exclude a simultaneous failure of a secondary helium piping and an endothermic chemical reactor. Furthermore, in severe accident condition in which the explosion may be postulated a priori, an incidental overpressure of explosion inside the reactor containment vessel (C/V) should be limited so as not to fail the C/V through restricting the amount of combustible gas ingress into the C/V by means of a combination of C/V isolation valve installed in the helium piping and emergency shut off valve in the process feed gas line. (author)

A correlation for safety valve blowdown and ring settings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, A.; Shak, D.

1982-01-01

The blowdown of a spring loaded safety valve is defined as the difference between the pressure at which the valve opens and the pressure at which the valve fully closes under certain fluid flow conditions. Generally, the blowdown is expressed in terms of percentage of the opening pressure. An extensive series of tests carried out in the EPRI/PWR Utilities Valve Test Program has shown that the blowdown of safety valves can in general be strongly dependent upon the valve geometry and other parameters such as ring adjustments, spring stiffness, backpressure etc. In the present study, correlations have been developed using the EPRI safety valve test data to predict the expected blowdown as a function of adjustment ring settings for geometrically similar valves under steam discharge conditions. The correlation is validated against two different size Dresser valves

Nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-02-01

This book reviews the accomplishments, operations, and problems faced by the defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Specifically, it discusses the recommendations that the Safety Board made to improve safety and health conditions at the Department of Energy's defense nuclear facilities, problems the Safety Board has encountered in hiring technical staff, and management problems that could affect the Safety Board's independence and credibility

Benzodiazepine maintenance for alcohol dependence: A case series

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shivanand Kattimani

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Alcohol addiction is a chronic relapsing syndrome. Benzodiazepines remain as the mainstay for detoxification, taking care of the acute withdrawal syndrome. There is fear of dependence and abuse of benzodiazepines on prolonged use. Here, we selectively interviewed ten cases who were on longer duration of benzodiazepines to elicit their potential perceived benefits, attitudes, and any adverse effect. Three patients experienced adverse effects. None of them had features of benzodiazepine dependence. We opine that in select cases, benzodiazepine use should persist beyond detox period, and its benefits continue beyond the acute withdrawal phase while monitoring their safety/adverse effects.

Auto Safety

Science.gov (United States)

... Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Auto Safety KidsHealth / For Parents / Auto Safety What's in this ... by teaching some basic rules. Importance of Child Safety Seats Using a child safety seat (car seat) ...

Risk concepts in UK nuclear safety decision-making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brighton, P.W.M.

2001-01-01

This paper discusses the concept of risk as understood in the UK, with particular reference to the use of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) in nuclear safety decision making. The way 'risk' appears in UK fundamental legislation means that the concept cannot be limited to evaluation of numerical probabilities of physical harm. Rather the focus is on doing all that is reasonably practicable to reduce risks: this entails applying relevant good practice and then seeking further safety measures until the money, time and trouble required are grossly disproportionate to the residual risk. PSA is used to inform rather than dictate such decisions. This approach is reinforced by considering how far any practical PSA can be said to measure risk. The behaviour of complex socio-technical systems such as nuclear power stations does not meet the conditions under which probability theory can be applied in an absolutely objective statistical sense. Risk is not an intrinsic real property of such systems. Rather PSA is a synthesis of data and subjective expert judgements, dependent on the extent of detailed knowledge of the plant. There are many other aspects of engineering judgement involved in safety decisions which cannot be so captured. (author)

LFR safety approach and main ELFR safety analysis results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bubelis, E.; Schikorr, M.; Frogheri, M.; Mansani, L.; Bandini, G.; Burgazzi, L.; Mikityuk, K.; Zhang, Y.; Lo Frano, R.; Forgione, N.

2013-01-01

LFR safety approach: → A global safety approach for the LFR reference plant has been assessed and the safety analyses methodology has been developed. → LFR follows the general guidelines of the Generation IV safety concept recommendations. Thus, improved safety and higher reliability are recognized as an essential priority. → The fundamental safety objectives and the Defence-in-Depth (DiD) approach, as described by IAEA Safety Guides, have been preserved. → The recommendations of the Risk and Safety Working Group (RSWG) of GEN-IV IF has been taken into account: • safety is to be “built-in” in the fundamental design rather than “added on”; • full implementation of the Defence-in-Depth principles in a manner that is demonstrably exhaustive, progressive, tolerant, forgiving and well-balanced; • “risk-informed” approach - deterministic approach complemented with a probabilistic one; • adoption of an integrated methodology that can be used to evaluate and document the safety of Gen IV nuclear systems - ISAM. In particular the OPT tool is the fundamental methodology used throughout the design process

A Bayesian Network methodology for railway risk, safety and decision support

OpenAIRE

Mahboob, Qamar

2014-01-01

For railways, risk analysis is carried out to identify hazardous situations and their consequences. Until recently, classical methods such as Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Event Tree Analysis (ETA) were applied in modelling the linear and logically deterministic aspects of railway risks, safety and reliability. However, it has been proven that modern railway systems are rather complex, involving multi-dependencies between system variables and uncertainties about these dependencies. For train ...

Safety campaigns. TIS Launches New Safety Information Campaign

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

Need to start a new installation and worried about safety aspects? Or are you newly responsible for safety matters in a CERN building? Perhaps you're simply interested in how to make the working environment safer for yourself and your colleagues. Whatever the case, a new information campaign launched by TIS this week can help. The most visible aspects of the new campaign will be posters distributed around the Laboratory treating a different subject each month. The Web site - http://safety.cern.ch/ - which provides all safety related information. But these are not the only aspects of the new campaign. Members of the TIS/GS group, whose contact details can be found on the safety web site, are available to give information and advice on a one-to-one basis at any time. The campaign's launch has been timed to coincide with European Safety Week, organized by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and the subject treated in the first posters is safety inspection. This particular topic only concerns thos...

Mobilizing local safety nets for enhanced adaptive capacity to ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

22 avr. 2016 ... In Zimbabwe, the increased frequency of drought, flash floods, and unpredictable rainfall has added to recurrent food deficits for poor households who depend on rainfed farming on nutrient poor soils. This brief explores how the erosion of Zunde raMambo — a traditional community safety net mechanism ...

The association between EMS workplace safety culture and safety outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Matthew D; Wang, Henry E; Fairbanks, Rollin J; Patterson, Daniel

2012-01-01

Prior studies have highlighted wide variation in emergency medical services (EMS) workplace safety culture across agencies. To determine the association between EMS workplace safety culture scores and patient or provider safety outcomes. We administered a cross-sectional survey to EMS workers affiliated with a convenience sample of agencies. We recruited these agencies from a national EMS management organization. We used the EMS Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (EMS-SAQ) to measure workplace safety culture and the EMS Safety Inventory (EMS-SI), a tool developed to capture self-reported safety outcomes from EMS workers. The EMS-SAQ provides reliable and valid measures of six domains: safety climate, teamwork climate, perceptions of management, working conditions, stress recognition, and job satisfaction. A panel of medical directors, emergency medical technicians and paramedics, and occupational epidemiologists developed the EMS-SI to measure self-reported injury, medical errors and adverse events, and safety-compromising behaviors. We used hierarchical linear models to evaluate the association between EMS-SAQ scores and EMS-SI safety outcome measures. Sixteen percent of all respondents reported experiencing an injury in the past three months, four of every 10 respondents reported an error or adverse event (AE), and 89% reported safety-compromising behaviors. Respondents reporting injury scored lower on five of the six domains of safety culture. Respondents reporting an error or AE scored lower for four of the six domains, while respondents reporting safety-compromising behavior had lower safety culture scores for five of the six domains. Individual EMS worker perceptions of workplace safety culture are associated with composite measures of patient and provider safety outcomes. This study is preliminary evidence of the association between safety culture and patient or provider safety outcomes.

A utility theoretic view on probabilistic safety criteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holmberg, J.E.

1997-03-01

A probabilistic safety criterion specifies the maximum acceptable hazard rates of various accidental consequences. Assuming that the criterion depends also on the benefit of the process to society and on the licensing time applied, we can regard such statements as preference relations. In this paper, a probabilistic safety criterion is interpreted to mean that if the accident hazard rate is higher than the accident hazard rate criterion, then the optimal stopping time of a hazardous process is shorter than the licensing time. This interpretation yields a condition for a feasible utility function. In particular, we derive such a condition for the parameters of a linear plus exponential utility function. (orig.) (12 refs.)

Transformational and passive leadership as cross-level moderators of the relationships between safety knowledge, safety motivation, and safety participation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Lixin; Probst, Tahira M

2016-06-01

While safety knowledge and safety motivation are well-established predictors of safety participation, less is known about the impact of leadership styles on these relationships. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether the positive relationships between safety knowledge and motivation and safety participation are contingent on transformational and passive forms of safety leadership. Using multilevel modeling with a sample of 171 employees nested in 40 workgroups, we found that transformational safety leadership strengthened the safety knowledge-participation relationship, whereas passive leadership weakened the safety motivation-participation relationship. Under low transformational leadership, safety motivation was not related to safety participation; under high passive leadership, safety knowledge was not related to safety participation. These results are discussed in light of organizational efforts to increase safety-related citizenship behaviors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

Selecting of key safety parameters in reactor nuclear safety supervision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He Fan; Yu Hong

2014-01-01

The safety parameters indicate the operational states and safety of research reactor are the basis of nuclear safety supervision institution to carry out effective supervision to nuclear facilities. In this paper, the selecting of key safety parameters presented by the research reactor operating unit to National Nuclear Safety Administration that can express the research reactor operational states and safety when operational occurrence or nuclear accident happens, and the interrelationship between them are discussed. Analysis shows that, the key parameters to nuclear safety supervision of research reactor including design limits, operational limits and conditions, safety system settings, safety limits, acceptable limits and emergency action level etc. (authors)

Perceived organizational support for safety and employee safety voice: the mediating role of coworker support for safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, Sean; Chmiel, Nik; Turner, Nick; Hershcovis, M Sandy; Stride, Chris B

2008-10-01

In the present study, we modeled 2 sources of safety support (perceived organizational support for safety and perceived coworker support for safety) as predictors of employee safety voice, that is, speaking out in an attempt to change unsafe working conditions. Drawing on social exchange and social impact theories, we hypothesized and tested a mediated model predicting employee safety voice using a cross-sectional survey of urban bus drivers (n = 213) in the United Kingdom. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that perceived coworker support for safety fully mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support for safety and employee safety voice. This study adds to the employee voice literature by evaluating the important role that coworkers can play in encouraging others to speak out about safety issues. Implications for research and practice related to change-oriented safety communication are discussed.

Safety of Research Reactors. Specific Safety Requirements (French Edition)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-01-01

This Safety Requirements publication establishes requirements for all main areas of safety for research reactors, with particular emphasis on requirements for design and operation. It explains the safety objectives and concepts that form the basis for safety and safety assessment for all stages in the lifetime of a research reactor. Technical and administrative requirements for the safety of new research reactors are established in accordance with these objectives and concepts, and they are to be applied to the extent practicable for existing research reactors. The safety requirements established in this publication for the management of safety and regulatory supervision apply to site evaluation, design, manufacturing, construction, commissioning, operation (including utilization and modification), and planning for decommissioning of research reactors (including critical assemblies and subcritical assemblies). The publication is intended for use by regulatory bodies and other organizations with responsibilities in these areas and in safety analysis, verification and review, and the provision of technical support.

Evaluation of repository safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sagar, B.; Patrick, W.; Dasgupta, B.; Mohanty, S. [Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses, San Antonio (United States)

2002-07-01

The United States high-level waste program requires evaluation of radiological safety during two distinct time intervals. The first interval, commonly referred to as the preclosure period, deals with receipt of waste at the site, transfer into disposal containers, if needed, emplacement in the underground openings, monitoring and maintenance activities, backfill and closure of the underground openings, and decontamination and decommissioning of the surface facilities of the geologic repository. The preclosure period may extend from a few tens of years to as long as a few hundred of years, depending on repository design and societal norms regarding a final decision to permanently seal the repository. During the preclosure or operational period, performance confirmation studies are conducted to provide a basis for updating and reevaluating estimates of postclosure performance and, finally, to provide a basis for a closure decision. The postclosure period during which expected repository performance must meet certain standards may range from ten thousands years, as it does in the United States, to millions of years, as it does in some European nations. Waste handling operations in the preclosure period are to be evaluated in relation to their potential effect on workers, members of general public, and the general environment. During this period, releases of radioactivity are to be monitored and appropriate actions taken whenever established limits are approached or exceeded. Preclosure safety is highly dependent on facility design, operational hardware and automated systems, operational sequences, and reliability of humans involved in operations. Preclosure safety analyses conducted before operations begin play a major role in the design process, selection of equipment, and development of operational procedures. Because of the complexity, duration, and spatial scales of the operations, analyses are conducted using mathematical models implemented in computer codes

Evaluation of repository safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sagar, B.; Patrick, W.; Dasgupta, B.; Mohanty, S.

2002-01-01

The United States high-level waste program requires evaluation of radiological safety during two distinct time intervals. The first interval, commonly referred to as the preclosure period, deals with receipt of waste at the site, transfer into disposal containers, if needed, emplacement in the underground openings, monitoring and maintenance activities, backfill and closure of the underground openings, and decontamination and decommissioning of the surface facilities of the geologic repository. The preclosure period may extend from a few tens of years to as long as a few hundred of years, depending on repository design and societal norms regarding a final decision to permanently seal the repository. During the preclosure or operational period, performance confirmation studies are conducted to provide a basis for updating and reevaluating estimates of postclosure performance and, finally, to provide a basis for a closure decision. The postclosure period during which expected repository performance must meet certain standards may range from ten thousands years, as it does in the United States, to millions of years, as it does in some European nations. Waste handling operations in the preclosure period are to be evaluated in relation to their potential effect on workers, members of general public, and the general environment. During this period, releases of radioactivity are to be monitored and appropriate actions taken whenever established limits are approached or exceeded. Preclosure safety is highly dependent on facility design, operational hardware and automated systems, operational sequences, and reliability of humans involved in operations. Preclosure safety analyses conducted before operations begin play a major role in the design process, selection of equipment, and development of operational procedures. Because of the complexity, duration, and spatial scales of the operations, analyses are conducted using mathematical models implemented in computer codes

Relationships among Safety Climate, Safety Behavior, and Safety Outcomes for Ethnic Minority Construction Workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sainan Lyu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In many countries, it is common practice to attract and employ ethnic minority (EM or migrant workers in the construction industry. This primarily occurs in order to alleviate the labor shortage caused by an aging workforce with a lack of new entrants. Statistics show that EM construction workers are more likely to have occupational fatal and nonfatal injuries than their local counterparts; however, the mechanism underlying accidents and injuries in this vulnerable population has been rarely examined. This study aims to investigate relationships among safety climate, safety behavior, and safety outcomes for EM construction workers. To this end, a theoretical research model was developed based on a comprehensive review of the current literature. In total, 289 valid questionnaires were collected face-to-face from 223 Nepalese construction workers and 56 Pakistani construction workers working on 15 construction sites in Hong Kong. Structural equation modelling was employed to validate the constructs and test the hypothesized model. Results show that there were significant positive relationships between safety climate and safety behaviors, and significant negative relationships between safety behaviors and safety outcomes for EM construction workers. This research contributes to the literature regarding EM workers by providing empirical evidence of the mechanisms by which safety climate affects safety behaviors and outcomes. It also provides insights in order to help the key stakeholders formulate safety strategies for EM workers in many areas where numerous EM workers are employed, such as in the U.S., the UK, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Middle East.

Relationships among Safety Climate, Safety Behavior, and Safety Outcomes for Ethnic Minority Construction Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Sainan; Hon, Carol K H; Chan, Albert P C; Wong, Francis K W; Javed, Arshad Ali

2018-03-09

In many countries, it is common practice to attract and employ ethnic minority (EM) or migrant workers in the construction industry. This primarily occurs in order to alleviate the labor shortage caused by an aging workforce with a lack of new entrants. Statistics show that EM construction workers are more likely to have occupational fatal and nonfatal injuries than their local counterparts; however, the mechanism underlying accidents and injuries in this vulnerable population has been rarely examined. This study aims to investigate relationships among safety climate, safety behavior, and safety outcomes for EM construction workers. To this end, a theoretical research model was developed based on a comprehensive review of the current literature. In total, 289 valid questionnaires were collected face-to-face from 223 Nepalese construction workers and 56 Pakistani construction workers working on 15 construction sites in Hong Kong. Structural equation modelling was employed to validate the constructs and test the hypothesized model. Results show that there were significant positive relationships between safety climate and safety behaviors, and significant negative relationships between safety behaviors and safety outcomes for EM construction workers. This research contributes to the literature regarding EM workers by providing empirical evidence of the mechanisms by which safety climate affects safety behaviors and outcomes. It also provides insights in order to help the key stakeholders formulate safety strategies for EM workers in many areas where numerous EM workers are employed, such as in the U.S., the UK, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Middle East.

Safety management in multiemployer worksites in the manufacturing industry: opinions on co-operation and problems encountered.

Science.gov (United States)

Nenonen, Sanna; Vasara, Juha

2013-01-01

Co-operation between different parties and effective safety management play an important role in ensuring safety in multiemployer worksites. This article reviews safety co-operation and factors complicating safety management in Finnish multiemployer manufacturing worksites. The paper focuses on the service providers' opinions; however, a comparison of the customers' views is also presented. The results show that safety-related co-operation between providers and customers is generally considered as successful but strongly dependent on the partner. Safety co-operation is provided through, e.g., training, orientation and risk analysis. Problems encountered include ensuring adequate communication, identifying hazards, co-ordinating work tasks and determining responsibilities. The providers and the customers encounter similar safety management problems. The results presented in this article can help companies to focus their efforts on the most problematic points of safety management and to avoid common pitfalls.

Best practices in identifying, reporting and screening operating experience at nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-03-01

IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SF-1 entitled Fundamental Safety Principles: Safety Fundamentals states the need for operating organizations to establish a programme for the collection and analysis of operating experience in nuclear power plants. Such a programme ensures that operating experience is analysed, events important to safety are reviewed in depth, lessons learned are disseminated to the staff of the organization and to relevant national and international organizations, and corrective actions are effectively implemented. This publication has been developed to provide advice and assistance to nuclear installations, and related institutions including contractors and support organizations to strengthen and enhance their own feedback process through the implementation of best practices in identifying, reporting and screening processes and to assess the effectiveness of the above areas. To support a proactive safety management approach the nuclear installations are enhancing the operating experience feedback (OEF) processes. For this purpose, the nuclear industry is striving to collect more information on occurrences that are useful to address the early signs of declining performance and improve operational safety performance. In this environment a strong reporting culture that motivates people to identify and report issues is an important attribute. As a consequence, the number and diversity of issues identified increases, and there is a need to set thresholds of screening for further treatment. Thus, the establishment of an effective identification, reporting and screening process is very beneficial to streamline the efforts, and ensure that major incidents and latent weaknesses are being addressed and that operating experience is treated according to its significance. This leads to improved safety and production. This publication was written to complement the publication IAEA Services Series No. 10 - PROSPER Guidelines - Guidelines for Peer Review and for

Patient safety in otolaryngology: a descriptive review.

Science.gov (United States)

Danino, Julian; Muzaffar, Jameel; Metcalfe, Chris; Coulson, Chris

2017-03-01

Otolaryngology, although patient safety has evolved along similar themes as other surgical specialties; there are several specific high-risk areas. Medical error is a common problem and its human cost is of immense importance. Steps to reduce such errors require the identification of high-risk practice within a complex healthcare system. The commitment to patient safety and quality improvement in medicine depend on personal responsibility and professional accountability.

Condition-dependent individual decision-making determines cyprinid partial migration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodersen, J.; Nilsson, P.A.; Hansson, L.A.

2008-01-01

with decreased access to food. Furthermore, fewer unfed migrants returned to the lake, indicating higher overwinter mortality. Our results suggest that individual fish trade off safety from predation and access to food differently depending on their body condition, which results in a condition-dependent partial...... migration. Hence, our main conclusion is that individual decision-making is based on assessment of own condition which offers a mechanistic explanation to partial migration. Moreover, this may be of high importance for understanding population responses to environmental variation as well as ecosystem...

Impacts on health and safety from transfer/consolidation of nuclear materials and hazardous chemicals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gallucci, R.H.V.

1994-11-01

Environmental restoration plans at the US Department of Energy (USDOE) Hanford Site calls for transfer/consolidation of ''targets/threats,'' namely nuclear materials and hazardous chemicals. Reductions in the health and safety hazards will depend on the plans implemented. Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) estimated these potential impacts, assuming implementation of the current reference plan and employing ongoing risk and safety analyses. The results indicated the potential for ''significant'' reductions in health and safety hazards in the long term (> 25 years) and a potentially ''noteworthy'' reduction in health hazard in the short term (≤ 25 years)

Safety culture : a significant influence on safety in transportation

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-01

An organizations safety culture can influence safety outcomes. Research and experience show that when safety culture is strong, accidents are less frequent and less severe. As a result, building and maintaining strong safety cultures should be a t...

Analysis of societal recognition about domestic nuclear power plant safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, S. H.; Kim, J. W.; Kang, C. S.

2003-01-01

The public acceptance to risk from a new technology depends on not only perceived risk but also many conditional factors. Though nuclear energy has many benefits, it is unreasonably perceived to be more dangerous than real. Hence, it is necessary to estimate the public recognition of safety of nuclear power and to study the social aspects relevant to the subject. To achieve the purpose, poll survey was carried out for the public and expert group. Through the poll survey, it has been found that many crucial differences exist between the quantitative risk and the perceived risk of the public. The results of this study are used as the reference data for establishing the social standards and formulating the safety philosophy for the safety of nuclear power plants hereafter

Fundamentals of a graded approach to safety-related equipment setpoints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woodruff, B.A.; Cash, J.S. Jr.; Bockhorst, R.M.

1993-01-01

The concept of using a graded approach to reconstitute instrument setpoints associated with safety-related equipment was first presented to the industry by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the 1992 ISA/POWID Symposium in Kansas City, Missouri. The graded approach establishes that the manner in which a utility analyzes and documents setpoints is related to each setpoint's relative importance to safety. This allows a utility to develop separate requirements for setpoints of varying levels of safety significance. A graded approach to setpoints is a viable strategy that minimizes extraneous effort expended in resolving difficult issues that arise when formal setpoint methodology is applied blindly to all setpoints. Close examination of setpoint methodology reveals that the application of a graded approach is fundamentally dependent on the analytical basis of each individual setpoint

Students' Perception of International Business Curriculum: An Explorative Study--Case of Lebanon

Science.gov (United States)

Bahhouth, Victor; Spillan, John E.; Bahhouth, Jocelyne; Khoueiri, Roy

2012-01-01

Economic development depends on business education for a thriving and secure society. A skilled workforce that can create, innovate, and increase business opportunities fosters an environment of prosperity that provides jobs and enhances the quality of life among its citizens. This article examines the environment, content, and delivery of…

Reflective Role-Playing in the Development of Dialogic Skill

Science.gov (United States)

Hersted, Lone

2017-01-01

Whether an organization prospers depends importantly on the relationships among its participants, and central to the success of relationships is the process of dialogue. This article describes an action-based educational practice for enhancing dialogical and relational skills among members of an organization. The effort draws on concepts of…

Impact of EU Enlargement on Business Environment of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Slovakia

OpenAIRE

Ján Vravec; Marián Gál; Tomás Sabol

2005-01-01

The paper discusses the impact of EU enlargement on business environment in the Slovak Republic. Integration of Slovakia into EU has significantly influenced operating conditions for small and medium enterprises. Prosperity of small and medium enterprises depends mainly on their ability to adapt themselves to these new conditions.

Nonclinical safety strategies for stem cell therapies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sharpe, Michaela E., E-mail: michaela_sharpe@yahoo.com [Investigative Toxicology, Drug Safety Research and Development, Pfizer Ltd, Ramsgate Road, Sandwich, CT13 9NJ (United Kingdom); Morton, Daniel [Exploratory Drug Safety, Drug Safety Research and Development, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, 02140 (United States); Rossi, Annamaria [Investigative Toxicology, Drug Safety Research and Development, Pfizer Ltd, Ramsgate Road, Sandwich, CT13 9NJ (United Kingdom)

2012-08-01

Recent breakthroughs in stem cell biology, especially the development of the induced pluripotent stem cell techniques, have generated tremendous enthusiasm and efforts to explore the therapeutic potential of stem cells in regenerative medicine. Stem cell therapies are being considered for the treatment of degenerative diseases, inflammatory conditions, cancer and repair of damaged tissue. The safety of a stem cell therapy depends on many factors including the type of cell therapy, the differentiation status and proliferation capacity of the cells, the route of administration, the intended clinical location, long term survival of the product and/or engraftment, the need for repeated administration, the disease to be treated and the age of the population. Understanding the product profile of the intended therapy is crucial to the development of the nonclinical safety study design.

Nonclinical safety strategies for stem cell therapies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharpe, Michaela E.; Morton, Daniel; Rossi, Annamaria

2012-01-01

Recent breakthroughs in stem cell biology, especially the development of the induced pluripotent stem cell techniques, have generated tremendous enthusiasm and efforts to explore the therapeutic potential of stem cells in regenerative medicine. Stem cell therapies are being considered for the treatment of degenerative diseases, inflammatory conditions, cancer and repair of damaged tissue. The safety of a stem cell therapy depends on many factors including the type of cell therapy, the differentiation status and proliferation capacity of the cells, the route of administration, the intended clinical location, long term survival of the product and/or engraftment, the need for repeated administration, the disease to be treated and the age of the population. Understanding the product profile of the intended therapy is crucial to the development of the nonclinical safety study design.

Total safety management: An approach to improving safety culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blush, S.M.

1993-01-01

A little over 4 yr ago, Admiral James D. Watkins became Secretary of Energy. President Bush, who had appointed him, informed Watkins that his principal task would be to clean up the nuclear weapons complex and put the US Department of Energy (DOE) back in the business of producing tritium for the nation's nuclear deterrent. Watkins recognized that in order to achieve these objectives, he would have to substantially improve the DOE's safety culture. Safety culture is a relatively new term. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) used it in a 1986 report on the root causes of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In 1990, the IAEA's International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group issued a document focusing directly on safety culture. It provides guidelines to the international nuclear community for measuring the effectiveness of safety culture in nuclear organizations. Safety culture has two principal aspects: an organizational framework conducive to safety and the necessary organizational and individual attitudes that promote safety. These obviously go hand in hand. An organization must create the right framework to foster the right attitudes, but individuals must have the right attitudes to create the organizational framework that will support a good safety culture. The difficulty in developing such a synergistic relationship suggests that achieving and sustaining a strong safety culture is not easy, particularly in an organization whose safety culture is in serious disrepair

Safety for Users

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2008-01-01

CERN welcomes more than 8000 Users every year. The PH Department as host to these scientific associates requires the highest safety standards. The PH Safety Office has published a Safety Flyer for Users. Important safety topics and procedures are presented. Although the Flyer is intended primarily to provide safety information for Users, the PH Safety Office invites all those on the CERN sites to keep a copy of the flyer as it gives guidance in matters of safety and explains what to do in the event of an emergency. Link: http://ph-dep.web.cern.ch/ph-dep/Safety/SafetyOffice.html PH-Safety Office PH Department

Safety for Users

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2008-01-01

CERN welcomes more than 8000 Users every year. The PH Department as host to these scientific associates requires the highest safety standards. The PH Safety Office has published a safety flyer for Users. Important safety topics and procedures are presented. Although the flyer is intended primarily to provide safety information for Users, the PH Safety Office invites all those on the CERN sites to keep a copy of the flyer as it gives guidance in matters of safety and explains what to do in the event of an emergency. The flyer is available at: http://ph-dep.web.cern.ch/ph-dep/Safety/SafetyOffice.html PH-Safety Office PH Department

Food safety performance indicators to benchmark food safety output of food safety management systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacxsens, L; Uyttendaele, M; Devlieghere, F; Rovira, J; Gomez, S Oses; Luning, P A

2010-07-31

There is a need to measure the food safety performance in the agri-food chain without performing actual microbiological analysis. A food safety performance diagnosis, based on seven indicators and corresponding assessment grids have been developed and validated in nine European food businesses. Validation was conducted on the basis of an extensive microbiological assessment scheme (MAS). The assumption behind the food safety performance diagnosis is that food businesses which evaluate the performance of their food safety management system in a more structured way and according to very strict and specific criteria will have a better insight in their actual microbiological food safety performance, because food safety problems will be more systematically detected. The diagnosis can be a useful tool to have a first indication about the microbiological performance of a food safety management system present in a food business. Moreover, the diagnosis can be used in quantitative studies to get insight in the effect of interventions on sector or governmental level. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Food Safety in the Context of the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasile

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Food safety is a component of food security. According to Codex Alimentarius, food safety is “assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use”. Food products ‒ processed or fresh ‒ sold to final consumers must not affect their health as a result of direct consumption or processing, depending on the intended purpose of each. In order for a food product ‒ unprocessed, partially or totally processed or newly created ‒ to be safe, it must necessarily fulfil three conditions: to have innocuousness, to be salubrious, not to endanger the human body, that is the normal and healthy consumer; to have nutritional and energy value; food nutrients to be available for the body. Both the European and the national general regulatory frameworks on food safety set the consumer’s right to a safe diet. The normative acts adopted by the European Union (EU are aimed at harmonizing national food safety standards so that the free movement of food products can be achieved as efficiently as possible. In this respect, the European Union has developed a rich legislative body on food safety, animal health and welfare, and plant health, which is binding in all EU countries.

Safety first. Status reports on the IAEA's safety standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webb, G.; Karbassioun, A.; Linsley, G.; Rawl, R.

1998-01-01

Documents in the IAEA's Safety Standards Series known as RASS (Radiation Safety Standards) are produced to develop an internally consistent set of regulatory-style publications that reflects an international consensus on the principles of radiation protection and safety and their application through regulation. In this article are briefly presented the Agency's programmes on Nuclear Safety Standards (NUSS), Radioactive Waste Safety Standards (RADWASS), and Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials

Safety analysis SFR 1. Long-term safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2008-12-15

An updated assessment of the long-term safety of SKB's final repository for radioactive operational waste, SFR 1, is presented in this report. The report is included in the safety analysis report for SFR 1. The most recent account of long-term safety was submitted to the regulatory authorities in 2001. The present report has been compiled on SKB's initiative to address the regulatory authorities' viewpoints regarding the preceding account of long-term safety. Besides the new mode of working with safety functions there is another important difference between the 2001 safety assessment and the current assessment: The time horizon in the current assessment has been extended to 100,000 years in order to include the effect of future climate changes. The purpose of this renewed assessment of the long-term safety of SFR 1 is to show with improved data that the repository is capable of protecting human health and the environment against ionizing radiation in a long-term perspective. This is done by showing that calculated risks lie below the risk criteria stipulated by the regulatory authorities. SFR 1 is built to receive, and after closure serve as a passive repository for, low. and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The disposal chambers are situated in rock beneath the sea floor, covered by about 60 metres of rock. The underground part of the facility is reached via two tunnels whose entrances are near the harbour. The repository has been designed so that it can be abandoned after closure without further measures needing to be taken to maintain its function. The waste in SFR 1 is short-lived low- and intermediate-level waste. After 100 years the activity is less than half, and after 1,000 years only about 2% of the original activity remains. The report on long-term safety comprises eleven chapters. Chapter 1 Introduction. The chapter describes the purpose, background, format and contents of SAR-08, applicable regulations and injunctions, and the regulatory

Safety analysis SFR 1. Long-term safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-12-01

An updated assessment of the long-term safety of SKB's final repository for radioactive operational waste, SFR 1, is presented in this report. The report is included in the safety analysis report for SFR 1. The most recent account of long-term safety was submitted to the regulatory authorities in 2001. The present report has been compiled on SKB's initiative to address the regulatory authorities' viewpoints regarding the preceding account of long-term safety. Besides the new mode of working with safety functions there is another important difference between the 2001 safety assessment and the current assessment: The time horizon in the current assessment has been extended to 100,000 years in order to include the effect of future climate changes. The purpose of this renewed assessment of the long-term safety of SFR 1 is to show with improved data that the repository is capable of protecting human health and the environment against ionizing radiation in a long-term perspective. This is done by showing that calculated risks lie below the risk criteria stipulated by the regulatory authorities. SFR 1 is built to receive, and after closure serve as a passive repository for, low. and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The disposal chambers are situated in rock beneath the sea floor, covered by about 60 metres of rock. The underground part of the facility is reached via two tunnels whose entrances are near the harbour. The repository has been designed so that it can be abandoned after closure without further measures needing to be taken to maintain its function. The waste in SFR 1 is short-lived low- and intermediate-level waste. After 100 years the activity is less than half, and after 1,000 years only about 2% of the original activity remains. The report on long-term safety comprises eleven chapters. Chapter 1 Introduction. The chapter describes the purpose, background, format and contents of SAR-08, applicable regulations and injunctions, and the regulatory

Safety analysis SFR 1. Long-term safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2008-12-15

An updated assessment of the long-term safety of SKB's final repository for radioactive operational waste, SFR 1, is presented in this report. The report is included in the safety analysis report for SFR 1. The most recent account of long-term safety was submitted to the regulatory authorities in 2001. The present report has been compiled on SKB's initiative to address the regulatory authorities' viewpoints regarding the preceding account of long-term safety. Besides the new mode of working with safety functions there is another important difference between the 2001 safety assessment and the current assessment: The time horizon in the current assessment has been extended to 100,000 years in order to include the effect of future climate changes. The purpose of this renewed assessment of the long-term safety of SFR 1 is to show with improved data that the repository is capable of protecting human health and the environment against ionizing radiation in a long-term perspective. This is done by showing that calculated risks lie below the risk criteria stipulated by the regulatory authorities. SFR 1 is built to receive, and after closure serve as a passive repository for, low. and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The disposal chambers are situated in rock beneath the sea floor, covered by about 60 metres of rock. The underground part of the facility is reached via two tunnels whose entrances are near the harbour. The repository has been designed so that it can be abandoned after closure without further measures needing to be taken to maintain its function. The waste in SFR 1 is short-lived low- and intermediate-level waste. After 100 years the activity is less than half, and after 1,000 years only about 2% of the original activity remains. The report on long-term safety comprises eleven chapters. Chapter 1 Introduction. The chapter describes the purpose, background, format and contents of SAR-08, applicable regulations and injunctions, and the

Safety culture in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanguy, P.Y.

1996-01-01

The development of a good safety culture within the organisation and for the individual poses a sine qua non condition for the operator in the cause of the functioning of his plant. This task must be understood as a linking of the human into a daily management of the safety and quality. Everyone has his role to play at the level of his accountability and his field of responsibility in routine operations and in crisis situations. However, success depends on how management has understood, on the one hand, to convince the staff of the importance of the efforts and the usefulness of the measures taken within the organisation and, on the other hand, to keep this same staff applied to the carrying out of these measures and thus to take account of the anxieties and proposals in the spirit of responsibility and transparency. (author)

Integrated deterministic and probabilistic safety assessment: Concepts, challenges, research directions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zio, Enrico

2014-01-01

Highlights: • IDPSA contributes to robust risk-informed decision making in nuclear safety. • IDPSA considers time-dependent interactions among component failures and system process. • Also, IDPSA considers time-dependent interactions among control and operator actions. • Computational efficiency by advanced Monte Carlo and meta-modelling simulations. • Efficient post-processing of IDPSA output by clustering and data mining. - Abstract: Integrated deterministic and probabilistic safety assessment (IDPSA) is conceived as a way to analyze the evolution of accident scenarios in complex dynamic systems, like nuclear, aerospace and process ones, accounting for the mutual interactions between the failure and recovery of system components, the evolving physical processes, the control and operator actions, the software and firmware. In spite of the potential offered by IDPSA, several challenges need to be effectively addressed for its development and practical deployment. In this paper, we give an overview of these and discuss the related implications in terms of research perspectives

Integrated deterministic and probabilistic safety assessment: Concepts, challenges, research directions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zio, Enrico, E-mail: enrico.zio@ecp.fr [Ecole Centrale Paris and Supelec, Chair on System Science and the Energetic Challenge, European Foundation for New Energy – Electricite de France (EDF), Grande Voie des Vignes, 92295 Chatenay-Malabry Cedex (France); Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio 34/3, 20133 Milano (Italy)

2014-12-15

Highlights: • IDPSA contributes to robust risk-informed decision making in nuclear safety. • IDPSA considers time-dependent interactions among component failures and system process. • Also, IDPSA considers time-dependent interactions among control and operator actions. • Computational efficiency by advanced Monte Carlo and meta-modelling simulations. • Efficient post-processing of IDPSA output by clustering and data mining. - Abstract: Integrated deterministic and probabilistic safety assessment (IDPSA) is conceived as a way to analyze the evolution of accident scenarios in complex dynamic systems, like nuclear, aerospace and process ones, accounting for the mutual interactions between the failure and recovery of system components, the evolving physical processes, the control and operator actions, the software and firmware. In spite of the potential offered by IDPSA, several challenges need to be effectively addressed for its development and practical deployment. In this paper, we give an overview of these and discuss the related implications in terms of research perspectives.

Failure to replicate the deleterious effects of safety behaviors in exposure therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sy, Jennifer T; Dixon, Laura J; Lickel, James J; Nelson, Elizabeth A; Deacon, Brett J

2011-05-01

The current study attempted to replicate the finding obtained by Powers, Smits, and Telch (2004; Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 448-545) that both the availability and utilization of safety behaviors interfere with the efficacy of exposure therapy. An additional goal of the study was to evaluate which explanatory theories about the detrimental effects of safety behaviors best account for this phenomenon. Undergraduate students (N=58) with high claustrophobic fear were assigned to one of three treatment conditions: (a) exposure only, (b) exposure with safety behavior availability, and (c) exposure with safety behavior utilization. Participants in each condition improved substantially, and there were no significant between-group differences in fear reduction. Unexpectedly, exposure with safety behavior utilization led to significantly greater improvement in self-efficacy and claustrophobic cognitions than exposure only. The extent to which participants inferred danger from the presence of safety aids during treatment was associated with significantly less improvement on all outcome measures. The findings call into question the hypothesized deleterious effects of safety behaviors on the outcome of exposure therapy and highlight a possible mechanism through which the mere presence of safety cues during exposure trials might affect treatment outcomes depending on participants' perceptions of the dangerousness of exposure stimuli. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

IAEA safety standards and approach to safety of advanced reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gasparini, M.

2004-01-01

The paper presents an overview of the IAEA safety standards including their overall structure and purpose. A detailed presentation is devoted to the general approach to safety that is embodied in the current safety requirements for the design of nuclear power plants. A safety approach is proposed for the future. This approach can be used as reference for a safe design, for safety assessment and for the preparation of the safety requirements. The method proposes an integration of deterministic and risk informed concepts in the general frame of a generalized concept of safety goals and defence in depth. This methodology may provide a useful tool for the preparation of safety requirements for the design and operation of any kind of reactor including small and medium sized reactors with innovative safety features.(author)

Is road safety management linked to road safety performance?

Science.gov (United States)

Papadimitriou, Eleonora; Yannis, George

2013-10-01

This research aims to explore the relationship between road safety management and road safety performance at country level. For that purpose, an appropriate theoretical framework is selected, namely the 'SUNflower' pyramid, which describes road safety management systems in terms of a five-level hierarchy: (i) structure and culture, (ii) programmes and measures, (iii) 'intermediate' outcomes'--safety performance indicators (SPIs), (iv) final outcomes--fatalities and injuries, and (v) social costs. For each layer of the pyramid, a composite indicator is implemented, on the basis of data for 30 European countries. Especially as regards road safety management indicators, these are estimated on the basis of Categorical Principal Component Analysis upon the responses of a dedicated road safety management questionnaire, jointly created and dispatched by the ETSC/PIN group and the 'DaCoTA' research project. Then, quasi-Poisson models and Beta regression models are developed for linking road safety management indicators and other indicators (i.e. background characteristics, SPIs) with road safety performance. In this context, different indicators of road safety performance are explored: mortality and fatality rates, percentage reduction in fatalities over a given period, a composite indicator of road safety final outcomes, and a composite indicator of 'intermediate' outcomes (SPIs). The results of the analyses suggest that road safety management can be described on the basis of three composite indicators: "vision and strategy", "budget, evaluation and reporting", and "measurement of road user attitudes and behaviours". Moreover, no direct statistical relationship could be established between road safety management indicators and final outcomes. However, a statistical relationship was found between road safety management and 'intermediate' outcomes, which were in turn found to affect 'final' outcomes, confirming the SUNflower approach on the consecutive effect of each layer

Social identification moderates the effect of crowd density on safety at the Hajj.

Science.gov (United States)

Alnabulsi, Hani; Drury, John

2014-06-24

Crowd safety is a major concern for those attending and managing mass gatherings, such as the annual Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca (also called Makkah). One threat to crowd safety at such events is crowd density. However, recent research also suggests that psychological membership of crowds can have positive benefits. We tested the hypothesis that the effect of density on safety might vary depending on whether there is shared social identification in the crowd. We surveyed 1,194 pilgrims at the Holy Mosque, Mecca, during the 2012 Hajj. Analysis of the data showed that the negative effect of crowd density on reported safety was moderated by social identification with the crowd. Whereas low identifiers reported reduced safety with greater crowd density, high identifiers reported increased safety with greater crowd density. Mediation analysis suggested that a reason for these moderation effects was the perception that other crowd members were supportive. Differences in reported safety across national groups (Arab countries and Iran compared with the rest) were also explicable in terms of crowd identification and perceived support. These findings support a social identity account of crowd behavior and offer a novel perspective on crowd safety management.

Safety and operating experience at EBR-II: lessons for the future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sackett, J.I.; Golden, G.H.

1981-01-01

EBR-II is a small LMFBR power plant that has performed safely and reliably for 16 years. Much has been learned from operating it to facilitate the design, licensing, and operation of large commercial LMFBR power plants in the US. EBR-II has been found relatively easy to keep in conformity with evolving safety requirements, largely because of inherent safety features of the plant. Such features reduce dependence on active safety systems to protect against accidents. EBR-II has experienced a number of plant-transient incidents, some planned, others inadvertent; none has resulted in any significant plant damage. The operating experience with EBR-II has led to the formulation of an Operational Reliability Test Program (ORTP), aimed at showing inherently safe performance of fuel and plant systems

Present state of the safety concept of natural-draught cooling towers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraetzig, W.B.

1977-01-01

Safety and reliability of a building depend on the mechanical model chosen, on the shape deviations of the structure, as well as on the distribution functions and fractile values of the main influences and strength properties of the materials. For the shell, the supports, and the foundation of a natural-draught cooling tower, the wind plays a special, safety-reducing role due to the fact that its upper limit remains unknown. This role is still enhanced by the dead weight of the concrete which partially exceeds the tensile load. This requires a dimensioning concept with partial safety coefficients which is established in the present paper. So far, it has been successfully used in the construction of more than 50 cooling towers. (orig.) [de