A verified and efficient approach towards fatigue validation of safety parts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weihe, Stefan; Weigel, Nicolas [Daimler AG, Stuttgart (Germany); Dressler, Klaus; Speckert, Michael; Feth, Sascha

2011-07-01

In the automotive industry, safety parts must be designed according to the state of the art of science and technology such that they do not fail as long as the vehicle is used according to its purpose and misuse of the vehicle does not exceed a reasonably expectable degree. Due to scatter in customer loads and component properties, fatigue validation needs to be based on statistical methods. Mathematically sound methods are devised in order to make the validation process as efficient as possible. They allow considering all test results, including censored test data (e.g. tests suspended due to premature failure of components which are not under consideration). Furthermore, these methods permit adapting the success run criterion successively to the testing process. (orig.)

[Innovative technology and blood safety].

Science.gov (United States)

Begue, S; Morel, P; Djoudi, R

2016-11-01

If technological innovations are not enough alone to improve blood safety, their contributions for several decades in blood transfusion are major. The improvement of blood donation (new apheresis devices, RFID) or blood components (additive solutions, pathogen reduction technology, automated processing of platelets concentrates) or manufacturing process of these products (by automated processing of whole blood), all these steps where technological innovations were implemented, lead us to better traceability, more efficient processes, quality improvement of blood products and therefore increased blood safety for blood donors and patients. If we are on the threshold of a great change with the progress of pathogen reduction technology (for whole blood and red blood cells), we hope to see production of ex vivo red blood cells or platelets who are real and who open new conceptual paths on blood safety. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Validation and verification plan for safety and PRA codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ades, M.J.; Crowe, R.D.; Toffer, H.

1991-04-01

This report discusses a verification and validation (V ampersand V) plan for computer codes used for safety analysis and probabilistic risk assessment calculations. The present plan fulfills the commitments by Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) to the Department of Energy Savannah River Office (DOE-SRO) to bring the essential safety analysis and probabilistic risk assessment codes in compliance with verification and validation requirements

Obtaining Valid Safety Data for Software Safety Measurement and Process Improvement

Science.gov (United States)

Basili, Victor r.; Zelkowitz, Marvin V.; Layman, Lucas; Dangle, Kathleen; Diep, Madeline

2010-01-01

We report on a preliminary case study to examine software safety risk in the early design phase of the NASA Constellation spaceflight program. Our goal is to provide NASA quality assurance managers with information regarding the ongoing state of software safety across the program. We examined 154 hazard reports created during the preliminary design phase of three major flight hardware systems within the Constellation program. Our purpose was two-fold: 1) to quantify the relative importance of software with respect to system safety; and 2) to identify potential risks due to incorrect application of the safety process, deficiencies in the safety process, or the lack of a defined process. One early outcome of this work was to show that there are structural deficiencies in collecting valid safety data that make software safety different from hardware safety. In our conclusions we present some of these deficiencies.

System code improvements for modelling passive safety systems and their validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buchholz, Sebastian; Cron, Daniel von der; Schaffrath, Andreas [Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) gGmbH, Garching (Germany)

2016-11-15

GRS has been developing the system code ATHLET over many years. Because ATHLET, among other codes, is widely used in nuclear licensing and supervisory procedures, it has to represent the current state of science and technology. New reactor concepts such as Generation III+ and IV reactors and SMR are using passive safety systems intensively. The simulation of passive safety systems with the GRS system code ATHLET is still a big challenge, because of non-defined operation points and self-setting operation conditions. Additionally, the driving forces of passive safety systems are smaller and uncertainties of parameters have a larger impact than for active systems. This paper addresses the code validation and qualification work of ATHLET on the example of slightly inclined horizontal heat exchangers, which are e. g. used as emergency condensers (e. g. in the KERENA and the CAREM) or as heat exchanger in the passive auxiliary feed water systems (PAFS) of the APR+.

Proceedings of the driving safety technology forum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-01

This one day forum focused on improving driving safety in the petroleum industry by introducing new technologies and strategies. The forum featured several keynote addresses on driving safety as well as the Government of Alberta's Tactical Plan and Alberta Road Safety at Work Strategy. Presentations consisted of success stories of new technology or process applications or proposed technology demonstration projects followed by question and answer panels around the following topics: industry and government strategies; driver fatigue management and prevention; driver behaviour and culture change; vehicle monitoring systems and innovative wildlife avoidance techniques. Specific presentations addressed BP's driving safety strategy, in-cabin air quality and truck drivers' health and safety and how Talisman Energy implemented oilfield fleet safety using event driven automated vehicle location technologies. A total of 3 keynote addresses, 3 panel question and answer sessions and 11 presentations were presented at the conference, of which 3 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs.

Validity of instruments to assess students' travel and pedestrian safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baranowski Tom

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Safe Routes to School (SRTS programs are designed to make walking and bicycling to school safe and accessible for children. Despite their growing popularity, few validated measures exist for assessing important outcomes such as type of student transport or pedestrian safety behaviors. This research validated the SRTS school travel survey and a pedestrian safety behavior checklist. Methods Fourth grade students completed a brief written survey on how they got to school that day with set responses. Test-retest reliability was obtained 3-4 hours apart. Convergent validity of the SRTS travel survey was assessed by comparison to parents' report. For the measure of pedestrian safety behavior, 10 research assistants observed 29 students at a school intersection for completion of 8 selected pedestrian safety behaviors. Reliability was determined in two ways: correlations between the research assistants' ratings to that of the Principal Investigator (PI and intraclass correlations (ICC across research assistant ratings. Results The SRTS travel survey had high test-retest reliability (κ = 0.97, n = 96, p Conclusions These validated instruments can be used to assess SRTS programs. The pedestrian safety behavior checklist may benefit from further formative work.

Developing a model for hospital inherent safety assessment: Conceptualization and validation.

Science.gov (United States)

Yari, Saeed; Akbari, Hesam; Gholami Fesharaki, Mohammad; Khosravizadeh, Omid; Ghasemi, Mohammad; Barsam, Yalda; Akbari, Hamed

2018-01-01

Paying attention to the safety of hospitals, as the most crucial institute for providing medical and health services wherein a bundle of facilities, equipment, and human resource exist, is of significant importance. The present research aims at developing a model for assessing hospitals' safety based on principles of inherent safety design. Face validity (30 experts), content validity (20 experts), construct validity (268 examples), convergent validity, and divergent validity have been employed to validate the prepared questionnaire; and the items analysis, the Cronbach's alpha test, ICC test (to measure reliability of the test), composite reliability coefficient have been used to measure primary reliability. The relationship between variables and factors has been confirmed at 0.05 significance level by conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equations modeling (SEM) technique with the use of Smart-PLS. R-square and load factors values, which were higher than 0.67 and 0.300 respectively, indicated the strong fit. Moderation (0.970), simplification (0.959), substitution (0.943), and minimization (0.5008) have had the most weights in determining the inherent safety of hospital respectively. Moderation, simplification, and substitution, among the other dimensions, have more weight on the inherent safety, while minimization has the less weight, which could be due do its definition as to minimize the risk.

Validation testing of safety-critical software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hang Bae; Han, Jae Bok

1995-01-01

A software engineering process has been developed for the design of safety critical software for Wolsung 2/3/4 project to satisfy the requirements of the regulatory body. Among the process, this paper described the detail process of validation testing performed to ensure that the software with its hardware, developed by the design group, satisfies the requirements of the functional specification prepared by the independent functional group. To perform the tests, test facility and test software were developed and actual safety system computer was connected. Three kinds of test cases, i.e., functional test, performance test and self-check test, were programmed and run to verify each functional specifications. Test failures were feedback to the design group to revise the software and test results were analyzed and documented in the report to submit to the regulatory body. The test methodology and procedure were very efficient and satisfactory to perform the systematic and automatic test. The test results were also acceptable and successful to verify the software acts as specified in the program functional specification. This methodology can be applied to the validation of other safety-critical software. 2 figs., 2 tabs., 14 refs. (Author)

Validity of instruments to assess students' travel and pedestrian safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendoza, Jason A; Watson, Kathy; Baranowski, Tom; Nicklas, Theresa A; Uscanga, Doris K; Hanfling, Marcus J

2010-05-18

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs are designed to make walking and bicycling to school safe and accessible for children. Despite their growing popularity, few validated measures exist for assessing important outcomes such as type of student transport or pedestrian safety behaviors. This research validated the SRTS school travel survey and a pedestrian safety behavior checklist. Fourth grade students completed a brief written survey on how they got to school that day with set responses. Test-retest reliability was obtained 3-4 hours apart. Convergent validity of the SRTS travel survey was assessed by comparison to parents' report. For the measure of pedestrian safety behavior, 10 research assistants observed 29 students at a school intersection for completion of 8 selected pedestrian safety behaviors. Reliability was determined in two ways: correlations between the research assistants' ratings to that of the Principal Investigator (PI) and intraclass correlations (ICC) across research assistant ratings. The SRTS travel survey had high test-retest reliability (kappa = 0.97, n = 96, p < 0.001) and convergent validity (kappa = 0.87, n = 81, p < 0.001). The pedestrian safety behavior checklist had moderate reliability across research assistants' ratings (ICC = 0.48) and moderate correlation with the PI (r = 0.55, p = < 0.01). When two raters simultaneously used the instrument, the ICC increased to 0.65. Overall percent agreement (91%), sensitivity (85%) and specificity (83%) were acceptable. These validated instruments can be used to assess SRTS programs. The pedestrian safety behavior checklist may benefit from further formative work.

The Safety Culture Enactment Questionnaire (SCEQ): Theoretical model and empirical validation.

Science.gov (United States)

de Castro, Borja López; Gracia, Francisco J; Tomás, Inés; Peiró, José M

2017-06-01

This paper presents the Safety Culture Enactment Questionnaire (SCEQ), designed to assess the degree to which safety is an enacted value in the day-to-day running of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The SCEQ is based on a theoretical safety culture model that is manifested in three fundamental components of the functioning and operation of any organization: strategic decisions, human resources practices, and daily activities and behaviors. The extent to which the importance of safety is enacted in each of these three components provides information about the pervasiveness of the safety culture in the NPP. To validate the SCEQ and the model on which it is based, two separate studies were carried out with data collection in 2008 and 2014, respectively. In Study 1, the SCEQ was administered to the employees of two Spanish NPPs (N=533) belonging to the same company. Participants in Study 2 included 598 employees from the same NPPs, who completed the SCEQ and other questionnaires measuring different safety outcomes (safety climate, safety satisfaction, job satisfaction and risky behaviors). Study 1 comprised item formulation and examination of the factorial structure and reliability of the SCEQ. Study 2 tested internal consistency and provided evidence of factorial validity, validity based on relationships with other variables, and discriminant validity between the SCEQ and safety climate. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) carried out in Study 1 revealed a three-factor solution corresponding to the three components of the theoretical model. Reliability analyses showed strong internal consistency for the three scales of the SCEQ, and each of the 21 items on the questionnaire contributed to the homogeneity of its theoretically developed scale. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) carried out in Study 2 supported the internal structure of the SCEQ; internal consistency of the scales was also supported. Furthermore, the three scales of the SCEQ showed the expected correlation

The development and validation of a psychological contract of safety scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Arlene

2010-08-01

This paper builds on previous research by the author and describes the development and validation of a new measure of the psychological contract of safety. The psychological contract of safety is defined as the beliefs of individuals about reciprocal safety obligations inferred from implicit and explicit promises. A psychological contract is established when an individual believes that perceived employer and employee safety obligations are contingent on each other. A pilot test of the measure is first undertaken with participants from three different occupations: nurses, construction workers, and meat processing workers (N=99). Item analysis is used to refine the measure and provide initial validation of the scale. A larger validation study is then conducted with a participant sample of health care workers (N=424) to further refine the measure and to determine the psychometric properties of the scale. Item and correlational analyses produced the final employer and employee obligations scales, consisting of 21 and 17 items, respectively. Factor analyses identified two underlying dimensions in each scale comparable to that previously established in the organizational literature. These transactional and relational-type obligations provided construct validity of the scale. Internal consistency ratings using Cronbach's alpha found the components of the psychological contract of safety measure to be reliable. The refined and validated psychological contract of safety measure will allow investigation of the positive and negative outcomes associated with fulfilment and breach of the psychological contract of safety in future research. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Connecting Technological Innovation in Artificial Intelligence to Real-world Medical Practice through Rigorous Clinical Validation: What Peer-reviewed Medical Journals Could Do

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

Artificial intelligence (AI) is projected to substantially influence clinical practice in the foreseeable future. However, despite the excitement around the technologies, it is yet rare to see examples of robust clinical validation of the technologies and, as a result, very few are currently in clinical use. A thorough, systematic validation of AI technologies using adequately designed clinical research studies before their integration into clinical practice is critical to ensure patient benefit and safety while avoiding any inadvertent harms. We would like to suggest several specific points regarding the role that peer-reviewed medical journals can play, in terms of study design, registration, and reporting, to help achieve proper and meaningful clinical validation of AI technologies designed to make medical diagnosis and prediction, focusing on the evaluation of diagnostic accuracy efficacy. Peer-reviewed medical journals can encourage investigators who wish to validate the performance of AI systems for medical diagnosis and prediction to pay closer attention to the factors listed in this article by emphasizing their importance. Thereby, peer-reviewed medical journals can ultimately facilitate translating the technological innovations into real-world practice while securing patient safety and benefit.

Connecting Technological Innovation in Artificial Intelligence to Real-world Medical Practice through Rigorous Clinical Validation: What Peer-reviewed Medical Journals Could Do.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Seong Ho; Kressel, Herbert Y

2018-05-28

Artificial intelligence (AI) is projected to substantially influence clinical practice in the foreseeable future. However, despite the excitement around the technologies, it is yet rare to see examples of robust clinical validation of the technologies and, as a result, very few are currently in clinical use. A thorough, systematic validation of AI technologies using adequately designed clinical research studies before their integration into clinical practice is critical to ensure patient benefit and safety while avoiding any inadvertent harms. We would like to suggest several specific points regarding the role that peer-reviewed medical journals can play, in terms of study design, registration, and reporting, to help achieve proper and meaningful clinical validation of AI technologies designed to make medical diagnosis and prediction, focusing on the evaluation of diagnostic accuracy efficacy. Peer-reviewed medical journals can encourage investigators who wish to validate the performance of AI systems for medical diagnosis and prediction to pay closer attention to the factors listed in this article by emphasizing their importance. Thereby, peer-reviewed medical journals can ultimately facilitate translating the technological innovations into real-world practice while securing patient safety and benefit.

Safety evaluations required in the safety regulations for Monju and the validity confirmation of safety evaluation methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-08-15

The purposes of this study are to perform the safety evaluations of the fast breeder reactor 'Monju' and to confirm the validity of the safety evaluation methods. In JFY 2012, the following results were obtained. As for the development of safety evaluation methods needed in the safety examination achieved for the reactor establishment permission, development of the analysis codes, such as a core damage analysis code, were carried out according to the plan. As for the development of the safety evaluation method needed for the risk informed safety regulation, the quantification technique of the event tree using the Continuous Markov chain Monte Carlo method (CMMC method) were studied. (author)

The impact of health information technology on patient safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasser K. Alotaibi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Since the original Institute of Medicine (IOM report was published there has been an accelerated development and adoption of health information technology with varying degrees of evidence about the impact of health information technology on patient safety. This article is intended to review the current available scientific evidence on the impact of different health information technologies on improving patient safety outcomes. We conclude that health information technology improves patient’s safety by reducing medication errors, reducing adverse drug reactions, and improving compliance to practice guidelines. There should be no doubt that health information technology is an important tool for improving healthcare quality and safety. Healthcare organizations need to be selective in which technology to invest in, as literature shows that some technologies have limited evidence in improving patient safety outcomes.

The impact of health information technology on patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Alotaibi, Yasser K; Federico, Frank

2017-12-01

Since the original Institute of Medicine (IOM) report was published there has been an accelerated development and adoption of health information technology with varying degrees of evidence about the impact of health information technology on patient safety.  This article is intended to review the current available scientific evidence on the impact of different health information technologies on improving patient safety outcomes. We conclude that health information technology improves patient's safety by reducing medication errors, reducing adverse drug reactions, and improving compliance to practice guidelines. There should be no doubt that health information technology is an important tool for improving healthcare quality and safety. Healthcare organizations need to be selective in which technology to invest in, as literature shows that some technologies have limited evidence in improving patient safety outcomes.

Validation of calculational methods for nuclear criticality safety - approved 1975

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1977-01-01

The American National Standard for Nuclear Criticality Safety in Operations with Fissionable Materials Outside Reactors, N16.1-1975, states in 4.2.5: In the absence of directly applicable experimental measurements, the limits may be derived from calculations made by a method shown to be valid by comparison with experimental data, provided sufficient allowances are made for uncertainties in the data and in the calculations. There are many methods of calculation which vary widely in basis and form. Each has its place in the broad spectrum of problems encountered in the nuclear criticality safety field; however, the general procedure to be followed in establishing validity is common to all. The standard states the requirements for establishing the validity and area(s) of applicability of any calculational method used in assessing nuclear criticality safety

Advanced nuclear reactor safety design technology research in NPIC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, H.

2014-01-01

After the Fukushima accident happen, Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) construction has been suspended in China for a time. Now the new regulatory rule has been proposed that the most advanced safety standard must be adopted for the new NPPs and practical elimination of large fission product release by design during the next five plans period. So the advanced reactor research is developing in China. NPIC is engaging on the ACP1000 and ACP100 (Small Module Reactor) design. The main design character will be introduced in this paper. The Passive Combined with Active (PCWA) design was adopted during the ACP1000 design to reduce the core damage frequency (CDF); the Cavity Injection System (CIS) is design to mitigation the consequence of the severe accident. Advance passive safety system was designed to ensure the long term residual heat removal during the Small Module Reactor (SMR). The SMR will be utilized to be the floating reactors, district heating reactor and so on. Besides, the Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory (LRSDT) also engaged on the fundamental thermal-hydraulic characteristic research in support of the system validation. (author)

Validation of the Information/Communications Technology Literacy Test

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-01

Technical Report 1360 Validation of the Information /Communications Technology Literacy Test D. Matthew Trippe Human Resources Research...TITLE AND SUBTITLE Validation of the Information /Communications Technology Literacy Test 5a. CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMBER W91WAS-09-D-0013 5b...validate a measure of cyber aptitude, the Information /Communications Technology Literacy Test (ICTL), in predicting trainee performance in Information

AEA Technology safety report 1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-12-01

AEA Technology is the trading name of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. Work in support of nuclear power at home and abroad continues to be an important part of our business but as nuclear power has matured AEA Technology has looked beyond its traditional role to other markets worldwide. We are a major commercial enterprise, with an annual turnover of Pound 450 million, selling a variety of technical services and products to customers worldwide. The scope of the business lies in the closely related fields of energy, environment and safety, targeted at both nuclear and non-nuclear markets. We also have a major role in providing innovative technology solutions to assist manufacturing industry. The 1990 report on safety within the Authority is presented here. (author)

AEA Technology safety report 1990

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-12-01

AEA Technology is the trading name of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. Work in support of nuclear power at home and abroad continues to be an important part of our business but as nuclear power has matured AEA Technology has looked beyond its traditional role to other markets worldwide. We are a major commercial enterprise, with an annual turnover of Pound 450 million, selling a variety of technical services and products to customers worldwide. The scope of the business lies in the closely related fields of energy, environment and safety, targeted at both nuclear and non-nuclear markets. We also have a major role in providing innovative technology solutions to assist manufacturing industry. The 1990 report on safety within the Authority is presented here. (author).

Workforce perceptions of hospital safety culture: development and validation of the patient safety climate in healthcare organizations survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Sara; Meterko, Mark; Baker, Laurence; Gaba, David; Falwell, Alyson; Rosen, Amy

2007-10-01

To describe the development of an instrument for assessing workforce perceptions of hospital safety culture and to assess its reliability and validity. Primary data collected between March 2004 and May 2005. Personnel from 105 U.S. hospitals completed a 38-item paper and pencil survey. We received 21,496 completed questionnaires, representing a 51 percent response rate. Based on review of existing safety climate surveys, we developed a list of key topics pertinent to maintaining a culture of safety in high-reliability organizations. We developed a draft questionnaire to address these topics and pilot tested it in four preliminary studies of hospital personnel. We modified the questionnaire based on experience and respondent feedback, and distributed the revised version to 42,249 hospital workers. We randomly divided respondents into derivation and validation samples. We applied exploratory factor analysis to responses in the derivation sample. We used those results to create scales in the validation sample, which we subjected to multitrait analysis (MTA). We identified nine constructs, three organizational factors, two unit factors, three individual factors, and one additional factor. Constructs demonstrated substantial convergent and discriminant validity in the MTA. Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.50 to 0.89. It is possible to measure key salient features of hospital safety climate using a valid and reliable 38-item survey and appropriate hospital sample sizes. This instrument may be used in further studies to better understand the impact of safety climate on patient safety outcomes.

SCALE criticality safety verification and validation package

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowman, S.M.; Emmett, M.B.; Jordan, W.C.

1998-01-01

Verification and validation (V and V) are essential elements of software quality assurance (QA) for computer codes that are used for performing scientific calculations. V and V provides a means to ensure the reliability and accuracy of such software. As part of the SCALE QA and V and V plans, a general V and V package for the SCALE criticality safety codes has been assembled, tested and documented. The SCALE criticality safety V and V package is being made available to SCALE users through the Radiation Safety Information Computational Center (RSICC) to assist them in performing adequate V and V for their SCALE applications

Validation of risk-based performance indicators: Safety system function trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boccio, J.L.; Vesely, W.E.; Azarm, M.A.; Carbonaro, J.F.; Usher, J.L.; Oden, N.

1989-10-01

This report describes and applies a process for validating a model for a risk-based performance indicator. The purpose of the risk-based indicator evaluated, Safety System Function Trend (SSFT), is to monitor the unavailability of selected safety systems. Interim validation of this indicator is based on three aspects: a theoretical basis, an empirical basis relying on statistical correlations, and case studies employing 25 plant years of historical data collected from five plants for a number of safety systems. Results using the SSFT model are encouraging. Application of the model through case studies dealing with the performance of important safety systems shows that statistically significant trends in, and levels of, system performance can be discerned which thereby can provide leading indications of degrading and/or improving performances. Methods for developing system performance tolerance bounds are discussed and applied to aid in the interpretation of the trends in this risk-based indicator. Some additional characteristics of the SSFT indicator, learned through the data-collection efforts and subsequent data analyses performed, are also discussed. The usefulness and practicality of other data sources for validation purposes are explored. Further validation of this indicator is noted. Also, additional research is underway in developing a more detailed estimator of system unavailability. 9 refs., 18 figs., 5 tabs

Validation test case generation based on safety analysis ontology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan, Chin-Feng; Wang, Wen-Shing

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Current practice in validation test case generation for nuclear system is mainly ad hoc. ► This study designs a systematic approach to generate validation test cases from a Safety Analysis Report. ► It is based on a domain-specific ontology. ► Test coverage criteria have been defined and satisfied. ► A computerized toolset has been implemented to assist the proposed approach. - Abstract: Validation tests in the current nuclear industry practice are typically performed in an ad hoc fashion. This study presents a systematic and objective method of generating validation test cases from a Safety Analysis Report (SAR). A domain-specific ontology was designed and used to mark up a SAR; relevant information was then extracted from the marked-up document for use in automatically generating validation test cases that satisfy the proposed test coverage criteria; namely, single parameter coverage, use case coverage, abnormal condition coverage, and scenario coverage. The novelty of this technique is its systematic rather than ad hoc test case generation from a SAR to achieve high test coverage.

On-line validation of safety parameters and fault identification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tzanos, C.P.

1985-01-01

In many safety-significant off-normal events, the reliability of failure identification and corrective operator actions is limited greatly by the large amount of data that has to be processed and analyzed mentally in a very short time and in a high-stress environment. A data-validation and fault-identification system, that uses computers for continuous plant-information processing and analysis, can enhance plant safety and also improve plant availability. A methodology has been developed that provides validation of safety-significant plant parameter measurements, plant state verification, and fault identification in the presence of many instrumentation failures (including multiple common-cause failures). This paper presents this methodology and some results of its application to a reference LMFBR plant. The basic features of this methodology and the results of its application are summarized

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.

WSRC approach to validation of criticality safety computer codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finch, D.R.; Mincey, J.F.

1991-01-01

Recent hardware and operating system changes at Westinghouse Savannah River Site (WSRC) have necessitated review of the validation for JOSHUA criticality safety computer codes. As part of the planning for this effort, a policy for validation of JOSHUA and other criticality safety codes has been developed. This policy will be illustrated with the steps being taken at WSRC. The objective in validating a specific computational method is to reliably correlate its calculated neutron multiplication factor (K eff ) with known values over a well-defined set of neutronic conditions. Said another way, such correlations should be: (1) repeatable; (2) demonstrated with defined confidence; and (3) identify the range of neutronic conditions (area of applicability) for which the correlations are valid. The general approach to validation of computational methods at WSRC must encompass a large number of diverse types of fissile material processes in different operations. Special problems are presented in validating computational methods when very few experiments are available (such as for enriched uranium systems with principal second isotope 236 U). To cover all process conditions at WSRC, a broad validation approach has been used. Broad validation is based upon calculation of many experiments to span all possible ranges of reflection, nuclide concentrations, moderation ratios, etc. Narrow validation, in comparison, relies on calculations of a few experiments very near anticipated worst-case process conditions. The methods and problems of broad validation are discussed

Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technology Validation | Hydrogen and Fuel Cells |

Science.gov (United States)

NREL Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technology Validation Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technology Validation The NREL technology validation team works on validating hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles; hydrogen fueling infrastructure; hydrogen system components; and fuel cell use in early market applications such as

Development of Realistic Safety Analysis Technology for CANDU Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Joo Hwan; Rhee, B. W.; Rho, G. H.

2010-04-01

The following 3 research items have been studied to develop and establish the realistic safety analysis and the associated technologies for a CANDU reactor. At the first, WIMS-CANDU which is physics cell code for a CANDU has been improved and validated against the physics criticality experiment data transferred through the international cooperation programs. Also an improved physics model to take into account the pressure tube creep was developed and utilized to assess the effects of the pressure tube creep of 0%, 2.5% and 5% diametral increase of pressure tube on core physics parameters. Secondly, the interfacing module between physics and thermal-hydraulics codes has been developed to provide the enhancement of reliability and convenience of the calculation results of the physics parameters such as power coefficient which was calculated by independent code systems. Finally, the important parameters related to the complex heat transfer mechanisms in the crept pressure tubes were identified to find how to improve the existing fuel channel models. One of the important parameters such as the oxidation model of Zr-steam reaction was identified, implemented and verified with the experimental data of the high pressure and temperature fuel channel and its model was utilized for CFD analysis of the crept pressure tube effect on the reactor safety. The results were also provided to validate the CATNENA models of the crept pressure tube and the effects of the pressure tube creep on the blowdown and post-blowdown phase during LOCA was assessed. The results of this study can be used to assess the uncertainty analysis of coolant void reactivity and the effects of the creep deformed pressure tubes on physics/TH/safety issues. Also, those results will be used to improve the current design and operational safety analysis codes, and to technically support the related issues to resolve their problems

Development of the methodology and approaches to validate safety and accident management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asmolov, V.G.

1997-01-01

The article compares the development of the methodology and approaches to validate the nuclear power plant safety and accident management in Russia and advanced industrial countries. It demonstrates that the development of methods of safety validation is dialectically related to the accumulation of the knowledge base on processes and events during NPP normal operation, transients and emergencies, including severe accidents. The article describes the Russian severe accident research program (1987-1996), the implementation of which allowed Russia to reach the world level of the safety validation efforts, presents future high-priority study areas. Problems related to possible approaches to the methodological accident management development are discussed. (orig.)

Elaboration and Validation of the Medication Prescription Safety Checklist 1

Science.gov (United States)

Pires, Aline de Oliveira Meireles; Ferreira, Maria Beatriz Guimarães; do Nascimento, Kleiton Gonçalves; Felix, Márcia Marques dos Santos; Pires, Patrícia da Silva; Barbosa, Maria Helena

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective: to elaborate and validate a checklist to identify compliance with the recommendations for the structure of medication prescriptions, based on the Protocol of the Ministry of Health and the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency. Method: methodological research, conducted through the validation and reliability analysis process, using a sample of 27 electronic prescriptions. Results: the analyses confirmed the content validity and reliability of the tool. The content validity, obtained by expert assessment, was considered satisfactory as it covered items that represent the compliance with the recommendations regarding the structure of the medication prescriptions. The reliability, assessed through interrater agreement, was excellent (ICC=1.00) and showed perfect agreement (K=1.00). Conclusion: the Medication Prescription Safety Checklist showed to be a valid and reliable tool for the group studied. We hope that this study can contribute to the prevention of adverse events, as well as to the improvement of care quality and safety in medication use. PMID:28793128

Lecture Notes on Criticality Safety Validation Using MCNP & Whisper

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, Forrest B. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Rising, Michael Evan [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Alwin, Jennifer Louise [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-03-11

Training classes for nuclear criticality safety, MCNP documentation. The need for, and problems surrounding, validation of computer codes and data area considered first. Then some background for MCNP & Whisper is given--best practices for Monte Carlo criticality calculations, neutron spectra, S(α,β) thermal neutron scattering data, nuclear data sensitivities, covariance data, and correlation coefficients. Whisper is computational software designed to assist the nuclear criticality safety analyst with validation studies with the Monte Carlo radiation transport package MCNP. Whisper's methodology (benchmark selection – C_k's, weights; extreme value theory – bias, bias uncertainty; MOS for nuclear data uncertainty – GLLS) and usage are discussed.

Proceeding of the Fifth Scientific Presentation on Nuclear Safety Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suhaemi, Tj.; Sudarno; Sunaryo, G. R.; Supriatna, P.; Antariksawan, A. R.; Sumijanto; Febrianto; Histori; Aliq

2000-01-01

The proceedings includes the result of research and development activities on nuclear safety technology that have been done by research Center for Nuclear Safety Technology in 2000 and was presented on June 28, 2000. The proceedings is expected to give illustration of the research result on Nuclear Safety Technology

Adaption and validation of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire for the Danish hospital setting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristensen S

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Solvejg Kristensen,1–3 Svend Sabroe,4 Paul Bartels,1,5 Jan Mainz,3,5 Karl Bang Christensen6 1The Danish Clinical Registries, Aarhus, Denmark; 2Department of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark; 3Aalborg University Hospital, Psychiatry, Aalborg, Denmark; 4Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; 5Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark; 6Department of Biostatistics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark Purpose: Measuring and developing a safe culture in health care is a focus point in creating highly reliable organizations being successful in avoiding patient safety incidents where these could normally be expected. Questionnaires can be used to capture a snapshot of an employee's perceptions of patient safety culture. A commonly used instrument to measure safety climate is the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ. The purpose of this study was to adapt the SAQ for use in Danish hospitals, assess its construct validity and reliability, and present benchmark data.Materials and methods: The SAQ was translated and adapted for the Danish setting (SAQ-DK. The SAQ-DK was distributed to 1,263 staff members from 31 in- and outpatient units (clinical areas across five somatic and one psychiatric hospitals through meeting administration, hand delivery, and mailing. Construct validity and reliability were tested in a cross-sectional study. Goodness-of-fit indices from confirmatory factor analysis were reported along with inter-item correlations, Cronbach's alpha (α, and item and subscale scores.Results: Participation was 73.2% (N=925 of invited health care workers. Goodness-of-fit indices from the confirmatory factor analysis showed: c2=1496.76, P<0.001, CFI 0.901, RMSEA (90%CI 0.053 (0.050-0056, Probability RMSEA (p close=0.057. Inter-scale correlations between the factors showed moderate-to-high correlations. The scale stress recognition had significant

Proceedings of the Fourth Scientific Presentation on Reactor Safety Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

The proceedings includes the result of research and development activities on nuclear safety technology that have been done by research Center for Nuclear Safety Technology in 1998/1999 and was presented on May 5, 1999. The proceedings is expected to give illustration of the research result on Nuclear Safety Technology

Validation and Verification of Future Integrated Safety-Critical Systems Operating under Off-Nominal Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Belcastro, Christine M.

2010-01-01

Loss of control remains one of the largest contributors to aircraft fatal accidents worldwide. Aircraft loss-of-control accidents are highly complex in that they can result from numerous causal and contributing factors acting alone or (more often) in combination. Hence, there is no single intervention strategy to prevent these accidents and reducing them will require a holistic integrated intervention capability. Future onboard integrated system technologies developed for preventing loss of vehicle control accidents must be able to assure safe operation under the associated off-nominal conditions. The transition of these technologies into the commercial fleet will require their extensive validation and verification (V and V) and ultimate certification. The V and V of complex integrated systems poses major nontrivial technical challenges particularly for safety-critical operation under highly off-nominal conditions associated with aircraft loss-of-control events. This paper summarizes the V and V problem and presents a proposed process that could be applied to complex integrated safety-critical systems developed for preventing aircraft loss-of-control accidents. A summary of recent research accomplishments in this effort is also provided.

Report of the 17th international workshop on nuclear safety and simulation technology (IWNSST17)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshikawa, Hidekazu

2014-01-01

The 17th International Workshop on Nuclear Safety and Simulation Technology (IWNSST17) was held in January 21, 2014 at Kyoto University, in Kyoto, Japan. This one-day workshop was motivated to exploit advanced safety researches for nuclear power plant (NPP) , by a unique synergetic collaboration of basically two different disciplines: material science and systems sciences. There were ten invited presentations at the ISSNP2013, and the subject of the presentations ranges from (1) material corrosion issue of NPP components, (2) application of augmented reality technology for NPP decommission, (3) functional modeling method for plant control system, (4) intrinsic understanding of Fukushima Daiichi accident phenomena based on simple physical model, (5) system reliability evaluation method for PWR safety system, (6) automatic control system design for small modular reactor, and (7) validation of computerized human-machine interface and digital I and C for PWR plant. This article provides the overview of the IWNSST17 with giving condensed summaries of all invited presentations given by international experts. (author)

Development and Validation of a Safety Attitude Scale for Coal Miners in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiang Wu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Safety attitude is of vital importance to accident prevention, and the high accident rate in the coal mining industry makes it urgent to undertake research on coal miners’ safety attitude. However, the current literature still lacks a valid and reliable safety attitude measurement scale for coal miners, which stands as a barrier against their safety attitude improvement. In this study, a scale is developed that can be used to measure coal miners’ safety attitude. The preliminary scale was based on an extended literature review. Empirical data were then collected from 725 coal miners using the preliminary scale. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were undertaken to validate and improve the scale. The final scale, which consists of 17 items, contains four dimensions: management safety commitment, team safety climate, fatalism and work pressure. Results show that this safety attitude scale can effectively measure the safety attitude of coal miners, showing high psychological measurement validity. This paper contributes to the occupational safety research by developing the factor structure and indicator system of coal miners’ safety attitude, thus providing more profound interpretation of this crucial construct in the safety research domain. The measurement scale serves as an important tool for safety attitude benchmarking among different coal mining enterprises and, thus, can boost the overall safety improvement of the whole industry. These findings can facilitate improvement of both theories and practices related to occupational safety attitude.

Patient safety goals for the proposed Federal Health Information Technology Safety Center.

Science.gov (United States)

Sittig, Dean F; Classen, David C; Singh, Hardeep

2015-03-01

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is expected to oversee creation of a Health Information Technology (HIT) Safety Center. While its functions are still being defined, the center is envisioned as a public-private entity focusing on promotion of HIT related patient safety. We propose that the HIT Safety Center leverages its unique position to work with key administrative and policy stakeholders, healthcare organizations (HCOs), and HIT vendors to achieve four goals: (1) facilitate creation of a nationwide 'post-marketing' surveillance system to monitor HIT related safety events; (2) develop methods and governance structures to support investigation of major HIT related safety events; (3) create the infrastructure and methods needed to carry out random assessments of HIT related safety in complex HCOs; and (4) advocate for HIT safety with government and private entities. The convening ability of a federally supported HIT Safety Center could be critically important to our transformation to a safe and effective HIT enabled healthcare system. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Development and validation of a new safety climate scale for petrochemical industries.

Science.gov (United States)

Jafari, Mohammad Javad; Eskandari, Davood; Valipour, Firouz; Mehrabi, Yadollah; Charkhand, Hossein; Mirghotbi, Mostafa

2017-01-01

While a considerable body of research has studied safety climate and its role as a leading indicator of organizational safety, much of this work has been conducted with Western manufacturing samples. The current study puts emphasis on the cross-validation of a safety climate model in the non-Western industrial context of Iranian petrochemical industries. The current study was performed in one petrochemical company in Iran. The scale was developed through conducting a literature review followed by a qualitative study with expert participation. After performing a screening process, the initial number of items on the scale was reduced to 68. Ten dimensions (including management commitment, workers' empowerment, communication, blame culture, safety training, job satisfaction, interpersonal relationship, supervision, continuous improvement, and reward system) together with 37 items were extracted from the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to measure safety climate. Acceptable ranges of internal consistency statistics for the sub-scales were observed. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the construct validity of the developed safety climate scale for the petrochemical industry workers. The results of reliability showed that the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the designed scale was 0.94. The ICC was obtained 0.92. This study created a valid and reliable scale for measuring safety climate in petrochemical industries.

The development of advanced instrumentation and control technology -The development of verification and validation technology for instrumentation and control in NPPs-

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Kee Choon; Ham, Chang Sik; Lee, Byung Sun; Kim, Jung Taek; Park, Won Man; Park, Jae Chang; Lee, Jang Soo; Um, Heung Sub; Kim, Jang Yul; Ryoo, Chan Hoh; Joo, Jae Yoon; Song, Soon Ja

1995-07-01

We collected and analyzed the domestic/international codes, standards and guidelines to develop high reliable software verification and validation methodology which is satisfied to our real situation. The three major parts of work are performed that is the construction of the frame for high reliable software development environment, establishment of high reliable software development methodology and study for the basic technology related to safety-critical software. These three parts are tightly coupled each other to achieve self-reliable software verification and validation technology for digital I and C in NPPs. The configuration of hardware and software are partly performed using requirements which is developed in first stage for the development of I and C test facility. In hardware part, expanded interface using VXI bus and driving software is completed. The main program for math, modelling and supervisor program for instructions are developed. 27 figs, 22 tabs, 69 refs. (Author)

The development of advanced instrumentation and control technology -The development of verification and validation technology for instrumentation and control in NPPs-

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Kee Choon; Ham, Chang Sik; Lee, Byung Sun; Kim, Jung Taek; Park, Won Man; Park, Jae Chang; Lee, Jang Soo; Um, Heung Sub; Kim, Jang Yul; Ryoo, Chan Hoh; Joo, Jae Yoon; Song, Soon Ja [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1995-07-01

We collected and analyzed the domestic/international codes, standards and guidelines to develop high reliable software verification and validation methodology which is satisfied to our real situation. The three major parts of work are performed that is the construction of the frame for high reliable software development environment, establishment of high reliable software development methodology and study for the basic technology related to safety-critical software. These three parts are tightly coupled each other to achieve self-reliable software verification and validation technology for digital I and C in NPPs. The configuration of hardware and software are partly performed using requirements which is developed in first stage for the development of I and C test facility. In hardware part, expanded interface using VXI bus and driving software is completed. The main program for math, modelling and supervisor program for instructions are developed. 27 figs, 22 tabs, 69 refs. (Author).

Modeling the Relationship between Safety Climate and Safety Performance in a Developing Construction Industry: A Cross-Cultural Validation Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zahoor, Hafiz; Chan, Albert P C; Utama, Wahyudi P; Gao, Ran; Zafar, Irfan

2017-03-28

This study attempts to validate a safety performance (SP) measurement model in the cross-cultural setting of a developing country. In addition, it highlights the variations in investigating the relationship between safety climate (SC) factors and SP indicators. The data were collected from forty under-construction multi-storey building projects in Pakistan. Based on the results of exploratory factor analysis, a SP measurement model was hypothesized. It was tested and validated by conducting confirmatory factor analysis on calibration and validation sub-samples respectively. The study confirmed the significant positive impact of SC on safety compliance and safety participation , and negative impact on number of self-reported accidents/injuries . However, number of near-misses could not be retained in the final SP model because it attained a lower standardized path coefficient value. Moreover, instead of safety participation , safety compliance established a stronger impact on SP. The study uncovered safety enforcement and promotion as a novel SC factor, whereas safety rules and work practices was identified as the most neglected factor. The study contributed to the body of knowledge by unveiling the deviations in existing dimensions of SC and SP. The refined model is expected to concisely measure the SP in the Pakistani construction industry, however, caution must be exercised while generalizing the study results to other developing countries.

Development Trends in Nuclear Technology and Related Safety Aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuczera, B.; Juhn, P.E.; Fukuda, K.

2002-01-01

The IAEA Safety Standards Series include, in a hierarchical manner, the categories of Safety Fundamentals, Safety Requirements and Safety Guides, which define the elements necessary to ensure the safety of nuclear installations. In the same way as nuclear technology and scientific knowledge advance continuously, also safety requirements may change with these advances. Therefore, in the framework of the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) one important aspect among others refers to user requirements on the safety of innovative nuclear installations, which may come into operation within the next fifty years. In this respect, the major objectives of the INPRO sub-task 'User Requirements and Nuclear Energy Development Criteria in the Area of Safety' have been: a. to overview existing national and international requirements in the safety area, b. to define high level user requirements in the area of safety of innovative nuclear technologies, c. to compile and to analyze existing innovative reactor and fuel cycle technology enhancement concepts and approaches intended to achieve a high degree of safety, and d. to identify the general areas of safety R and D needs for the establishment of these technologies. During the discussions it became evident that the application of the defence in depth strategy will continue to be the overriding approach for achieving the general safety objective in nuclear power plants and fuel cycle facilities, where the emphasis will be shifted from mitigation of accident consequences more towards prevention of accidents. In this context, four high level user requirements have been formulated for the safety of innovative nuclear reactors and fuel cycles. On this basis safety strategies for innovative reactor designs are highlighted in each of the five levels of defence in depth and specific requirements are discussed for the individual components of the fuel cycle. (authors)

Some Findings from Thermal-Hydraulic Validation Tests for SMART Passive Safety System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Hyun Sik; Bae, Hwang; Ryu, Sung-Uk; Ryu, Hyobong; Shin, Yong-Cheol; Min, Kyoung-Ho; Yi, Sung-Jae [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

To satisfy the domestic and international needs for nuclear safety improvement after the Fukushima accident, an effort to improve its safety has been studied, and a Passive Safety System (PSS) for SMART has been designed. In addition, an Integral Test Loop for the SMART design (SMART-ITL, or FESTA) has been constructed and it finished its commissioning tests in 2012. Consequently, a set of Design Base Accident (DBA) scenarios have been simulated using SMARTITL. Recently, a test program to validate the performance of the SMART PSS was launched and its scaled-down test facility was additionally installed at the existing SMART-ITL facility. In this paper, some findings from the validation tests for the SMART PSS will be summarized. The acquired data will be used to validate the safety analysis code and its related models, to evaluate the performance of SMART PSS, and to provide base data during the application phase of SDA revision and construction licensing. A test program to validate the performance of SMARS PSS was launched with an additional scaleddown test facility of SMART PSS, which will be installed at the existing SMART-ITL facility. In this paper, some findings from the validation tests of the SMART passive safety system during 2013-2014 were summarized. They include a couple of SMART PSS tests using active pumps and several 1-train SMART PSS tests. From the test results it was estimated that the SMART PSS has sufficient cooling capability to deal with the SBLOCA scenario of SMART. During the SBLOCA scenario, in the CMT the water layer inventory was well stratified thermally and the safety injection water was injected efficiently into the RPV from the initial period and cools down the RCS properly.

Technique for unit testing of safety software verification and validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Duo; Zhang Liangju; Feng Junting

2008-01-01

The key issue arising from digitalization of the reactor protection system for nuclear power plant is how to carry out verification and validation (V and V), to demonstrate and confirm the software that performs reactor safety functions is safe and reliable. One of the most important processes for software V and V is unit testing, which verifies and validates the software coding based on concept design for consistency, correctness and completeness during software development. The paper shows a preliminary study on the technique for unit testing of safety software V and V, focusing on such aspects as how to confirm test completeness, how to establish test platform, how to develop test cases and how to carry out unit testing. The technique discussed here was successfully used in the work of unit testing on safety software of a digital reactor protection system. (authors)

Radiation safety assessment and development of environmental radiation monitoring technology

CERN Document Server

Choi, B H; Kim, S G

2002-01-01

The Periodic Safety Review(PSR) of the existing nuclear power plants is required every ten years according to the recently revised atomic energy acts. The PSR of Kori unit 1 and Wolsong unit 1 that have been operating more than ten years is ongoing to comply the regulations. This research project started to develop the techniques necessary for the PSR. The project developed the following four techniques at the first stage for the environmental assessment of the existing plants. 1) Establishment of the assessment technology for contamination and accumulation trends of radionuclides, 2) alarm point setting of environmental radiation monitoring system, 3) Development of Radiation Safety Evaluation Factor for Korean NPP, and 4) the evaluation of radiation monitoring system performance and set-up of alarm/warn set point. A dynamic compartment model to derive a relationship between the release rates of gas phase radionuclides and the concentrations in the environmental samples. The model was validated by comparing ...

Safety management in nuclear technology. Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

At the symposium of TueV Sued AG (Munich, Federal Republic of Germany) held in Munich on 28 and 29 October 2008, the following lectures were held: (1) Fundamental requirements of the management system in nuclear technology - Experiences from the international developments at IAEA and WENRA (M. Herttrich); (2) Information from a comparison of requirements of safety management systems (B. Kallenbach-Herbert); (3) Requirements of a modern management system in German nuclear power plants from the view of nuclear safety (D. Majer); (4) Requirements on safety management in module 8 of the regulations project (M. Maqua); (5) Requirements on the management system in nuclear power plants according to GRS-229 and developments at the KTA 1402 ''Integrated management system for safe operation of nuclear power plants (in progress)'' (C. Verstegen); (6) Experiences from the development and implementation of safety management systems in connection with the works management of a nuclear power plant (K. Ramler); (7) Design of a safety management system of a nuclear power plant in consideration of existing management systems (U. Naumann); (8) Experiences in the utilization and evaluation of a safety management system (J. Ritter); (9) Aspects of leadership of safety management systems (S. Seitz); (10) Management of safety or safety management system? Prevailing or administration? (A. Frischknecht); (11) Change management - strategies for successful transfer of new projects: How can I motivate co-workers for a further development of the safety management system? (U. Schnabel); (12) Requirements concerning indicators in integrated management systems and safety management systems (J. Stiller); (13) Integration of proactive and reactive indicators in the safety management system (B. Fahlbruch); (14) What do indicators show? About the use of indicators by regulatory authorities (A. Kern); (15) Safety management and radiation protection in nuclear technology (K. Grantner); (16) Any more

Applying Sensor-Based Technology to Improve Construction Safety Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Mingyuan; Cao, Tianzhuo; Zhao, Xuefeng

2017-08-11

Construction sites are dynamic and complicated systems. The movement and interaction of people, goods and energy make construction safety management extremely difficult. Due to the ever-increasing amount of information, traditional construction safety management has operated under difficult circumstances. As an effective way to collect, identify and process information, sensor-based technology is deemed to provide new generation of methods for advancing construction safety management. It makes the real-time construction safety management with high efficiency and accuracy a reality and provides a solid foundation for facilitating its modernization, and informatization. Nowadays, various sensor-based technologies have been adopted for construction safety management, including locating sensor-based technology, vision-based sensing and wireless sensor networks. This paper provides a systematic and comprehensive review of previous studies in this field to acknowledge useful findings, identify the research gaps and point out future research directions.

Alternative food safety intervention technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Alternative nonthermal and thermal food safety interventions are gaining acceptance by the food processing industry and consumers. These technologies include high pressure processing, ultraviolet and pulsed light, ionizing radiation, pulsed and radiofrequency electric fields, cold atmospheric plasm...

New technologies and worker safety in western agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Fenske, Richard A

2009-01-01

The New Paths: Health and Safety in Western Agriculture conference, November 11-13, 2008, highlighted the role of technological innovation in agricultural production. The tree fruit industry in the Pacific Northwest has adopted a "technology road map" to reduce production costs and improve efficiency. An agricultural tour provided field demonstrations and discussions on such topics as mobile work platforms in orchards, traumatic and musculoskeletal injuries, and new pest control technologies. Occupational safety and health research will need to adapt to and keep pace with rapid changes in agricultural production processes.

Patient safety risk factors in minimally invasive surgery : A validation study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rodrigues, S.P.; Ter Kuile, M.; Dankelman, J.; Jansen, F.W.

2012-01-01

This study was conducted to adapt and validate a patient safety (PS) framework for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) as a first step in understanding the clinical relevance of various PS risk factors in MIS. Eight patient safety risk factor domains were identified using frameworks from a systems

Atomic Information Technology Safety and Economy of Nuclear Power Plants

CERN Document Server

Woo, Taeho

2012-01-01

Atomic Information Technology revaluates current conceptions of the information technology aspects of the nuclear industry. Economic and safety research in the nuclear energy sector are explored, considering statistical methods which incorporate Monte-Carlo simulations for practical applications. Divided into three sections, Atomic Information Technology covers: • Atomic economics and management, • Atomic safety and reliability, and • Atomic safeguarding and security. Either as a standalone volume or as a companion to conventional nuclear safety and reliability books, Atomic Information Technology acts as a concise and thorough reference on statistical assessment technology in the nuclear industry. Students and industry professionals alike will find this a key tool in expanding and updating their understanding of this industry and the applications of information technology within it.

A goal-based approach for qualification of new technologies: Foundations, tool support, and industrial validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabetzadeh, Mehrdad; Falessi, Davide; Briand, Lionel; Di Alesio, Stefano

2013-01-01

New technologies typically involve innovative aspects that are not addressed by the existing normative standards and hence are not assessable through common certification procedures. To ensure that new technologies can be implemented in a safe and reliable manner, a specific kind of assessment is performed, which in many industries, e.g., the energy sector, is known as Technology Qualification (TQ). TQ aims at demonstrating with an acceptable level of confidence that a new technology will function within specified limits. Expert opinion plays an important role in TQ, both to identify the safety and reliability evidence that needs to be developed and to interpret the evidence provided. Since there are often multiple experts involved in TQ, it is crucial to apply a structured process for eliciting expert opinions, and to use this information systematically when analyzing the satisfaction of the technology's safety and reliability objectives. In this paper, we present a goal-based approach for TQ. Our approach enables analysts to quantitatively reason about the satisfaction of the technology's overall goals and further to identify the aspects that must be improved to increase goal satisfaction. The approach is founded on three main components: goal models, expert elicitation, and probabilistic simulation. We describe a tool, named Modus, that we have developed in support of our approach. We provide an extensive empirical validation of our approach through two industrial case studies and a survey

Technological progress, safety, and the guardian role of inspection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Critchley, O H

1981-08-01

Technological innovation is accompanied by unforeseen human consequences as well as benefits, and progress has produced a public awareness of the potential for hazards that has led to efficient safety-inspection procedures. Because no safety procedure is foolproof, the public learns to tolerate certain levels of risk from technology if it concludes that the benefits are worthwhile. The perception of values often transcends simple cost/benefit analysis. Safety technology and regulation developed during the past 50 years has benefited from earlier disastrous accidents enough to give the nuclear power industry an unprecedented safety record. Efforts to understand and anticipate human error have refined the role of inspection without achieving absolute reliability. Well-directed inspections that accept human fallibility will achieve more than design and organizational improvements. 42 references. (DCK)

Aviation safety and operation problems research and technology

Science.gov (United States)

Enders, J. H.; Strickle, J. W.

1977-01-01

Aircraft operating problems are described for aviation safety. It is shown that as aircraft technology improves, the knowledge and understanding of operating problems must also improve for economics, reliability and safety.

Institute for safety technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

In the area of nuclear reactor safety studies, the Institute for Safety Technology (STI) concentrated its efforts in analysing experimentally and numerically phenomena which characterize highly-improbable but very severe accidents either for light water or for sodium cooled reactors. In the STI nuclear isle, three new laboratories for waste (PETRA), fusion (ETHEL) and safeguards, (PERLA) activities are approaching completion and have made substantial progress in their licensing procedure. The Institute started activities in the non-nuclear safety research area only a few years ago and has been able this year to present its first significant experimental and theoretical results in the areas of runaway reactions, accidental release of products and their deflagration/detonation. Concerning Reference Methods for the Evaluation of Structure Reliability a better understanding was gained of the nonlinear cyclic and dynamic behaviour of materials and structures by performing experiments and developing constitutive and structural member models leading to the computer simulation of complete structures

Summary: Fusion technology, safety and environmental aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuda, S.

2003-01-01

The year 2002 was in the middle of successive governmental negotiation toward the start of the ITER Construction. The ITER Engineering Design Activities (EDA) continued until July 2001, and most of the highlighted topics were already reported at the last IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in Montreal or in other opportunities. However, the ITER EDA was followed by the Coordinated Technical Activities that provided a lot of qualitative achievements such as, the search for predictions on operation capabilities based on various data bases and analysis, optimization of the design based on its validating technology R and D. As a consequence, at this conference, major contribution in the field of Fusion Technology was again from ITER, and its related topics occupied about 38% of the total number of contributions of 86. In ITER, physics analysis, predictions and heating/current drive technologies are highlighted. Another key feature at this conference was the progress of study toward steady-state operation in both physics and technology research as well as their application to toroidal devices. Several tokamaks and helical devises are under construction or under design, and most of them incorporate super-conducting magnet for their coils. Studies were made for various types of fusion reactors including Spherical Torus, Tokamaks, Helical systems etc., and their common understandings are progressing through their comparative study. Looking in the near term, but beyond ITER, about 20% of the papers were devoted to the fusion materials and blanket development, with the neutron irradiation facilities for the research. Because of the importance of this field to be implemented in parallel with ITER, more contributions would be expected in future. With these themes in mind, the remaining sections of this paper are arranged in the order of 2) ITER, 3) Toroidal Devices under Construction or under Design, 4) Reactor Technology, 5) Safety and Environment, and 6) Conclusion

Safety and Security Interface Technology Initiative

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dr. Michael A. Lehto; Kevin J. Carroll; Dr. Robert Lowrie

2007-05-01

Safety and Security Interface Technology Initiative Mr. Kevin J. Carroll Dr. Robert Lowrie, Dr. Micheal Lehto BWXT Y12 NSC Oak Ridge, TN 37831 865-576-2289/865-241-2772 carrollkj@y12.doe.gov Work Objective. Earlier this year, the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) was asked to assist in developing options related to acceleration deployment of new security-related technologies to assist meeting design base threat (DBT) needs while also addressing the requirements of 10 CFR 830. NNSA NA-70, one of the working group participants, designated this effort the Safety and Security Interface Technology Initiative (SSIT). Relationship to Workshop Theme. “Supporting Excellence in Operations Through Safety Analysis,” (workshop theme) includes security and safety personnel working together to ensure effective and efficient operations. One of the specific workshop elements listed in the call for papers is “Safeguards/Security Integration with Safety.” This paper speaks directly to this theme. Description of Work. The EFCOG Safety Analysis Working Group (SAWG) and the EFCOG Security Working Group formed a core team to develop an integrated process involving both safety basis and security needs allowing achievement of the DBT objectives while ensuring safety is appropriately considered. This effort garnered significant interest, starting with a two day breakout session of 30 experts at the 2006 Safety Basis Workshop. A core team was formed, and a series of meetings were held to develop that process, including safety and security professionals, both contractor and federal personnel. A pilot exercise held at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in mid-July 2006 was conducted as a feasibility of concept review. Work Results. The SSIT efforts resulted in a topical report transmitted from EFCOG to DOE/NNSA in August 2006. Elements of the report included: Drivers and Endstate, Control Selections Alternative Analysis Process, Terminology Crosswalk, Safety Basis

Trends in Health Information Technology Safety: From Technology-Induced Errors to Current Approaches for Ensuring Technology Safety

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Objectives Health information technology (HIT) research findings suggested that new healthcare technologies could reduce some types of medical errors while at the same time introducing classes of medical errors (i.e., technology-induced errors). Technology-induced errors have their origins in HIT, and/or HIT contribute to their occurrence. The objective of this paper is to review current trends in the published literature on HIT safety. Methods A review and synthesis of the medical and life sciences literature focusing on the area of technology-induced error was conducted. Results There were four main trends in the literature on technology-induced error. The following areas were addressed in the literature: definitions of technology-induced errors; models, frameworks and evidence for understanding how technology-induced errors occur; a discussion of monitoring; and methods for preventing and learning about technology-induced errors. Conclusions The literature focusing on technology-induced errors continues to grow. Research has focused on the defining what an error is, models and frameworks used to understand these new types of errors, monitoring of such errors and methods that can be used to prevent these errors. More research will be needed to better understand and mitigate these types of errors. PMID:23882411

78 FR 11902 - Review of Gun Safety Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-20

... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Office of Justice Programs [OJP (NIJ) Docket No. 1615] Review of Gun Safety...'s Plan to reduce gun violence released on January 16, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office... emerging gun safety technologies and plans to issue a report on the availability and use of those...

Functional safety of health information technology.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Chadwick, Liam

2012-03-01

In an effort to improve patient safety and reduce adverse events, there has been a rapid growth in the utilisation of health information technology (HIT). However, little work has examined the safety of the HIT systems themselves, the methods used in their development or the potential errors they may introduce into existing systems. This article introduces the conventional safety-related systems development standard IEC 61508 to the medical domain. It is proposed that the techniques used in conventional safety-related systems development should be utilised by regulation bodies, healthcare organisations and HIT developers to provide an assurance of safety for HIT systems. In adopting the IEC 61508 methodology for HIT development and integration, inherent problems in the new systems can be identified and corrected during their development. Also, IEC 61508 should be used to develop a healthcare-specific standard to allow stakeholders to provide an assurance of a system\\'s safety.

Building Technologies Program Multi-Year Program Plan Technology Validation and Market Introduction 2008

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2008-01-01

Building Technologies Program Multi-Year Program Plan 2008 for technology validation and market introduction, including ENERGY STAR, building energy codes, technology transfer application centers, commercial lighting initiative, EnergySmart Schools, EnergySmar

Development of safety analysis technology for LMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hahn, Do Hee; Kwon, Y. M.; Suk, S. D.

2002-05-01

In the present study, the KALIMER safety analysis has been made for the transients considered in the design concept, hypothetical core disruptive accident (HCDA), and containment performance with the establishment of the design basis. Such analyses have not been possible without the computer code improvement, and the experience attained during this research period must have greatly contributed to the achievement of the self reliance in the domestic technology establishment on the safety analysis areas of the conceptual design. The safety analysis codes have been improved to extend their applicable ranges for detailed conceptual design, and a basic computer code system has been established for HCDA analysis. A code-to-code comparison analysis has been performed as a part of code verification attempt, and the leading edge technology of JNC also has been brought for the technology upgrade. In addition, the research and development on the area of the database establishment has been made for the efficient and systematic project implementation of the conceptual design, through performances on the development of a project scheduling management, integration of the individually developed technology, establishment of the product database, and so on, taking into account coupling of the activities conducted in each specific area

Physical safety: using of multimedia technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munoz Garcia, M.

1995-01-01

For managing physical safety systems in nuclear power plants sophisticated computer equipment is essential. Standard safety procedure requires systems distributed throughout the plant, especially at security posts: Entrance Door, Access Control Center, Restricted Areas, etc. Besides being highly distributed, computerized physical safety management systems have always been characterized by the need to integrate very different elements. Graphic images have always played a very important role: photographs, fingerprints, signatures, etc. This makes integrated multimedia modules the ideal solution. This presentation describes how safety systems can combine not only still images, but also other multimedia data such as sound and video. It examines methodologies for using this new technology to upgrade high cost computer systems already in operation that can not be replaced. (Author)

Proposal for a technology-neutral safety approach for new reactor designs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-09-01

Many states are considering an expansion of their nuclear power generation programmes. Many of the technologies and concepts are new and innovative. The current design and licensing rules are applicable to mostly large water reactors and there are no accepted rules in place for design, safety assessment and licensing for new innovative nuclear power plants. This TECDOC proposes a (new) safety approach and a methodology to generate technology-neutral (i.e. independent of reactor technology) safety requirements and a 'safe design' for advanced and innovative reactors. The experience gained in decades of design and licensing, combined with the development of risk-based concepts, has provided insights that will form the basis for new safety rules and requirements. Many lessons learned acknowledge the importance of such concepts as safety goals and defence in depth and the benefits of integrating risk insights early in an iterative design process. A new safety approach will incorporate many of the new developments in these concepts. For example, the probabilistic elements of defence in depth will help define the cumulative provisions to compensate for uncertainty and incompleteness of our knowledge of accident initiation and progression. This TECDOC also identifies areas of work, which will require further definition, research and development and guidance on application. This publication is to be used as a guide to developing a new technology-neutral safety approach, and as a guide in the application of methodologies to define the safety requirements for an innovative reactor designs. The method proposes an integration of deterministic and probabilistic considerations with established principles and concepts such as safety goals and defence in depth. The TECDOC recommends that the structure of the new technology-neutral main pillars for the design and licensing of innovative nuclear reactors be developed following a top-down approach to reflect a newer risk-informed and

Development and initial validation of an Aviation Safety Climate Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Bronwyn; Glendon, A Ian; Creed, Peter A

2007-01-01

A need was identified for a consistent set of safety climate factors to provide a basis for aviation industry benchmarking. Six broad safety climate themes were identified from the literature and consultations with industry safety experts. Items representing each of the themes were prepared and administered to 940 Australian commercial pilots. Data from half of the sample (N=468) were used in an exploratory factor analysis that produced a 3-factor model of Management commitment and communication, Safety training and equipment, and Maintenance. A confirmatory factor analysis on the remaining half of the sample showed the 3-factor model to be an adequate fit to the data. The results of this study have produced a scale of safety climate for aviation that is both reliable and valid. This study developed a tool to assess the level of perceived safety climate, specifically of pilots, but may also, with minor modifications, be used to assess other groups' perceptions of safety climate.

Presentations of the PTAC driving safety technology forum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-07-01

Issues concerning road safety and driver training in relation to the petroleum industry were the focus of this conference. The results of a driving safety survey from the Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada were presented. High risk driver identification methods were discussed along with coaching case studies, including details of continuous and advanced driver training by various industry members. Road hazard analysis was discussed as an effective means of reducing vehicular incidents. The dangers posed by cell phones were reviewed, as well as issues concerning motor vehicle event data recorders and personal privacy. The safety aspects of global positioning system (GPS) enabled fleet management systems were evaluated. Tactical plans for Alberta's traffic collision fatality and injury reduction strategy were examined. An overview of the Schlumberger Canada Driving Program was presented. The systems and processes used within Halliburton Canada to reinforce safe driving behaviors were reviewed. Real time personnel monitoring was discussed, as well as various asset management technologies. It was suggested that new communications technologies for mobile resource management can improve oilfield fleet safety and productivity. The forum featured 12 presentations, of which 8 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database.

Proceedings of the Third Scientific Presentation on Reactor Safety Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

These proceedings contains the results of research and development on reactor safety technology which carried out by Reactor Safety Technology Centre, National Atomic Energy Agency, Serpong, Indonesia during 1997/1998 fiscal year. The presentation was held on 13-14 May 1998 at Serpong,Indonesia

Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses applied to criticality safety validation. Volume 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broadhead, B.L.; Hopper, C.M.; Parks, C.V.

1999-01-01

This report presents the application of sensitivity and uncertainty (S/U) analysis methodologies developed in Volume 1 to the code/data validation tasks of a criticality safety computational study. Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis methods were first developed for application to fast reactor studies in the 1970s. This work has revitalized and updated the existing S/U computational capabilities such that they can be used as prototypic modules of the SCALE code system, which contains criticality analysis tools currently in use by criticality safety practitioners. After complete development, simplified tools are expected to be released for general use. The methods for application of S/U and generalized linear-least-square methodology (GLLSM) tools to the criticality safety validation procedures were described in Volume 1 of this report. Volume 2 of this report presents the application of these procedures to the validation of criticality safety analyses supporting uranium operations where enrichments are greater than 5 wt %. Specifically, the traditional k eff trending analyses are compared with newly developed k eff trending procedures, utilizing the D and c k coefficients described in Volume 1. These newly developed procedures are applied to a family of postulated systems involving U(11)O 2 fuel, with H/X values ranging from 0--1,000. These analyses produced a series of guidance and recommendations for the general usage of these various techniques. Recommendations for future work are also detailed

International exchange on nuclear safety related expert systems: The role of software verification and validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, B.K.H.

1996-01-01

An important lesson learned from the Three Mile Island accident is that human errors can be significant contributors to risk. Recent advancement in computer hardware and software technology helped make expert system techniques potentially viable tools for improving nuclear power plant safety and reliability. As part of the general man-machine interface technology, expert systems have recently become increasingly prominent as a potential solution to a number of previously intractable problems in many phases of human activity, including operation, maintenance, and engineering functions. Traditional methods for testing and analyzing analog systems are no longer adequate to handle the increased complexity of software systems. The role of Verification and Validation (V and V) is to add rigor to the software development and maintenance cycle to guarantee the high level confidence needed for applications. Verification includes the process and techniques for confirming that all the software requirements in one stage of the development are met before proceeding on to the next stage. Validation involves testing the integrated software and hardware system to ensure that it reliably fulfills its intended functions. Only through a comprehensive V and V program can a high level of confidence be achieved. There exist many different standards and techniques for software verification and validation, yet they lack uniform approaches that provides adequate levels of practical guidance which can be used by users for nuclear power plant applications. There is a need to unify different approaches for addressing software verification and validation and to develop practical and cost effective guidelines for user and regulatory acceptance. (author). 8 refs

A Framework for Assessment of Aviation Safety Technology Portfolios

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Sharon M.; Reveley, Mary S.

2014-01-01

The programs within NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) conduct research and development to improve the national air transportation system so that Americans can travel as safely as possible. NASA aviation safety systems analysis personnel support various levels of ARMD management in their fulfillment of system analysis and technology prioritization as defined in the agency's program and project requirements. This paper provides a framework for the assessment of aviation safety research and technology portfolios that includes metrics such as projected impact on current and future safety, technical development risk and implementation risk. The paper also contains methods for presenting portfolio analysis and aviation safety Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) output results to management using bubble charts and quantitative decision analysis techniques.

Safety and Security Interface Technology Initiative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dr. Michael A. Lehto; Kevin J. Carroll; Dr. Robert Lowrie

2007-01-01

Earlier this year, the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) was asked to assist in developing options related to acceleration deployment of new security-related technologies to assist meeting design base threat (DBT) needs while also addressing the requirements of 10 CFR 830. NNSA NA-70, one of the working group participants, designated this effort the Safety and Security Interface Technology Initiative (SSIT). Relationship to Workshop Theme. ''Supporting Excellence in Operations Through Safety Analysis'', (workshop theme) includes security and safety personnel working together to ensure effective and efficient operations. One of the specific workshop elements listed in the call for papers is ''Safeguards/Security Integration with Safety''. This paper speaks directly to this theme. Description of Work. The EFCOG Safety Analysis Working Group (SAWG) and the EFCOG Security Working Group formed a core team to develop an integrated process involving both safety basis and security needs allowing achievement of the DBT objectives while ensuring safety is appropriately considered. This effort garnered significant interest, starting with a two day breakout session of 30 experts at the 2006 Safety Basis Workshop. A core team was formed, and a series of meetings were held to develop that process, including safety and security professionals, both contractor and federal personnel. A pilot exercise held at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in mid-July 2006 was conducted as a feasibility of concept review. Work Results. The SSIT efforts resulted in a topical report transmitted from EFCOG to DOE/NNSA in August 2006. Elements of the report included: Drivers and Endstate, Control Selections Alternative Analysis Process, Terminology Crosswalk, Safety Basis/Security Documentation Integration, Configuration Control, and development of a shared ''tool box'' of information/successes. Specific Benefits. The expectation or end state resulting from the topical report and associated

Understanding Student Teachers' Behavioural Intention to Use Technology: Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Validation and Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Kung-Teck; Osman, Rosma bt; Goh, Pauline Swee Choo; Rahmat, Mohd Khairezan

2013-01-01

This study sets out to validate and test the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in the context of Malaysian student teachers' integration of their technology in teaching and learning. To establish factorial validity, data collected from 302 respondents were tested against the TAM using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation…

[Validation of a questionnaire to evaluate patient safety in clinical laboratories].

Science.gov (United States)

Giménez Marín, Ángeles; Rivas-Ruiz, Francisco

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to prepare, pilot and validate a questionnaire to evaluate patient safety in the specific context of clinical laboratories. A specific questionnaire on patient safety in the laboratory, with 62 items grouped into six areas, was developed, taking into consideration the diverse human and laboratory contextual factors which may contribute to producing errors. A pilot study of 30 interviews was carried out, including validity and reliability analyses using principal components factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha. Subsequently, 240 questionnaires were sent to 21 hospitals, followed by a test-retest of 41 questionnaires with the definitive version. The sample analyzed was composed of 225 questionnaires (an overall response rate of 80%). Of the 62 items initially assessed, 17 were eliminated due to non-compliance with the criteria established before the principal components factor analysis was performed. For the 45 remaining items, 12 components were identified, with an cumulative variance of 69.5%. In seven of the 10 components with two or more items, Cronbach's alpha was higher than 0.7. The questionnaire items assessed in the test-retest were found to be stable. We present the first questionnaire with sufficiently proven validity and reliability for evaluating patient safety in the specific context of clinical laboratories. This questionnaire provides a useful instrument to perform a subsequent macrostudy of hospital clinical laboratories in Spain. The questionnaire can also be used to monitor and promote commitment to patient safety within the search for continuous quality improvement. Copyright © 2011 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Validation of computer codes used in the safety analysis of Canadian research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bishop, W.E.; Lee, A.G.

1998-01-01

AECL has embarked on a validation program for the suite of computer codes that it uses in performing the safety analyses for its research reactors. Current focus is on codes used for the analysis of the two MAPLE reactors under construction at Chalk River but the program will be extended to include additional codes that will be used for the Irradiation Research Facility. The program structure is similar to that used for the validation of codes used in the safety analyses for CANDU power reactors. (author)

Proceedings of the Nuclear Criticality Technology Safety Workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rene G. Sanchez

1998-04-01

This document contains summaries of most of the papers presented at the 1995 Nuclear Criticality Technology Safety Project (NCTSP) meeting, which was held May 16 and 17 at San Diego, Ca. The meeting was broken up into seven sessions, which covered the following topics: (1) Criticality Safety of Project Sapphire; (2) Relevant Experiments For Criticality Safety; (3) Interactions with the Former Soviet Union; (4) Misapplications and Limitations of Monte Carlo Methods Directed Toward Criticality Safety Analyses; (5) Monte Carlo Vulnerabilities of Execution and Interpretation; (6) Monte Carlo Vulnerabilities of Representation; and (7) Benchmark Comparisons.

Proceeding of the Eighth Scientific Presentation on Nuclear Safety Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geni Rina Sunaryo; Sony Tjahjani, D.T.; Anhar Riza Antariksawan; Sudarno; Djoko Hari Nugroho; Roziq Himawan; Ari Satmoko; Histori; Sumijanto

2003-02-01

The Proceeding of Scientific Meeting and Presentation is routine activity that held in National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) by Centre for Development of Nuclear Safety Technology for monitoring the research activity which was achieved in BATAN. The aims of the proceeding to able to information and reference for nuclear safety technology. There are 30 papers which separated index. (PPIN)

Safety technology comments on Cattenom nuclear power station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

The comments are based on the safety report for the identical Flamanville plant, on the contract documents for the DUP and on results of consultancy by the DFK Working Party and on replies from the French side in the context of a German list of questions. The comments refer to the state in spring 1982. According to the agreement made for the catalogue of questions Cattenom/KKP 2, the 1300 MW Philippsburg II nuclear power station is used as a German comparable plant in these comments. Reference is made to the German comparable plant in the description and assessment of important parts of the plant. The main points of the safety technology comments are in the assessment of site characteristics; the safety technology concept; the derivation of radio-active materials and the radiation exposure in the adjacent German area. (orig./HP) [de

Validation of Nuclear Criticality Safety Software and 27 energy group ENDF/B-IV cross sections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, B.L. Jr.

1994-08-01

The validation documented in this report is based on calculations that were executed during June through August 1992, and was completed in June 1993. The statistical analyses in Appendix C and Appendix D were completed in October 1993. This validation gives Portsmouth NCS personnel a basis for performing computerized KENO V.a calculations using the Martin Marietta Nuclear Criticality Safety Software. The first portion of the document outlines basic information in regard to validation of NCSS using ENDF/B-IV 27-group cross sections on the IBM 3090 at ORNL. A basic discussion of the NCSS system is provided, some discussion on the validation database and validation in general. Then follows a detailed description of the statistical analysis which was applied. The results of this validation indicate that the NCSS software may be used with confidence for criticality calculations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. When the validation results are treated as a single group, there is 95% confidence that 99.9% of future calculations of similar critical systems will have a calculated K eff > 0.9616. Based on this result the Portsmouth Nuclear Criticality Safety Department has adopted the calculational acceptance criteria that a k eff + 2σ ≤ 0.95 is safety subcritical. The validation of NCSS on the IBM 3090 at ORNL was extended to include NCSS on the IBM 3090 at K-25

Legal status of minister's notices and technology standards of 'Korea institute of nuclear safety'(KINS) to regulate nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, S. K.; Jung, M. M.; Kim, S. W.; Jang, K. H.; Oh, B. J.

2003-01-01

Concerning nuclear safety or technology standards, each of 'notices' issued by minister of science and technology(MOST) empowered by law of its regulation is obviously forceful as a law, if not all. But the standards made by the chief of Korea institute of nuclear safety(KINS) to meet the tasks entrusted to KINS by MOST is only conditionally forceful as a law, that is, on the condition that law or regulation empowered the chief of KINS to make nuclear safety and/or technology standards

DNA microarray technology in nutraceutical and food safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu-Stratton, Yiwen; Roy, Sashwati; Sen, Chandan K

2004-04-15

The quality and quantity of diet is a key determinant of health and disease. Molecular diagnostics may play a key role in food safety related to genetically modified foods, food-borne pathogens and novel nutraceuticals. Functional outcomes in biology are determined, for the most part, by net balance between sets of genes related to the specific outcome in question. The DNA microarray technology offers a new dimension of strength in molecular diagnostics by permitting the simultaneous analysis of large sets of genes. Automation of assay and novel bioinformatics tools make DNA microarrays a robust technology for diagnostics. Since its development a few years ago, this technology has been used for the applications of toxicogenomics, pharmacogenomics, cell biology, and clinical investigations addressing the prevention and intervention of diseases. Optimization of this technology to specifically address food safety is a vast resource that remains to be mined. Efforts to develop diagnostic custom arrays and simplified bioinformatics tools for field use are warranted.

[Development and validation of the Korean patient safety culture scale for nursing homes].

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Sook Hee; Kim, Byungsoo; Kim, Se Young

2013-06-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a tool to evaluate patient safety culture in nursing homes and to test its validity and reliability. A preliminary tool was developed through interviews with focus group, content validity tests, and a pilot study. A nationwide survey was conducted from February to April, 2011, using self-report questionnaires. Participants were 982 employees in nursing homes. Data were analyzed using Cronbach's alpha, item analysis, factor analysis, and multitrait/multi-Item analysis. From the results of the analysis, 27 final items were selected from 49 items on the preliminary tool. Items with low correlation with total scale were excluded. The 4 factors sorted by factor analysis contributed 63.4% of the variance in the total scale. The factors were labeled as leadership, organizational system, working attitude, management practice. Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was .95 and the range for the 4 factors was from .86 to .93. The results of this study indicate that the Korean Patient Safety Culture Scale has reliability and validity and is suitable for evaluation of patient safety culture in Korean nursing homes.

How Developments in Psychology and Technology Challenge Validity Argumentation

Science.gov (United States)

Mislevy, Robert J.

2016-01-01

Validity is the sine qua non of properties of educational assessment. While a theory of validity and a practical framework for validation has emerged over the past decades, most of the discussion has addressed familiar forms of assessment and psychological framings. Advances in digital technologies and in cognitive and social psychology have…

Automated Mixed Traffic Vehicle (AMTV) technology and safety study

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, A. R.; Peng, T. K. C.; Vivian, H. C.; Wang, P. K.

1978-01-01

Technology and safety related to the implementation of an Automated Mixed Traffic Vehicle (AMTV) system are discussed. System concepts and technology status were reviewed and areas where further development is needed are identified. Failure and hazard modes were also analyzed and methods for prevention were suggested. The results presented are intended as a guide for further efforts in AMTV system design and technology development for both near term and long term applications. The AMTV systems discussed include a low speed system, and a hybrid system consisting of low speed sections and high speed sections operating in a semi-guideway. The safety analysis identified hazards that may arise in a properly functioning AMTV system, as well as hardware failure modes. Safety related failure modes were emphasized. A risk assessment was performed in order to create a priority order and significant hazards and failure modes were summarized. Corrective measures were proposed for each hazard.

Validation of nuclear criticality safety software and 27 energy group ENDF/B-IV cross sections. Revision 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, B.L. Jr.; D'Aquila, D.M.

1996-01-01

The original validation report, POEF-T-3636, was documented in August 1994. The document was based on calculations that were executed during June through August 1992. The statistical analyses in Appendix C and Appendix D were completed in October 1993. This revision is written to clarify the margin of safety being used at Portsmouth for nuclear criticality safety calculations. This validation gives Portsmouth NCS personnel a basis for performing computerized KENO V.a calculations using the Lockheed Martin Nuclear Criticality Safety Software. The first portion of the document outlines basic information in regard to validation of NCSS using ENDF/B-IV 27-group cross sections on the IBM3090 at ORNL. A basic discussion of the NCSS system is provided, some discussion on the validation database and validation in general. Then follows a detailed description of the statistical analysis which was applied. The results of this validation indicate that the NCSS software may be used with confidence for criticality calculations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. For calculations of Portsmouth systems using the specified codes and systems covered by this validation, a maximum k eff including 2σ of 0.9605 or lower shall be considered as subcritical to ensure a calculational margin of safety of 0.02. The validation of NCSS on the IBM 3090 at ORNL was extended to include NCSS on the IBM 3090 at K-25

Applying Digital Technologies to Strengthen Nuclear Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huffeteau, S.; Roy, C.

2016-01-01

Full text: The paper describes how the development of some information technologies can further contribute to the safety of nuclear facilities and their competitiveness. After repositioning the nuclear industry engineering practices in their historical and economic context, the paper describes five engineering practices or use cases widely developed especially in the aerospace industry: requirement management, business process enforcement by digitization of data and processes, facilities configuration management, engineering information unification, and digital licensing. Information technology (IT) plays a mandatory role for driving this change since IT is now mature enough to handle the level of complexity the nuclear industry requires. While the detailed evaluation of the expecting gains in cost decrease or safety increase can be difficult to quantify, the paper presents illustrative benefits reachable by a development of these practices. (author

Flightdeck Automation Problems (FLAP) Model for Safety Technology Portfolio Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Ancel, Ersin; Shih, Ann T.

2014-01-01

NASA's Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) develops and advances methodologies and technologies to improve air transportation safety. The Safety Analysis and Integration Team (SAIT) conducts a safety technology portfolio assessment (PA) to analyze the program content, to examine the benefits and risks of products with respect to program goals, and to support programmatic decision making. The PA process includes systematic identification of current and future safety risks as well as tracking several quantitative and qualitative metrics to ensure the program goals are addressing prominent safety risks accurately and effectively. One of the metrics within the PA process involves using quantitative aviation safety models to gauge the impact of the safety products. This paper demonstrates the role of aviation safety modeling by providing model outputs and evaluating a sample of portfolio elements using the Flightdeck Automation Problems (FLAP) model. The model enables not only ranking of the quantitative relative risk reduction impact of all portfolio elements, but also highlighting the areas with high potential impact via sensitivity and gap analyses in support of the program office. Although the model outputs are preliminary and products are notional, the process shown in this paper is essential to a comprehensive PA of NASA's safety products in the current program and future programs/projects.

Health Information Technology Usability Evaluation Scale (Health-ITUES) for Usability Assessment of Mobile Health Technology: Validation Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Schnall, Rebecca; Cho, Hwayoung; Liu, Jianfang

2018-01-05

Mobile technology has become a ubiquitous technology and can be particularly useful in the delivery of health interventions. This technology can allow us to deliver interventions to scale, cover broad geographic areas, and deliver technologies in highly tailored ways based on the preferences or characteristics of users. The broad use of mobile technologies supports the need for usability assessments of these tools. Although there have been a number of usability assessment instruments developed, none have been validated for use with mobile technologies. The goal of this work was to validate the Health Information Technology Usability Evaluation Scale (Health-ITUES), a customizable usability assessment instrument in a sample of community-dwelling adults who were testing the use of a new mobile health (mHealth) technology. A sample of 92 community-dwelling adults living with HIV used a new mobile app for symptom self-management and completed the Health-ITUES to assess the usability of the app. They also completed the Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire (PSSUQ), a widely used and well-validated usability assessment tool. Correlations between these scales and each of the subscales were assessed. The subscales of the Health-ITUES showed high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach alpha=.85-.92). Each of the Health-ITUES subscales and the overall scale was moderately to strongly correlated with the PSSUQ scales (r=.46-.70), demonstrating the criterion validity of the Health-ITUES. The Health-ITUES has demonstrated reliability and validity for use in assessing the usability of mHealth technologies in community-dwelling adults living with a chronic illness. ©Rebecca Schnall, Hwayoung Cho, Jianfang Liu. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 05.01.2018.

Validating the Danish adaptation of the World Health Organization's International Classification for Patient Safety classification of patient safety incident types

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Kim Lyngby; Thommesen, Jacob; Andersen, Henning Boje

2013-01-01

Objectives Validation of a Danish patient safety incident classification adapted from the World Health Organizaton's International Classification for Patient Safety (ICPS-WHO). Design Thirty-three hospital safety management experts classified 58 safety incident cases selected to represent all types.......513 (range: 0.193–0.804). Kappa and ICC showed high correlation (r = 0.99). An inverse correlation was found between the prevalence of type and inter-rater reliability. Results are discussed according to four factors known to determine the inter-rater agreement: skill and motivation of raters; clarity...

Development of Strategic Technology Road map for Establishing Safety Infrastructure of Fusion Energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, B. S.; Cho, S. H.; Kam, S. C.; Kim, K. T.

2009-01-01

The Korean Government established an 'Act for the Promotion of Fusion Energy Development (APFED)' and formulated a 'Strategy Promotion Plan for Fusion Energy Development.' KINS has carried out a safety review of KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research), for which an application for use was received in 2002 and the license was issued in August 2007. With respect to the APFED, 'Atomic Energy Acts (AEAs)' shall apply in the fusion safety regulation. However the AEAs are not applicable because they aim for dealing with nuclear energy. In this regard, this study was planned to establish safety infrastructure for fusion energy and to develop technologies necessary for verifying the safety. The purpose of this study is to develop a 'Strategic Technology Roadmap (STR) for establishing safety infrastructure of the fusion energy', which displays the content and development schedule and strategy for developing the laws, safety goals and principles, and safety standards applicable for fusion safety regulation, and core technology required for safety regulation of fusion facilities

The Taskload-Efficiency-Safety-Buffer Triangle--development and validation with air traffic management.

Science.gov (United States)

Kallus, K Wolfgang; Hoffmann, Peter; Winkler, Hildegard; Vormayr, Elisabeth M

2010-02-01

The Taskload-Efficiency-Safety-Buffer Triangle (TEST) was developed as a new computerised scaling tool for quickly visualising changes in and trade-offs between the three critical factors that determine the work situation of air traffic management (ATM), i.e. taskload, efficiency and safety-buffers. Based on a task analysis of ATM and backed up by the stress-strain model, an easy-to-interpret triangle was constructed and validated both in simulated and real ATM workplaces. Results from the validation studies show that TEST does not only reflect the most relevant task characteristics, but also provides additional insights in the controllers' working styles. The TEST tool can make ATM safety surveys more efficient and help supervisors to decide about optimal times for opening or closing additional sectors. Statement of Relevance: TEST is a new tool to assess taskload, efficiency and safety-buffers in a joint scaling. It reflects increases in taskload and effects of taskload on safety-buffers and efficiency, as well as trade-offs in opposite directions. This tool might be very useful to check sector capacity in ATM and other high risk environments.

Verification and validation issues for digitally-based NPP safety systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ets, A.R.

1993-01-01

The trend toward standardization, integration and reduced costs has led to increasing use of digital systems in reactor protection systems. While digital systems provide maintenance and performance advantages, their use also introduces new safety issues, in particular with regard to software. Current practice relies on verification and validation (V and V) to ensure the quality of safety software. However, effective V and V must be done in conjunction with a structured software development process and must consider the context of the safety system application. This paper present some of the issues and concerns that impact on the V and V process. These include documentation of systems requirements, common mode failures, hazards analysis and independence. These issues and concerns arose during evaluations of NPP safety systems for advanced reactor designs and digital I and C retrofits for existing nuclear plants in the United States. The pragmatic lessons from actual systems reviews can provide a basis for further refinement and development of guidelines for applying V and V to NPP safety systems. (author). 14 refs

Validating a Technology Enhanced Student-Centered Learning Model

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Myunghee; Hahn, Jungsun; Chung, Warren

2015-01-01

The Technology Enhanced Student Centered Learning (TESCL) Model in this study presents the core factors that ensure the quality of learning in a technology-supported environment. Although the model was conceptually constructed using a student-centered learning framework and drawing upon previous studies, it should be validated through real-world…

NASA's aviation safety research and technology program

Science.gov (United States)

Fichtl, G. H.

1977-01-01

Aviation safety is challenged by the practical necessity of compromising inherent factors of design, environment, and operation. If accidents are to be avoided these factors must be controlled to a degree not often required by other transport modes. The operational problems which challenge safety seem to occur most often in the interfaces within and between the design, the environment, and operations where mismatches occur due to ignorance or lack of sufficient understanding of these interactions. Under this report the following topics are summarized: (1) The nature of operating problems, (2) NASA aviation safety research, (3) clear air turbulence characterization and prediction, (4) CAT detection, (5) Measurement of Atmospheric Turbulence (MAT) Program, (6) Lightning, (7) Thunderstorm gust fronts, (8) Aircraft ground operating problems, (9) Aircraft fire technology, (10) Crashworthiness research, (11) Aircraft wake vortex hazard research, and (12) Aviation safety reporting system.

Validation and Verification (V&V) of Safety-Critical Systems Operating Under Off-Nominal Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Belcastro, Christine M.

2012-01-01

Loss of control (LOC) remains one of the largest contributors to aircraft fatal accidents worldwide. Aircraft LOC accidents are highly complex in that they can result from numerous causal and contributing factors acting alone or more often in combination. Hence, there is no single intervention strategy to prevent these accidents. Research is underway at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the development of advanced onboard system technologies for preventing or recovering from loss of vehicle control and for assuring safe operation under off-nominal conditions associated with aircraft LOC accidents. The transition of these technologies into the commercial fleet will require their extensive validation and verification (V&V) and ultimate certification. The V&V of complex integrated systems poses highly significant technical challenges and is the subject of a parallel research effort at NASA. This chapter summarizes the V&V problem and presents a proposed process that could be applied to complex integrated safety-critical systems developed for preventing aircraft LOC accidents. A summary of recent research accomplishments in this effort is referenced.

A Study on the Construct Validity of Safety Culture Oversight Model for Nuclear Power Operating Organization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Su Jin; Choi, Young Sung; Oh, Jang Jin

2015-01-01

In Korea, the safety policy statement declared in 1994 by government stressed the importance of safety culture and licensees were encouraged to manage and conduct their self-assessments. A change in regulatory position about safety culture oversight was made after the event of SBO cover-up in Kori unit 1 and several subsequent falsification events. Since then KINS has been developing licensee's safety culture oversight system including conceptual framework of oversight, prime focus area for oversight, and specific details on regulatory expectations, all of which are based on defence-in-depth (DiD) safety enhancement approach. Development and gathering of performance data which is related to actual 'safety' of nuclear power plant are needed to identify the relationship between safety culture and safety performance. Authors consider this study as pilot which has a contribution on verifying the construct validity of the model and the effectiveness of survey based research. This is the first attempt that the validity of safety culture oversight model has been investigated with empirical data obtained from Korean nuclear power operating organization

A Study on the Construct Validity of Safety Culture Oversight Model for Nuclear Power Operating Organization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Su Jin; Choi, Young Sung; Oh, Jang Jin [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

In Korea, the safety policy statement declared in 1994 by government stressed the importance of safety culture and licensees were encouraged to manage and conduct their self-assessments. A change in regulatory position about safety culture oversight was made after the event of SBO cover-up in Kori unit 1 and several subsequent falsification events. Since then KINS has been developing licensee's safety culture oversight system including conceptual framework of oversight, prime focus area for oversight, and specific details on regulatory expectations, all of which are based on defence-in-depth (DiD) safety enhancement approach. Development and gathering of performance data which is related to actual 'safety' of nuclear power plant are needed to identify the relationship between safety culture and safety performance. Authors consider this study as pilot which has a contribution on verifying the construct validity of the model and the effectiveness of survey based research. This is the first attempt that the validity of safety culture oversight model has been investigated with empirical data obtained from Korean nuclear power operating organization.

Research and technology in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Science.gov (United States)

2002-01-01

As the Federal Government's chief commercial vehicle safety agency, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA), Office of Research and Technology (R&T) focuses on saving lives and reducing injuries by helping to prevent crashes involvi...

Understanding Student Teachers’ Behavioural Intention to Use Technology: Technology Acceptance Model (TAM Validation and Testing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kung-Teck, Wong

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This study sets out to validate and test the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM in the context of Malaysian student teachers’ integration of their technology in teaching and learning. To establish factorial validity, data collected from 302 respondents were tested against the TAM using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA, and structural equation modelling (SEM was used for model comparison and hypotheses testing. The goodness-of-fit test of the analysis shows partial support of the applicability of the TAM in a Malaysian context. Overall, the TAM accounted for 37.3% of the variance in intention to use technology among student teachers and of the five hypotheses formulated, four are supported. Perceived usefulness is a significant influence on attitude towards computer use and behavioural intention. Perceived ease of use significantly influences perceived usefulness, and finally, behavioural intention is found to be influenced by attitude towards computer use. The findings of this research contribute to the literature by validating the TAM in the Malaysian context and provide several prominent implications for the research and practice of technology integration development.

Business of Nuclear Safety Analysis Office, Nuclear Technology Test Center

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayakawa, Masahiko

1981-01-01

The Nuclear Technology Test Center established the Nuclear Safety Analysis Office to execute newly the works concerning nuclear safety analysis in addition to the works related to the proving tests of nuclear machinery and equipments. The regulations for the Nuclear Safety Analysis Office concerning its organization, business and others were specially decided, and it started the business formally in August, 1980. It is a most important subject to secure the safety of nuclear facilities in nuclear fuel cycle as the premise of developing atomic energy. In Japan, the strict regulation of safety is executed by the government at each stage of the installation, construction, operation and maintenance of nuclear facilities, based on the responsibility for the security of installers themselves. The Nuclear Safety Analysis Office was established as the special organ to help the safety examination related to the installation of nuclear power stations and others by the government. It improves and puts in order the safety analysis codes required for the cross checking in the safety examination, and carries out safety analysis calculation. It is operated by the cooperation of the Science and Technology Agency and the Agency of Natural Resources and Energy. The purpose of establishment, the operation and the business of the Nuclear Safety Analysis Office, the plan of improving and putting in order of analysis codes, and the state of the similar organs in foreign countries are described. (Kako, I.)

Maximising harm reduction in early specialty training for general practice: validation of a safety checklist.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowie, Paul; McKay, John; Kelly, Moya

2012-06-21

Making health care safer is a key policy priority worldwide. In specialty training, medical educators may unintentionally impact on patient safety e.g. through failures of supervision; providing limited feedback on performance; and letting poorly developed behaviours continue unchecked. Doctors-in-training are also known to be susceptible to medical error. Ensuring that all essential educational issues are addressed during training is problematic given the scale of the tasks to be undertaken. Human error and the reliability of local systems may increase the risk of safety-critical topics being inadequately covered. However adherence to a checklist reminder may improve the reliability of task delivery and maximise harm reduction. We aimed to prioritise the most safety-critical issues to be addressed in the first 12-weeks of specialty training in the general practice environment and validate a related checklist reminder. We used mixed methods with different groups of GP educators (n=127) and specialty trainees (n=9) in two Scottish regions to prioritise, develop and validate checklist content. Generation and refinement of checklist themes and items were undertaken on an iterative basis using a range of methods including small group work in dedicated workshops; a modified-Delphi process; and telephone interviews. The relevance of potential checklist items was rated using a 4-point scale content validity index to inform final inclusion. 14 themes (e.g. prescribing safely; dealing with medical emergency; implications of poor record keeping; and effective & safe communication) and 47 related items (e.g. how to safety-net face-to-face or over the telephone; knowledge of practice systems for results handling; recognition of harm in children) were judged to be essential safety-critical educational issues to be covered. The mean content validity index ratio was 0.98. A checklist was developed and validated for educational supervisors to assist in the reliable delivery of

Factors shaping effective utilization of health information technology in urban safety-net clinics.

Science.gov (United States)

George, Sheba; Garth, Belinda; Fish, Allison; Baker, Richard

2013-09-01

Urban safety-net clinics are considered prime targets for the adoption of health information technology innovations; however, little is known about their utilization in such safety-net settings. Current scholarship provides limited guidance on the implementation of health information technology into safety-net settings as it typically assumes that adopting institutions have sufficient basic resources. This study addresses this gap by exploring the unique challenges urban resource-poor safety-net clinics must consider when adopting and utilizing health information technology. In-depth interviews (N = 15) were used with key stakeholders (clinic chief executive officers, medical directors, nursing directors, chief financial officers, and information technology directors) from staff at four clinics to explore (a) nonhealth information technology-related clinic needs, (b) how health information technology may provide solutions, and (c) perceptions of and experiences with health information technology. Participants identified several challenges, some of which appear amenable to health information technology solutions. Also identified were requirements for effective utilization of health information technology including physical infrastructural improvements, funding for equipment/training, creation of user groups to share health information technology knowledge/experiences, and specially tailored electronic billing guidelines. We found that despite the potential benefit that can be derived from health information technologies, the unplanned and uninformed introduction of these tools into these settings might actually create more problems than are solved. From these data, we were able to identify a set of factors that should be considered when integrating health information technology into the existing workflows of low-resourced urban safety-net clinics in order to maximize their utilization and enhance the quality of health care in such settings.

Assessing the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ), German language version in Swiss university hospitals--a validation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmermann, Natalie; Küng, Kaspar; Sereika, Susan M; Engberg, Sandra; Sexton, Bryan; Schwendimann, René

2013-09-10

Improving patient safety has become a major focus of clinical care and research over the past two decades. An institution's patient safety climate represents an essential component of ensuring a safe environment and thereby can be vital to the prevention of adverse events. Covering six patient safety related factors, the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) is a validated and widely used instrument to measure the patient safety climate in clinical areas. The objective of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the German language version of the SAQ. A survey was carried out in two University Hospitals in Switzerland in autumn 2009 where the SAQ was distributed to a sample of 406 nurses and physicians in medical and surgical wards. Following the American Educational Research Association guidelines, we tested the questionnaire validity by levels of evidence: content validity, internal structure and relations to other variables. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine factor structure. Cronbach's alphas and inter-item correlations were calculated to examine internal consistency reliability. A total of 319 questionnaires were completed representing an overall response rate of 78.6%. For three items, the item content validity index was <0.75. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable model fit (RMSEA = 0.045; CFI = 0.944) for the six-factor model. Additional exploratory factor analysis could not identify a better factor model. SAQ factor scores showed positive correlations with the Safety Organizing Scale (r = .56-.72). The SAQ German version showed moderate to strong internal consistency reliability indices (Cronbach alpha = .65-.83). The German language version of the SAQ demonstrated acceptable to good psychometric properties and therefore shows promise to be a sound instrument to measure patient safety climate in Swiss hospital wards. However, the low item content validity and large number of missing responses for several items suggest

Advanced Energy Validated Photovoltaic Inverter Technology at NREL | Energy

Science.gov (United States)

Inverter Technology at NREL Advanced Energy Industries-NREL's first partner at the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF)-validated its advanced photovoltaic (PV) inverter technology using the ESIF's computer screen in a laboratory, with power inverter hardware in the background Photo by Dennis Schroeder

Thermal-hydraulics technological strategy roadmap for LWR safety improvement and development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Hideo; Arai, Kenji; Oikawa, Hirohide

2015-01-01

New version of the Thermal-Hydraulics Safety Evaluation Fundamental Technology Enhancement Strategy Roadmap (TH-RM) was developed by the Atomic Energy Society of Japan (AESJ) for LWR safety improvement and development. The 1st version of TH-RM was prepared in 2009 under collaboration of utilities, vendors, universities, research institutes and technical support organizations (TSO) for regulatory body. The revision was made by three sub-working groups (SWGs) by considering the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi Accident. The 'safety assessment' SWG pursued development of computer codes for safety assessment. The 'fundamental technology' SWG pursued safety improvement and risk reduction via accident management (AM) measures by referring the technical map for severe accident (SA) established by the 'severe accident' SWG. Phenomena and components for counter-measures and/or proper prediction are identified by going through SA progression in both reactor and spent-fuel pool of PWR and BWR. Twelve important technology development subjects were identified, which include melt coolability enhancement to maintain integrity of containment vessel. Fact Sheet was developed to describe each of identified and selected R and D subjects. External hazards are also considered how to cope with from thermal-hydraulic safety point of view. This paper summarizes the revised TH-RM with several examples and future perspectives. (author)

Spectroscopic imaging technologies for online food safety and sanitation inspection

Science.gov (United States)

The Environmental Microbial and Food Safety Laboratory, ARS, USDA is one of the leading groups for the development of optoelectronic sensing technologies and methodologies for food quality, safety, and sanitation inspection. High throughput hyperspectral and multispectral imaging techniques use Ram...

Criticality safety validation of MCNP5 using continuous energy libraries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salome, Jean A.D.; Pereira, Claubia; Assuncao, Jonathan B.A.; Veloso, Maria Auxiliadora F.; Costa, Antonella L.; Silva, Clarysson A.M. da

2013-01-01

The study of subcritical systems is very important in the design, installation and operation of various devices, mainly nuclear reactors and power plants. The information generated by these systems guide the decisions to be taken in the executive project, the economic viability and the safety measures to be employed in a nuclear facility. Simulating some experiments from the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments, the code MCNP5 was validated to nuclear criticality analysis. Its continuous libraries were used. The average values and standard deviation (SD) were evaluated. The results obtained with the code are very similar to the values obtained by the benchmark experiments. (author)

Development and validation of safety climate scales for mobile remote workers using utility/electrical workers as exemplar.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yueng-Hsiang; Zohar, Dov; Robertson, Michelle M; Garabet, Angela; Murphy, Lauren A; Lee, Jin

2013-10-01

The objective of this study was to develop and test the reliability and validity of a new scale designed for measuring safety climate among mobile remote workers, using utility/electrical workers as exemplar. The new scale employs perceived safety priority as the metric of safety climate and a multi-level framework, separating the measurement of organization- and group-level safety climate items into two sub-scales. The question of the emergence of shared perceptions among remote workers was also examined. For the initial survey development, several items were adopted from a generic safety climate scale and new industry-specific items were generated based on an extensive literature review, expert judgment, 15-day field observations, and 38 in-depth individual interviews with subject matter experts (i.e., utility industry electrical workers, trainers and supervisors of electrical workers). The items were revised after 45 cognitive interviews and a pre-test with 139 additional utility/electrical workers. The revised scale was subsequently implemented with a total of 2421 workers at two large US electric utility companies (1560 participants for the pilot company and 861 for the second company). Both exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were adopted to finalize the items and to ensure construct validity. Reliability of the scale was tested based on Cronbach's α. Homogeneity tests examined whether utility/electrical workers' safety climate perceptions were shared within the same supervisor group. This was followed by an analysis of the criterion-related validity, which linked the safety climate scores to self-reports of safety behavior and injury outcomes (i.e., recordable incidents, missing days due to work-related injuries, vehicle accidents, and near misses). Six dimensions (Safety pro-activity, General training, Trucks and equipment, Field orientation, Financial Investment, and Schedule flexibility) with 29 items were extracted from the EFA to

Are measurements of patient safety culture and adverse events valid and reliable? Results from a cross sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Farup, Per G

2015-05-02

The association between measurements of the patient safety culture and the "true" patient safety has been insufficiently documented, and the validity of the tools used for the measurements has been questioned. This study explored associations between the patient safety culture and adverse events, and evaluated the validity of the tools. In 2008/2009, a survey on patient safety culture was performed with Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) in two medical departments in two geographically separated hospitals of Innlandet Hospital Trust. Later, a retrospective analysis of adverse events during the same period was performed with the Global Trigger Tool (GTT). The safety culture and adverse events were compared between the departments. 185 employees participated in the study, and 272 patient records were analysed. The HSOPSC scores were lower and adverse events less prevalent in department 1 than in department 2. In departments 1 and 2 the mean HSOPSC scores (SD) were at the unit level 3.62 (0.42) and 3.90 (0.37) (p culture and adverse events. Until the criterion validity of the tools for measuring patient safety culture and tracking of adverse events have been further evaluated, measurement of patient safety culture could not be used as a proxy for the "true" safety.

Using game technologies to improve the safety of construction plant operations.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Hongling; Li, Heng; Chan, Greg; Skitmore, Martin

2012-09-01

Many accidents occur world-wide in the use of construction plant and equipment, and safety training is considered by many to be one of the best approaches to their prevention. However, current safety training methods/tools are unable to provide trainees with the hands-on practice needed. Game technology-based safety training platforms have the potential to overcome this problem in a virtual environment. One such platform is described in this paper - its characteristics are analysed and its possible contribution to safety training identified. This is developed and tested by means of a case study involving three major pieces of construction plant, which successfully demonstrates that the platform can improve the process and performance of the safety training involved in their operation. This research not only presents a new and useful solution to the safety training of construction operations, but illustrates the potential use of advanced technologies in solving construction industry problems in general. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of Safety Analysis Technology for Integral Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sim, S. K. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea); Seul, K. W.; Kim, W. S.; Kim, W. K.; Yun, Y. G.; Ahn, H. J.; Lee, J. S.; Sin, A. D. [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Taejeon (Korea)

2000-03-01

The Nuclear Desalination Plant(NDP) is being developed to produce electricity and fresh water, and is expected to locate near population zone. In the aspect of safety, it is required to protect the public and environment from the possible releases of fission products and to prevent the fresh water from the contamination of radioactivity. Thus, in a present study, the safety characteristics of the integral reactor adopting passive and inherent safety features significantly different from existing nuclear power plants were investigated based on the design of foreign and domestic integral reactors. Also, safety requirements applicable to the NDP were analyzed based on the regulatory requirements for current and advanced reactor designs, and use requirements for small-medium size reactors. Based on these analyses, some safety concerns to be considered in the design stage have been identified. They includes the use of proven technology for new safety systems, the systematic classification and selection of design basis accidents, and the safety assurance of desalination-related systems. These efforts to identify and resolve the safety concerns in the design stage will provide the early confidence of SMART safety to designers, and the technical basis to evaluate the safety to reviewers in the future. 8 refs., 20 figs., 4 tabs. (Author)

Development of safety analysis technology for LMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Y. B.; Kwon, Y. M.; Suk, S. D.

2005-03-01

The MATRA-LMR-FB has been developed internally for the damage prevention as well as the safety assessment during a channel blockage accident and, as a the result, the quality of the code becomes comparable to that developed in the leading countries. For a code-to-code comparison, KAERI could have access to the SASSYS-1 through a bilateral collaboration between KAERI and ANL. The study could bring into the reliability improvements both on the reactivity models in the SSC-K and on the SSC-K prediction capability. It finally leads to the completion of the SSC-K version 1.3 resulting from the qualitative and quantitative code-to-code comparison. The preliminary analysis for a metal fueled LMR could also become possible with the MELT-III and the VENUS-II, which had originally been developed for the HCDA analysis with an oxidized fuel, by developing the relevant models For the development of the safety evaluation technology, the safety limits have been set up, and the analyses of the internal and external channel blockages in an assembly have also been performed. Besides, the more reliable analysis results on the key design concepts could be obtained by way of the methodology improvement resulting from the qualitative and quantitative comparison study. For an efficient and systematic control of the main project, the integration of the developed technologies and the establishment of their data base have been pursued. It has gone through the development of the process control with taking account of interfaces among the sub-projects, the overall coordination of the developed technologies, the data base for the design products, and so on

SDL-Based Protocol Validation for the Integrated Safety Communication Network in Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jung-hun; Kim, Dong-hoon; Lee, Dong-young; Park, Sung-woo

2006-01-01

The communication protocol in nuclear power plants needs to be validated systematically to avoid the critical situation that may be caused by its own faults. We establish the methodology to validate the protocol designed for the Integrated Safety Communication Networks (ISCN) of Korea Nuclear Instrumentation and Control System (KNICS). The ISCN protocol is specified using the formal description technique called the SDL. The validation of ISCN protocol is done via the Simulator and Validator, both of which are main functions provided by the SDL

First evidence on the validity and reliability of the Safety Organizing Scale-Nursing Home version (SOS-NH).

Science.gov (United States)

Ausserhofer, Dietmar; Anderson, Ruth A; Colón-Emeric, Cathleen; Schwendimann, René

2013-08-01

The Safety Organizing Scale is a valid and reliable measure on safety behaviors and practices in hospitals. This study aimed to explore the psychometric properties of the Safety Organizing Scale-Nursing Home version (SOS-NH). In a cross-sectional analysis of staff survey data, we examined validity and reliability of the 9-item Safety SOS-NH using American Educational Research Association guidelines. This substudy of a larger trial used baseline survey data collected from staff members (n = 627) in a variety of work roles in 13 nursing homes (NHs) in North Carolina and Virginia. Psychometric evaluation of the SOS-NH revealed good response patterns with low average of missing values across all items (3.05%). Analyses of the SOS-NH's internal structure (eg, comparative fit indices = 0.929, standardized root mean square error of approximation = 0.045) and consistency (composite reliability = 0.94) suggested its 1-dimensionality. Significant between-facility variability, intraclass correlations, within-group agreement, and design effect confirmed appropriateness of the SOS-NH for measurement at the NH level, justifying data aggregation. The SOS-NH showed discriminate validity from one related concept: communication openness. Initial evidence regarding validity and reliability of the SOS-NH supports its utility in measuring safety behaviors and practices among a wide range of NH staff members, including those with low literacy. Further psychometric evaluation should focus on testing concurrent and criterion validity, using resident outcome measures (eg, patient fall rates). Copyright © 2013 American Medical Directors Association, Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing the safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ), German language version in Swiss university hospitals - a validation study

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Improving patient safety has become a major focus of clinical care and research over the past two decades. An institution’s patient safety climate represents an essential component of ensuring a safe environment and thereby can be vital to the prevention of adverse events. Covering six patient safety related factors, the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) is a validated and widely used instrument to measure the patient safety climate in clinical areas. The objective of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the German language version of the SAQ. Methods A survey was carried out in two University Hospitals in Switzerland in autumn 2009 where the SAQ was distributed to a sample of 406 nurses and physicians in medical and surgical wards. Following the American Educational Research Association guidelines, we tested the questionnaire validity by levels of evidence: content validity, internal structure and relations to other variables. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine factor structure. Cronbach’s alphas and inter-item correlations were calculated to examine internal consistency reliability. Results A total of 319 questionnaires were completed representing an overall response rate of 78.6%. For three items, the item content validity index was <0.75. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable model fit (RMSEA = 0.045; CFI = 0.944) for the six-factor model. Additional exploratory factor analysis could not identify a better factor model. SAQ factor scores showed positive correlations with the Safety Organizing Scale (r = .56 - .72). The SAQ German version showed moderate to strong internal consistency reliability indices (Cronbach alpha = .65 - .83). Conclusions The German language version of the SAQ demonstrated acceptable to good psychometric properties and therefore shows promise to be a sound instrument to measure patient safety climate in Swiss hospital wards. However, the low item content validity and large number

Socio-technological study for establishing comprehensive nuclear safety system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furuta, Kazuo; Kanno, Taro; Yagi, Ekou; Shuto, Yuki

2003-01-01

This paper presents an overview and preliminary results of a research project on social-technology for nuclear safety, which started in October 2001. In particular, emergency response preparedness against nuclear disaster and consensus development will be discussed. The architecture of an emergency response simulator will be given, which is for assessing design of disaster prevention systems. A conceptual model of evacuation behavior of a resident has been constructed from analysis of past disaster cases. As for consensus development, deliberation spaces of actual committee meetings were constructed by analyzing transcripts of the meetings based on an opinion schema. A model of consensus development process has been proposed from the traces of participants' opinions over the deliberation spaces. Such a socio-technological approach will be useful not only for nuclear safety but also for safety of non-nuclear domains and human activities of a high hazard potential; it is expected to contribute to establishing risk-aware society of the future. (author)

Linguistic Validation and Cultural Adaptation of Bulgarian Version of Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC).

Science.gov (United States)

Stoyanova, Rumyana; Dimova, Rositsa; Tarnovska, Miglena; Boeva, Tatyana

2018-05-20

Patient safety (PS) is one of the essential elements of health care quality and a priority of healthcare systems in most countries. Thus the creation of validated instruments and the implementation of systems that measure patient safety are considered to be of great importance worldwide. The present paper aims to illustrate the process of linguistic validation, cross-cultural verification and adaptation of the Bulgarian version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (B-HSOPSC) and its test-retest reliability. The study design is cross-sectional. The HSOPSC questionnaire consists of 42 questions, grouped in 12 different subscales that measure patient safety culture. Internal con-sistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the split-half method were used; the Spear-man-Brown coefficient was calculated. The overall Cronbach's alpha for B-HSOPSC is 0.918. Subscales 7 Staffing and 12 Overall perceptions of safety had the lowest coefficients. The high reliability of the instrument was confirmed by the Split-half method (0.97) and ICC-coefficient (0.95). The lowest values of Spearmen-Broun coefficients were found in items A13 and A14. The study offers an analysis of the results of the linguistic validation of the B-HSOPSC and its test-retest reliability. The psychometric characteristics of the questions revealed good validity and reliability, except two questions. In the future, the instrument will be administered to the target population in the main study so that the psychometric properties of the instrument can be verified.

75 FR 21602 - Online Safety and Technology Working Group Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-26

... OSTWG is tasked with evaluating industry efforts to promote a safe online environment for children. The... and Technology Working Group Meeting AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information... public meeting of the Online Safety and Technology Working Group (OSTWG). DATES: The meeting will be held...

Development and validation of a predictive technology for creep closure of underground rooms in salt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munson, D.E.; DeVries, K.L.

1991-07-01

Because of the concern for public health and safety, when compared to normal engineering practice, radioactive waste repositories have quite unusual requirements governing performance assessment. In part, performance assessment requires prediction of time-dependent or creep response of the repository hundreds to thousands of years into the future. In salt, one specific need is to predict, with confidence, the time at which the repository rooms creep closed sufficiently to encapsulate the waste and seal the repository. Thus, a major task of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Program is to develop and validate this predictive technology to calculate creep of repository rooms in the bedded salt deposits of Southeastern New Mexico. 19 refs., 15 figs., 2 tabs

A critical overview of safety-related and technological criteria for nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lahodova, M.; Valach, M.

2000-10-01

A detailed overview of the safety criteria, methods of analysis and computer codes used in OECD countries is presented. A critical analysis of the validity of criteria in the high burnup domain was performed, and recommendations for testing their validity based on available experimental data are put forth. (author)

Verification and validation process for the safety software in KNICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Kee-Choon; Lee, Jang-Soo; Kim, Jang-Yeol

2004-01-01

This paper describes the Verification and Validation (V and V ) process for safety software of Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), Digital Reactor Protection System (DRPS), and Engineered Safety Feature-Component Control System (ESF-CCS) that are being developed in Korea Nuclear Instrumentation and Control System (KNICS) projects. Specifically, it presents DRPS V and V experience according to the software development life cycle. The main activities of DRPS V and V process are preparation of software planning documentation, verification of Software Requirement Specification (SRS), Software Design Specification (SDS) and codes, and testing of the integrated software and the integrated system. In addition, they include software safety analysis and software configuration management. SRS V and V of DRPS are technical evaluation, licensing suitability evaluation, inspection and traceability analysis, formal verification, preparing integrated system test plan, software safety analysis, and software configuration management. Also, SDS V and V of RPS are technical evaluation, licensing suitability evaluation, inspection and traceability analysis, formal verification, preparing integrated software test plan, software safety analysis, and software configuration management. The code V and V of DRPS are traceability analysis, source code inspection, test case and test procedure generation, software safety analysis, and software configuration management. Testing is the major V and V activity of software integration and system integration phase. Software safety analysis at SRS phase uses Hazard Operability (HAZOP) method, at SDS phase it uses HAZOP and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and at implementation phase it uses FTA. Finally, software configuration management is performed using Nu-SCM (Nuclear Software Configuration Management) tool developed by KNICS project. Through these activities, we believe we can achieve the functionality, performance, reliability and safety that are V

Multilevel Safety Climate and Safety Performance in the Construction Industry: Development and Validation of a Top-Down Mechanism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ran Gao

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The character of construction projects exposes front-line workers to dangers and accidents. Safety climate has been confirmed to be a predictor of safety performance in the construction industry. This study aims to explore the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between multilevel safety climate and safety performance. An integrated model was developed to study how particular safety climate factors of one level affect those of other levels, and then affect safety performance from the top down. A questionnaire survey was administered on six construction sites in Vietnam. A total of 1030 valid questionnaires were collected from this survey. Approximately half of the data were used to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA and the remaining data were submitted to structural equation modeling (SEM. Top management commitment (TMC and supervisors’ expectation (SE were identified as factors to represent organizational safety climate (OSC and supervisor safety climate (SSC, respectively, and coworkers’ caring and communication (CCC and coworkers’ role models (CRM were identified as factors to denote coworker safety climate (CSC. SEM results show that OSC factor is positively related to SSC factor and CSC factors significantly. SSC factor could partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and CSC factors, as well as the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance. CSC factors partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance, and the relationship between SSC factor and safety performance. The findings imply that a positive safety culture should be established both at the organizational level and the group level. Efforts from all top management, supervisors, and coworkers should be provided to improve safety performance in the construction industry.

Multilevel Safety Climate and Safety Performance in the Construction Industry: Development and Validation of a Top-Down Mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Ran; Chan, Albert P C; Utama, Wahyudi P; Zahoor, Hafiz

2016-11-08

The character of construction projects exposes front-line workers to dangers and accidents. Safety climate has been confirmed to be a predictor of safety performance in the construction industry. This study aims to explore the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between multilevel safety climate and safety performance. An integrated model was developed to study how particular safety climate factors of one level affect those of other levels, and then affect safety performance from the top down. A questionnaire survey was administered on six construction sites in Vietnam. A total of 1030 valid questionnaires were collected from this survey. Approximately half of the data were used to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the remaining data were submitted to structural equation modeling (SEM). Top management commitment (TMC) and supervisors' expectation (SE) were identified as factors to represent organizational safety climate (OSC) and supervisor safety climate (SSC), respectively, and coworkers' caring and communication (CCC) and coworkers' role models (CRM) were identified as factors to denote coworker safety climate (CSC). SEM results show that OSC factor is positively related to SSC factor and CSC factors significantly. SSC factor could partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and CSC factors, as well as the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance. CSC factors partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance, and the relationship between SSC factor and safety performance. The findings imply that a positive safety culture should be established both at the organizational level and the group level. Efforts from all top management, supervisors, and coworkers should be provided to improve safety performance in the construction industry.

75 FR 1338 - Online Safety and Technology Working Group Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-11

... promote a safe online environment for children. The Act requires the OSTWG to report its findings and... and Technology Working Group Meeting AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information... public meeting of the Online Safety and Technology Working Group (OSTWG). DATES: The meeting will be held...

Development of safety analysis technology for integral reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hee Cheol; Kim, K. K.; Kim, S. H.

2002-04-01

The state-of-the-arts for the integral reactor was performed to investigate the safety features. The safety and performance of SMART were assessed using the technologies developed during the study. For this purpose, the computer code system and the analysis methodology were developed and the safety and performance analyses on SMART basic design were carried out for the design basis event and accident. The experimental facilities were designed for the core flow distribution test and the self-pressurizing pressurizer performance test. The tests on the 2-phase critical flow with non-condensable gas were completed and the results were used to assess the critical flow model. Probabilistic Safety Assessment(PSA) was carried out to evaluate the safety level and to optimize the design by identifying and remedying any weakness in the design. A joint study with KINS was carried out to promote licensing environment. The generic safety issues of integral reactors were identified and the solutions were formulated. The economic evaluation of the SMART desalination plant and the activities related to the process control were carried out in the scope of the study

Aviation Trends Related to Atmospheric Environment Safety Technologies Project Technical Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Reveley, Mary S.; Withrow, Colleen A.; Barr, Lawrence C.; Evans, Joni K.; Leone, Karen M.; Jones, Sharon M.

2014-01-01

Current and future aviation safety trends related to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Atmospheric Environment Safety Technologies Project's three technical challenges (engine icing characterization and simulation capability; airframe icing simulation and engineering tool capability; and atmospheric hazard sensing and mitigation technology capability) were assessed by examining the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident database (1989 to 2008), incidents from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accident/incident database (1989 to 2006), and literature from various industry and government sources. The accident and incident data were examined for events involving fixed-wing airplanes operating under Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Parts 121, 135, and 91 for atmospheric conditions related to airframe icing, ice-crystal engine icing, turbulence, clear air turbulence, wake vortex, lightning, and low visibility (fog, low ceiling, clouds, precipitation, and low lighting). Five future aviation safety risk areas associated with the three AEST technical challenges were identified after an exhaustive survey of a variety of sources and include: approach and landing accident reduction, icing/ice detection, loss of control in flight, super density operations, and runway safety.

Research on Occupational Safety, Health Management and Risk Control Technology in Coal Mines.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Lu-Jie; Cao, Qing-Gui; Yu, Kai; Wang, Lin-Lin; Wang, Hai-Bin

2018-04-26

This paper studies the occupational safety and health management methods as well as risk control technology associated with the coal mining industry, including daily management of occupational safety and health, identification and assessment of risks, early warning and dynamic monitoring of risks, etc.; also, a B/S mode software (Geting Coal Mine, Jining, Shandong, China), i.e., Coal Mine Occupational Safety and Health Management and Risk Control System, is developed to attain the aforementioned objectives, namely promoting the coal mine occupational safety and health management based on early warning and dynamic monitoring of risks. Furthermore, the practical effectiveness and the associated pattern for applying this software package to coal mining is analyzed. The study indicates that the presently developed coal mine occupational safety and health management and risk control technology and the associated software can support the occupational safety and health management efforts in coal mines in a standardized and effective manner. It can also control the accident risks scientifically and effectively; its effective implementation can further improve the coal mine occupational safety and health management mechanism, and further enhance the risk management approaches. Besides, its implementation indicates that the occupational safety and health management and risk control technology has been established based on a benign cycle involving dynamic feedback and scientific development, which can provide a reliable assurance to the safe operation of coal mines.

Development of digital safety system logic and control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishikawa, H.; Sakamoto, H.

1995-01-01

Advanced-BWR (ABWR) uses total digital control and instrumentation (C and I) system. In particular, ABWR adopts a newly developed safety system using advanced digital technology. In the presentation the digital safety system design, manufacturing and factory validation test method are shortly overviewed. The digital safety system consists of micro-processor based digital controllers, data and information transmission by optical fibers and human-machine interface using color flat displays. This new developed safety system meet the nuclear safety requirements such as high reliability, independence of divisions, operability and maintainability. (2 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.)

The KNICS approach for verification and validation of safety software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cha, Kyung Ho; Sohn, Han Seong; Lee, Jang Soo; Kim, Jang Yeol; Cheon, Se Woo; Lee, Young Joon; Hwang, In Koo; Kwon, Kee Choon

2003-01-01

This paper presents verification and validation (VV) to be approached for safety software of POSAFE-Q Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) prototype and Plant Protection System (PPS) prototype, which consists of Reactor Protection System (RPS) and Engineered Safety Features-Component Control System (ESF-CCS) in development of Korea Nuclear Instrumentation and Control System (KNICS). The SVV criteria and requirements are selected from IEEE Std. 7-4.3.2, IEEE Std. 1012, IEEE Std. 1028 and BTP-14, and they have been considered for acceptance framework to be provided within SVV procedures. SVV techniques, including Review and Inspection (R and I), Formal Verification and Theorem Proving, and Automated Testing, are applied for safety software and automated SVV tools supports SVV tasks. Software Inspection Support and Requirement Traceability (SIS-RT) supports R and I and traceability analysis, a New Symbolic Model Verifier (NuSMV), Statemate MAGNUM (STM) ModelCertifier, and Prototype Verification System (PVS) are used for formal verification, and McCabe and Cantata++ are utilized for static and dynamic software testing. In addition, dedication of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software and firmware, Software Safety Analysis (SSA) and evaluation of Software Configuration Management (SCM) are being performed for the PPS prototype in the software requirements phase

Safety research colloquium 2013-2014. Vol. 10

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pieper, Ralf

2015-01-01

Volume 10 of the safety research colloquium 2013-2014 covers the following issues: Design, ergonomics and safety in product development; Germany is searching a final repository site: concepts and status of the final disposal of nuclear waste; collaborating robots - status of research, standardization and validation; psychological workloads - empirical indications; psychological workloads - actual challenges; expert security by occupational health management - challenges to operational practice; expert security by occupational health management - example of a demographic program in the practical realization; challenges in employment legislation - reduction of the key staff; consideration of human factors in hazard assessment a a challenge for every safety engineer, innovative technologies for work equipment and working systems in the context of ambient intelligence and industry 4.0; challenges of functional safety in the automotive sector; nanotechnology - an example for successful technology assessment.

Health Information Technology in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety: Literature Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Feldman, Sue S; Buchalter, Scott; Hayes, Leslie W

2018-06-04

The area of healthcare quality and patient safety is starting to use health information technology to prevent reportable events, identify them before they become issues, and act on events that are thought to be unavoidable. As healthcare organizations begin to explore the use of health information technology in this realm, it is often unclear where fiscal and human efforts should be focused. The purpose of this study was to provide a foundation for understanding where to focus health information technology fiscal and human resources as well as expectations for the use of health information technology in healthcare quality and patient safety. A literature review was conducted to identify peer-reviewed publications reporting on the actual use of health information technology in healthcare quality and patient safety. Inductive thematic analysis with open coding was used to categorize a total of 41 studies. Three pre-set categories were used: prevention, identification, and action. Three additional categories were formed through coding: challenges, outcomes, and location. This study identifies five main categories across seven study settings. A majority of the studies used health IT for identification and prevention of healthcare quality and patient safety issues. In this realm, alerts, clinical decision support, and customized health IT solutions were most often implemented. Implementation, interface design, and culture were most often noted as challenges. This study provides valuable information as organizations determine where they stand to get the most "bang for their buck" relative to health IT for quality and patient safety. Knowing what implementations are being effectivity used by other organizations helps with fiscal and human resource planning as well as managing expectations relative to cost, scope, and outcomes. The findings from this scan of the literature suggest that having organizational champion leaders that can shepherd implementation, impact culture

The design and validation of advanced operator support systems for a role in plant safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hughes, G.

1989-06-01

Advanced operator support systems have the potential of making a significant contribution to plant safety. This note reviews the different support functions required, the specification of performance criteria and possible approaches for system validation. The importance of the different functions that can be provided is related to the stage of the accident sequence. Also, because of the restricted reliability of any single system, subdivision of the systems is suggested in order to make the maximum contribution at a number of sequential stages. In this way it should be possible to make a significant claim for reduced operator error over the full accident progression, from incipient fault to disaster. The use of performance criteria currently associated with the classification of safety-grade trip systems (e.g. detection failure probability) would seem to provide a sound basis for validation. The validation of systems is seen as a significant task which will rely on the use of design and training-simulator data together with specific plant measurements. Expert systems appear to present particular problems for validation. (author)

Radiation Safety for Sustainable Development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-10-01

The objective of radiation safety is Assessments of Natural Radioactivity and its Radiological. The following topics were discussed during the conference: AFROSAFE Championing Radiation Safety in Africa, Radiation Calibration, and Development and Validation of a Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometry Method for Cancer Detection and Characterization. Young Generation in NUCLEAR Initiative to Promote Nuclear Science and Technology, Radiation Protection Safety Culture and Application of Nuclear Techniques in Industry and the Environment were discuss. Rapid Chemometric X-Ray Fluorescence approaches for spectral Diagnostics of Cancer utilizing Tissue Trace Metals and Speciation profiles. Fundamental role of medical physics in Radiation Therapy

Validating an infrared thermal switch as a novel access technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Memarian Negar

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recently, a novel single-switch access technology based on infrared thermography was proposed. The technology exploits the temperature differences between the inside and surrounding areas of the mouth as a switch trigger, thereby allowing voluntary switch activation upon mouth opening. However, for this technology to be clinically viable, it must be validated against a gold standard switch, such as a chin switch, that taps into the same voluntary motion. Methods In this study, we report an experiment designed to gauge the concurrent validity of the infrared thermal switch. Ten able-bodied adults participated in a series of 3 test sessions where they simultaneously used both an infrared thermal and conventional chin switch to perform multiple trials of a number identification task with visual, auditory and audiovisual stimuli. Participants also provided qualitative feedback about switch use. User performance with the two switches was quantified using an efficiency measure based on mutual information. Results User performance (p = 0.16 and response time (p = 0.25 with the infrared thermal switch were comparable to those of the gold standard. Users reported preference for the infrared thermal switch given its non-contact nature and robustness to changes in user posture. Conclusions Thermal infrared access technology appears to be a valid single switch alternative for individuals with disabilities who retain voluntary mouth opening and closing.

The assessment of technological and safety aspects of small power reactor SMART

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antariksawan, A.R.; Ekariansyah, Andi S.; Sony, D.T.; Suharno; Hastowo, Hudi

2002-01-01

This paper describes and discusses the technology and safety of small nuclear power plant SMART. The reactor SMART produces 300 MWth of power is cooled and moderated with light water and integral PWR type developed by KAERI. At present, the development activities had reached the end of basic design stage. The concept design of reactor SMART is based on safety enhancement, economic competitiveness and high performance. The fuel is uranium oxide with approximately 5% w/o enrichment. The safety characteristics of the core are shown with low power density around 62.6 W/cc, high negative reactivity coefficient, and high shutdown and thermal margin. Besides the inherent safety characteristics, SMART is equipped with engineered safety features and severe accident management system which are in compliance with the IAEA recommendations. The application of SMART for dual-purpose produces 90 Mwe and 40,000 to fresh water a day. Based on the technology and core characteristics of the reactor SMART, it is very interesting to be deeply assessed

Beyond usability: designing effective technology implementation systems to promote patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Karsh, B-T

2004-10-01

Evidence is emerging that certain technologies such as computerized provider order entry may reduce the likelihood of patient harm. However, many technologies that should reduce medical errors have been abandoned because of problems with their design, their impact on workflow, and general dissatisfaction with them by end users. Patient safety researchers have therefore looked to human factors engineering for guidance on how to design technologies to be usable (easy to use) and useful (improving job performance, efficiency, and/or quality). While this is a necessary step towards improving the likelihood of end user satisfaction, it is still not sufficient. Human factors engineering research has shown that the manner in which technologies are implemented also needs to be designed carefully if benefits are to be realized. This paper reviews the theoretical knowledge on what leads to successful technology implementation and how this can be translated into specifically designed processes for successful technology change. The literature on diffusion of innovations, technology acceptance, organisational justice, participative decision making, and organisational change is reviewed and strategies for promoting successful implementation are provided. Given the rapid and ever increasing pace of technology implementation in health care, it is critical for the science of technology implementation to be understood and incorporated into efforts to improve patient safety.

Validation of a functional model for integration of safety into process system design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, J.; Lind, M.; Zhang, X.

2015-01-01

with the process system functionalities as required for the intended safety applications. To provide the scientific rigor and facilitate the acceptance of qualitative modelling, this contribution focuses on developing a scientifically based validation method for functional models. The Multilevel Flow Modeling (MFM...

Next generation safety performance monitoring at signalized intersections using connected vehicle technology.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-01

Crash-based safety evaluation is often hampered by randomness, lack of timeliness, and rarity of crash : occurrences. This is particularly the case for technology-driven safety improvement projects that are : frequently updated or replaced by newer o...

Alternative food safety intervention technologies: flash pasteurization of finfish

Science.gov (United States)

Alternative nonthermal and thermal food safety interventions are gaining acceptance by the food processing industry and consumers. These technologies include high pressure processing, ultraviolet and pulsed light, ionizing radiation, pulsed and radiofrequency electric fields, cold atmospheric plasm...

Development and Validation of Web-Based Courseware for Junior Secondary School Basic Technology Students in Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amosa Isiaka Gambari

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This research aimed to develop and validate a web-based courseware for junior secondary school basic technology students in Nigeria. In this study, a mixed method quantitative pilot study design with qualitative components was used to test and ascertain the ease of development and validation of the web-based courseware. Dick and Carey instructional system design model was adopted for developing the courseware. Convenience sampling technique was used in selecting the three content, computer and educational technology experts to validate the web-based courseware. Non-randomized and non-equivalent Junior secondary school students from two schools were used for field trial validation. Four validating instruments were employed in conducting this study: (i Content Validation Assessment Report (CVAR; (ii Computer Expert Validation Assessment Report (CEAR; (iii Educational Technology Experts Validation Assessment Report (ETEVAR; and (iv Students Validation Questionnaire (SVQ. All the instruments were face and content validated. SVQ was pilot tested and reliability coefficient of 0.85 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha. CVAR, CEAR, ETEVAR were administered on content specialists, computer experts, and educational technology experts, while SVQ was administered on 83 JSS students from two selected secondary schools in Minna. The findings revealed that the process of developing web-based courseware using Dick and Carey Instructional System Design was successful. In addition, the report from the validating team revealed that the web-based courseware is valuable for learning basic technology. It is therefore recommended that web-based courseware should be produced to teach basic technology concepts on large scale.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Ajami, Sima; Rajabzadeh, Ahmad

2013-09-01

Radio frequency identification (RFID) systems have been successfully applied in areas of manufacturing, supply chain, agriculture, transportation, healthcare, and services to name a few. However, the different advantages and disadvantages expressed in various studies of the challenges facing the technology of the use of the RFID technology have been met with skepticism by managers of healthcare organizations. The aim of this study was to express and display the role of RFID technology in improving patient safety and increasing the impact of it in healthcare. This study was non-systematical review, which the literature search was conducted with the help of libraries, books, conference proceedings, PubMed databases and also search engines available at Google, Google scholar in which published between 2004 and 2013 during Febuary 2013. We employed the following keywords and their combinations; RFID, healthcare, patient safety, medical errors, and medication errors in the searching areas of title, keywords, abstract, and full text. The preliminary search resulted in 68 articles. After a careful analysis of the content of each paper, a total of 33 papers was selected based on their relevancy. We should integrate RFID with hospital information systems (HIS) and electronic health records (EHRs) and support it by clinical decision support systems (CDSS), it facilitates processes and reduce medical, medication and diagnosis errors.

Assessing the validity of road safety evaluation studies by analysing causal chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Elvik, Rune

2003-09-01

This paper discusses how the validity of road safety evaluation studies can be assessed by analysing causal chains. A causal chain denotes the path through which a road safety measure influences the number of accidents. Two cases are examined. One involves chemical de-icing of roads (salting). The intended causal chain of this measure is: spread of salt --> removal of snow and ice from the road surface --> improved friction --> shorter stopping distance --> fewer accidents. A Norwegian study that evaluated the effects of salting on accident rate provides information that describes this causal chain. This information indicates that the study overestimated the effect of salting on accident rate, and suggests that this estimate is influenced by confounding variables the study did not control for. The other case involves a traffic club for children. The intended causal chain in this study was: join the club --> improve knowledge --> improve behaviour --> reduce accident rate. In this case, results are rather messy, which suggests that the observed difference in accident rate between members and non-members of the traffic club is not primarily attributable to membership in the club. The two cases show that by analysing causal chains, one may uncover confounding factors that were not adequately controlled in a study. Lack of control for confounding factors remains the most serious threat to the validity of road safety evaluation studies.

Training to Support Standardization and Improvement of Safety I and C Related Verification and Validation Activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ammon, G.; Schoenfelder, C.

2014-07-01

In recent years AREVA has conducted several measures to enhance the effectiveness of safety I and C related verification and validation activities within nuclear power plant (NPP) new build as well as modernization projects, thereby further strengthening its commitment to achieving the highest level of safety in nuclear facilities. (Author)

Adaption and validation of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire for the Danish hospital setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Solvejg; Sabroe, Svend; Bartels, Paul

2015-01-01

PURPOSE: Measuring and developing a safe culture in health care is a focus point in creating highly reliable organizations being successful in avoiding patient safety incidents where these could normally be expected. Questionnaires can be used to capture a snapshot of an employee's perceptions...... of patient safety culture. A commonly used instrument to measure safety climate is the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). The purpose of this study was to adapt the SAQ for use in Danish hospitals, assess its construct validity and reliability, and present benchmark data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The SAQ...... tested in a cross-sectional study. Goodness-of-fit indices from confirmatory factor analysis were reported along with inter-item correlations, Cronbach's alpha (α), and item and subscale scores. RESULTS: Participation was 73.2% (N=925) of invited health care workers. Goodness-of-fit indices from...

Independent assembly technology for DCS safety equipment in nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hao Aixia

2014-01-01

A independent assembly technology of identification and verification was proposed, which included special process, wiring process and verification process. The safety reliability and practicability of the proposed technology were verified according to the application in FirmSys assembly implemented by China Techenergy Co., Ltd. (author)

Evaluating and Predicting Patient Safety for Medical Devices With Integral Information Technology

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-01

323 Evaluating and Predicting Patient Safety for Medical Devices with Integral Information Technology Jiajie Zhang, Vimla L. Patel, Todd R...errors are due to inappropriate designs for user interactions, rather than mechanical failures. Evaluating and predicting patient safety in medical ...the users on the identified trouble spots in the devices. We developed two methods for evaluating and predicting patient safety in medical devices

Verification and validation of the safety parameter display system for nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yuanfang

1993-05-01

During the design and development phase of the safety parameter display system for nuclear power plant, a verification and validation (V and V) plan has been implemented to improve the quality of system design. The V and V activities are briefly introduced, which were executed in four stages of feasibility research, system design, code development and system integration and regulation. The evaluation plan and the process of implementation as well as the evaluation conclusion of the final technical validation for this system are also presented in detail

Development of safety analysis technology for integral reactor; evaluation on safety concerns of integral reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hee Chul; Kim, Woong Sik; Lee, J. H. [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Taejeon (Korea)

2002-03-01

The Nuclear Desalination Plant (NDP) is being developed to produce electricity and fresh water, and is expected to locate near population zone. In the aspect of safety, it is required to protect the public and environment from the possible releases of fission products and to prevent the fresh water from the contamination of radioactivity. Thus, in this study, the safety characteristics of the integral reactor adopting passive and inherent safety features significantly different from existing nuclear power plants were investigated. Also, safety requirements applicable to the NDP were analyzed based on the regulatory requirements for current light water reactor and advanced reactor designs, and user requirements for small-medium size reactors. Based on these analyses, some safety concerns to be considered in the design stage have been identified and discussed. They include the use of proven technology for new safety features, systematic event classification and selection, strengthening containment function, and the safety impacts on desalination-related systems. The study presents the general safety requirements applicable to licensing of an integral reactor and suggests additional regulatory requirements, which need to be developed, based on the direction to resolution of the safety concerns. The efforts to identify and technically resolve the safety concerns in the design stage will provide the early confidence of SMART safety and the technical basis to evaluate the safety to designers and reviewers in the future. Suggestion on the development of additional regulatory requirements will contribute for the regulator to taking actions for licensing of an integral reactor. 66 refs., 5 figs., 24 tabs. (Author)

Validation study on reliability analysis of main safety system in Nuclear Power Plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Nam Jin; Cho, Chang Keun; Kim, Yong Hui; Kim, Tae Hyeong; Hong, Seo Kee; Park, Keon Woo; Park, Chang Jea [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Cheong, Woo Sik [Institute for Advanced Engineering, Yongin (Korea, Republic of); Park, Moon Kyu [KEPRI, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1993-12-15

The scope and contents of this validation study are to review the design changes of the four main safety systems in Wolsong 2/3/4 Nuclear Power Plants, to review the consideration of the above design changes in the AECL reports, the structure of fault trees, and the data base used in the quantification of the fault trees, to quantify the unavailabilities of main safety systems and check them if they meet the requirements, and to recommend desirable design changes in the emergency core cooling system to reduce the unavailability.

International report to validate criticality safety calculations for fissile material transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitesides, G.E.

1984-01-01

During the past three years a Working Group established by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD-NEA) in Paris, France, has been studying the validity and applicability of a variety of criticality safety computer programs and their associated nuclear data for the computation of the neutron multiplication factor, k/sub eff/, for various transport packages used in the fuel cycle. The principal objective of this work has been to provide an internationally acceptable basis for the licensing authorities in a country to honor licensing approvals granted by other participating countries. Eleven countries participated in the initial study which consisted of examining criticality safety calculations for packages designed for spent light water reactor fuel transport. This paper presents a summary of this study which has been completed and reported in an OECD-NEA Report No. CSNI-71. The basic goal of this study was to outline a satisfactory validation procedure for this particular application. First, a set of actual critical experiments were chosen which contained the various material and geometric properties present in typical LWR transport containers. Secondly, calculations were made by each of the methods in order to determine how accurately each method reproduced the experimental values. This successful effort in developing a benchmark procedure for validating criticality calculations for spent LWR transport packages along with the successful intercomparison of a number of methods should provide increased confidence by licensing authorities in the use of these methods for this area of application. 4 references, 2 figures

Embedding technology into inter-professional best practices in home safety evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, Suzanne Perea; Pickens, Noralyn Davel

2017-08-01

To explore inter-professional home evaluators' perspectives and needs for building useful and acceptable decision-support tools for the field of home modifications. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with a range of home modification professionals from different regions of the United States. The interview transcripts were analyzed with a qualitative, descriptive, perspective approach. Technology supports current best practice and has potential to inform decision making through features that could enhance home evaluation processes, quality, efficiency and inter-professional communication. Technological advances with app design have created numerous opportunities for the field of home modifications. Integrating technology and inter-professional best practices will improve home safety evaluation and intervention development to meet client-centred and societal needs. Implications for rehabilitation Understanding home evaluators technology needs for home safety evaluations contributes to the development of app-based assessments. Integrating inter-professional perspectives of best practice and technological needs in an app for home assessments improves processes. Novice and expert home evaluators would benefit from decision support systems embedded in app-based assessments. Adoption of app-based assessment would improve efficiency while remaining client-centred.

Proceedings of the Fifth Seminar on Technology of Nuclear Materials Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Indro Yuwono; Nababan, Binsar; Suharyanta

2004-11-01

Proceedings of the Fifth Seminar on Technology of Nuclear Material Safety all aspect of research activity concerning the role of physical protection, nuclear safeguards technology and international convection in supporting the establishment of Nuclear Power Plant in Indonesia. There are 16 articles which have separated index. (PPIN)

Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses applied to criticality safety validation, methods development. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broadhead, B.L.; Hopper, C.M.; Childs, R.L.; Parks, C.V.

1999-01-01

This report presents the application of sensitivity and uncertainty (S/U) analysis methodologies to the code/data validation tasks of a criticality safety computational study. Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis methods were first developed for application to fast reactor studies in the 1970s. This work has revitalized and updated the available S/U computational capabilities such that they can be used as prototypic modules of the SCALE code system, which contains criticality analysis tools currently used by criticality safety practitioners. After complete development, simplified tools are expected to be released for general use. The S/U methods that are presented in this volume are designed to provide a formal means of establishing the range (or area) of applicability for criticality safety data validation studies. The development of parameters that are analogous to the standard trending parameters forms the key to the technique. These parameters are the D parameters, which represent the differences by group of sensitivity profiles, and the ck parameters, which are the correlation coefficients for the calculational uncertainties between systems; each set of parameters gives information relative to the similarity between pairs of selected systems, e.g., a critical experiment and a specific real-world system (the application)

Evaluating software for safety systems in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawrence, J.D.; Persons, W.L.; Preckshot, G.G.; Gallagher, J.

1994-01-01

In 1991, LLNL was asked by the NRC to provide technical assistance in various aspects of computer technology that apply to computer-based reactor protection systems. This has involved the review of safety aspects of new reactor designs and the provision of technical advice on the use of computer technology in systems important to reactor safety. The latter includes determining and documenting state-of-the-art subjects that require regulatory involvement by the NRC because of their importance in the development and implementation of digital computer safety systems. These subjects include data communications, formal methods, testing, software hazards analysis, verification and validation, computer security, performance, software complexity and others. One topic software reliability and safety is the subject of this paper

Safety technology for air-cooled heat exchangers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawai, Masafumi; Miyamoto, Hitoshi

2011-01-01

The air-cooled heat exchanger is a device that enables a large amount of heat exchange (cooling) by utilizing the atmosphere as a stable and infinite heat sink. It is widely used in general industrial plants, and nowadays it is also utilized in nuclear facilities. This type of exchanger is advantageous in that it can be constructed in any location without having to be near the sea or rivers. It can be operated safely if a natural disaster, such as a tsunami or flood, occurs, thus contributing to the safety of the mother facility. IHI's air-cooled heat exchangers are designed to ensure safe operation and withstand a large earthquake or severe atmospheric conditions. This report describes the technologies used to establish these safety features and their performance. (author)

Validation study of safety assessment model for radioactive waste disposal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Munakata, Masahiro; Takeda, Seiji; Kimura, Hideo [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

2001-12-01

The JAERI-AECL collaboration research program has been conducted to validate a groundwater flow and radionuclide transport models for safety assessment. JAERI have developed a geostatistical model for radionuclide transport through a heterogeneous geological media and verify using experimental results of field tracer tests. The simulated tracer plumes explain favorably the experimental tracer plumes. A regional groundwater flow and transport model using site-scale parameter obtained from tracer tests have been verified by comparing simulation results with observation ones of natural environmental tracer. (author)

Preliminary safety analysis methodology for the SMART

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bae, Kyoo Hwan; Chung, Y. J.; Kim, H. C.; Sim, S. K.; Lee, W. J.; Chung, B. D.; Song, J. H. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

2000-03-01

This technical report was prepared for a preliminary safety analysis methodology of the 330MWt SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor) which has been developed by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) since July 1996. This preliminary safety analysis methodology has been used to identify an envelope for the safety of the SMART conceptual design. As the SMART design evolves, further validated final safety analysis methodology will be developed. Current licensing safety analysis methodology of the Westinghouse and KSNPP PWRs operating and under development in Korea as well as the Russian licensing safety analysis methodology for the integral reactors have been reviewed and compared to develop the preliminary SMART safety analysis methodology. SMART design characteristics and safety systems have been reviewed against licensing practices of the PWRs operating or KNGR (Korean Next Generation Reactor) under construction in Korea. Detailed safety analysis methodology has been developed for the potential SMART limiting events of main steam line break, main feedwater pipe break, loss of reactor coolant flow, CEA withdrawal, primary to secondary pipe break and the small break loss of coolant accident. SMART preliminary safety analysis methodology will be further developed and validated in parallel with the safety analysis codes as the SMART design further evolves. Validated safety analysis methodology will be submitted to MOST as a Topical Report for a review of the SMART licensing safety analysis methodology. Thus, it is recommended for the nuclear regulatory authority to establish regulatory guides and criteria for the integral reactor. 22 refs., 18 figs., 16 tabs. (Author)

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID technology and patient safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sima Ajami

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Radio frequency identification (RFID systems have been successfully applied in areas of manufacturing, supply chain, agriculture, transportation, healthcare, and services to name a few. However, the different advantages and disadvantages expressed in various studies of the challenges facing the technology of the use of the RFID technology have been met with skepticism by managers of healthcare organizations. The aim of this study was to express and display the role of RFID technology in improving patient safety and increasing the impact of it in healthcare. Materials and Methods: This study was non-systematical review, which the literature search was conducted with the help of libraries, books, conference proceedings, PubMed databases and also search engines available at Google, Google scholar in which published between 2004 and 2013 during Febuary 2013. We employed the following keywords and their combinations; RFID, healthcare, patient safety, medical errors, and medication errors in the searching areas of title, keywords, abstract, and full text. Results: The preliminary search resulted in 68 articles. After a careful analysis of the content of each paper, a total of 33 papers was selected based on their relevancy. Conclusion: We should integrate RFID with hospital information systems (HIS and electronic health records (EHRs and support it by clinical decision support systems (CDSS, it facilitates processes and reduce medical, medication and diagnosis errors.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and patient safety

Science.gov (United States)

Ajami, Sima; Rajabzadeh, Ahmad

2013-01-01

Background: Radio frequency identification (RFID) systems have been successfully applied in areas of manufacturing, supply chain, agriculture, transportation, healthcare, and services to name a few. However, the different advantages and disadvantages expressed in various studies of the challenges facing the technology of the use of the RFID technology have been met with skepticism by managers of healthcare organizations. The aim of this study was to express and display the role of RFID technology in improving patient safety and increasing the impact of it in healthcare. Materials and Methods: This study was non-systematical review, which the literature search was conducted with the help of libraries, books, conference proceedings, PubMed databases and also search engines available at Google, Google scholar in which published between 2004 and 2013 during Febuary 2013. We employed the following keywords and their combinations; RFID, healthcare, patient safety, medical errors, and medication errors in the searching areas of title, keywords, abstract, and full text. Results: The preliminary search resulted in 68 articles. After a careful analysis of the content of each paper, a total of 33 papers was selected based on their relevancy. Conclusion: We should integrate RFID with hospital information systems (HIS) and electronic health records (EHRs) and support it by clinical decision support systems (CDSS), it facilitates processes and reduce medical, medication and diagnosis errors. PMID:24381626

A Profile for Safety Critical Java

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schoeberl, Martin; Søndergaard, Hans; Thomsen, Bent

2007-01-01

We propose a new, minimal specification for real-time Java for safety critical applications. The intention is to provide a profile that supports programming of applications that can be validated against safety critical standards such as DO-178B [15]. The proposed profile is in line with the Java...... specification request JSR-302: Safety Critical Java Technology, which is still under discussion. In contrast to the current direction of the expert group for the JSR-302 we do not subset the rather complex Real-Time Specification for Java (RTSJ). Nevertheless, our profile can be implemented on top of an RTSJ...

Rising calls for food safety. Radiation technology becomes a timely answer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loaharanu, Paisan

2001-01-01

Food safety has become an issue of high priority to many governments. Well publicized cases have shown that an outbreak of a major foodborne disease can have health, political, and economic consequences. Coupled with the increasing interest and publicity by the media, public awareness and concerns about food safety have reached a new height. Issues related to mad cow disease, and genetically modified food have attracted further attention and concern. Awareness of risks involving microbiological contamination of food has increased significantly in the past decade. There have been several major foodborne disease outbreaks caused by various pathogenic bacteria and parasites and widespread coverage by the media. The outbreaks have focused closer attention on food processing technologies to ensure the safety and quality of food. This article reports on developments for the application of irradiation technology for food processing, which has been approved for use in more than 40 countries

Ella-V and technology usage technology usage in an english language and literacy acquisition validation randomized controlled trial study

OpenAIRE

Roisin P. Corcoran; Steven M. Ross; Beverly J. Irby; Fuhui Tong; Rafael Lara-Alecio; Cindy Guerrero

2014-01-01

This paper describes the use of technology to provide virtual professional development (VPD) for teachers and to conduct classroom observations in a study of English Language Learner (ELL) instruction in grades K–3. The technology applications were part of a cluster randomized control trial (RCT) design for a federally funded longitudinal validation study of a particular program, English Language and Literacy Acquisition-Validation, ELLA- V, to determine its degree of impact on English oral l...

Leaving patients to their own devices? Smart technology, safety and therapeutic relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Anita; Quick, Oliver

2018-03-06

This debate article explores how smart technologies may create a double-edged sword for patient safety and effective therapeutic relationships. Increasing utilization of health monitoring devices by patients will likely become an important aspect of self-care and preventive medicine. It may also help to enhance accurate symptom reports, diagnoses, and prompt referral to specialist care where appropriate. However, the development, marketing, and use of such technology raise significant ethical implications for therapeutic relationships and patient safety. Drawing on lessons learned from other direct-to-consumer health products such as genetic testing, this article explores how smart technology can also pose regulatory challenges and encourage overutilization of healthcare services. In order for smart technology to promote safer care and effective therapeutic encounters, the technology and its utilization must be safe. This article argues for unified regulatory guidelines and better education for both healthcare providers and patients regarding the benefits and risks of these devices.

Development of Necessary Technology for Safety Grade I and C System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Dong Young; Jang, Tong Il; Kim, Jung Tack

2010-08-01

Through KNICS and Nu-Tech 2012, a MMIS(Man-Machine Interface System) package for nuclear plants was localized and is expected to be applied to SUN 1,2 plants. This study is aimed to support the application of the MMIS package including the following technologies that meet strengthened regulation requirements and enhanced utility's performance requirements to nuclear plants. - Dedication to safety-grade computers - The broadband communication network for safety information - Application of the automatic test for safety systems - Application of programmable logic controllers to nuclear plant

Proceeding of the 7. Seminar on Technology and Safety of Nuclear Power Plants and Nuclear Facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hastowo, Hudi; Antariksawan, Anhar R.; Soetrisnanto, Arnold Y; Jujuratisbela, Uju; Aziz, Ferhat; Su'ud, Zaki; Suprawhardana, M. Salman

2002-02-01

The seventh proceedings of seminar safety and technology of nuclear power plant and nuclear facilities, held by National Nuclear Energy Agency. The Aims of seminar is to exchange and disseminate information about safety and nuclear Power Plant Technology and Nuclear Facilities consist of technology; high temperature reactor and application for national development sustain able and high technology. This seminar level all aspects technology, Power Reactor research reactor, high temperature reactor and nuclear facilities. The article is separated by index

Validation of KENO V.a for criticality safety calculations involving WR-1 fast-neutron fuel arrangements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gauld, I. C.

1991-07-15

The KENO V.a criticality safety code, used with the SCALE 27-energy-group ENDF/B-IV-based cross-section library, has been validated for low-enriched uranium carbide (UC) WR-1 fast-neutron (FN) fuel arrangements. Because of a lack of relevant experimental data for UC fuel in the published literature, the validation is based primarily on calculational comparisons with critical experiments for fuel types with a range of enrichments and densities that cover those of the FN UC fuel. The ability of KENO V.a to handle the unique annular pin arrangement of the WR-1 FN fuel bundle was established using a comparison with the MCNP3B code used with a continuous-energy ENDF/B-V-based cross-section library. This report is part of the AECL--10146 report series documenting the validation of the KENO V.a criticality safety code.

78 FR 12065 - National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Personal Protective Technology for...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-21

... Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Personal Protective Technology for Pesticide Handlers: Stakeholder Meeting AGENCY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Centers...: Notice of public meeting. SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of...

Non-clinical models: validation, study design and statistical consideration in safety pharmacology.

Science.gov (United States)

Pugsley, M K; Towart, R; Authier, S; Gallacher, D J; Curtis, M J

2010-01-01

The current issue of the Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods (JPTM) focuses exclusively on safety pharmacology methods. This is the 7th year the Journal has published on this topic. Methods and models that specifically relate to methods relating to the assessment of the safety profile of a new chemical entity (NCE) prior to first in human (FIH) studies are described. Since the Journal started publishing on this topic there has been a major effort by safety pharmacologists, toxicologists and regulatory scientists within Industry (both large and small Pharma as well as Biotechnology companies) and also from Contract Research Organizations (CRO) to publish the surgical details of the non-clinical methods utilized but also provide important details related to standard and non-standard (or integrated) study models and designs. These details from core battery and secondary (or ancillary) drug safety assessment methods used in drug development programs have been the focus of these special issues and have been an attempt to provide validation of methods. Similarly, the safety pharmacology issues of the Journal provide the most relevant forum for scientists to present novel and modified methods with direct applicability to determination of drug safety-directly to the safety pharmacology scientific community. The content of the manuscripts in this issue includes the introduction of additional important surgical methods, novel data capture and data analysis methods, improved study design and effects of positive control compounds with known activity in the model. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The technology for safety I and C systems in nuclear power plants: the SPINLINE 3 solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rebreyend, P.; Burel, J.-P.

2000-01-01

The SPINLINE 3 technology is the latest digital technology produced by Schneider to offer the most adequate solution to safety I and C systems, particularly for modernisation of VVER reactors. This technology developed in co-operation with FRAMATOME has the great advantage of more than 200 reactors x years of cumulated experience in the field of digital safety systems. The design criteria mainly devoted to achieve the most stringent safety requirement are also combined with the economic objectives in term of investment, maintenance and long term operation. The SPINLINE 3 technology is fully supported by the activity on the French Nuclear Program with 59 NPPs in operation. (author)

Feasibility study and uncertainties in the validation of an existing safety-related control circuit with the ISO 13849-1:2006 design standard

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jocelyn, Sabrina; Baudoin, James; Chinniah, Yuvin; Charpentier, Philippe

2014-01-01

In industry, machine users and people who modify or integrate equipment often have to evaluate the safety level of a safety-related control circuit that they have not necessarily designed. The modifications or integrations may involve work to make an existing machine that does not comply with normative or regulatory specifications safe. However, how can a circuit performing a safety function be validated a posteriori? Is the validation exercise feasible? What are the difficulties and limitations of such a procedure? The aim of this article is to answer these questions by presenting a validation study of a safety function of an existing machine. A plastic injection molding machine is used for this study, as well as standard ISO 13849-1:2006. Validation consists of performing an a posteriori (post-design) estimation of the performance level of the safety function. The procedure is studied for two contexts of use of the machine: in industry, and in laboratory. The calculations required by the ISO standard were done using Excel, followed by SIStema software. It is shown that, based on the context of use, the estimated performance level was different for the same safety-related circuit. The variability in the results is explained by the assumptions made by the person undertaking the validation without the involvement of the machine designer. - Highlights: • Validation of the performance level of a safety function is undertaken. • An injection molding machine and ISO 13849-1:2006 standard are used for the procedure. • The procedure is undertaken for two contexts of use of the machine. • In this study, the performance level depends on the context of use. • The assumptions made throughout the study partially explain this difference

Development and Validation of Information Technology Mentor Teacher Attitude Scale: A Pilot Study

Science.gov (United States)

Saltan, Fatih

2015-01-01

The aim of this study development and validation of a teacher attitude scale toward Information Technology Mentor Teachers (ITMT). ITMTs give technological support to other teachers for integration of technology in their lessons. In the literature, many instruments have been developed to measure teachers' attitudes towards the technological tools…

Assessing systemwide occupational health and safety risks of energy technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowe, M.D.

1982-01-01

Input-output modelling is now being used to assess systemwide occupational and public health and safety risks of energy technologies. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of this method are presented and some of its important limitations are discussed. Its primary advantage is that it provides a standard method with which to compare technologies on a consistent basis without extensive economic analysis. Among the disadvantages are limited range of applicability, limited spectrum of health impacts, and inability to identify unusual health impacts unique to a new technology. (author)

Creation and preliminary validation of the screening for self-medication safety post-stroke scale (S-5).

Science.gov (United States)

Kaizer, Franceen; Kim, Angela; Van, My Tram; Korner-Bitensky, Nicol

2010-03-01

Patients with stroke should be screened for safety prior to starting a self-medication regime. An extensive literature review revealed no standardized self-medication tool tailored to the multi-faceted needs of the stroke population. The aim of this study was to create and validate a condition-specific tool to be used in screening for self-medication safety in individuals with stroke. Items were generated using expert consultation and review of the existing tools. The draft tool was pilot-tested on expert stroke clinicians to receive feedback on content, clarity, optimal cueing and domain omissions. The final version was piloted on patients with stroke using a structured interviewer-administered interview. The tool was progressively refined and validated according to feedback from the 11 expert reviewers. The subsequent version was piloted on patients with stroke. The final version includes 16 questions designed to elicit information on 5 domains: cognition, communication, motor, visual-perception and, judgement/executive function/self-efficacy. The Screening for Safe Self-medication post-Stroke Scale (S-5) has been created and validated for use by health professionals to screen self-medication safety readiness of patients after stroke. Its use should also help to guide clinicians' recommendations and interventions aimed at enhancing self-medication post-stroke.

Trustworthy Variant Derivation with Translation Validation for Safety Critical Product Lines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iosif-Lazăr, Alexandru Florin; Wasowski, Andrzej

2016-01-01

Software product line (SPL) engineering facilitates development of entire families of software products with systematic reuse. Model driven SPLs use models in the design and development process. In the safety critical domain, validation of models and testing of code increases the quality...... of the products altogether. However, to maintain this trustworthiness it is necessary to know that the SPL tools, which manipulate models and code to derive concrete product variants, do not introduce errors in the process. We propose a general technique of checking correctness of product derivation tools through...... translation validation. We demonstrate it using Featherweight VML—a core language for separate variability modeling relying on a single kind of variation point to define transformations of artifacts seen as object models. We use Featherweight VML with its semantics as a correctness specification...

Prediction of Safety Stock Using Fuzzy Time Series (FTS) and Technology of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for Stock Control at Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI)

Science.gov (United States)

Mashuri, Chamdan; Suryono; Suseno, Jatmiko Endro

2018-02-01

This research was conducted by prediction of safety stock using Fuzzy Time Series (FTS) and technology of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for stock control at Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI). Well-controlled stock influenced company revenue and minimized cost. It discussed about information system of safety stock prediction developed through programming language of PHP. Input data consisted of demand got from automatic, online and real time acquisition using technology of RFID, then, sent to server and stored at online database. Furthermore, data of acquisition result was predicted by using algorithm of FTS applying universe of discourse defining and fuzzy sets determination. Fuzzy set result was continued to division process of universe of discourse in order to be to final step. Prediction result was displayed at information system dashboard developed. By using 60 data from demand data, prediction score was 450.331 and safety stock was 135.535. Prediction result was done by error deviation validation using Mean Square Percent Error of 15%. It proved that FTS was good enough in predicting demand and safety stock for stock control. For deeper analysis, researchers used data of demand and universe of discourse U varying at FTS to get various result based on test data used.

Prediction of Safety Stock Using Fuzzy Time Series (FTS and Technology of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID for Stock Control at Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mashuri Chamdan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This research was conducted by prediction of safety stock using Fuzzy Time Series (FTS and technology of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID for stock control at Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI. Well-controlled stock influenced company revenue and minimized cost. It discussed about information system of safety stock prediction developed through programming language of PHP. Input data consisted of demand got from automatic, online and real time acquisition using technology of RFID, then, sent to server and stored at online database. Furthermore, data of acquisition result was predicted by using algorithm of FTS applying universe of discourse defining and fuzzy sets determination. Fuzzy set result was continued to division process of universe of discourse in order to be to final step. Prediction result was displayed at information system dashboard developed. By using 60 data from demand data, prediction score was 450.331 and safety stock was 135.535. Prediction result was done by error deviation validation using Mean Square Percent Error of 15%. It proved that FTS was good enough in predicting demand and safety stock for stock control. For deeper analysis, researchers used data of demand and universe of discourse U varying at FTS to get various result based on test data used.

Importance of Computer Model Validation in Pyroprocessing Technology Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Y. E.; Li, Hui; Yim, M. S. [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

In this research, we developed a plan for experimental validation of one of the computer models developed for ER process modeling, i. e., the ERAD code. Several candidate surrogate materials are selected for the experiment considering the chemical and physical properties. Molten salt-based pyroprocessing technology is being examined internationally as an alternative to treat spent nuclear fuel over aqueous technology. The central process in pyroprocessing is electrorefining(ER) which separates uranium from transuranic elements and fission products present in spent nuclear fuel. ER is a widely used process in the minerals industry to purify impure metals. Studies of ER by using actual spent nuclear fuel materials are problematic for both technical and political reasons. Therefore, the initial effort for ER process optimization is made by using computer models. A number of models have been developed for this purpose. But as validation of these models is incomplete and often times problematic, the simulation results from these models are inherently uncertain.

Proceedings of the First Seminar on Radiation Safety Technology and Nuclear Biomedicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suprihadi, Topo

2003-01-01

The First Seminar on Radiation Safety Technology and Nuclear Biomedicine was held on 10-11 April 2001 at the Center for Research and Development of Radiation Safety and Nuclear Biomedicine have presented 19 papers about upgrading manpower resources, researcher, investigator, manager, and user of nuclear facilities, to go out against free market era

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

76 FR 39811 - International Center for Technology Assessment and the Center for Food Safety; Noxious Weed...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-07

... dated July 18, 2002, the International Center for Technology Assessment and the Center for Food Safety... Inspection Service [Docket No. APHIS-2011-0081] International Center for Technology Assessment and the Center for Food Safety; Noxious Weed Status of Kentucky Bluegrass Genetically Engineered for Herbicide...

78 FR 17140 - Upholstered Furniture Fire Safety Technology; Meeting and Request for Comments

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-20

... retardant (FR) chemicals, specialty fibers/fabrics without FR chemicals, inherently fire resistant materials... Furniture Fire Safety Technology; Meeting and Request for Comments AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety... Commission (CPSC, Commission, or we) is announcing its intent to hold a meeting on upholstered furniture fire...

'Speaking up' about patient safety concerns and unprofessional behaviour among residents: validation of two scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, William; Etchegaray, Jason M; Thomas, Eric J; Hickson, Gerald B; Lehmann, Lisa Soleymani; Schleyer, Anneliese M; Best, Jennifer A; Shelburne, Julia T; May, Natalie B; Bell, Sigall K

2015-11-01

To develop and test the psychometric properties of two new survey scales aiming to measure the extent to which the clinical environment supports speaking up about (a) patient safety concerns and (b) unprofessional behaviour. Residents from six large US academic medical centres completed an anonymous, electronic survey containing questions regarding safety culture and speaking up about safety and professionalism concerns. Confirmatory factor analysis supported two separate, one-factor speaking up climates (SUCs) among residents; one focused on patient safety concerns (SUC-Safe scale) and the other focused on unprofessional behaviour (SUC-Prof scale). Both scales had good internal consistency (Cronbach's α>0.70) and were unique from validated safety and teamwork climate measures (rspeaking up behaviour about safety and professionalism concerns (r=0.21, pspeaking up behaviour among residents. These two scales may fill an existing gap in residency and safety culture assessments by measuring the openness of communication about safety and professionalism concerns, two important aspects of safety culture that are under-represented in existing metrics. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Method and practice on safety software verification and validation for digital reactor protection system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Duo; Zhang Liangju; Feng Junting

2010-01-01

The key issue arising from digitalization of reactor protection system for Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is in essence, how to carry out Verification and Validation (V and V), to demonstrate and confirm the software is reliable enough to perform reactor safety functions. Among others the most important activity of software V and V process is unit testing. This paper discusses the basic concepts on safety software V and V and the appropriate technique for software unit testing, focusing on such aspects as how to ensure test completeness, how to establish test platform, how to develop test cases and how to carry out unit testing. The technique discussed herein was successfully used in the work of unit testing on safety software of a digital reactor protection system. (author)

Assessment of reliability and validity of a new safety culture questionnaire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.A. Farshad

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Background and aims   As a Development of Industrial process, human, environment, equipment, material and validity of system has been exposed to hazardous conditions. Regards of 32.3 percent of occupations in industries, this study focused on risk assessment of foundry unit by energy trace and barrier analysis (ETBA method and presented approaches to control of accident.     Methods   the recent study is as a case study one to risk assessment in a foundry unit in Qazvin industrial city in1387. In this study risks were founded by ETBA method and evaluated by MILSTD- 882B. Data were collected by direct observations, interview with workers and supervisor and engineers, walking-talking through method, documents investigation of operational processors, preventive maintenances, equipment technical properties, accidental and medical documents. Finally ETBA worksheets completed.     Results   totally 154 risks has been found. 40 from total are been unacceptable risk, 68 unfavorable and also 46 acceptable but with remediation action. Casting workshop had risks more than other workshops (with 74 identified risks.Potential and heat energies were founded as most   hazardous energies, with respectively 51 and 38 risk cases.     Conclusion   This study recommended to be done actions for identification and control risk, such as: safety training, occupation training, preventive maintenance, contract safety, safety  communication and safety audit group.  

AMNT 2014. Key topic: Reactor operation, safety - report. Pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, Klaus-Christian; Willschuetz, Hans-Georg; Wortmann, Birgit

2014-01-01

Summary report on the following sessions of the Annual Conference on Nuclear Technology held in Frankfurt, 6 to 8 May 2014: - Thermo Dynamics and Fluid Dynamics: Experiments and Backfittings for the Improvement of Safety and Efficiency; - Safety of Nuclear Installations - Methods, Analyses, Results: In-Vessel Phenomena; Ex-Vessel Phenomena; - Standards and Regulations; Hazard and Safety Analysis; and Validation and Uncertainty Analysis. The other Sessions of the Key Topics 'Reactor Operation, Safety', 'Competence, Innovation, Regulation' and 'Fuel, Decommissioning and Disposal' have been covered in atw 10 (2014) and will be covered in further issues of atw.

Patient and nurse safety: how information technology makes a difference.

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, Roy L

2005-01-01

The Institute of Medicine's landmark report asserted medical error is seldom the fault of individuals, but the result of faulty healthcare policy/procedure systems. Numerous studies have shown that information technology can shore up weak systems. For nursing, information technology plays a key role in protecting patients by eliminating nursing mistakes and protecting nurses by reducing their negative exposure. However, managing information technology is a function of managing the people who use it. This article examines critical issues that impact patient and nurse safety, both physical and professional. It discusses the importance of eliminating the culture of blame, the requirements of process change, how to implement technology in harmony with the organization and the significance of vision.

Validation of an instrument to measure students' motivation and self-regulation towards technology learning

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, Pey-Yan; Kuo, Pei-Jung

2014-05-01

Background:Few studies have examined students' attitudinal perceptions of technology. There is no appropriate instrument to measure senior high school students' motivation and self-regulation toward technology learning among the current existing instruments in the field of technology education. Purpose:The present study is to validate an instrument for assessing senior high school students' motivation and self-regulation towards technology learning. Sample:A total of 1822 Taiwanese senior high school students (1020 males and 802 females) responded to the newly developed instrument. Design and method:The Motivation and Self-regulation towards Technology Learning (MSRTL) instrument was developed based on the previous instruments measuring students' motivation and self-regulation towards science learning. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were utilized to investigate the structure of the items. Cronbach's alpha was applied for measuring the internal consistency of each scale. Furthermore, multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine gender differences. Results:Seven scales, including 'Technology learning self-efficacy,' 'Technology learning value,' 'Technology active learning strategies,' 'Technology learning environment stimulation,' 'Technology learning goal-orientation,' 'Technology learning self-regulation-triggering,' and 'Technology learning self-regulation-implementing' were confirmed for the MSRTL instrument. Moreover, the results also showed that male and female students did not present the same degree of preference in all of the scales. Conclusions:The MSRTL instrument composed of seven scales corresponding to 39 items was shown to be valid based on validity and reliability analyses. While male students tended to express more positive and active performance in the motivation scales, no gender differences were found in the self-regulation scales.

76 FR 31350 - Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act of 2010, Available Technology

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-31

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Coast Guard [Docket No. USCG-2011-0357] Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act of 2010, Available Technology AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Notice of request for comments... Security and Safety Act of 2010(CVSSA), specifically related to video recording and overboard detection...

Prioritization of tasks in the draft LWR safety technology program plan. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, E.Y.; Miller, W.J.; Parkinson, W.J.; Ritzman, R.L.; vonHerrmann, J.L.; Wood, P.J.

1980-05-01

The purpose of this report is to describe both the approach taken and the results produced in the SAI effort to prioritize the tasks in the Sandia draft LWR Safety Technology Program Plan. This work used the description of important safety issues developed in the Reactor Safety Study (2) to quantify the effect of safety improvements resulting from a research and development program on the risk from nuclear power plants. Costs of implementation of these safety improvements were also estimated to allow a presentation of the final results in a value (i.e., risk reduction) vs. impact (i.e., implementation costs) matrix

"Seeing is believing": perspectives of applying imaging technology in discovery toxicology.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jinghai James; Dunn, Margaret Condon; Smith, Arthur Russell

2009-11-01

Efficiency and accuracy in addressing drug safety issues proactively are critical in minimizing late-stage drug attritions. Discovery toxicology has become a specialty subdivision of toxicology seeking to effectively provide early predictions and safety assessment in the drug discovery process. Among the many technologies utilized to select safer compounds for further development, in vitro imaging technology is one of the best characterized and validated to provide translatable biomarkers towards clinically-relevant outcomes of drug safety. By carefully applying imaging technologies in genetic, hepatic, and cardiac toxicology, and integrating them with the rest of the drug discovery processes, it was possible to demonstrate significant impact of imaging technology on drug research and development and substantial returns on investment.

Validation of a pre-existing safety climate scale for the Turkish furniture manufacturing industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Akyuz, Kadri Cemil; Yildirim, Ibrahim; Gungor, Celal

2018-03-22

Understanding the safety climate level is essential to implement a proactive safety program. The objective of this study is to explore the possibility of having a safety climate scale for the Turkish furniture manufacturing industry since there has not been any scale available. The questionnaire recruited 783 subjects. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested a pre-existing safety scale's fit to the industry. The CFA indicated that the structures of the model present a non-satisfactory fit with the data (χ 2  = 2033.4, df = 314, p ≤ 0.001; root mean square error of approximation = 0.08, normed fit index = 0.65, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.65, comparative fit index = 0.69, parsimony goodness-of-fit index = 0.68). The results suggest that a new scale should be developed and validated to measure the safety climate level in the Turkish furniture manufacturing industry. Due to the hierarchical structure of organizations, future studies should consider a multilevel approach in their exploratory factor analyses while developing a new scale.

Proceedings of the 9. National Seminar on Technology and Safety of Nuclear Power Plants and Nuclear Facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antariksawan, Anhar R.; Soetrisnanto, Arnold Y; Aziz, Ferhat; Untoro, Pudji; Su'ud, Zaki; Zarkasi, Amin Santoso; Lasman, As Natio

2003-08-01

The ninth proceedings of seminar safety and technology of nuclear power plant and nuclear facilities held by National Nuclear Energy Agency and PLN-JTK. The aims of seminar is to exchange and disseminate information about Safety and Nuclear Power Plant Technology and Nuclear Facilities consist of Technology High Temperature Reactor and Application for National Development Sustainable and High Technology. This seminar cover all aspects Technology, Power Reactor, Research Reactor High Temperature Reactor and Nuclear Facilities. There are 20 articles have separated index

Safety technology: Emergency equipment and sea rescue techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1986-06-01

In June 1986, a two day workshop was convened to review mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) evacuation research and development (R D) requirements for programs currently sponsored by the Marine Engineering Committee for PERD (Panel on Energy Research and Development) task 6.2. The proceedings of the workshop are presented in terms of: evacuation technology needs; a review of current R D projects for their relevance to the technological needs; recommended changes to current projects where warranted; and recommended priority R D projects that are not presently being undertaken to meet the evacuation technology needs. Current R D projects reviewed include: preferred orientation and displacement (PROD) lifeboat launching, personal transfer baskets, arctic escape system (AES), fast rescue craft (FRC), helicopter survival suits, diving bell emergency heaters, working immersion suits, diving bell emergency ascent system, undersea robotics systems and DCIEM decompression tables. It was concluded that gaps in offshore safety/evacuation capability cannot be adequately addressed by one or two major projects. Rather, a wider range of problems exist that require attention through a greater financial commitment than is presently the case. Government-industry cooperation in this field is required. Overall, the projects were judged to have been well planned, managed, and relevant to offshore safety needs. The only exception was a feeling that diving related projects consummed a disproportionate share of the available funding. Further, there was some reservation that the robotics study was outside the 6.2 PERD R D mandate. A list of recommendations is presented. 1 tab.

NDE reliability and advanced NDE technology validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doctor, S.R.; Deffenbaugh, J.D.; Good, M.S.; Green, E.R.; Heasler, P.G.; Hutton, P.H.; Reid, L.D.; Simonen, F.A.; Spanner, J.C.; Vo, T.V.

1989-01-01

This paper reports on progress for three programs: (1) evaluation and improvement in nondestructive examination reliability for inservice inspection of light water reactors (LWR) (NDE Reliability Program), (2) field validation acceptance, and training for advanced NDE technology, and (3) evaluation of computer-based NDE techniques and regional support of inspection activities. The NDE Reliability Program objectives are to quantify the reliability of inservice inspection techniques for LWR primary system components through independent research and establish means for obtaining improvements in the reliability of inservice inspections. The areas of significant progress will be described concerning ASME Code activities, re-analysis of the PISC-II data, the equipment interaction matrix study, new inspection criteria, and PISC-III. The objectives of the second program are to develop field procedures for the AE and SAFT-UT techniques, perform field validation testing of these techniques, provide training in the techniques for NRC headquarters and regional staff, and work with the ASME Code for the use of these advanced technologies. The final program's objective is to evaluate the reliability and accuracy of interpretation of results from computer-based ultrasonic inservice inspection systems, and to develop guidelines for NRC staff to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of inservice inspections conducted on nuclear power reactors. This program started in the last quarter of FY89, and the extent of the program was to prepare a work plan for presentation to and approval from a technical advisory group of NRC staff

FACTAR validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Middleton, P.B.; Wadsworth, S.L.; Rock, R.C.; Sills, H.E.; Langman, V.J.

1995-01-01

A detailed strategy to validate fuel channel thermal mechanical behaviour codes for use of current power reactor safety analysis is presented. The strategy is derived from a validation process that has been recently adopted industry wide. Focus of the discussion is on the validation plan for a code, FACTAR, for application in assessing fuel channel integrity safety concerns during a large break loss of coolant accident (LOCA). (author)

Technology development of maintenance optimization and reliability analysis for safety features in nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Tae Woon; Choi, Seong Soo; Lee, Dong Gue; Kim, Young Il

1999-12-01

The reliability data management system (RDMS) for safety systems of PHWR type plants has been developed and utilized in the reliability analysis of the special safety systems of Wolsong Unit 1,2 with plant overhaul period lengthened. The RDMS is developed for the periodic efficient reliability analysis of the safety systems of Wolsong Unit 1,2. In addition, this system provides the function of analyzing the effects on safety system unavailability if the test period of a test procedure changes as well as the function of optimizing the test periods of safety-related test procedures. The RDMS can be utilized in handling the requests of the regulatory institute actively with regard to the reliability validation of safety systems. (author)

Advancing medication infusion safety through the clinical integration of technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerhart, Donald; O'Shea, Kristen; Muller, Sharon

2013-01-01

Adverse drug events resulting from errors in prescribing or administering medications are preventable. Within a hospital system, numerous technologies are employed to address the common sources of medication error, including the use of electronic medical records, physician order entry, smart infusion pumps, and barcode medication administration systems. Infusion safety is inherently risky because of the high-risk medications administered and the lack of integration among the stand-alone systems in most institutions. Intravenous clinical integration (IVCI) is a technology that connects electronic medical records, physician order entry, smart infusion pumps, and barcode medication administration systems. It combines the safety features of an automatically programmed infusion pump (drug, concentration, infusion rate, and patient weight, all auto-programmed into the device) with software that provides visibility to real-time clinical infusion data. Our article describes the characteristics of IVCI at WellSpan Health and its impact on patient safety. The integrated infusion system has the capability of reducing medication errors, improving patient care, reducing in-facility costs, and supporting asset management. It can enhance continuous quality improvement efforts and efficiency of clinical work flow. After implementing IVCI, the institution realized a safer patient environment and a more streamlined work flow for pharmacy and nursing.

Work safety in the light of technological progress in mining. [Poland, accident and technology assessment for period 1950 to 1972

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stecko, R.

1976-01-01

This paper discusses positive and negative aspects of technological progress in black coal mining in Poland in the period from 1950 to 1972 on the basis of statistical data supplied by various institutions. Twenty three indexes characterizing both work safety and technological progress in underground coal mines are used. Equations of linear and non-linear even regression and equations of linear and non-linear multiple regression are derived on the basis of statistical records of 23 years. The equations are used to estimate indexes of work safety on the basis of technical progress indexes. It is suggested that from among 8 indexes characterizing work safety 4 are most useful and important: danger index, absenteeism index, frequency of underground fire index, and frequency of rock burst index. Analysis of the regression equation shows that technological progress in underground coal mines in Poland has caused a decrease in indexes describing: frequency of work accidents, frequency of underground fires, frequency of rock burst, and danger of underground work; and an increase in indexes characterizing: seriousness of work accidents, and absenteeism caused by work accidents. (84 refs.)

Development and validation of educational technology for venous ulcer care.

Science.gov (United States)

Benevides, Jéssica Lima; Coutinho, Janaina Fonseca Victor; Pascoal, Liliane Chagas; Joventino, Emanuella Silva; Martins, Mariana Cavalcante; Gubert, Fabiane do Amaral; Alves, Allana Mirella

2016-04-01

To develop and validate an educational technology venous ulcers care. Methodological study conducted in five steps: Situational diagnosis; literature review; development of texts, illustrations and layout; apparent and content validity by the Content Validity Index, assessment of Flesch Readability Index; and pilot testing. The developed technology was a type of booklet entitled Booklet for Venous Ulcers Care, consisting of seven topics: Diet and food intake, walking and light exercise, resting with elevated leg, bandage care, compression therapy, family support, and keeping healthy habits. The apparent validity revealed minimal agreement of 85.7% in the clarity and comprehensibility. The total content validity index was 0.97, the Flesch Readability Index was 75%, corresponding to the reading "fairly easy". The pilot test showed that 100% of people with venous ulcers evaluated the text and the illustrations as understandable, as appropriate. The educational technology proved to be valid for the appearance and content with potential for use in clinical practice. Construir e validar uma tecnologia educativa para cuidados com úlcera venosa. Estudo metodológico realizado em cinco fases: diagnóstico situacional; revisão da literatura; desenvolvimento de textos, ilustrações e diagramação; validade de aparência e de conteúdo pelo Índice de Validade de Conteúdo, avaliação do Índice de Legibilidade de Flesch; e teste piloto. A tecnologia desenvolvida foi do tipo cartilha intitulada Cartilha para cuidados com úlcera venosa, constituída de sete tópicos: Alimentação, Caminhadas e exercícios leves, Repouso com a perna elevada, Cuidados com o curativo, Terapia compressiva, Apoio familiar, e manter hábitos saudáveis. A validade aparente revelou concordância mínima de 85,7% na clareza e compreensibilidade. O Índice de Validade de Conteúdo total foi de 0,97, o Índice de legibilidade de Flesch foi de 75%, o que correspondeu à leitura "razoavelmente f

Contributions to nuclear safety and radiation technologies in Ukraine by the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taranenko, L.; Janouch, F.; Owsiacki, L.

2001-01-01

This paper presents Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU) activities devoted to furthering nuclear and radiation safety, which is a prioritized STCU area. The STCU, an intergovernmental organization with the principle objective of non-proliferation, administers financial support from the USA, Canada, and the EU to Ukrainian projects in various scientific and technological areas; coordinates projects; and promotes the integration of Ukrainian scientists into the international scientific community, including involving western collaborators. The paper focuses on STCU's largest project to date 'Program Supporting Y2K Readiness at Ukrainian NPPs' initiated in April 1999 and designed to address possible Y2K readiness problems at 14 Ukrainian nuclear reactors. Other presented projects demonstrate a wide diversity of supported directions in the fields of nuclear and radiation safety, including reactor material improvement ('Improved Zirconium-Based Elements for Nuclear Reactors'), information technologies for nuclear industries ('Ukrainian Nuclear Data Bank in Slavutich'), and radiation health science ('Diagnostics and Treatment of Radiation-Induced Injuries of Human Biopolymers').

Contributions of the food irradiation technology to the nutritional and alimentary safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferreira, Sonia Regina Schauffert

1999-01-01

This work is a bibliographic review about the contributions of the food irradiation technology on nutritional and alimentary safety. Subjected to research and development for more than 60 years, these technology was approved by a jointly FAO/WHO/IAEA Expert Committees in 1980 with the conclusion that the irradiation of food up to an overall average dose of 10 kGy present no toxicological hazard and introduce no special nutritional or microbiological problems. Following these conclusions general standards and practices for food irradiation were adopted by the Codex Alimentarium Commission in 1983, opening the possibilities for internal applications and international commerce of irradiated food in many countries. Radiation from radioisotopes sources, electron accelerators or X-ray generators can be applied to food in order to reduce the microbial load, insect disinfestation, improving the shelf life extension of the products. Absorbed doses up to 10 kGy level do not introduce significant alterations in the macro or micro nutrients contents or in the sensorial characteristic of irradiated food. Although food safety can be related with many other important topics, irradiation technology improving food quality, reducing food spoilage during preservation and preventing problems related with food borne disease present a good potential to contribute with the foment and guaranty of the nutritional and alimentary safety. (author)

Development of regulation technologies for software verification and validation of I and C systems important to safety in NPPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Bok Ryul; Oh, S. H.; Zhu, O. P.; Jeong, C. H.; Hwang, H. S.; Goo, C. S.; Chung, Y. H.

2000-12-01

The project has provided the draft regulatory policies and guides regarding the quality assurance of software used to I and C systems important to safety in nuclear power plants, differentiated V and V activities by safety classes which are important elements in ensuring software quality assurance, and suggested V and V techniques to be applied, regulatory guides and checklists for reviewing software important to safety. The project introduced the classification concepts on software quality assurance. The I and C systems important to safety are classified into IC-1, IC-2, IC-3, and Non-IC as based on safety classifications. And the software used to these I and C systems are classified into 3 categories, say, safety-critical software, safety-related software, and non-safety software, in the light of safety importance of functions to be performed. Based upon these safety classifications, the extent of software V and V activities by each class has been differentiated each other. On the other hand, the project has divided software important to safety into newly-developed software and previously-developed software in terms of design and implementation, and provided the draft regulatory guides on each type of software, for instance, newly-developed software, previously-developed software, and software tools

Research program on nuclear technology and nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dreier, J.

2010-04-01

This paper elaborated for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the synthesis report for 2009 made by the SFOE's program leader on the research program concerning nuclear technology and nuclear safety. Work carried out, knowledge gained and results obtained in the various areas are reported on. These include projects carried out in the Laboratory for Reactor Physics and System Behaviour LRS, the LTH Thermohydraulics Laboratory, the Laboratory for Nuclear Materials LNM, the Laboratory for Final Storage Safety LES and the Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis LEA of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI. Work done in 2009 and results obtained are reported on, including research on transients in Swiss reactors, risk and human reliability. Work on the 'Proteus' research reactor is reported on, as is work done on component safety. International co-operation in the area of serious accidents and the disposal of nuclear wastes is reported on. Future concepts for reactors and plant life management are discussed. The energy business in general is also discussed. Finally, national and international co-operation is noted and work to be done in 2010 is reviewed

Analysis of Aviation Safety Reporting System Incident Data Associated With the Technical Challenges of the Vehicle Systems Safety Technology Project

Science.gov (United States)

Withrow, Colleen A.; Reveley, Mary S.

2014-01-01

This analysis was conducted to support the Vehicle Systems Safety Technology (VSST) Project of the Aviation Safety Program (AVsP) milestone VSST4.2.1.01, "Identification of VSST-Related Trends." In particular, this is a review of incident data from the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS). The following three VSST-related technical challenges (TCs) were the focus of the incidents searched in the ASRS database: (1) Vechicle health assurance, (2) Effective crew-system interactions and decisions in all conditions; and (3) Aircraft loss of control prevention, mitigation, and recovery.

Bio-markers: traceability in food safety issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Raspor, Peter

2005-01-01

Research and practice are focusing on development, validation and harmonization of technologies and methodologies to ensure complete traceability process throughout the food chain. The main goals are: scale-up, implementation and validation of methods in whole food chains, assurance of authenticity, validity of labelling and application of HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control point) to the entire food chain. The current review is to sum the scientific and technological basis for ensuring complete traceability. Tracing and tracking (traceability) of foods are complex processes due to the (bio)markers, technical solutions and different circumstances in different technologies which produces various foods (processed, semi-processed, or raw). Since the food is produced for human or animal consumption we need suitable markers to be stable and traceable all along the production chain. Specific biomarkers can have a function in technology and in nutrition. Such approach would make this development faster and more comprehensive and would make possible that food effect could be monitored with same set of biomarkers in consumer. This would help to develop and implement food safety standards that would be based on real physiological function of particular food component.

Three-dimensional all-speed CFD code for safety analysis of nuclear reactor containment: Status of GASFLOW parallelization, model development, validation and application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xiao, Jianjun, E-mail: jianjun.xiao@kit.edu [Institute of Nuclear and Energy Technologies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Travis, John R., E-mail: jack_travis@comcast.com [Engineering and Scientific Software Inc., 3010 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87505 (United States); Royl, Peter, E-mail: peter.royl@partner.kit.edu [Institute of Nuclear and Energy Technologies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Necker, Gottfried, E-mail: gottfried.necker@partner.kit.edu [Institute of Nuclear and Energy Technologies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Svishchev, Anatoly, E-mail: anatoly.svishchev@kit.edu [Institute of Nuclear and Energy Technologies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Jordan, Thomas, E-mail: thomas.jordan@kit.edu [Institute of Nuclear and Energy Technologies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany)

2016-05-15

Highlights: • 3-D scalable semi-implicit pressure-based CFD code for containment safety analysis. • Robust solution algorithm valid for all-speed flows. • Well validated and widely used CFD code for hydrogen safety analysis. • Code applied in various types of nuclear reactor containments. • Parallelization enables high-fidelity models in large scale containment simulations. - Abstract: GASFLOW is a three dimensional semi-implicit all-speed CFD code which can be used to predict fluid dynamics, chemical kinetics, heat and mass transfer, aerosol transportation and other related phenomena involved in postulated accidents in nuclear reactor containments. The main purpose of the paper is to give a brief review on recent GASFLOW code development, validations and applications in the field of nuclear safety. GASFLOW code has been well validated by international experimental benchmarks, and has been widely applied to hydrogen safety analysis in various types of nuclear power plants in European and Asian countries, which have been summarized in this paper. Furthermore, four benchmark tests of a lid-driven cavity flow, low Mach number jet flow, 1-D shock tube and supersonic flow over a forward-facing step are presented in order to demonstrate the accuracy and wide-ranging capability of ICE’d ALE solution algorithm for all-speed flows. GASFLOW has been successfully parallelized using the paradigms of Message Passing Interface (MPI) and domain decomposition. The parallel version, GASFLOW-MPI, adds great value to large scale containment simulations by enabling high-fidelity models, including more geometric details and more complex physics. It will be helpful for the nuclear safety engineers to better understand the hydrogen safety related physical phenomena during the severe accident, to optimize the design of the hydrogen risk mitigation systems and to fulfill the licensing requirements by the nuclear regulatory authorities. GASFLOW-MPI is targeting a high

Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation towards Technology Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, Pey-Yan; Kuo, Pei-Jung

2014-01-01

Background: Few studies have examined students' attitudinal perceptions of technology. There is no appropriate instrument to measure senior high school students' motivation and self-regulation toward technology learning among the current existing instruments in the field of technology education. Purpose: The present study is to validate an…

Classification of antecedents towards safety use of health information technology: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Salahuddin, Lizawati; Ismail, Zuraini

2015-11-01

This paper provides a systematic review of safety use of health information technology (IT). The first objective is to identify the antecedents towards safety use of health IT by conducting systematic literature review (SLR). The second objective is to classify the identified antecedents based on the work system in Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model and an extension of DeLone and McLean (D&M) information system (IS) success model. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted from peer-reviewed scholarly publications between January 2000 and July 2014. SLR was carried out and reported based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement. The related articles were identified by searching the articles published in Science Direct, Medline, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases. Data extracted from the resultant studies included are to be analysed based on the work system in Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model, and also from the extended DeLone and McLean (D&M) information system (IS) success model. 55 articles delineated to be antecedents that influenced the safety use of health IT were included for review. Antecedents were identified and then classified into five key categories. The categories are (1) person, (2) technology, (3) tasks, (4) organization, and (5) environment. Specifically, person is attributed by competence while technology is associated to system quality, information quality, and service quality. Tasks are attributed by task-related stressor. Organisation is related to training, organisation resources, and teamwork. Lastly, environment is attributed by physical layout, and noise. This review provides evidence that the antecedents for safety use of health IT originated from both social and technical aspects. However, inappropriate health IT usage potentially increases the incidence of errors and produces new safety risks. The review cautions future

A safety-critical java technology compatibility kit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søndergaard, Hans; Korsholm, Stephan E.; Ravn, Anders Peter

2014-01-01

In order to claim conformance with a given Java Specification Request (JSR), a Java implementation has to pass all tests in an associated Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK). This paper presents development of test cases and tools for the draft Safety-Critical Java (SCJ) specification. In previous...... work we have shown how the Java Modeling Language (JML) is applied to specify conformance constraints for SCJ, and how JML-related tools may assist in generating and executing tests. Here we extend this work with a layout for concrete test cases including checking of results in a simplified version...

Validation of CFD models for hydrogen safety application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikolaeva, Anna; Skibin, Alexander; Krutikov, Alexey; Golibrodo, Luka; Volkov, Vasiliy; Nechaev, Artem; Nadinskiy, Yuriy

2015-01-01

Most accidents involving hydrogen begin with its leakage and spreading in the air and spontaneous detonation, which is accompanied by fire or deflagration of hydrogen mixture with heat and /or shocks, which may cause harm to life and equipment. Outflow of hydrogen in a confined volume and its propagation in the volume is the worst option because of the impact of the insularity on the process of detonation. According to the safety requirements for handling hydrogen specialized systems (ventilation, sprinklers, burners etc.) are required for maintaining the hydrogen concentration less than the critical value, to eliminate the possibility of detonation and flame propagation. In this study, a simulation of helium propagation in a confined space with different methods of injection and ventilation of helium is presented, which is used as a safe replacement of hydrogen in experimental studies. Five experiments were simulated in the range from laminar to developed turbulent with different Froude numbers, which determine the regime of the helium outflow in the air. The processes of stratification and erosion of helium stratified layer were investigated. The study includes some results of OECD/NEA-PSI PANDA benchmark and some results of Gamelan project. An analysis of applicability of various turbulence models, which are used to close the system of equations of momentum transport, implemented in the commercial codes STAR CD, STAR CCM+, ANSYS CFX, was conducted for different mesh types (polyhedral and hexahedral). A comparison of computational studies results with experimental data showed a good agreement. In particular, for transition and turbulent regimes the error of the numerical results lies in the range from 5 to 15% for all turbulence models considered. This indicates applicability of the methods considered for some hydrogen safety problems. However, it should be noted that more validation research should be made to use CFD in Hydrogen safety applications with a wide

Investigation on safety of gel decontamination technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Zhihui; Song Fengli; Wang Yongxian; Zhang Taoge

2014-01-01

Gel decontamination technology is an advanced decontamination process of metal contaminated by radionuclide. It has the advantages such as simple operation process, high decontaminating factor, etc. But the disadvantages are that it has high spraying pressure and is strongly corrosive, which has safety risk to the operator and equipment. The effect of such factors as spraying pressure on operators was analyzed based on process feature, and it is proposed that it be worthwhile to make further study on the corrosion of gels to spraying equipment, taking into account corrosion feature of gels to stainless steel. Meanwhile, the safety issue was demonstrated on collecting and handling wastes from gel decontamination process. And then, protective measures, study methods, and solutions are put forward. The results show that protection should be strengthened during spraying to reduce the effect of splashing and fogging on workers; the equipment should be cleaned in time to reduce the effect of corrosion, and reducers should be added into waste liquid to eliminate the effect of residual detergent. (authors)

Development of reliability-based safety enhancement technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kil Yoo; Han, Sang Hoon; Jang, Seung Cherl

2002-04-01

This project aims to develop critical technologies and the necessary reliability DB for maximizing the economics in the NPP operation with keeping the safety using the information of the risk (or reliability). For the research goal, firstly the four critical technologies(Risk Informed Tech. Spec. Optimization, Risk Informed Inservice Testing, On-line Maintenance, Maintenance Rule) for RIR and A have been developed. Secondly, KIND (Korea Information System for Nuclear Reliability Data) has been developed. Using KIND, YGN 3,4 and UCN 3,4 component reliability DB have been established. A reactor trip history DB for all NPP in Korea also has been developed and analyzed. Finally, a detailed reliability analysis of RPS/ESFAS for KNSP has been performed. With the result of the analysis, the sensitivity analysis also has been performed to optimize the AOT/STI of tech. spec. A statistical analysis procedure and computer code have been developed for the set point drift analysis

Nuclear Criticality Technology and Safety Project parameter study database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toffer, H.; Erickson, D.G.; Samuel, T.J.; Pearson, J.S.

1993-03-01

A computerized, knowledge-screened, comprehensive database of the nuclear criticality safety documentation has been assembled as part of the Nuclear Criticality Technology and Safety (NCTS) Project. The database is focused on nuclear criticality parameter studies. The database has been computerized using dBASE III Plus and can be used on a personal computer or a workstation. More than 1300 documents have been reviewed by nuclear criticality specialists over the last 5 years to produce over 800 database entries. Nuclear criticality specialists will be able to access the database and retrieve information about topical parameter studies, authors, and chronology. The database places the accumulated knowledge in the nuclear criticality area over the last 50 years at the fingertips of a criticality analyst

NS [Nuclear Safety] update. Current safety and security activities and developments taking place in the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security. Issue no. 4, June 2007

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-04-01

This newsletter contains information on the Centre for Advanced Safety Assessment Tools (CASAT), the new strategy for the recovery of radioactive sources, the Technical Support Organization Conference and a message form the Director of the Division of Nuclear Installation Safety. To improve the efficiency of safety assessment methods, ensure transparency in their validation and application and establish an excellent knowledge base and training programmes, the IAEA's Centre for Advanced Safety Assessment Tools (CASAT) has therefore been formed. The Centre addresses the need for continuous technical support mechanisms for safety assessment methods. It provides support to Member States to enhance their safety assessment capabilities for present and future generations of nuclear systems, with a special focus on countries with a developing nuclear technology and nuclear safety infrastructure. It serves as a consolidated repository of relevant safety analysis knowledge, provides for focused training including advanced analytical simulations, and supports collaboration on safety assessment projects among Member States. The resources provided through CASAT include codes, models, databases, verification and validation information, analytical procedures and guides. The main purpose of the recently established Radioactive Source Technical Coordination Group (RSTCG) is to facilitate the technical coordination of activities of the IAEA related to the control and management of radioactive sources through the development of common approaches in technical matters and to advise the management of the relevant Divisions. It is the task of the RSTCG to provide the programme managers of the participating divisions/sections with a common opinion/advice on technical issues related to the control and management of radioactive sources. The RSTCG members obtain, inter alia from programme managers, information on all relevant project proposals, and share relevant materials in due time to

The real-world safety potential of connected vehicle technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Doecke, Sam; Grant, Alex; Anderson, Robert W G

2015-01-01

This article estimates the safety potential of a current commercially available connected vehicle technology in real-world crashes. Data from the Centre for Automotive Safety Research's at-scene in-depth crash investigations in South Australia were used to simulate the circumstances of real-world crashes. A total of 89 crashes were selected for inclusion in the study. The crashes were selected as representative of the most prevalent crash types for injury or fatal crashes and had potential to be mitigated by connected vehicle technology. The trajectory, speeds, braking, and impact configuration of the selected in-depth cases were replicated in a software package and converted to a file format allowing "replay" of the scenario in real time as input to 2 Cohda Wireless MK2 onboard units. The Cohda Wireless onboard units are a mature connected vehicle technology that has been used in both the German simTD field trial and the U.S. Department of Transport's Safety Pilot project and have been tuned for low false alarm rates when used in the real world. The crash replay was achieved by replacing each of the onboard unit Global Positioning System (GPS) inputs with the simulated data of each of the involved vehicles. The time at which the Cohda Wireless threat detection software issued an elevated warning was used to calculate a new impact speed using 3 different reaction scenarios and 2 levels of braking. It was found that between 37 and 86% of the simulated crashes could be avoided, with highest percentage due a fully autonomous system braking at 0.7 g. The same system also reduced the impact speed relative to the actual crash in all cases. Even when a human reaction time of 1.2 s and moderate braking of 0.4 g was assumed, the impact speed was reduced in 78% of the crashes. Crash types that proved difficult for the threat detection engine were head-on crashes where the approach angle was low and right turn-opposite crashes. These results indicate that connected vehicle

Outage Risk Assessment and Management (ORAM) technology to improve outage safety and economics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalra, S.P.

2004-01-01

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has undertaken an aggressive program, called ORAM (Outage Risk Assessment and Management), to provide utilities with tools and technology to assist in managing risk during the planning and conduct of outages. The ORAM program consists of the following 6 steps: i) Perform utility surveys and visits on shutdown risk management needs, ii) Perform probabilistic shutdown safety assessments (PSSAs) to identify generic insights that can be incorporated into risk management guidelines and identify selected areas for the development of contingency actions, iii) Develop risk management guidelines (RMG's) that provide a systematic approach to the planning and conduct of outages from a safety perspective. Incorporate insights from the shutdown safety assessments and other operating experience into the RMG's. iv) Develop selected contingency actions including a thermalhydraulic tool kit to address higher risk time periods and activities identified in the shutdown safety assessments, v) Develop computer software that integrates all of the above capability into an easy to use tool for effective shutdown operation management for utilities, vi) Provide assistance in the transfer of this technology and the application of these tools. This paper briefly describes the technical approach and tools developed under EPRI's ORAM program and its applications for improving outage safety and economics. (author)

Using Active Learning to Identify Health Information Technology Related Patient Safety Events.

Science.gov (United States)

Fong, Allan; Howe, Jessica L; Adams, Katharine T; Ratwani, Raj M

2017-01-18

The widespread adoption of health information technology (HIT) has led to new patient safety hazards that are often difficult to identify. Patient safety event reports, which are self-reported descriptions of safety hazards, provide one view of potential HIT-related safety events. However, identifying HIT-related reports can be challenging as they are often categorized under other more predominate clinical categories. This challenge of identifying HIT-related reports is exacerbated by the increasing number and complexity of reports which pose challenges to human annotators that must manually review reports. In this paper, we apply active learning techniques to support classification of patient safety event reports as HIT-related. We evaluated different strategies and demonstrated a 30% increase in average precision of a confirmatory sampling strategy over a baseline no active learning approach after 10 learning iterations.

Using tablet technology in operational radiation safety applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Andrew; Linsley, Mark; Houser, Mike

2013-11-01

Tablet computers have become a mainstream product in today's personal, educational, and business worlds. These tablets offer computing power, storage, and a wide range of available products to meet nearly every user need. To take advantage of this new computing technology, a system was developed for the Apple iPad (Apple Inc. 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA 95014) to perform health and safety inspections in the field using editable PDFs and saving them to a database while keeping the process easy and paperless.

VATE: VAlidation of high TEchnology based on large database analysis by learning machine

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meldolesi, E; Van Soest, J; Alitto, A R; Autorino, R; Dinapoli, N; Dekker, A; Gambacorta, M A; Gatta, R; Tagliaferri, L; Damiani, A; Valentini, V

2014-01-01

The interaction between implementation of new technologies and different outcomes can allow a broad range of researches to be expanded. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the VAlidation of high TEchnology based on large database analysis by learning machine (VATE) project that aims to combine

State-of-the-art WEB -technologies and ecological safety of nuclear power engineering facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batij, V.G.; Batij, E.V.; Rud'ko, V.M.; Kotlyarov, V.T.

2004-01-01

Prospects of web-technologies using in the field of improvement radiation safety level of nuclear power engineering facilities is seen. It is shown that application of such technologies will enable entirely using the data of all information systems of radiation control

Design and implementation of safety traceability system for candied fruits based on two-dimension code technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHAO Kun

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Traceability is the basic principle of food safety.A food safety traceability system based on QR code and cloud computing technology was introduced in this paper.First of all we introduced the QR code technology and the concept of traceability.And then through the field investigation,we analyzed the traceability process.At the same time,we designed the system and database were found,and the consumer experiencing technology is studied.Finally we expounded the traceability information collection,transmission and final presentation style and expected the future development of traceability system.

Elaboration and Validation of the Medication Prescription Safety Checklist.

Science.gov (United States)

Pires, Aline de Oliveira Meireles; Ferreira, Maria Beatriz Guimarães; Nascimento, Kleiton Gonçalves do; Felix, Márcia Marques Dos Santos; Pires, Patrícia da Silva; Barbosa, Maria Helena

2017-08-03

to elaborate and validate a checklist to identify compliance with the recommendations for the structure of medication prescriptions, based on the Protocol of the Ministry of Health and the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency. methodological research, conducted through the validation and reliability analysis process, using a sample of 27 electronic prescriptions. the analyses confirmed the content validity and reliability of the tool. The content validity, obtained by expert assessment, was considered satisfactory as it covered items that represent the compliance with the recommendations regarding the structure of the medication prescriptions. The reliability, assessed through interrater agreement, was excellent (ICC=1.00) and showed perfect agreement (K=1.00). the Medication Prescription Safety Checklist showed to be a valid and reliable tool for the group studied. We hope that this study can contribute to the prevention of adverse events, as well as to the improvement of care quality and safety in medication use. elaborar e validar um instrumento tipo checklist para identificar a adesão às recomendações na estrutura das prescrições de medicamentos, a partir do Protocolo do Ministério da Saúde e Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária. pesquisa metodológica, conduzida por meio do processo de validade e análise de confiabilidade, com amostra de 27 prescrições eletrônicas. análises realizadas confirmaram a validade de conteúdo e a confiabilidade da versão do instrumento. A validade de conteúdo, obtida por meio da avaliação de juízes, foi considerada satisfatória por contemplar itens que representam a adesão às recomendações na estrutura das prescrições de medicamentos. A confiabilidade, avaliada por interobservadores, apresentou-se excelente (ICC=1,00) e de concordância perfeita (K=1,00). o instrumento Lista de Verificação de Segurança na Prescrição de Medicamentos demonstrou-se válido e confiável para o grupo estudado. Espera

Information System Hazard Analysis: A Method for Identifying Technology-induced Latent Errors for Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Jens H; Mason-Blakley, Fieran; Price, Morgan

2015-01-01

Many health information and communication technologies (ICT) are safety-critical; moreover, reports of technology-induced adverse events related to them are plentiful in the literature. Despite repeated criticism and calls to action, recent data collected by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and other organization do not indicate significant improvements with respect to the safety of health ICT systems. A large part of the industry still operates on a reactive "break & patch" model; the application of pro-active, systematic hazard analysis methods for engineering ICT that produce "safe by design" products is sparse. This paper applies one such method: Information System Hazard Analysis (ISHA). ISHA adapts and combines hazard analysis techniques from other safety-critical domains and customizes them for ICT. We provide an overview of the steps involved in ISHA and describe.

Formal verification and validation of the safety-critical software in a digital reactor protection system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, K. C.; Park, G. Y.

2006-01-01

This paper describes the Verification and Validation (V and V) activities for the safety-critical software in a Digital Reactor Protection System (DRPS) that is being developed through the Korea nuclear instrumentation and control system project. The main activities of the DRPS V and V process are a preparation of the software planning documentation, a verification of the software according to the software life cycle, a software safety analysis and a software configuration management. The verification works for the Software Requirement Specification (SRS) of the DRPS consist of a technical evaluation, a licensing suitability evaluation, a inspection and traceability analysis, a formal verification, and preparing a test plan and procedure. Especially, the SRS is specified by the formal specification method in the development phase, and the formal SRS is verified by a formal verification method. Through these activities, we believe we can achieve the functionality, performance, reliability, and safety that are the major V and V objectives of the nuclear safety-critical software in a DRPS. (authors)

Examination of the bases for proposed innovations in reactor safety technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moses, D.L.

1986-01-01

This paper employs the criteria for evaluations from the Nuclear Power Option Viability Study to examine the bases for proposed innovations in light water reactor safety technology. These bases for innovation fall into four broad categories as follows: (1) virtually exclusive reliance on passive safety features to preclude core damage in all situations, (2) design simplification using some passive safety features to reduce the frequency of core damage to less than about 10 -6 per reactor-year, (3) passive containment to preclude releases from any accident, and (4) designing to limit licensing attention to one or at least a few systems. Of these, only the first two, and perhaps only the second, hold significant promise for providing for the viability of advanced light water reactors

Contributions to nuclear safety and radiation technologies in Ukraine by the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taranenko, L. E-mail: lyubov@stcu.kiev.ua; Janouch, F.; Owsiacki, L

2001-06-01

This paper presents Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU) activities devoted to furthering nuclear and radiation safety, which is a prioritized STCU area. The STCU, an intergovernmental organization with the principle objective of non-proliferation, administers financial support from the USA, Canada, and the EU to Ukrainian projects in various scientific and technological areas; coordinates projects; and promotes the integration of Ukrainian scientists into the international scientific community, including involving western collaborators. The paper focuses on STCU's largest project to date 'Program Supporting Y2K Readiness at Ukrainian NPPs' initiated in April 1999 and designed to address possible Y2K readiness problems at 14 Ukrainian nuclear reactors. Other presented projects demonstrate a wide diversity of supported directions in the fields of nuclear and radiation safety, including reactor material improvement ('Improved Zirconium-Based Elements for Nuclear Reactors'), information technologies for nuclear industries ('Ukrainian Nuclear Data Bank in Slavutich'), and radiation health science ('Diagnostics and Treatment of Radiation-Induced Injuries of Human Biopolymers')

Proceedings of the 8. National Seminar on Technology and Safety of Nuclear Power Plants and Nuclear Facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antariksawan, Anhar R.; Soetrisnanto, Arnold Y.; Aziz, Ferhat; Untoro, Pudji; Su'ud, Zaki; Zarkasi, Amin Santosa; Umar, Faraz H.; Teguh Bambang; Hafnan, M.; Mustafa, Bustani; Rosfian, H.

2002-10-01

The eight proceeding of National Seminar on Technology and Safety of Nuclear Power Plant and Nuclear Facilities held by National Atomic Energy Agency and University of Trisakti. The aims of Seminar is to exchange and disseminate information about safety and nuclear Power Plant Temperature Reactor and Application for National Development sustain able and High Technology. This Seminar covers all aspect Technology, Power Reactor : Research Reactor; High Temperature Reactor and Nuclear Facilities. There are 33 articles have separated index

Integrating Safety with Science,Technology and Innovation at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rich, Bethany M [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2012-04-02

The mission of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is to develop and apply science, technology and engineering solutions to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent; reduce global threats; and solve emerging national security challenges. The most important responsibility is to direct and conduct efforts to meet the mission with an emphasis on safety, security, and quality. In this article, LANL Environmental, Safety, and Health (ESH) trainers discuss how their application and use of a kinetic learning module (learn by doing) with a unique fall arrest system is helping to address one the most common industrial safety challenges: slips and falls. A unique integration of Human Performance Improvement (HPI), Behavior Based Safety (BBS) and elements of the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) combined with an interactive simulator experience is being used to address slip and fall events at Los Alamos.

A comparative study on the effective safety of nuclear technology in Korea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soh, Young Jin [Daegu University, Daegu (Korea); Kim, Young Pyoung [Korea University, Seoul (Korea); Jung, Yoon Soo [Myoungji University, Seoul (Korea); Chung, Ik Jae; Choi, Byung Sun [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea)

2001-12-01

The main purpose of this research is to analyze Korean perception of nuclear risk in comparison with other technological risks. In order to understand the characteristics of risk perception, the concept of 'effective safety' is clarified and defined. This research also covers such issues as relative riskiness of major risks, risk attitude, risk attribution, behavioral pattern for risky situation, and risk knowledge. A nation-wide survey was conducted for this study with a sample size of 1870. It was based on the purposive quota sampling to compare nuclear risk and other technological risks selected are 6 groups of risk; nuclear risk, environmental risk, traffic risk, chemical materials, industrial safety, and other recent risks. Accross these groups, a total of 25 risks are examined. 52 refs., 14 figs., 125 tabs. (Author)

Fuel pin transient behavior technology applied to safety analyses. Presentation to AEC Regulatory Staff 4th Regulatory Briefing on safety technology, Washington, D.C., November 19--20, 1974

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1974-11-01

Information is presented concerning LMFBR fuel pin performance requirements and evaluation; fuels behavior codes with safety interfaces; performance evaluations; ex-reactor materials and simulation tests; models for fuel pin failure; and summary of continuing fuels technology tasks. (DCC)

Proceedings of the Nuclear Criticality Technology and Safety Project Workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez, R.G. [comp.

1994-01-01

This report is the proceedings of the annual Nuclear Criticality Technology and Safety Project (NCTSP) Workshop held in Monterey, California, on April 16--28, 1993. The NCTSP was sponsored by the Department of Energy and organized by the Los Alamos Critical Experiments Facility. The report is divided into six sections reflecting the sessions outlined on the workshop agenda.

Proceedings of the Nuclear Criticality Technology and Safety Project Workshop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez, R.G.

1994-01-01

This report is the proceedings of the annual Nuclear Criticality Technology and Safety Project (NCTSP) Workshop held in Monterey, California, on April 16--28, 1993. The NCTSP was sponsored by the Department of Energy and organized by the Los Alamos Critical Experiments Facility. The report is divided into six sections reflecting the sessions outlined on the workshop agenda

Safety philiosophies in technology-related law discussed for the example of atomic energy law

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rossnagel, A.

1993-01-01

In practice, legal ruling and its technical implementation stand isolated side by side. Taking the example of atomic energy law, the reasons for this situation and the significance of the deficit in the legal control of technology are examined. It is discussed how the controlling capacity of the law can be increased through the legal implementation of safety philosophies for technology. The paper deals with the problematic realtionship between technical and legal norms, with safety philosophies in the sense of mental approaches, safety concepts or safety postulates and their legal significance, and with the safety philosophy adhered to by the authorities and courts. The following learning processes in safety philosophy are described: new concepts of protection within the field of determinism, probabilistic safety concepts as well as concepts for the reduction of damage potential. Altogether it can be stated that the safety philosophy currently adhered to in Federal German licensing practice is not the only possible one; rather, that there are many different ways of conceptualizing, stipulating and checking technical safety. At least in the field of atomic energy law, this insight has a twofold significance: de lege lata there are several ways of operationalizing the licence requirements laid down in Article 7 of the Atomic Energy Law and the legally defined requirements for a licence withdrawal with the aid of technical licensing criteria. In all cases the legal wording is indeterminate and does not prescribe any specific safety philosophy. De lege ferenda it must be noted that amendments to the Atomic Energy Law entail a regularization of safety philosophy. This is a political necessity if the Atomic Energy Law is to be developed further and thus maintained as a modern security law. (orig.) [de

Safety of mechanical devices. Safety of automation systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pahl, G.; Schweizer, G.; Kapp, K.

1985-01-01

The paper deals with the classic procedures of safety engineering in the sectors mechanical engineering, electrical and energy engineering, construction and transport, medicine technology and process technology. Particular stress is laid on the safety of automation systems, control technology, protection of mechanical devices, reactor safety, mechanical constructions, transport systems, railway signalling devices, road traffic and protection at work in chemical plans. (DG) [de

Validation of IT-based Data Communication Protocol for Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, K. I.; Kim, D. H.; Lee, J. C.

2009-12-01

The communication network designed to transmit control and processing signals in digital Instrument and Control (I and C) systems in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), should provide a high level of safety and reliability. There are different features between the communication networks of NPPs and other commercial communication networks. Safety and reliability are the most important factors in the communication networks of an NPP rather than efficiency which are important factors of a commercial communication network design. To develop Data Communication Protocol for Nuclear Power Plant, We analyze the design criteria and performance requirements of existing commercial communication protocols based on Information Technology(IT). And also, we examine the adaptability to the communication protocol of an NPP. Based on these results, we developed our own protocol(Nuclear power plant Safety Communication Protocol : NSCP) for NPP I and C, which meet the required specifications through design overall protocol architecture and data frame format, definition of functional requirements and specifications. NSCP is the communication protocol designed for a safety-grade control network in the nuclear power plant. In this report, we had specified NSCP protocol by FDT(Formal Description Technique) and established validation procedures based on the validation methodology. It was confirmed specification error, major function's validity and reachability of NSCP by performing simulation and the validation process using Telelogic Tau tool

A briefing to verification and validation of computer software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Aisen; Xie Yalian

2012-01-01

Nowadays, the computer equipment and information processing technology is coming into the engineering of instrument and process control. Owing to its convenient and other advantages, more and more utilities are more than happy to use it. After initial utilization in basic functional controlling, the computer equipment and information processing technology is widely used in safety critical control. Consequently, the people pay more attentions to the quality of computer software. How to assess and ensure its quality are the most concerned problems. The verification and validation technology of computer software are important steps to the quality assurance. (authors)

IAEA programme to support development and validation of advanced design and safety analysis codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, J., E-mail: J.H.Choi@iaea.org [International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria)

2013-07-01

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been organized many international collaboration programs to support the development and validation of design and safety analysis computer codes for nuclear power plants. These programs are normally implemented with a frame of Coordinated Research Project (CRP) or International Collaborative Standard Problem (ICSP). This paper introduces CRPs and ICSPs currently being organized or recently completed by IAEA for this purpose. (author)

Application of verification and validation on safety parameter display systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, N.C.

1983-01-01

Offers some explanation of how verification and validation (VandV) can support development and licensing of the Safety Parameter Display Systems (SPDS). Advocates that VandV can be more readily accepted within the nuclear industry if a better understanding exists of what the objectives of VandV are and should be. Includes a discussion regarding a reasonable balance of costs and benefits of VandV as applied to the SPDS and to other digital systems. Represents the author's perception of the regulator's perspective based on background information and experience, and discussions with regulators about their current concerns and objectives. Suggests that the introduction of the SPDS into the Control Room is a first step towards growing dependency on use of computers

Current status and prospect of radiation technology for the safety and security of food

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byun, Myung Woo

2009-01-01

Since 1960, radiation technology (RT), which had been known as the method eliminating the biologically hazardous factors of the products in the food, medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, was comprehensively investigated. The safety of food irradiation has been throughout evaluated with scientific experiments. Recently, RT has been associated with other high technologies such as biotechnology and nanotechnology, and resulted in the innovative products. Through these fusion technology with RT, the new items with high functionality and value will be shown. But, until now, consumers' acceptance on radiation is still the problem to be solved for further development. To make the consumer correctly understand RT, the benefits and defects of RT should be informed and there should be the legislated policy for the industrialization of RT by government. Therefore, this review will introduce the current status of food irradiation in the world, the safety and national agreements and the recent results from radiation fusion technology, and suggest the further work

DEVELOPMENT OF RISK-BASED AND TECHNOLOGY-INDEPENDENT SAFETY CRITERIA FOR GENERATION IV SYSTEMS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

William E. Kastenberg; Edward Blandford; Lance Kim

2009-03-31

This project has developed quantitative safety goals for Generation IV (Gen IV) nuclear energy systems. These safety goals are risk based and technology independent. The foundations for a new approach to risk analysis has been developed, along with a new operational definition of risk. This project has furthered the current state-of-the-art by developing quantitative safety goals for both Gen IV reactors and for the overall Gen IV nuclear fuel cycle. The risk analysis approach developed will quantify performance measures, characterize uncertainty, and address a more comprehensive view of safety as it relates to the overall system. Appropriate safety criteria are necessary to manage risk in a prudent and cost-effective manner. This study is also important for government agencies responsible for managing, reviewing, and for approving advanced reactor systems because they are charged with assuring the health and safety of the public.

DEVELOPMENT OF RISK-BASED AND TECHNOLOGY-INDEPENDENT SAFETY CRITERIA FOR GENERATION IV SYSTEMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kastenberg, William E.; Blandford, Edward; Kim, Lance

2009-01-01

This project has developed quantitative safety goals for Generation IV (Gen IV) nuclear energy systems. These safety goals are risk based and technology independent. The foundations for a new approach to risk analysis has been developed, along with a new operational definition of risk. This project has furthered the current state-of-the-art by developing quantitative safety goals for both Gen IV reactors and for the overall Gen IV nuclear fuel cycle. The risk analysis approach developed will quantify performance measures, characterize uncertainty, and address a more comprehensive view of safety as it relates to the overall system. Appropriate safety criteria are necessary to manage risk in a prudent and cost-effective manner. This study is also important for government agencies responsible for managing, reviewing, and for approving advanced reactor systems because they are charged with assuring the health and safety of the public

Approach to uncertainty evaluation for safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogura, Katsunori

2005-01-01

Nuclear power plant safety used to be verified and confirmed through accident simulations using computer codes generally because it is very difficult to perform integrated experiments or tests for the verification and validation of the plant safety due to radioactive consequence, cost, and scaling to the actual plant. Traditionally the plant safety had been secured owing to the sufficient safety margin through the conservative assumptions and models to be applied to those simulations. Meanwhile the best-estimate analysis based on the realistic assumptions and models in support of the accumulated insights could be performed recently, inducing the reduction of safety margin in the analysis results and the increase of necessity to evaluate the reliability or uncertainty of the analysis results. This paper introduces an approach to evaluate the uncertainty of accident simulation and its results. (Note: This research had been done not in the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization but in the Tokyo Institute of Technology.) (author)

Factors in Decisions to Make, Purchase, and Use On-board Safety Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

2005-12-01

In support of its goal to reduce large truck-related fatalities and crashes, FMCSA plans to facilitate the deployment of Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI) technologies that have shown a potential to improve the safety of commercial vehicle operati...

Results of a survey on accident and safety analysis codes, benchmarks, verification and validation methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, A.G.; Wilkin, G.B.

1995-01-01

This report is a compilation of the information submitted by AECL, CIAE, JAERI, ORNL and Siemens in response to a need identified at the 'Workshop on R and D Needs' at the IGORR-3 meeting. The survey compiled information on the national standards applied to the Safety Quality Assurance (SQA) programs undertaken by the participants. Information was assembled for the computer codes and nuclear data libraries used in accident and safety analyses for research reactors and the methods used to verify and validate the codes and libraries. Although the survey was not comprehensive, it provides a basis for exchanging information of common interest to the research reactor community

Development and Validation of a Short-Form Safety Net Medical Home Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Nocon, Robert S; Gunter, Kathryn E; Gao, Yue; Lee, Sang Mee; Chin, Marshall H

2017-12-01

To develop a short-form Safety Net Medical Home Scale (SNMHS) for assessing patient-centered medical home (PCMH) capability in safety net clinics. National surveys of federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). Interviews with FQHC directors. We constructed three short-form SNMHS versions and examined correlations with full SNMHS and related primary care assessments. We tested usability with FQHC directors and reviewed scale development with an advisory group. Federally qualified health center surveys were administered in 2009 and 2013, by mail and online. Usability testing was conducted through telephone interviews with FQHC directors in 2013. Six-, 12-, and 18-question short-form SNMHS versions had Pearson correlations with full scale of 0.84, 0.92, and 0.96, respectively. All versions showed a level of convergent validity with other primary care assessment scales comparable to the full SNMHS. User testers found short forms to be low-burden, though missing some PCMH concepts. Advisory group members expressed caution over missing concepts and appropriate use of short-form self-assessments. Short-form versions of SNMHS showed strong correlations with full scale and may be useful for brief assessment of safety net PCMH capability. Each short-form SNMHS version may be appropriate for different research, quality improvement, and assessment purposes. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Tests for validation of fast neutron reactors safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagata, T.; Yamashita, H.

2001-01-01

Japanese scientific research and design enterprises in cooperation with industrial and power generating corporations implement a project on creating a fast neutron reactor of the ultimate safety. One of the basic expected results from such a development is creation of a reactor core structure that is able to eliminate recriticality occurrence in the course of reactor accident involving fuel melting. One of the possible ways to solve this problem is to include pipes (meant for specifying directed (controlled) molten fuel relocation) into fuel assembly structure. In the course of conduction and subsequent implementation of such a design the basic issue is to experimentally confirm the operating capacity of FA having such a structure and that is called FAIDUS. Within EAGLE Project on experimental basis of IAE NNC RK an activity has been started on preparation and conduction of out-of-pile and in-pile tests. During tests a sodium coolant will be used. Studies are conducted by NNC RK in cooperation with the Japanese corporations JAPC and JNC. Basic objective of out-of-pile tests was to obtain preliminary information on fuel relocation behavior under conditions simulating accident involving melting of core consisting of FAIDUS FA, which will help to clarify simulation criteria and to develop the most optimum structure of the experimental channel for reactor experiments conduction. The basic objective of in-pile tests was the experimental confirmation of operating capacity of FAIDUS FA model under reactor conditions. According to the program two tests are planned to be performed at IGR reactor: tests for validation of fast neutron reactor safety, and out-of-pile tests at EAGLE experimental facility without sodium coolant

A comparative review of patient safety initiatives for national health information technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Magrabi, Farah; Aarts, Jos; Nøhr, Christian

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To collect and critically review patient safety initiatives for health information technology (HIT). METHOD: Publicly promulgated set of advisories, recommendations, guidelines, or standards potentially addressing safe system design, build, implementation or use were identified...... by searching the websites of regional and national agencies and programmes in a non-exhaustive set of exemplar countries including England, Denmark, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada and Australia. Initiatives were categorised by type and software systems covered. RESULTS: We found 27 patient safety initiatives...... were aimed at certification in the USA, Canada and Australia. Safety is addressed alongside interoperability in the Australian certification programme but it is not explicitly addressed in the US and Canadian programmes, though conformance with specific functionality, interoperability, security...

Review of literature on the TMI accident and correlation to the LWR Safety Technology Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, W.J.

1980-05-01

This report is the result of approximately two man-months of effort devoted to assimilating and comprehending significant publicly available material related to Three Mile Island Unit 2 and events during and subsequent to the accident experienced on March 28, 1979. Those events were then correlated with the Preliminary LWR Safety Technology Program Plan (Preliminary Program Plan) prepared for the US Department of Energy by Sandia National Lab. This report is being submitted simultaneously with the SAI report entitled Preliminary Prioritization of Tasks in the Draft LWR Safety Technology Program Plan

Review of literature on the TMI accident and correlation to the LWR Safety Technology Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miller, W.J.

1980-05-01

This report is the result of approximately two man-months of effort devoted to assimilating and comprehending significant publicly available material related to Three Mile Island Unit 2 and events during and subsequent to the accident experienced on March 28, 1979. Those events were then correlated with the Preliminary LWR Safety Technology Program Plan (Preliminary Program Plan) prepared for the US Department of Energy by Sandia National Lab. This report is being submitted simultaneously with the SAI report entitled Preliminary Prioritization of Tasks in the Draft LWR Safety Technology Program Plan.

Proceedings of the workshop on integral experiment covariance data for critical safety validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stuke, Maik (ed.)

2016-04-15

For some time, attempts to quantify the statistical dependencies of critical experiments and to account for them properly in validation procedures were discussed in the literature by various groups. Besides the development of suitable methods especially the quality and modeling issues of the freely available experimental data are in the focus of current discussions, carried out for example in the Expert Group on Uncertainty Analysis for Criticality Safety Assessment (UACSA) of the OECD-NEA Nuclear Science Committee. The same committee compiles and publishes also the freely available experimental data in the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments. Most of these experiments were performed as series and might share parts of experimental setups leading to correlated results. The quality of the determination of these correlations and the underlying covariance data depend strongly on the quality of the documentation of experiments.

Proceedings of the workshop on integral experiment covariance data for critical safety validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stuke, Maik

2016-04-01

For some time, attempts to quantify the statistical dependencies of critical experiments and to account for them properly in validation procedures were discussed in the literature by various groups. Besides the development of suitable methods especially the quality and modeling issues of the freely available experimental data are in the focus of current discussions, carried out for example in the Expert Group on Uncertainty Analysis for Criticality Safety Assessment (UACSA) of the OECD-NEA Nuclear Science Committee. The same committee compiles and publishes also the freely available experimental data in the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments. Most of these experiments were performed as series and might share parts of experimental setups leading to correlated results. The quality of the determination of these correlations and the underlying covariance data depend strongly on the quality of the documentation of experiments.

Prospective Safety Analysis and the Complex Aviation System

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Brian E.

2013-01-01

Fatal accident rates in commercial passenger aviation are at historic lows yet have plateaued and are not showing evidence of further safety advances. Modern aircraft accidents reflect both historic causal factors and new unexpected "Black Swan" events. The ever-increasing complexity of the aviation system, along with its associated technology and organizational relationships, provides fertile ground for fresh problems. It is important to take a proactive approach to aviation safety by working to identify novel causation mechanisms for future aviation accidents before they happen. Progress has been made in using of historic data to identify the telltale signals preceding aviation accidents and incidents, using the large repositories of discrete and continuous data on aircraft and air traffic control performance and information reported by front-line personnel. Nevertheless, the aviation community is increasingly embracing predictive approaches to aviation safety. The "prospective workshop" early assessment tool described in this paper represents an approach toward this prospective mindset-one that attempts to identify the future vectors of aviation and asks the question: "What haven't we considered in our current safety assessments?" New causation mechanisms threatening aviation safety will arise in the future because new (or revised) systems and procedures will have to be used under future contextual conditions that have not been properly anticipated. Many simulation models exist for demonstrating the safety cases of new operational concepts and technologies. However the results from such models can only be as valid as the accuracy and completeness of assumptions made about the future context in which the new operational concepts and/or technologies will be immersed. Of course that future has not happened yet. What is needed is a reasonably high-confidence description of the future operational context, capturing critical contextual characteristics that modulate

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.)

Development of regulatory technology for thermal-hydraulic safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bang, Young Seok; Lee, S. H.; Ryu, Y. H.

2001-02-01

The present study aims to develop the regulation capability in thermal-hydraulic safety analysis which was required for the reasonable safety regulation in the current NPP, the next generation reactors, and the future-type reactors. The fourth fiscal year of the first phase of the research was focused on the following research topics: Investigation on the current status of the thermal-hydraulic safety analysis technology outside and inside of the country; Review on the improved features of the thermal-hydraulic safety analysis regulatory audit code, RELAP5/MOD3; Assessments of code with LOFT L9-3 ATWS experiment and LSTF SB-SG-10 multiple SGTR experiment; Application of the RELAP5/CANDU code to analyses of SLB and LBLOCA and evaluation of its effect on safety; Application of the code to IAEA PHWR ISP analysis; Assessments of RELAP5 and TRAC with UPTF downcomer injection test and Analysis of LBLOCA with RELAP5 for the performance evaluation of KNGR DVI; Setup of a coupled 3-D kinetics and thermal-hydraulics and application it to a reactivity accident analysis; and Extension of database and improvement of plant input decks. For supporting the resolution of safety issues, loss of RHR event during midloop operation was analyzed for Kori Unit 3, issues on high burnup fuel were reviewed and performance of FRAPCON-3 assessed. Also MSLB was analyzed to figure out the sensitivity of downcomer temperature supporting the PTS risk evaluation of Kori Unit 1. Thermal stratification in pipe was analyzed using the method proposed. And a method predicting the thermal-hydraulic performance of IRWST of KNGR was explored. The PWR ECCS performance criteria was issued as a MOST Article 200-19.and a regulatory guide on evaluation methodology was improved to cover concerns raised from the related licensing review process

Technology and Tool Development to Support Safety and Mission Assurance

Science.gov (United States)

Denney, Ewen; Pai, Ganesh

2017-01-01

The Assurance Case approach is being adopted in a number of safety-mission-critical application domains in the U.S., e.g., medical devices, defense aviation, automotive systems, and, lately, civil aviation. This paradigm refocuses traditional, process-based approaches to assurance on demonstrating explicitly stated assurance goals, emphasizing the use of structured rationale, and concrete product-based evidence as the means for providing justified confidence that systems and software are fit for purpose in safely achieving mission objectives. NASA has also been embracing assurance cases through the concepts of Risk Informed Safety Cases (RISCs), as documented in the NASA System Safety Handbook, and Objective Hierarchies (OHs) as put forth by the Agency's Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA). This talk will give an overview of the work being performed by the SGT team located at NASA Ames Research Center, in developing technologies and tools to engineer and apply assurance cases in customer projects pertaining to aviation safety. We elaborate how our Assurance Case Automation Toolset (AdvoCATE) has not only extended the state-of-the-art in assurance case research, but also demonstrated its practical utility. We have successfully developed safety assurance cases for a number of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations, which underwent, and passed, scrutiny both by the aviation regulator, i.e., the FAA, as well as the applicable NASA boards for airworthiness and flight safety, flight readiness, and mission readiness. We discuss our efforts in expanding AdvoCATE capabilities to support RISCs and OHs under a project recently funded by OSMA under its Software Assurance Research Program. Finally, we speculate on the applicability of our innovations beyond aviation safety to such endeavors as robotic, and human spaceflight.

Development and validation of the computer technology literacy self-assessment scale for Taiwanese elementary school students.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Chiung-Sui

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe the development and validation of an instrument to identify various dimensions of the computer technology literacy self-assessment scale (CTLS) for elementary school students. The instrument included five CTLS dimensions (subscales): the technology operation skills, the computer usages concepts, the attitudes toward computer technology, the learning with technology, and the Internet operation skills. Participants were 1,539 elementary school students in Taiwan. Data analysis indicated that the instrument developed in the study had satisfactory validity and reliability. Correlations analysis supported the legitimacy of using multiple dimensions in representing students' computer technology literacy. Significant differences were found between male and female students, and between grades on some CTLS dimensions. Suggestions are made for use of the instrument to examine complicated interplays between students' computer behaviors and their computer technology literacy.

An Examination of Safety Management Systems and Aviation Technologies in the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Buckner, Steven A.

The Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) industry has a significant role in the transportation of injured patients, but has experienced more accidents than all other segments of the aviation industry combined. With the objective of addressing this discrepancy, this study assesses the effect of safety management systems implementation and aviation technologies utilization on the reduction of HEMS accident rates. Participating were 147 pilots from Federal Aviation Regulations Part 135 HEMS operators, who completed a survey questionnaire based on the Safety Culture and Safety Management System Survey (SCSMSS). The study assessed the predictor value of SMS implementation and aviation technologies to the frequency of HEMS accident rates with correlation and multiple linear regression. The correlation analysis identified three significant positive relationships. HEMS years of experience had a high significant positive relationship with accident rate (r=.90; paviation technologies from a systems engineering application. Recommendations for practice included the adoption of existing regulatory guidance for a SMS program. A qualitative analysis was also recommended for future study SMS implementation and HEMS accident rate from the pilot's perspective. A quantitative longitudinal study would further explore inferential relationships between the study variables. Current strategies should include the increased utilization of available aviation technology resources as this proactive stance may be beneficial for the establishment of an effective safety culture within the HEMS industry.

Application of Proteomics in Food Technology and Food Biotechnology: Process Development, Quality Control and Product Safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dajana Gašo-Sokač

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Human food is a very complex biological mixture and food processing and safety are very important and essential disciplines. Proteomics technology using different high-performance separation techniques such as two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, one-dimensional and multidimensional chromatography, combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry has the power to monitor the protein composition of foods and their changes during the production process. The use of proteomics in food technology is presented, especially for characterization and standardization of raw materials, process development, detection of batch-to-batch variations and quality control of the final product. Further attention is paid to the aspects of food safety, especially regarding biological and microbial safety and the use of genetically modified foods.

Review of Risk Reduction Methods using Probabilistic Safety Assessment Insights and Improved Technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Eun-Chan; Choi, Byung-Pil [Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

As seen in the process of the periodic safety review of domestic nuclear power plants, the risk management objectives such as core damage frequency and large early release frequency are not easy to be met without continuous safety improvements and the integratoin of the improved technologies into the PSA evaluation methodologies. Because external event analyses have a protion of uncertainty factors in the current analysis methodologies, the technical efforts in various perspectives.

KAERI software verification and validation guideline for developing safety-critical software in digital I and C system of NPP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jang Yeol; Lee, Jang Soo; Eom, Heung Seop

1997-07-01

This technical report is to present V and V guideline development methodology for safety-critical software in NPP safety system. Therefore it is to present V and V guideline of planning phase for the NPP safety system in addition to critical safety items, for example, independence philosophy, software safety analysis concept, commercial off the shelf (COTS) software evaluation criteria, inter-relationships between other safety assurance organizations, including the concepts of existing industrial standard, IEEE Std-1012, IEEE Std-1059. This technical report includes scope of V and V guideline, guideline framework as part of acceptance criteria, V and V activities and task entrance as part of V and V activity and exit criteria, review and audit, testing and QA records of V and V material and configuration management, software verification and validation plan production etc., and safety-critical software V and V methodology. (author). 11 refs.

KAERI software verification and validation guideline for developing safety-critical software in digital I and C system of NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jang Yeol; Lee, Jang Soo; Eom, Heung Seop.

1997-07-01

This technical report is to present V and V guideline development methodology for safety-critical software in NPP safety system. Therefore it is to present V and V guideline of planning phase for the NPP safety system in addition to critical safety items, for example, independence philosophy, software safety analysis concept, commercial off the shelf (COTS) software evaluation criteria, inter-relationships between other safety assurance organizations, including the concepts of existing industrial standard, IEEE Std-1012, IEEE Std-1059. This technical report includes scope of V and V guideline, guideline framework as part of acceptance criteria, V and V activities and task entrance as part of V and V activity and exit criteria, review and audit, testing and QA records of V and V material and configuration management, software verification and validation plan production etc., and safety-critical software V and V methodology. (author). 11 refs

Analysis of Aviation Safety Reporting System Incident Data Associated with the Technical Challenges of the System-Wide Safety and Assurance Technologies Project

Science.gov (United States)

Withrow, Colleen A.; Reveley, Mary S.

2015-01-01

The Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) System-Wide Safety and Assurance Technologies (SSAT) Project asked the AvSP Systems and Portfolio Analysis Team to identify SSAT-related trends. SSAT had four technical challenges: advance safety assurance to enable deployment of NextGen systems; automated discovery of precursors to aviation safety incidents; increasing safety of human-automation interaction by incorporating human performance, and prognostic algorithm design for safety assurance. This report reviews incident data from the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) for system-component-failure- or-malfunction- (SCFM-) related and human-factor-related incidents for commercial or cargo air carriers (Part 121), commuter airlines (Part 135), and general aviation (Part 91). The data was analyzed by Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) part, phase of flight, SCFM category, human factor category, and a variety of anomalies and results. There were 38 894 SCFM-related incidents and 83 478 human-factorrelated incidents analyzed between January 1993 and April 2011.

Validating Virtual Safety Stock Effectiveness through Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Elena Nenni

2013-08-01

safety stock effectiveness through simulation in an inventory system using a base stock policy with periodic reviews and backorders. This approach can be useful for researchers as well as practitioners who want to model the behaviour of an inventory system under uncertain conditions and verify the opportunity for setting up a virtual safety stock on top of, or instead of, the traditional physical safety stock.

Development of Basic Key Technologies for Gen IV SFR Safety Evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Hae Yong; Kwon, Young Min; Kim, Tae Woon; Park, Soo Yong; Suk, Soo Dong; Lee, Kwi Lim; Lee, Yong Bum; Chang, Won Pyo; Ha, Kwi Seok; Hahn, Sang Hoon

2010-07-01

Safety issues and design requirements on control rod worth were identified through the evaluation of safety design characteristics and the preliminary safety evaluation. This results will be taken into account for the conceptual design studies of the demonstration reactor in the next stage. The Level-1 Pasa has been performed and a quantitative Cdf value was produced for the selected design from the several candidates. The inherent safety characteristics of the selected design were evaluated through the DBE and ATWS analyses. A surrogate material for Tru has been selected which is applicable to the study of liquidus/solidus temperature test for the metallic fuel containing Tru. A methodology for the regression analysis with surrogate material has been developed and valuable data on metal fuel liquidus/solidus temperature have been measured. A simple mechanistic model describing a bending of subassemblies has been formulated based on the foreign test data and existing models. Its applicability has been evaluated for the Phenix design. New criteria of the core damage for the SFR PSA were identified. The list of initiating events, system response event tree, and core response event tree, which constitute a PSA methodology for an SFR, have been introduced. By developing the SFR PIRT, phenomenological model features, which have to be satisfied in a safety code, were defined and the PIRT results were applied to the design of the PDRC test facility. Bases for a safety evaluation methodology for the SFR DBEs have been also prepared. A draft version of the topical report on the code for local fault analysis has been completed. Since 2007, the MARS-LMR code has been developed and assessments for model validation with the test data from EBR-II and Phenix reactor have been continued. The code has been applied to the evaluation of passive safety of a conceptual design of Gen IV SFR

Memorandum on the use of information technology to improve medication safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Ammenwerth, E; Aly, A-F; Bürkle, T; Christ, P; Dormann, H; Friesdorf, W; Haas, C; Haefeli, W E; Jeske, M; Kaltschmidt, J; Menges, K; Möller, H; Neubert, A; Rascher, W; Reichert, H; Schuler, J; Schreier, G; Schulz, S; Seidling, H M; Stühlinger, W; Criegee-Rieck, M

2014-01-01

Information technology in health care has a clear potential to improve the quality and efficiency of health care, especially in the area of medication processes. On the other hand, existing studies show possible adverse effects on patient safety when IT for medication-related processes is developed, introduced or used inappropriately. To summarize definitions and observations on IT usage in pharmacotherapy and to derive recommendations and future research priorities for decision makers and domain experts. This memorandum was developed in a consensus-based iterative process that included workshops and e-mail discussions among 21 experts coordinated by the Drug Information Systems Working Group of the German Society for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS). The recommendations address, among other things, a stepwise and comprehensive strategy for IT usage in medication processes, the integration of contextual information for alert generation, the involvement of patients, the semantic integration of information resources, usability and adaptability of IT solutions, and the need for their continuous evaluation. Information technology can help to improve medication safety. However, challenges remain regarding access to information, quality of information, and measurable benefits.

Development of inspection safety evaluation technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Seok Chul; Yoon, Yeo Chang; Kim, Jong Soo; Lee, Tae Young; Kim, Chang Ryol; Lee, Hyung Sub; Kim, Jong Soo

1995-12-01

The purpose of this project is to protection nation inspector`s over exposure from radiation that can be occurred by inspection activity at nuclear facilities and its environment, and to ensure the safety of inspection activity at the nuclear facilities. To effectively carry out the domestic inspection task to be enforced from 1996, the evaluation for special radiation exposure rate of nuclear facilities, air and surface contamination level, and measurement and monitoring of water contamination level were made to determine whether these measured values exceeded permissible limitations, and to protect the inspector`s over exposure from radiation at domestic nuclear facilities. Management of inspector`s exposure was carried out under assistance of the Department of Health Physics. Performance tests of two gamma detectors, one neutron detector, alpha and beta detector, and gamma spectroscopy analyzer were carried out to control dose on extremity, the characteristic test for extremity dosimeter was carried out and the theoretical calculation of gamma dose conversion factors based on ANSI N13.32 standard was performed. Under the 93+2 program, IAEA began to recognize the necessity of environmental observation technology development of air-borne particulates travelled from long distance location. Associated with the necessity of this technology development, a proposal of international joint research for development of the special radiation measurement and analysis has been prepared. (author). 21 tabs., 24 figs., 20 refs.

Safety-barrier diagrams as a safety management tool

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duijm, Nijs Jan

2009-01-01

Safety-barrier diagrams and “bow-tie” diagrams have become popular methods in risk analysis and safety management. This paper describes the syntax and principles for constructing consistent and valid safety-barrier diagrams. The latter's relation to other methods such as fault trees and Bayesian...

The Sandia MEMS Passive Shock Sensor : FY08 testing for functionality, model validation, and technology readiness.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walraven, Jeremy Allen; Blecke, Jill; Baker, Michael Sean; Clemens, Rebecca C.; Mitchell, John Anthony; Brake, Matthew Robert; Epp, David S.; Wittwer, Jonathan W.

2008-10-01

This report summarizes the functional, model validation, and technology readiness testing of the Sandia MEMS Passive Shock Sensor in FY08. Functional testing of a large number of revision 4 parts showed robust and consistent performance. Model validation testing helped tune the models to match data well and identified several areas for future investigation related to high frequency sensitivity and thermal effects. Finally, technology readiness testing demonstrated the integrated elements of the sensor under realistic environments.

Practices and exploration on competition of molecular biological detection technology among students in food quality and safety major.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yaning; Peng, Yuke; Li, Pengfei; Zhuang, Yingping

2017-07-08

With the increasing importance in the application of the molecular biological detection technology in the field of food safety, strengthening education in molecular biology experimental techniques is more necessary for the culture of the students in food quality and safety major. However, molecular biology experiments are not always in curricula of Food quality and safety Majors. This paper introduced a project "competition of molecular biological detection technology for food safety among undergraduate sophomore students in food quality and safety major", students participating in this project needed to learn the fundamental molecular biology experimental techniques such as the principles of molecular biology experiments and genome extraction, PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis analysis, and then design the experiments in groups to identify the meat species in pork and beef products using molecular biological methods. The students should complete the experimental report after basic experiments, write essays and make a presentation after the end of the designed experiments. This project aims to provide another way for food quality and safety majors to improve their knowledge of molecular biology, especially experimental technology, and enhances them to understand the scientific research activities as well as give them a chance to learn how to write a professional thesis. In addition, in line with the principle of an open laboratory, the project is also open to students in other majors in East China University of Science and Technology, in order to enhance students in other majors to understand the fields of molecular biology and food safety. © 2017 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 45(4):343-350, 2017. © 2017 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Safety in nuclear technology through introduction of internationally binding agreements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

Presents the Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker (VDE) views in favour of continued utilisation of nuclear energy for electrical power generation. Nuclear energy helps to conserve finite natural resources of coal, oil, and gas for future generations, and avoids the considerable amount of environmental pollution produced by coal-burning power stations. Risks arise in every technology, but these must be considered in relation to the utility of the technology. Development of other forms of energy conversion must continue, but use of nuclear energy at the present time cannot be avoided without incurring great adverse economic and environmental pollution consequences. Safety aspects must be the object of committed and continuous research, and must be internationally agreed. (H.V.H.)

Implementing technology to improve medication safety in healthcare facilities: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hidle, Unn

Medication errors remain one of the most common causes of patient injuries in the United States, with detrimental outcomes including adverse reactions and even death. By developing a better understanding of why and how medication errors occur, preventative measures may be implemented including technological advances. In this literature review, potential methods of reducing medication errors were explored. Furthermore, technology tools available for medication orders and administration are described, including advantages and disadvantages of each system. It was found that technology can be an excellent aid in improving safety of medication administration. However, computer technology cannot replace human intellect and intuition. Nurses should be involved when implementing any new computerized system in order to obtain the most appropriate and user-friendly structure.

Ella-V and technology usage technology usage in an english language and literacy acquisition validation randomized controlled trial study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roisin P. Corcoran

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the use of technology to provide virtual professional development (VPD for teachers and to conduct classroom observations in a study of English Language Learner (ELL instruction in grades K–3. The technology applications were part of a cluster randomized control trial (RCT design for a federally funded longitudinal validation study of a particular program, English Language and Literacy Acquisition-Validation, ELLA- V, to determine its degree of impact on English oral language/literacy, reading, and science across 63 randomly assigned urban, suburban, and rural schools (first year of implementation. ELLA-V also examines the impact of bimonthly VPD for treatment teachers compared to comparison group teachers on pedagogical skills, measured by sound observation instruments, and on student achievement, measured by state/national English language/literacy/reading tests and a national science test. This study features extensive technology use via virtual observations, bimonthly VPD, and randomly assigned treatment and control schools with students served in English as second language (ESL instructional time. The study design and methodology are discussed relativeto the specialized uses of technology and issues involving the evaluation of technology’s contribution to the intervention of interest and of the efficient, cost-effective execution of the study.

Evaluating driver reactions to new vehicle technologies intended to increase safety and mobility across the lifespan.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-01

Personal vehicle manufactures are introducing a wide range of new technologies that are : intended to increase the safety, comfort, and mobility of drivers of all ages. Examples range from : semi-autonomous technologies such as adaptive cruise contro...

Study of fieldbus technology confiability when applied in a Sterilization plant control and safety systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karma, D.; Sampa, M.H.O.; Rela, P.R.

2001-01-01

Several sterilization processes have been used in these years for treatment of countless products. Some processes use high temperatures, thermal shocks and chemical agents. With the discovery of the ionizing radiation and its posterior technological developments turned possible the application of that process, in 1960, also in the sterilization, denominated radiation sterilization. This process became also applied in another areas of health and industrial as food conservation, gemstones enhancement and others. The radiation sterilization requests an effective control and it needs a high level of safety. The commercial use of the computers applied in industrial automation provides and the domain of new technologies in this field provides news applications then new designs now is possible. The Fieldbus technology, a new digital communication protocol, like a Local Area Network, can be an alternative in the cobalt-60 irradiation plant. This paper show preliminary study about confiability in systems using Fieldbus technology. This technology was simulated in sterilization plant control and safety systems and the fail probability was quantified using Fail Tree Analysis Method. Fieldbus technology can be used in sterilization plants because the confiability in this systems is like PLCs and relays systems, was the conclusion

Safety Lead Optimization and Candidate Identification: Integrating New Technologies into Decision-Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Dambach, Donna M; Misner, Dinah; Brock, Mathew; Fullerton, Aaron; Proctor, William; Maher, Jonathan; Lee, Dong; Ford, Kevin; Diaz, Dolores

2016-04-18

Discovery toxicology focuses on the identification of the most promising drug candidates through the development and implementation of lead optimization strategies and hypothesis-driven investigation of issues that enable rational and informed decision-making. The major goals are to [a] identify and progress the drug candidate with the best overall drug safety profile for a therapeutic area, [b] remove the most toxic drugs from the portfolio prior to entry into humans to reduce clinical attrition due to toxicity, and [c] establish a well-characterized hazard and translational risk profile to enable clinical trial designs. This is accomplished through a framework that balances the multiple considerations to identify a drug candidate with the overall best drug characteristics and provides a cogent understanding of mechanisms of toxicity. The framework components include establishing a target candidate profile for each program that defines the qualities of a successful candidate based on the intended therapeutic area, including the risk tolerance for liabilities; evaluating potential liabilities that may result from engaging the therapeutic target (pharmacology-mediated or on-target) and that are chemical structure-mediated (off-target); and characterizing identified liabilities. Lead optimization and investigation relies upon the integrated use of a variety of technologies and models (in silico, in vitro, and in vivo) that have achieved a sufficient level of qualification or validation to provide confidence in their use. We describe the strategic applications of various nonclinical models (established and new) for a holistic and integrated risk assessment that is used for rational decision-making. While this review focuses on strategies for small molecules, the overall concepts, approaches, and technologies are generally applicable to biotherapeutics.

Reports on research programs in the field of reactor safety sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-11-01

Investigations on the safety of Light Water Reactors (LWR) being performed in the framework of the research program on reactor safety (RS-projects) are sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (BMFT). Objective of this program is to investigate in greater detail the safety margins of nuclear power plants and their systems and the further development of safety technology. Besides the investigations of LWR tasks also projects on the safety of advanced reactors are sponsored by the BMFT. The individual reports are classified according to the research program on the safety of LWRs 1977-1980 of the BMFT. Another table of contents uses the same classification system as applied in the nuclear safety index of the CEC (Commission of the European Communities) and the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). The reports are arranged in the sequence of their project numbers. (orig./HP) [de

Reports of research programs in the field of reactor safety sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-06-01

Investigations on the safety of Light Water Reactors (LWR) being performed in the framework of his research program on reactor safety (RS-projects) are sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (BMFT). Objective of this program is to investigate in greater detail the safety margins of nuclear power plants and their systems and the further development of safety technology. Besides the investigations of LWR tasks also projects on the safety of advanced reactors are sponsored by the BMFT. The individual reports are classified according to the research program on the safety of LWRs 1977-1980 of the BMFT. Another table of contents uses the same classification system as applied in the nuclear safety index of the CEC (Commission of the European Communities) and the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). The reports are arranged in the sequence of their project numbers. (orig./HP) [de

Advanced testing and validation centre gets electric vehicle technology to market faster

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Astil, T.; Girard, F. [National Research Council of Canada, Vancouver, BC (Canada). Inst. for Fuel Cell Innovation

2010-07-01

The National Research Council (NRC) Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation is advancing Canada's clean energy advantage through NRC's technology cluster initiatives, which help Canadian small and medium enterprises achieve commercialization breakthroughs in key sectors. This presentation discussed the technology evaluation program (TEP) offered by the NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation. The presentation discussed the TEPs mission, advanced testing and validation centre (ATVC), previous ATVC clients, environmental chamber, dynamometer, vibration table, electrochemical battery testing, and electrochemical testing laboratory. The ATVC is a specialized and safe environment for objective, reliable and accurate standardized testing applications of electric vehicle technologies. It offers independent test services to external organizations, making it easier to prove that electric vehicle technologies will perform under specific operating conditions. figs.

Vehicle modeling and duty cycle analysis to validate technology feasibility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castonguay, S. [National Centre for Advanced Transportation, Saint-Jerome, PQ (Canada)

2010-07-01

The National Centre for Advanced Transportation (CNTA) is a non-profit organization with a board consisting of representatives from the transportation industry, public service and public transit organizations, research and teaching institutions, and from municipal and economic development organizations. The objectives of the CNTA are to accelerate the introduction of electric and hybrid vehicles; act as a catalyst in projects; assist in increasing Canadian technology assets; initiate and support electric vehicle conversion projects; increase Canadian business for electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and plug-in electric vehicles; and provide a cost-effective solution and aggressive payback for road/off-road vehicles. This presentation provided an overview of the objectives and services of the CNTA. It discussed various road and off-road vehicles, duty cycle and technology of electric vehicles. Specific topics related to the technology were discussed, including configuration; controls and interface; efficiency maps; models and simulation; validation; and support. figs.

Validation of a preclinical spinal safety model: effects of intrathecal morphine in the neonatal rat.

Science.gov (United States)

Westin, B David; Walker, Suellen M; Deumens, Ronald; Grafe, Marjorie; Yaksh, Tony L

2010-07-01

Preclinical studies demonstrate increased neuroapoptosis after general anesthesia in early life. Neuraxial techniques may minimize potential risks, but there has been no systematic evaluation of spinal analgesic safety in developmental models. We aimed to validate a preclinical model for evaluating dose-dependent efficacy, spinal cord toxicity, and long-term function after intrathecal morphine in the neonatal rat. Lumbar intrathecal injections were performed in anesthetized rats aged postnatal day (P) 3, 10, and 21. The relationship between injectate volume and segmental spread was assessed postmortem and by in vivo imaging. To determine the antinociceptive dose, mechanical withdrawal thresholds were measured at baseline and 30 min after intrathecal morphine. To evaluate toxicity, doses up to the maximum tolerated were administered, and spinal cord histopathology, apoptosis, and glial response were evaluated 1 and 7 days after P3 or P21 injection. Sensory thresholds and gait analysis were evaluated at P35. Intrathecal injection can be reliably performed at all postnatal ages and injectate volume influences segmental spread. Intrathecal morphine produced spinally mediated analgesia at all ages with lower dose requirements in younger pups. High-dose intrathecal morphine did not produce signs of spinal cord toxicity or alter long-term function. The therapeutic ratio for intrathecal morphine (toxic dose/antinociceptive dose) was at least 300 at P3 and at least 20 at P21 (latter doses limited by side effects). These data provide relative efficacy and safety for comparison with other analgesic preparations and contribute supporting evidence for the validity of this preclinical neonatal safety model.

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.

Cloud/Fog Computing System Architecture and Key Technologies for South-North Water Transfer Project Safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaoling Fan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In view of the real-time and distributed features of Internet of Things (IoT safety system in water conservancy engineering, this study proposed a new safety system architecture for water conservancy engineering based on cloud/fog computing and put forward a method of data reliability detection for the false alarm caused by false abnormal data from the bottom sensors. Designed for the South-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP, the architecture integrated project safety, water quality safety, and human safety. Using IoT devices, fog computing layer was constructed between cloud server and safety detection devices in water conservancy projects. Technologies such as real-time sensing, intelligent processing, and information interconnection were developed. Therefore, accurate forecasting, accurate positioning, and efficient management were implemented as required by safety prevention of the SNWTP, and safety protection of water conservancy projects was effectively improved, and intelligential water conservancy engineering was developed.

Safety assessment technology on the free drop impact and puncture analysis of the cask for radioactive material transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Dew Hey; Lee, Young Shin; Ryu, Chung Hyun; Kim, Hyun Su; Lee, Ho Chul; Hong, Song Jin; Choi, Young Jin; Lee, Jae Hyung; Na, Jae Yun

2001-03-01

In this study, the regulatory condition and analysis condition is analyzed for the free drop and puncture impact analysis to develop the safety assessment technology. Impact analysis is performed with finite element method which is one of the many analysis methods of the shipping cask. LS-DYNA3D and ABAQUS is suitable for the free drop and the puncture impact analysis of the shipping cask. For the analysis model, the KSC-4 that is the shipping cask to transport spent nuclear fuel is investigated. The results of both LS-DYNA3D and ABAQUS is completely corresponded. And The integrity of the shipping cask is verified. Using this study, the reliable safety assessment technology is supplied to the staff. The efficient and reliable regulatory tasks is performed using the standard safety assessment technology

Safety assessment technology on the free drop impact and puncture analysis of the cask for radioactive material transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Dew Hey [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Young Shin; Ryu, Chung Hyun; Kim, Hyun Su; Lee, Ho Chul; Hong, Song Jin; Choi, Young Jin; Lee, Jae Hyung; Na, Jae Yun [Chungnam National Univ., Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

2001-03-15

In this study, the regulatory condition and analysis condition is analyzed for the free drop and puncture impact analysis to develop the safety assessment technology. Impact analysis is performed with finite element method which is one of the many analysis methods of the shipping cask. LS-DYNA3D and ABAQUS is suitable for the free drop and the puncture impact analysis of the shipping cask. For the analysis model, the KSC-4 that is the shipping cask to transport spent nuclear fuel is investigated. The results of both LS-DYNA3D and ABAQUS is completely corresponded. And The integrity of the shipping cask is verified. Using this study, the reliable safety assessment technology is supplied to the staff. The efficient and reliable regulatory tasks is performed using the standard safety assessment technology.

An Overview of the NASA Aviation Safety Program Propulsion Health Monitoring Element

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Donald L.

2000-01-01

The NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) has been initiated with aggressive goals to reduce the civil aviation accident rate, To meet these goals, several technology investment areas have been identified including a sub-element in propulsion health monitoring (PHM). Specific AvSP PHM objectives are to develop and validate propulsion system health monitoring technologies designed to prevent engine malfunctions from occurring in flight, and to mitigate detrimental effects in the event an in-flight malfunction does occur. A review of available propulsion system safety information was conducted to help prioritize PHM areas to focus on under the AvSP. It is noted that when a propulsion malfunction is involved in an aviation accident or incident, it is often a contributing factor rather than the sole cause for the event. Challenging aspects of the development and implementation of PHM technology such as cost, weight, robustness, and reliability are discussed. Specific technology plans are overviewed including vibration diagnostics, model-based controls and diagnostics, advanced instrumentation, and general aviation propulsion system health monitoring technology. Propulsion system health monitoring, in addition to engine design, inspection, maintenance, and pilot training and awareness, is intrinsic to enhancing aviation propulsion system safety.

Development of Necessary Technology for localizing of Nuclear Safety Grade I and C System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Kee Choon; Jang, Tong Il; Kim, Jung Tack

2010-08-01

Through KNICS and Nu-Tech 2012, a MMIS(Man-Machine Interface System) package for nuclear plants was localized and is expected to be applied to SUN 1,2 plants. This study is aimed to support the application of the MMIS package including the following technologies that meet strengthened regulation requirements and enhanced utility's performance requirements to nuclear plants. - Dedication to safety-grade computers and real time operating systems - The broadband communication network for safety information - Application of the automatic test for safety systems - Application of programmable logic controllers to nuclear plants - Development strategy for an integrated SW development tool for control device

Anticipated development of radiation safety corresponding to utilization of nuclear technology in Vietnam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tran, Toan Ngoc; Le, Thiem Ngoc

2010-01-01

In the past, due to the limited application of radiation and radioisotope in the national economic branches, radiation safety was not paid much attention to in Vietnam. However, according to the Strategy for Peaceful Utilization of Atomic Energy up to 2020 approved by the Prime Minister on January 3, 2006 the application of radiation and radioisotopes as well as nuclear power in Vietnam is expected increasing strongly and widely, then radiation safety should be developed correspondingly. This paper presents the history of radiation protection, the current status and prospect of utilization of atomic energy and the anticipated development of the national radiation safety system to meet the demand of utilization of nuclear technology in Vietnam. (author)

Multi-Evaporator Miniature Loop Heat Pipe for Small Spacecraft Thermal Control. Part 1; New Technologies and Validation Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ku, Jentung; Ottenstein, Laura; Douglas, Donya; Hoang, Triem

2010-01-01

Under NASA s New Millennium Program Space Technology 8 (ST 8) Project, four experiments Thermal Loop, Dependable Microprocessor, SAILMAST, and UltraFlex - were conducted to advance the maturity of individual technologies from proof of concept to prototype demonstration in a relevant environment , i.e. from a technology readiness level (TRL) of 3 to a level of 6. This paper presents the new technologies and validation approach of the Thermal Loop experiment. The Thermal Loop is an advanced thermal control system consisting of a miniature loop heat pipe (MLHP) with multiple evaporators and multiple condensers designed for future small system applications requiring low mass, low power, and compactness. The MLHP retains all features of state-of-the-art loop heat pipes (LHPs) and offers additional advantages to enhance the functionality, performance, versatility, and reliability of the system. Details of the thermal loop concept, technical advances, benefits, objectives, level 1 requirements, and performance characteristics are described. Also included in the paper are descriptions of the test articles and mathematical modeling used for the technology validation. An MLHP breadboard was built and tested in the laboratory and thermal vacuum environments for TRL 4 and TRL 5 validations, and an MLHP proto-flight unit was built and tested in a thermal vacuum chamber for the TRL 6 validation. In addition, an analytical model was developed to simulate the steady state and transient behaviors of the MLHP during various validation tests. Capabilities and limitations of the analytical model are also addressed.

A Vision of Quantitative Imaging Technology for Validation of Advanced Flight Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Horvath, Thomas J.; Kerns, Robert V.; Jones, Kenneth M.; Grinstead, Jay H.; Schwartz, Richard J.; Gibson, David M.; Taylor, Jeff C.; Tack, Steve; Dantowitz, Ronald F.

2011-01-01

Flight-testing is traditionally an expensive but critical element in the development and ultimate validation and certification of technologies destined for future operational capabilities. Measurements obtained in relevant flight environments also provide unique opportunities to observe flow phenomenon that are often beyond the capabilities of ground testing facilities and computational tools to simulate or duplicate. However, the challenges of minimizing vehicle weight and internal complexity as well as instrumentation bandwidth limitations often restrict the ability to make high-density, in-situ measurements with discrete sensors. Remote imaging offers a potential opportunity to noninvasively obtain such flight data in a complementary fashion. The NASA Hypersonic Thermodynamic Infrared Measurements Project has demonstrated such a capability to obtain calibrated thermal imagery on a hypersonic vehicle in flight. Through the application of existing and accessible technologies, the acreage surface temperature of the Shuttle lower surface was measured during reentry. Future hypersonic cruise vehicles, launcher configurations and reentry vehicles will, however, challenge current remote imaging capability. As NASA embarks on the design and deployment of a new Space Launch System architecture for access beyond earth orbit (and the commercial sector focused on low earth orbit), an opportunity exists to implement an imagery system and its supporting infrastructure that provides sufficient flexibility to incorporate changing technology to address the future needs of the flight test community. A long term vision is offered that supports the application of advanced multi-waveband sensing technology to aid in the development of future aerospace systems and critical technologies to enable highly responsive vehicle operations across the aerospace continuum, spanning launch, reusable space access and global reach. Motivations for development of an Agency level imagery

Utility of routine postoperative visit after appendectomy and cholecystectomy with evaluation of mobile technology access in an urban safety net population.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Diane W; Davis, Rachel W; Balentine, Courtney J; Scott, Aaron R; Gao, Yue; Tapia, Nicole M; Berger, David H; Suliburk, James W

2014-08-01

The value of routine postoperative visits after general surgery remains unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of routine postoperative visits after appendectomy and cholecystectomy and to determine access to mobile technology as an alternative platform for follow-up. Retrospective review of 219 appendectomies and 200 cholecystectomies performed at a safety net hospital. One patient underwent both surgeries. Patient demographics, duration of clinic visit, and need for additional imaging, tests or readmissions were recorded. Access to mobile technology was surveyed by a validated questionnaire. Of 418 patients, 84% percent completed a postoperative visit. At follow-up, 58 patients (14%) required 70 interventions, including staple removal (16, 23%), suture removal (4, 6%), drain removal (8, 11%), additional follow-up (20, 28%), medication action (16, 21%), additional imaging (3, 4%), and readmission (1, 1%). Occupational paperwork (62) and nonsurgical clinic referrals (28) were also performed. Average check-in to check-out time was 100 ± 54 min per patient. One intervention was performed for every 7.8 h of time in the clinic. Additionally, 88% of the surveyed population reported access to cell phone technology, and 69% of patients mobile technology, which is pervasive in our population. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

International validation of safety analyses for nuclear power plants; Mednarodno preverjanje varnostnih analiz za jedrske elektrane

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gregoric, N; Mavko, B [Institut ' Jozef Stefan' Ljubljana (Yugoslavia)

1988-07-01

Paper describes the participation of 'J.Stefan' Institute in international standard problems for validation of modeling and programs for safety analysis. Listed are main international experimental facilities for collecting data basic for understanding of physical phenomena, code development and validation of modelling and programs. Since the results of international standard problem analyses are published in a joint final report, it is simple to asses the conformance of the results of a particular group with the experiment. Good results from three international exercises done so far, have encouraged the group to currently participate in OECD-ISP-22 which is a model of the Italian three loop PWR. (author)

Research on review technology for three key safety factors of periodic safety review (PSR) and its application to Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Shoulv; Yao Weida; Dou Yikang; Lin Shaoxuan; Cao Yenan; Zhou Quanfu; Zheng Jiong; Zhang Ming

2009-04-01

In 2001, after 10 years' operation, Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant (Q1) started to carry out periodic safety review (PSR) based on a nuclear safety guideline, Periodic Safety Review for Operational Nuclear Power Plants (HAF0312), issued by National Nuclear Safety Administration of China (NNSA). Entrusted by the owner of Q1, Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI) implemented reviews of three key safety factors including safety analysis, equipment qualification and ageing. PSR was a challenging work in China at that time and through three years' research and practice, SNERDI summarized a systematic achievement for the review including review methodology, scoping, review contents and implementation steps, etc.. During the process of review for the three safety factors, totally 148 review reports and 341 recommendations for corrections were submitted to Q1. These reports and recommendations have provided guidance for correction actions as follow-up of PSR. This paper focuses on technical aspects to carry out PSR for the above-mentioned three safety factors, including review scoping, contents, methodology and main steps. The review technology and relevant experience can be taken for reference for other NPPs to carry out PSR. (authors)

How Safe is Vehicle Safety? The Contribution of Vehicle Technologies to the Reduction in Road Casualties in France from 2000 to 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Page, Yves; Hermitte, Thierry; Cuny, Sophie

2011-01-01

In France, over the last 10 years, road fatalities have decreased dramatically by 48%. This reduction is somewhat close to the target fixed by the European Commision in 2001 for the whole of Europe (−50 %). According to the French govnerment, 75% of this reduction was due to the implementation of automatic speed cameras on the roadsides from 2003 onwards. Yet, during this period, there was also a significantly increase in safety technology, new regulations in front and side impacts, and developments in Euro NCAP to improve passive safety in the vehicles. This paper set out to estimate the extent that vehicle safety technologies contributed to the road safety benefits over this decade. Using a combination of databases and fitment rates, the number of fatalities and hospitalized injuries saved in passenger car crashes was estimated for a number of safety technologies, individually and as a package including a 5 star EuroNCAP rating. The additional benefits from other public safety measures were also similarly estimated. The results showed that overall safety measures during this decade saved 240,676 fatalities + serious injuries, of which 173,663 were car occupants. Of these, 27,365 car occupants and 1,083 pedestrian savings could be attributed directly to vehicle safety improvements (11% overall). It was concluded that while public safety measures were responsible for the majority of the savings, enhanced vehicle safety technologies also made a significant improvement in the road toll in France during the last decade. As the take-up rate for these technologies improves, is expected to continue to provide even more benefits in the next 10-year period. PMID:22105388

How Safe is Vehicle Safety? The Contribution of Vehicle Technologies to the Reduction in Road Casualties in France from 2000 to 2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Page, Yves; Hermitte, Thierry; Cuny, Sophie

2011-01-01

In France, over the last 10 years, road fatalities have decreased dramatically by 48%. This reduction is somewhat close to the target fixed by the European Commision in 2001 for the whole of Europe (-50 %). According to the French govnerment, 75% of this reduction was due to the implementation of automatic speed cameras on the roadsides from 2003 onwards. Yet, during this period, there was also a significantly increase in safety technology, new regulations in front and side impacts, and developments in Euro NCAP to improve passive safety in the vehicles. This paper set out to estimate the extent that vehicle safety technologies contributed to the road safety benefits over this decade. Using a combination of databases and fitment rates, the number of fatalities and hospitalized injuries saved in passenger car crashes was estimated for a number of safety technologies, individually and as a package including a 5 star EuroNCAP rating. The additional benefits from other public safety measures were also similarly estimated. The results showed that overall safety measures during this decade saved 240,676 fatalities + serious injuries, of which 173,663 were car occupants. Of these, 27,365 car occupants and 1,083 pedestrian savings could be attributed directly to vehicle safety improvements (11% overall). It was concluded that while public safety measures were responsible for the majority of the savings, enhanced vehicle safety technologies also made a significant improvement in the road toll in France during the last decade. As the take-up rate for these technologies improves, is expected to continue to provide even more benefits in the next 10-year period.

Safety philosophy and safety technology of the Soviet RBMK reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuend, H.; Jarvis, A.S.; Haennis, H.P.; Tikal, J.

1986-01-01

Safety requirements and control in USSR are outlined. Safety criteria and practical application in the case of the RBMK type reactor Chernobyl-4 are discussed. An overview of the Chernobyl-4 reactor accident including its causes is given. Measures to improve the safety of RBMK reactors are described

Monograph on safety in high power and high energy advanced technologies and medical applications of lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

This monograph is intended for creating awareness amongst the safety and health professionals of nuclear and radiation facilities on hazards involved in high power and high energy advanced technologies as well as on how development of advanced technologies can benefit the common people

Assistive technology for visually impaired women for use of the female condom: a validation study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luana Duarte Wanderley Cavalcante

2015-02-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE To validate assistive technology for visually impaired women to learn how to use the female condom. METHOD a methodological development study conducted on a web page, with data collection between May and October 2012. Participants were 14 judges; seven judges in sexual and reproductive health (1st stage and seven in special education (2nd stage. RESULTS All items have reached the adopted parameter of 70% agreement. In Stage 1 new materials were added to represent the cervix, and instructions that must be heard twice were included in the 2nd stage. CONCLUSION The technology has been validated and is appropriate for its objectives, structure / presentation and relevance. It is an innovative, low cost and valid instrument for promoting health and one which may help women with visual disabilities to use the female condom.

Effect of Kiken-Yochi training (KYT) induction on patient safety at the department of radiological technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yasuda, Mitsuyoshi; Uchiyama, Yushi; Sakiyama, Koshi; Shibata, Masako; Sasaki, Haruaki; Kato, Kyoichi; Nakazawa, Yasuo; Sanbe, Takeyuki; Yoshikawa, Kohki

2013-01-01

In this report, we evaluated whether radiological technologists' (RTs') awareness of patient safety would improve and what kind of effects would be seen at the department of radiological technology by introducing KYT [K: kiken (hazard), Y: yochi (prediction), T: (training)]. KYT was carried out by ten RTs based on a KYT sheet for the department of radiological technology. To evaluate the effects of KYT, we asked nine questions each to ten participants before and after KYT enforcement with regard to their attitude to patient safety and to operating procedures for working safely. Significant improvements after KYT enforcement were obtained in two items concerning medical safety: It is important for any risk to be considered by more than one person; The interest in preventive measures against medical accident degree conducted now) and one concerning operating procedures (It is necessary to have a nurse assist during testing with the mobile X-ray apparatus) (p<0.05). Performing KYT resulted in improved awareness of the importance of patient safety. KYT also enabled medical staffers to evaluate objectively whether the medical safety measures currently performed would be effective for patients. (author)

Safety of High Speed Ground Transportation Systems : Analytical Methodology for Safety Validation of Computer Controlled Subsystems : Volume 2. Development of a Safety Validation Methodology

Science.gov (United States)

1995-01-01

This report describes the development of a methodology designed to assure that a sufficiently high level of safety is achieved and maintained in computer-based systems which perform safety cortical functions in high-speed rail or magnetic levitation ...

Validating a measure to assess factors that affect assistive technology use by students with disabilities in elementary and secondary education.

Science.gov (United States)

Zapf, Susan A; Scherer, Marcia J; Baxter, Mary F; H Rintala, Diana

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to measure the predictive validity, internal consistency and clinical utility of the Matching Assistive Technology to Child & Augmentative Communication Evaluation Simplified (MATCH-ACES) assessment. Twenty-three assistive technology team evaluators assessed 35 children using the MATCH-ACES assessment. This quasi-experimental study examined the internal consistency, predictive validity and clinical utility of the MATCH-ACES assessment. The MATCH-ACES assessment predisposition scales had good internal consistency across all three scales. A significant relationship was found between (a) high student perseverance and need for assistive technology and (b) high teacher comfort and interest in technology use (p = (0).002). Study results indicate that the MATCH-ACES assessment has good internal consistency and validity. Predisposition characteristics of student and teacher combined can influence the level of assistive technology use; therefore, assistive technology teams should assess predisposition factors of the user when recommending assistive technology. Implications for Rehabilitation Educational and medical professionals should be educated on evidence-based assistive technology assessments. Personal experience and psychosocial factors can influence the outcome use of assistive technology. Assistive technology assessments must include an intervention plan for assistive technology service delivery to measure effective outcome use.

Generation of integral experiment covariance data and their impact on criticality safety validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stuke, Maik; Peters, Elisabeth; Sommer, Fabian

2016-11-15

The quantification of statistical dependencies in data of critical experiments and how to account for them properly in validation procedures has been discussed in the literature by various groups. However, these subjects are still an active topic in the Expert Group on Uncertainty Analysis for Criticality Safety Assessment (UACSA) of the OECDNEA Nuclear Science Committee. The latter compiles and publishes the freely available experimental data collection, the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments, ICSBEP. Most of the experiments were performed as series and share parts of experimental setups, consequently leading to correlation effects in the results. The correct consideration of correlated data seems to be inevitable if the experimental data in a validation procedure is limited or one cannot rely on a sufficient number of uncorrelated data sets, e.g. from different laboratories using different setups. The general determination of correlations and the underlying covariance data as well as the consideration of them in a validation procedure is the focus of the following work. We discuss and demonstrate possible effects on calculated k{sub eff}'s, their uncertainties, and the corresponding covariance matrices due to interpretation of evaluated experimental data and its translation into calculation models. The work shows effects of various modeling approaches, varying distribution functions of parameters and compares and discusses results from the applied Monte-Carlo sampling method with available data on correlations. Our findings indicate that for the reliable determination of integral experimental covariance matrices or the correlation coefficients a detailed study of the underlying experimental data, the modeling approach and assumptions made, and the resulting sensitivity analysis seems to be inevitable. Further, a Bayesian method is discussed to include integral experimental covariance data when estimating an

Generation of integral experiment covariance data and their impact on criticality safety validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stuke, Maik; Peters, Elisabeth; Sommer, Fabian

2016-11-01

The quantification of statistical dependencies in data of critical experiments and how to account for them properly in validation procedures has been discussed in the literature by various groups. However, these subjects are still an active topic in the Expert Group on Uncertainty Analysis for Criticality Safety Assessment (UACSA) of the OECDNEA Nuclear Science Committee. The latter compiles and publishes the freely available experimental data collection, the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments, ICSBEP. Most of the experiments were performed as series and share parts of experimental setups, consequently leading to correlation effects in the results. The correct consideration of correlated data seems to be inevitable if the experimental data in a validation procedure is limited or one cannot rely on a sufficient number of uncorrelated data sets, e.g. from different laboratories using different setups. The general determination of correlations and the underlying covariance data as well as the consideration of them in a validation procedure is the focus of the following work. We discuss and demonstrate possible effects on calculated k eff 's, their uncertainties, and the corresponding covariance matrices due to interpretation of evaluated experimental data and its translation into calculation models. The work shows effects of various modeling approaches, varying distribution functions of parameters and compares and discusses results from the applied Monte-Carlo sampling method with available data on correlations. Our findings indicate that for the reliable determination of integral experimental covariance matrices or the correlation coefficients a detailed study of the underlying experimental data, the modeling approach and assumptions made, and the resulting sensitivity analysis seems to be inevitable. Further, a Bayesian method is discussed to include integral experimental covariance data when estimating an application

Safety Performance Indicator for alcohol in road accidents--international comparison, validity and data quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Assum, Terje; Sørensen, Michael

2010-03-01

Safety Performance Indicators, SPIs, are developed for various areas within road safety such as speed, car occupant protection, alcohol and drugs, vehicle safety, etc. SPIs can be used to indicate the road safety situation and to compare road safety performance between countries and over time and to understand the process leading to accidents, helping to select the measures to reduce them. This article describes an alcohol SPI defined as the percentage of fatalities resulting from accidents involving at least one driver impaired by alcohol. The calculation of the alcohol SPI for 26 European countries shows that the SPI varies from 4.4% in Bulgaria to 72.2% in Italy. These results raise the question if the results reflect the real situation or if there is a methodological explanation. To answer this question three different studies were carried out: comparison with other alcohol SPIs, in-depth studies of data quality in seven selected countries, and a study of correlations between the SPI and influencing factors. These studies indicate clearly that there is a need to improve quality of the data used for the alcohol SPI. Most importantly, the total number of drivers involved in fatal accidents, the number tested for alcohol and the number not tested, should be reported, in addition to the number of alcohol positive and negative drivers among those tested. Until these improvements are made, the validity of this SPI seems poor and comparison of the alcohol SPI results across countries should be made with caution. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of Advanced Technology to Improve Plant Performance. Safety and Performance in Current NPPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashemian, H.M.

2011-01-01

Advances in computer technologies, signal processing, analytical modeling, and the advent of wireless sensors have provided the nuclear industry with ample means to automate and optimize maintenance activities and improve safety, efficiency, and availability, while reducing costs and radiation exposure to maintenance personnel. This paper provides a review of these developments and presents examples of their use in the nuclear power industry and the financial and safety benefits that they have produced. As the current generation of nuclear power plants have passed their mid-life, increased monitoring of their health is critical to their safe operation. This is especially true now that license renewal of nuclear power plants has accelerated, allowing some plants to operate up to 60 years or more. Furthermore, many utilities are maximizing their power output through uprating projects and retrofits. This puts additional demand and more stress on the plant equipment such as the instrumentation and control (I and C) systems and the reactor internal components making them more vulnerable to the effects of aging, degradation, and failure. In the meantime, the nuclear power industry is working to reduce generation costs by adopting condition-based maintenance strategies and automation of testing activities. These developments have stimulated great interest in on-line monitoring (OLM) technologies and new diagnostic and prognostic methods to anticipate, identify, and resolve equipment and process problems and ensure plant safety, efficiency, and immunity to accidents. The foundation for much of the required technologies has already been established through 40 years of research and development (R and D) efforts performed by numerous organizations, scientists, and engineers around the world including the author. This paper provides examples of these technologies and demonstrates how the gap between some of the more important R and D efforts and end users have been filled

Development and validation of mass spectrometry-based methods for food quality and food safety assessment

OpenAIRE

Bignardi, Chiara

2014-01-01

In this PhD thesis, analytical chemistry plays a significant role in the assessment of food quality and safety; in particular, three different topics have been addressed to and they are presented into three chapters in which different analytical methodologies have been developed, validated and applied successfully in different topics of food chemistry research. The first chapter is focused on an innovative analytical technique, capillary zone electrophoresis coupled to tandem mass spectrom...

Development of demonstration facility design technology for advanced nuclear fuel cycle process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Il Je; You, G. S.; Choung, W. M.; Lee, E. P.; Hong, D. H.; Lee, W. K.; Ku, J. H.; Moon, S. I.; Kwon, K. C.; Lee, K. I. and other

2012-04-01

PRIDE Facility, pyroprocess mock-up facility, is the first facility that is operated in inert atmosphere in the country. By using the facility, the functional requirements and validity of pyroprocess technology and facility related to the advanced fuel cycle can be verified with a low cost. Then, PRIDE will contribute to evaluate the technology viability, proliferation resistance and possibility of commercialization of the pyroprocess technology. It is essential to develop design technologies for the advanced nuclear fuel cycle demonstration facilities and complete the detailed design of PRIDE facility with capabilities of the stringent inert atmosphere control, fully remote operation which are necessary to develop the high-temperature molten salts technology. For these, it is necessary to design the essential equipment of large scale inert cell structure and the control system to maintain the inert atmosphere, and evaluate the safety. To construct the hot cell system which is appropriate for pyroprocess, some design technologies should be developed, which include safety evaluation for effective operation and maintenance, radiation safety analysis for hot cell, structural analysis, environmental evaluation, HVAC systems and electric equipment

Cookstove options for safety and health: Comparative analysis of technological and usability attributes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimemia, David; Van Niekerk, Ashley

2017-01-01

Energy use in low-income households in South Africa is considerably more hazardous than in middle to high-income households. Poverty is a key underlying factor. However, poor quality domestic energy technologies, including stoves, heaters and light sources contribute to this vulnerability. The problem is compounded by behavioural and environmental factors. Since cooking is a key energy-using chore, access to efficient, safe and versatile stoves portend safety improvements. This paper reports on a comparative analysis of eleven technological and usability attributes (CO emissions, firepower, efficiency, fuel toxicity, fuel cost, stove price, controllability, durability, availability, temperature of touchable-parts, and mechanical stability) of commercially available stoves that utilise four energy sources (kerosene, methanol, ethanol gel, and LPG). The ensuing discussion serves as a guide to enable the selection of the best-fit stove-fuel combination for low-income households. The findings indicate that LPG stoves have comparatively better overall rankings for cleanliness, firepower, safety, and durability. This analysis highlights that no combustion technology is risk-proof and there remains a burden on users to exercise diligence. We recommend that South Africa adopts an affirmative policy and strategic actions that discourage the use of kerosene as a household combustion fuel, and promotes the adoption of LPG as a safer and practical alternative. - Highlights: • Inefficient fuel combustion stoves raise risk profile in energy-poor households. • This study uses quantitative methods to compare the attributes of four stove types. • LPG stoves have comparatively better ranking for emissions, safety, and durability. • Transformative policies and strategies are required to promote safe, clean stoves.

47{sup th} Annual meeting on nuclear technology (AMNT 2016). Key topic / Enhanced safety and operation excellence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Traichel, Anke [NUKEM Technologies Engineering Services GmbH, Alzenau (Germany). Dept. of Safety Engineering and Assessment / Proposals Engineering

2017-04-15

Summary report on the Key Topic ''Enhanced Safety and Operation Excellence'' Technical Session ''Safety, IT, Hazards and PSA'' of the 47th Annual Meeting on Nuclear Technology (AMNT 2016) held in Hamburg, 10 to 12 May 2016.

[Care with the child's health and validation of an educational technology for riverside families].

Science.gov (United States)

Teixeira, Elizabeth; de Almeida Siqueira, Aldo; da Silva, Joselice Pereira; Lavor, Lília Cunha

2011-01-01

This study aimed to assess the knowledge and ways of caring for the child health 0-5 years between riverine (Phase 1), and to validate an educational technology (Phase 2). It was carried out a descriptive qualitative study. With the mothers, focus groups and content analysis were used, and with judges-specialists and target-public-applied, forms. The study revealed that the concern with the care of a child between the riverine families permeates the adversity daily, with dedication and commitment of these families in maintaining the health of their children. The sensitivity listening of mothers indicated the need for a closer relationship between nursing professionals and family. The validation of the educational technology was convergent, within the parameters considered adequate.

Technology development, evaluation, and application (TDEA) FY 1997 progress report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoffman, L.G.

1998-05-01

The public expects that the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will operate in a manner that prevents negative impacts to the environment and protects the safety and health of its employees and the public. To achieve this goal within budget, the Department of Energy (DOE) and LANL must develop new and improved environment, safety, and health (ES and H) technologies and implement innovative, more cost-effective ES and H approaches to operations. In FY95, the Environment, Safety, and Health (ESH) Division initiated a Technology Development, Evaluation, and Application (TDEA) program. The purpose of this unique program is to test and develop technologies that solve LANL ES and H problems and improve the safety of LANL operations. This progress report presents the results of 10 projects funded in FY97 by the TDEA Committee of the Environment, Safety, and Health Division. Products generated from the projects funded in FY97 included implementation of radiation worker dosimetric monitoring systems (two); evaluation and validation of cost-effective animal-tracking systems for environmental studies (two); evaluation of personal protective equipment (two); and development of a method for optimal placement of continuous air monitors in the workplace.

Technology development, evaluation, and application (TDEA) FY 1997 progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffman, L.G.

1998-05-01

The public expects that the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will operate in a manner that prevents negative impacts to the environment and protects the safety and health of its employees and the public. To achieve this goal within budget, the Department of Energy (DOE) and LANL must develop new and improved environment, safety, and health (ES and H) technologies and implement innovative, more cost-effective ES and H approaches to operations. In FY95, the Environment, Safety, and Health (ESH) Division initiated a Technology Development, Evaluation, and Application (TDEA) program. The purpose of this unique program is to test and develop technologies that solve LANL ES and H problems and improve the safety of LANL operations. This progress report presents the results of 10 projects funded in FY97 by the TDEA Committee of the Environment, Safety, and Health Division. Products generated from the projects funded in FY97 included implementation of radiation worker dosimetric monitoring systems (two); evaluation and validation of cost-effective animal-tracking systems for environmental studies (two); evaluation of personal protective equipment (two); and development of a method for optimal placement of continuous air monitors in the workplace

Development of safety evaluation technology for fire and explosion in reprocessing plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miura, Akihiko

2005-01-01

Based on some lessons learned from the accidents in the reprocessing plant all over the world, Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) has researched and developed the safety technologies for the reprocessing plants and its related facilities. This paper describes some accidental information around the reprocessing plants and its related research activities in JNC. (author)

An update to inplace testing of safety/relief valves utilizing lift assist technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heorman, K.R.

1992-01-01

Inplace testing of safety and relief valves with lift-assist devices has received mixed reviews from nuclear power plant testing personnel. While many plants use the technology, most limit its use to testing main steam safety valves (even though both OM-1-1981 and PTC 25.3-1976 allow its use for several different service applications). Test coordinator concerns regarding the technology range from lift set point accuracy and repeatability to the quality of the test result output. In addition, OM-1-1981 and PTC 25.3-1976 differ in their approach to the technology. The reasons for the differences between PTC 25.3-1976 and OM-1-1981 are discussed along with additional considerations applicable to the use of the technology in testing liquid service valves. This paper shows that lift assist technology is capable of determining lift set points within the accuracy requirements of OM-1 and PTC 25.3. It also demonstrates that the technology should not be limited to compressible service systems. Also, improvements in test repeatability and output quality are discussed as a function of the assist device design used and valve characteristics. Lift assist testing is often preferred over inplace testing that uses direct system pressure. It is often more cost efficient than bench testing because it does not require removal of critical systems from service and transportation of components. Also, duplicating system temperatures and other environmental factors is not an issue during inplace testing. Valve testing that once required an outage and maintenance period can now be conducted prior to such periods. This approach minimizes the possibility of failures becoming critical path limiting items

Limits on safety in technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birkhofer, A.

1984-01-01

Owing to the difficulty of establishing a clear and generally binding definition of the term ''safety'', an explanation has been given of the five typical and/or most frequently encountered categories of accident causes. Following quantification of the hazards with the aid of safety factors and reliability parameters, examples of component and system failures are discussed from the nuclear engineering sector, together with the results of risk studies. In conclusion the relationship between man and machine is outlined, taking due account of malfunctions and the prevention of hazards and the superordinate problem of technical safety and ethics is also mentioned. (orig.) [de

Improving mine safety technology and training: establishing US global leadership

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-12-15

In 2006, the USA's record of mine safety was interrupted by fatalities that rocked the industry and caused the National Mining Association and its members to recommit to returning the US underground coal mining industry to a global mine safety leadership role. This report details a comprehensive approach to increase the odds of survival for miners in emergency situations and to create a culture of prevention of accidents. Among its 75 recommendations are a need to improve communications, mine rescue training, and escape and protection of miners. Section headings of the report are: Introduction; Review of mine emergency situations in the past 25 years: identifying and addressing the issues and complexities; Risk-based design and management; Communications technology; Escape and protection strategies; Emergency response and mine rescue procedures; Training for preparedness; Summary of recommendations; and Conclusions. 37 refs., 3 figs., 5 apps.

A new principle for low-cost hydrogen sensors for fuel cell technology safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liess, Martin [Rhein Main University of Applied Sciences, Rüsselsheim, Wiesbaden (Germany)

2014-03-24

Hydrogen sensors are of paramount importance for the safety of hydrogen fuel cell technology as result of the high pressure necessary in fuel tanks and its low explosion limit. I present a novel sensor principle based on thermal conduction that is very sensitive to hydrogen, highly specific and can operate on low temperatures. As opposed to other thermal sensors it can be operated with low cost and low power driving electronics. On top of this, as sensor element a modified standard of-the shelf MEMS thermopile IR-sensor can be used. The sensor principle presented is thus suited for the future mass markets of hydrogen fuel cell technology.S.

Progress report projects in the field of nuclear safety sponsered by the Federal Minister for Research and Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-03-01

Investigations on the safety of Light Water Reactors (LWR) being performed in the framework of the Research Program Reactor Safety (RS-Projects) are sponsored by the BMFT (Federal Minister for Research and Technology), Bundesminister fuer Forschung und Technologie. Objective of this program is to investigate in greater detail the safety margins of nuclear energy plants and their systems and the further development of safety technology. Besides the investigations of LWR tasks first projects on the safety of FBR type reactors are sponsored by the BMFT. The GRS (Reactor Safety Association), Gesellschaft fuer Reaktorsicherheit mbH, by order of the BMFT, informs continuously of the status of such investigations by means of quarterly and annually publication of progress reports within the series GRS-F-Fortschrittsberichte (GRS-F-Progress Reports). Each progress report represents a compilation of individual reports about objectives, the work performed, the results, the next steps of the work etc. The individual reports are prepared in a standard form by the contractors themselves as a documentation of their progress in work at the GRS, within the framework of general information of the progress in reactor safety research. The individual reports are arranged according to the amended LWR Safety Research Program of the BMFT. Another table contents uses the same classification system as applied in the Nuclear Safety Index of the CEC and the OECD. (orig./HP) [de

A formal process for elicitation and validation of expert judgments for safety case in the context of spent nuclear fuel management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hukki, K.

2008-09-01

The report introduces a proposal for a formal expert judgment elicitation and validation process for Posiva in the construction of the safety case of the spent fuel disposal facility at Olkiluoto. The procedure has been developed by adopting a systemic, interaction-based approach to elicitation and validation. By taking this view the approach differs from other approaches to formal expert judgment. The concept for the formal procedure has been developed by taking the support for collaboration as the primary requirement for the development. The procedure provides systematic practices and a forum for joint assessment and makes it possible for the domain experts to participate in the discussions and decisions on the validity of the input data. In addition to the experts, also the safety analysts are elicited, in a way. The two-way elicitation enhances mutual understanding between the participants and assures collaboration of equal parties. The procedure provides also conceptual tools that support decision making in validation by enhancing transparency of reasoning. The predefined forms and descriptions serve as shared frames of references and enhance the comprehension of, e.g., the nature and impact of the uncertainties of the input data, the ways of thinking underlying the different disciplines and the significance of one's role as part of the construction of the safety case. Enhanced motivation and transparency of reasoning contribute to improved transfer and integration of knowledge across the disciplinary boundaries and, as a consequence, makes it easier to reach a consensus between the participants. (orig.)

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2010-01-01

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.

Expert system for economic evaluation of technological projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bohumil Hlavenka

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Apart from the technical level, a basic tool for decision-making and realization of the technical innovation project is also its economic effectiveness. It is assessed by comparing expenses and effects with respect to all-society interests and standards valid in a relevant period for the areas of technology, economy, ecology, safety of work, etc.

LESSONS LEARNED IN DEVELOPMENT OF THE HANFORD SWOC MASTER DOCUMENTED SAFETY ANALYSIS (MDSA) and IMPLEMENTATION VALIDATION REVIEW (IVR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MORENO, M.R.

2004-01-01

DOE set clear expectations on a cost-effective approach for achieving compliance with the Nuclear Safety Management requirements (20 CFR 830, Nuclear Safety Rule), which ensured long-term benefit to Hanford, via issuance of a nuclear safety strategy in February 2003. To facilitate implementation of these expectations, tools were developed to streamline and standardize safety analysis and safety document development with the goal of a shorter and more predictable DOE approval cycle. A Hanford Safety Analysis and Risk Assessment Handbook (SARAH) was approved to standardize methodologies for development of safety analyses. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (RADIDOSE) was approved for the evaluation of radiological consequences for accident scenarios often postulated at Hanford. Standard safety management program chapters were approved for use as a means of compliance with the programmatic chapters of DOE-STD-3009, ''Preparation Guide for U.S. Department of Energy Nonreactor Nuclear Facility Safety Analysis Reports''. An in-process review was developed between DOE and the Contractor to facilitate DOE approval and provide early course correction. The new Documented Safety Analysis (DSA) developed to address the operations of four facilities within the Solid Waste Operations Complex (SWOC) necessitated development of an Implementation Validation Review (IVR) process. The IVR process encompasses the following objectives: safety basis controls and requirements are adequately incorporated into appropriate facility documents and work instructions, facility personnel are knowledgeable of controls and requirements, and the DSA/TSR controls have been implemented. Based on DOE direction and safety analysis tools, four waste management nuclear facilities were integrated into one safety basis document. With successful completion of implementation of this safety document, lessons-learned from the in-process review, safety analysis tools and IVR process were documented for future action

Expert system technology for control integration in nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stabler, E.P. Jr.; Zimmerman, J.J.; Stratton, R.C.

1986-03-01

This report describes the role of expert system technology in nuclear power plant operation. The use of computers to assist operator decisions would greatly enhance the safety and efficiency of operation. A description of the necessary operator interfaces, data acquisition and validation, plant status and parameter diagnosis, and system reliability is presented. (FL)

25. MPA-seminar: safety and reliability of plant technology with special emphasis on safety and reliability - integrity proofs, qualification of components, damage prevention. Vol. 1. Papers 1-29

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

The proceedings of the 25th MPA Seminar on 'Safety and Reliability of Plant Technology' were issued in two volumes. The main topics of the first volume are: 1. Structural and safety analysis, 2. Reliability analysis, 3. Fracture mechanics, and 4. Nondestructive Testing. s

Whole blood pathogen reduction technology and blood safety in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review with regional discussion.

Science.gov (United States)

Nkohkwo, Asa'ah; Agbor, Gabriel; Asongalem, Emmanuel; Tagny, Claude; Asonganyi, Tazoacha

2016-01-01

Despite vast improvements in transfusion services in sub-Saharan Africa over the last decade, there remain serious concerns on the safety and adequacy of the blood supply across the region. This review paper ascertains the role of pathogen reduction technology (PRT) in improving blood safety and supply adequacy in the region. The state of blood safety in sub-Saharan Africa was reviewed. Meetings, seminars and correspondence were undertaken with key clinicians, scientists and professional bodies in the region, including the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Africa, to examine the suitability of PRT for improving the safety of whole blood transfusion, a prevalent transfusion format in the region. Existing literature suggests that combining PRT with current blood safety measures (such as serology) would improve the safety and adequacy of the blood supply for transfusions in sub-Saharan Africa. This was echoed by the findings of the stakeholder meetings. Following a detailed appraisal of two leading PRT systems, the Mirasol ® PRT System and the Cerus S-303 System, we suggest that companies conduct comprehensive toxicological evaluation of the agents used for PRT and publish this in the scientific literature. We also recommend that the safety and efficacy of these technologies should be established in a randomised clinical trial conducted in sub-Saharan Africa.

Validation of the Impact of Health Information Technology (I-HIT) Scale: an international collaborative.

Science.gov (United States)

Dykes, Patricia C; Hurley, Ann C; Brown, Suzanne; Carr, Robyn; Cashen, Margaret; Collins, Rita; Cook, Robyn; Currie, Leanne; Docherty, Charles; Ensio, Anneli; Foster, Joanne; Hardiker, Nicholas R; Honey, Michelle L L; Killalea, Rosaleen; Murphy, Judy; Saranto, Kaija; Sensmeier, Joyce; Weaver, Charlotte

2009-01-01

In 2005, the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Nursing Informatics Community developed a survey to measure the impact of health information technology (HIT), the I-HIT Scale, on the role of nurses and interdisciplinary communication in hospital settings. In 2007, nursing informatics colleagues from Australia, England, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and the United States formed a research collaborative to validate the I-HIT across countries. All teams have completed construct and face validation in their countries. Five out of six teams have initiated reliability testing by practicing nurses. This paper reports the international collaborative's validation of the I-HIT Scale completed to date.

Verification and validation benchmarks.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oberkampf, William Louis; Trucano, Timothy Guy

2007-02-01

Verification and validation (V&V) are the primary means to assess the accuracy and reliability of computational simulations. V&V methods and procedures have fundamentally improved the credibility of simulations in several high-consequence fields, such as nuclear reactor safety, underground nuclear waste storage, and nuclear weapon safety. Although the terminology is not uniform across engineering disciplines, code verification deals with assessing the reliability of the software coding, and solution verification deals with assessing the numerical accuracy of the solution to a computational model. Validation addresses the physics modeling accuracy of a computational simulation by comparing the computational results with experimental data. Code verification benchmarks and validation benchmarks have been constructed for a number of years in every field of computational simulation. However, no comprehensive guidelines have been proposed for the construction and use of V&V benchmarks. For example, the field of nuclear reactor safety has not focused on code verification benchmarks, but it has placed great emphasis on developing validation benchmarks. Many of these validation benchmarks are closely related to the operations of actual reactors at near-safety-critical conditions, as opposed to being more fundamental-physics benchmarks. This paper presents recommendations for the effective design and use of code verification benchmarks based on manufactured solutions, classical analytical solutions, and highly accurate numerical solutions. In addition, this paper presents recommendations for the design and use of validation benchmarks, highlighting the careful design of building-block experiments, the estimation of experimental measurement uncertainty for both inputs and outputs to the code, validation metrics, and the role of model calibration in validation. It is argued that the understanding of predictive capability of a computational model is built on the level of

LWR safety research at EPRI: an update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loewenstein, W.B.; Kalra, S.P.

1983-01-01

The philosophy, objectives, approach, and updated status of the Electric Power Research Institute's Light-Water-Reactor Safety Research Program are presented. In light of current industry needs, the major research and development emphases are described. The program focuses on providing enhanced capability via large-scale test projects, for understanding and predicting the behavior of nuclear power plants. This leads to a realistic quantification of the safety margins and to ways of improving reliability, availability, and productivity and thus to significant economic benefits for the nuclear industry. The major accomplishments resulting from various projects in the program categories of risk assessment, code development and validation, and analysis and testing are presented with the goal of technology transfer to the nuclear industry

Technology, safety and costs of decommissioning a Reference Boiling Water Reactor Power Station. Main report. Volume 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oak, H.D.; Holter, G.M.; Kennedy, W.E. Jr.; Konzek, G.J.

1980-06-01

Technology, safety and cost information is given for the conceptual decommissioning of a large (1100MWe) boiling water reactor (BWR) power station. Three approaches to decommissioning, immediate dismantlement, safe storage with deferred dismantlement and entombment, were studied to obtain comparisons between costs, occupational radiation doses, potential dose to the public and other safety impacts. It also shows the sensitivity of decommissioning safety and costs to the power rating of a BWR in the range of 200 to 1100 MWe.

Spacecraft early design validation using formal methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bozzano, Marco; Cimatti, Alessandro; Katoen, Joost-Pieter; Katsaros, Panagiotis; Mokos, Konstantinos; Nguyen, Viet Yen; Noll, Thomas; Postma, Bart; Roveri, Marco

2014-01-01

The size and complexity of software in spacecraft is increasing exponentially, and this trend complicates its validation within the context of the overall spacecraft system. Current validation methods are labor-intensive as they rely on manual analysis, review and inspection. For future space missions, we developed – with challenging requirements from the European space industry – a novel modeling language and toolset for a (semi-)automated validation approach. Our modeling language is a dialect of AADL and enables engineers to express the system, the software, and their reliability aspects. The COMPASS toolset utilizes state-of-the-art model checking techniques, both qualitative and probabilistic, for the analysis of requirements related to functional correctness, safety, dependability and performance. Several pilot projects have been performed by industry, with two of them having focused on the system-level of a satellite platform in development. Our efforts resulted in a significant advancement of validating spacecraft designs from several perspectives, using a single integrated system model. The associated technology readiness level increased from level 1 (basic concepts and ideas) to early level 4 (laboratory-tested)

Validation of the Leap Motion Controller using markered motion capture technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Smeragliuolo, Anna H; Hill, N Jeremy; Disla, Luis; Putrino, David

2016-06-14

The Leap Motion Controller (LMC) is a low-cost, markerless motion capture device that tracks hand, wrist and forearm position. Integration of this technology into healthcare applications has begun to occur rapidly, making validation of the LMC׳s data output an important research goal. Here, we perform a detailed evaluation of the kinematic data output from the LMC, and validate this output against gold-standard, markered motion capture technology. We instructed subjects to perform three clinically-relevant wrist (flexion/extension, radial/ulnar deviation) and forearm (pronation/supination) movements. The movements were simultaneously tracked using both the LMC and a marker-based motion capture system from Motion Analysis Corporation (MAC). Adjusting for known inconsistencies in the LMC sampling frequency, we compared simultaneously acquired LMC and MAC data by performing Pearson׳s correlation (r) and root mean square error (RMSE). Wrist flexion/extension and radial/ulnar deviation showed good overall agreement (r=0.95; RMSE=11.6°, and r=0.92; RMSE=12.4°, respectively) with the MAC system. However, when tracking forearm pronation/supination, there were serious inconsistencies in reported joint angles (r=0.79; RMSE=38.4°). Hand posture significantly influenced the quality of wrist deviation (P<0.005) and forearm supination/pronation (P<0.001), but not wrist flexion/extension (P=0.29). We conclude that the LMC is capable of providing data that are clinically meaningful for wrist flexion/extension, and perhaps wrist deviation. It cannot yet return clinically meaningful data for measuring forearm pronation/supination. Future studies should continue to validate the LMC as updated versions of their software are developed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reports on research projects sponsored by the Federal Minister for Research and Technology in the field of reactor safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-03-01

Investigations on the safety of Light Water Reactors (LWR) being performed in the framework of the Research Program Reactor Safety (RS - Projects) are sponsored by the BMFT (Federal Minister for Research and Technology), Bundesminister fuer Forschung und Technologie. Objective of this program is to investigate in greater detail the safety margins of nuclear power plants and their systems and the further development of safety technology. Besides the investigations of LWR tasks first projects on the safety of FBR type reactors are sponsored by the BMFT. The GRS (Reactor Safety Association), Gesellschaft fuer Reaktorsicherheit mbH, by order of the BMFT, informs continuously of the status of such investigations by means of quarterly and annually publication of progress reports within the series GRS - F - Fortschrittsberichte (GRS - F - Progress Reports). Each progress report represents a compilation of individual reports about objectives, the work performed, the results, the next steps of the work etc. The individual reports are prepared in a standard form by the contractors themselves as a documentation of their progress in work. The individual reports are arranged according to the amended LWR Safety Research Program of the BMFT. Another table contents uses the same classification system as applied in the Nuclear Safety Index of the CEC European Communities and the OECD. (orig./HP) [de

Application of the Digital Image Technology in the Visual Monitoring and Prediction of Shuttering Construction Safety

Science.gov (United States)

Ummin, Okumura; Tian, Han; Zhu, Haiyu; Liu, Fuqiang

2018-03-01

Construction safety has always been the first priority in construction process. The common safety problem is the instability of the template support. In order to solve this problem, the digital image measurement technology has been contrived to support real-time monitoring system which can be triggered if the deformation value exceed the specified range. Thus the economic loss could be reduced to the lowest level.

Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program Reactor Safety Technologies Pathway Technical Program Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Corradini, M. L. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Peko, D. [US Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States); Farmer, M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Rempe, J. [Rempe and Associates LLC, Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Humrickhouse, P. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); O' Brien, J. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Robb, K. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Gauntt, R. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Osborn, D. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2016-06-01

In the aftermath of the March 2011 multi-unit accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (Fukushima), the nuclear community has been reassessing certain safety assumptions about nuclear reactor plant design, operations and emergency actions, particularly with respect to extreme events that might occur and that are beyond each plant’s current design basis. Because of our significant domestic investment in nuclear reactor technology (99 operating reactors in the fleet of commercial LWRs with five under construction), the United States has been a major leader internationally in these activities. The U.S. nuclear industry is voluntarily pursuing a number of additional safety initiatives. The NRC continues to evaluate and, where deemed appropriate, establish new requirements for ensuring adequate protection of public health and safety in the occurrence of low probability events at nuclear plants; (e.g., mitigation strategies for beyond design basis events initiated by external events like seismic or flooding initiators). The DOE has also played a major role in the U.S. response to the Fukushima accident. Initially, DOE worked with the Japanese and the international community to help develop a more complete understanding of the Fukushima accident progression and its consequences, and to respond to various safety concerns emerging from uncertainties about the nature of and the effects from the accident. DOE R&D activities are focused on providing scientific and technical insights, data, analyses methods that ultimately support industry efforts to enhance safety. These activities are expected to further enhance the safety performance of currently operating U.S. nuclear power plants as well as better characterize the safety performance of future U.S. plants. In pursuing this area of R&D, DOE recognizes that the commercial nuclear industry is ultimately responsible for the safe operation of licensed nuclear facilities. As such, industry is considered the primary

Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program: Reactor Safety Technologies Pathway Technical Program Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Corradini, M. L. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

2015-06-01

In the aftermath of the March 2011 multi-unit accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (Fukushima), the nuclear community has been reassessing certain safety assumptions about nuclear reactor plant design, operations and emergency actions, particularly with respect to extreme events that might occur and that are beyond each plant’s current design basis. Because of our significant domestic investment in nuclear reactor technology (99 operating reactors in the fleet of commercial LWRs with five under construction), the United States has been a major leader internationally in these activities. The U.S. nuclear industry is voluntarily pursuing a number of additional safety initiatives. The NRC continues to evaluate and, where deemed appropriate, establish new requirements for ensuring adequate protection of public health and safety in the occurrence of low probability events at nuclear plants; (e.g., mitigation strategies for beyond design basis events initiated by external events like seismic or flooding initiators). The DOE has also played a major role in the U.S. response to the Fukushima accident. Initially, DOE worked with the Japanese and the international community to help develop a more complete understanding of the Fukushima accident progression and its consequences, and to respond to various safety concerns emerging from uncertainties about the nature of and the effects from the accident. DOE R&D activities are focused on providing scientific and technical insights, data, analyses methods that ultimately support industry efforts to enhance safety. These activities are expected to further enhance the safety performance of currently operating U.S. nuclear power plants as well as better characterize the safety performance of future U.S. plants. In pursuing this area of R&D, DOE recognizes that the commercial nuclear industry is ultimately responsible for the safe operation of licensed nuclear facilities. As such, industry is considered the primary

Status of NDE research in the US-contributions of NDE to reactor safety and implementation of NDE technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ammirato, F. [EPRI, Charlotte, NC (United States)

1999-08-01

Power plant designers, plant owners, and regulators have developed inservice inspection (ISI) programs as part of their comprehensive approach to ensuring nuclear safety. This paper examines the role of ISI in reactor safety through several examples drawn from recent industry initiatives to address implementation of effective examination technology for nuclear power plant piping, and BWR and PWR reactor pressure vessels. These examples also illustrate the importance of well designed performance demonstration activities to support application of effective ISI. Finally, the efforts required to implement effective ISI technology for field inspection is addressed. (orig./DGE)

Study on safety classifications of software used in nuclear power plants and distinct applications of verification and validation activities in each class

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, B. R.; Oh, S. H.; Hwang, H. S.; Kim, D. I.

2000-01-01

This paper describes the safety classification regarding instrumentation and control (I and C) systems and their software used in nuclear power plants, provides regulatory positions for software important to safety, and proposes verification and validation (V and V) activities applied differently in software classes which are important elements in ensuring software quality assurance. In other word, the I and C systems important to safety are classified into IC-1, IC-2, IC-3, and Non-IC and their software are classified into safety-critical, safety-related, and non-safety software. Based upon these safety classifications, the extent of software V and V activities in each class is differentiated each other. In addition, the paper presents that the software for use in I and C systems important to safety is divided into newly-developed and previously-developed software in terms of design and implementation, and provides the regulatory positions on each type of software

Preparation of safety regulatory requirements for new technology like digital system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Juichiro; Takita, Masami

2011-01-01

The current regulatory requirements on digital instrumentation and control system have been reviewed by JNES, considering international trend discussed in DICWG (Digital Instrumentation and Control Working Group) of MDEP (Multinational Design Evaluation Program). MDEP DICWG held in OECD/NEA (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency) gives the opportunity to identify the convergence of applicable standards. The working group's activities include: identifying and prioritising the member countries' challenges, practices, and needs regarding standards and regulatory guidance regarding digital instrumentation and control; identifying areas of importance and needs for convergence of existing standards and guidance or development of new standards; sharing of information; and identifying common positions among the member countries for areas of particular importance and need. The DICWG drafted common positions on specific issues which are based on the existing standards, national regulatory guidance, best practices, and group inputs using an agreed upon process and framework. Five general common positions are under discussion in this fiscal year. Simplicity in Design, Software Common Cause Failures, Software Tools, Data communication, Verification and Validation throughout the life cycle of safety systems using digital computers. In addition, the technical evaluation of standards of the Japan Electric Association about digital system for safety was made to support NISA (Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency). (author)

Dimensions of Safety Climate among Iranian Nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Konjin, Z Naghavi; Shokoohi, Y; Zarei, F; Rahimzadeh, M; Sarsangi, V

2015-10-01

Workplace safety has been a concern of workers and managers for decades. Measuring safety climate is crucial in improving safety performance. It is also a method of benchmarking safety perception. To develop and validate a psychometrics scale for measuring nurses' safety climate. Literature review, subject matter experts and nurse's judgment were used in items developing. Content validity and reliability for new tool were tested by content validity index (CVI) and test-retest analysis, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with varimax rotation was used to improve the interpretation of latent factors. A 40-item scale in 6 factors was developed, which could explain 55% of the observed variance. The 6 factors included employees' involvement in safety and management support, compliance with safety rules, safety training and accessibility to personal protective equipment, hindrance to safe work, safety communication and job pressure, and individual risk perception. The proposed scale can be used in identifying the needed areas to implement interventions in safety climate of nurses.

MHTGR [Modular High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor] technology development plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Homan, F.J.; Neylan, A.J.

1988-01-01

This paper presents the approach used to define the technology program needed to support design and licensing of a Modular High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (MHTGR). The MHTGR design depends heavily on data and information developed during the past 25 years to support large HTGR (LHTGR) designs. The technology program focuses on MHTGR-specific operating and accident conditions, and on validation of models and assumptions developed using LHTGR data. The technology program is briefly outlined, and a schedule is presented for completion of technology work which is consistent with completion of a Final Safety Summary Analysis Report (FSSAR) by 1992

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 and security profiles of industry networks used in safety- critical applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mária FRANEKOVÁ

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The author describes the mechanisms of safety and security profiles of industry and communication networks used within safety – related applications in technological and information levels of process control recommended according to standards IEC 61784-3,4. Nowadays the number of vendors of the safety – related communication technologies who guarantees besides the standard communication, the communication amongst the safety – related equipment according to IEC 61508 is increasing. Also the number of safety – related products is increasing, e. g. safety Fieldbus, safety PLC, safety curtains, safety laser scanners, safety buttons, safety relays and other. According to world survey the safety Fieldbus denoted the highest growth from all manufactured safety products.The main part of this paper is the description of the safety-related Fieldbus communication system, which has to guaranty Safety Integrity Level.

Fundamentals of automotive and engine technology standard drives, hybrid drives, brakes, safety systems

CERN Document Server

2014-01-01

Hybrid drives and the operation of hybrid vehicles are characteristic of contemporary automotive technology. Together with the electronic driver assistant systems, hybrid technology is of the greatest importance and both cannot be ignored by today’s car drivers. This technical reference book provides the reader with a firsthand comprehensive description of significant components of automotive technology. All texts are complemented by numerous detailed illustrations. Contents History of the automobile.- History of the Diesel engine.- Areas of use for Diesel engines.- Basic principles of the Diesel engine.- Basic principles of Diesel fuel-injection.- Basic principles of the gasoline engine.- Inductive ignition system.- Transmissions for motor vehicles.- Motor vehicle safety.- Basic principles of vehicle dynamics.- Car braking systems.- Vehicle electrical systems.- Overview of electrical and electronic systems in the vehicle.- Control of gasoline engines.- Control of Diesel engines.- Lighting technology.- Elec...

Safety-Culture Exploration in Taiwan’s Metal Industries: Identifying the Workers’ Background Influence on Safety Climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shu-Chiang Lin

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The present study aims to assess the safety-climate level in Taiwan’s metal industries, as well as to identify the influence of workers’ backgrounds on the safety climate. An earlier report showed that a poor safety culture was related to the cause of accidents in Taiwan’s traditional manufacturing industries. This study surveyed a total of 839 workers who voluntarily participated and completed the safety-culture questionnaires. These workers were from a Taiwanese metal company and its five satellite companies. Three safety-climate factors, namely safety perception, safety communication and safety-management systems, were assessed. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA was conducted by developing structural equation modeling to ensure the questionnaire’s validity. The influence of workers’ backgrounds on the safety climate was identified by using one-way ANOVA. The reliability result of the questionnaire was above the acceptable level. The overall safety-climate score was 4.22 out of a five-point scale for safety perception, 4.23 for safety-management systems and 3.97 for safety communication. The scores indicate a good level of safety climate, with room for improvement in safety communication. Additionally, the influence of workers’ backgrounds on the safety climate was confirmed. Based on the validity test, it was also found that the questionnaire could be improved by reconstructing its questions in its development process in order to increase the safety-climate model’s reliability and validity, as well as its model fit.

Preparation of safety regulatory requirements for new technology like digital system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

The current regulatory requirements on digital instrumentation and control system have been reviewed by JNES, considering international trend discussed in DICWG of MDEP. MDEP DICWG held in OECD/NEA gives the opportunity to identify the convergence of applicable standards. The working group's activities include: identifying and prioritising the member countries' challenges, practices, and needs regarding standards and regulatory guidance on digital instrumentation and control; identifying areas of importance and needs for convergence of existing standards and guidance or development of new standards; sharing of information; and identifying common positions among the member countries for areas of particular importance and need. The DICWG drafted common positions on specific issues which are based on the existing standards, national regulatory guidance, best practices, and group inputs using an agreed process and framework. The following two general common positions are discussed and to be issued in this fiscal year. Verification and Validation throughout the life cycle of safety systems using digital computers. The Impact of Cyber Security Features on Digital I and C Safety Systems. (author)

Safety awareness educational topics for the construction of power transmission systems with smart grid technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryan Hubbard

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Power transmission facilities in the U.S. are undergoing a transformation due to the increased use of distributed generation sources such as wind and solar power.  The current power grid system is also antiquated and in need of substantial retrofits to make it more efficient and reliable.  The new energy transmission system being designed and built to optimize power delivery is known as “Smart Grid”.  The increased activity in the construction of power transmission facilities and installation of new technologies into the current power system raises potential safety concerns.  Existing construction management curriculum may include general information about safety training, but does not typically include information about this specialized sector.  The objective of this study was to work with industry to identify key safety topics appropriate for inclusion in an introductory industrial construction course.  Results of interviews with industry identified numerous hazards that are not typically covered in typical construction curricula.  A joint undergraduate and graduate course in industrial construction was created to address these and additional concepts. A survey of the students was performed to determine the effectiveness of the course and also to determine their thoughts about the smart grid technologies and safety training. Information on electrical system hazards is presented along with results of the student surveys.

Assessing medical students' perceptions of patient safety: the medical student safety attitudes and professionalism survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Joshua M; Etchegaray, Jason M; Williams, S Tyler; Berger, David H; Bell, Sigall K; Thomas, Eric J

2014-02-01

To develop and test the psychometric properties of a survey to measure students' perceptions about patient safety as observed on clinical rotations. In 2012, the authors surveyed 367 graduating fourth-year medical students at three U.S. MD-granting medical schools. They assessed the survey's reliability and construct and concurrent validity. They examined correlations between students' perceptions of organizational cultural factors, organizational patient safety measures, and students' intended safety behaviors. They also calculated percent positive scores for cultural factors. Two hundred twenty-eight students (62%) responded. Analyses identified five cultural factors (teamwork culture, safety culture, error disclosure culture, experiences with professionalism, and comfort expressing professional concerns) that had construct validity, concurrent validity, and good reliability (Cronbach alphas > 0.70). Across schools, percent positive scores for safety culture ranged from 28% (95% confidence interval [CI], 13%-43%) to 64% (30%-98%), while those for teamwork culture ranged from 47% (32%-62%) to 74% (66%-81%). They were low for error disclosure culture (range: 10% [0%-20%] to 27% [20%-35%]), experiences with professionalism (range: 7% [0%-15%] to 23% [16%-30%]), and comfort expressing professional concerns (range: 17% [5%-29%] to 38% [8%-69%]). Each cultural factor correlated positively with perceptions of overall patient safety as observed in clinical rotations (r = 0.37-0.69, P safety behavioral intent item. This study provided initial evidence for the survey's reliability and validity and illustrated its applicability for determining whether students' clinical experiences exemplify positive patient safety environments.

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.

Aviation safety and automation technology for subsonic transports

Science.gov (United States)

Albers, James A.

1991-01-01

Discussed here are aviation safety human factors and air traffic control (ATC) automation research conducted at the NASA Ames Research Center. Research results are given in the areas of flight deck and ATC automations, displays and warning systems, crew coordination, and crew fatigue and jet lag. Accident investigation and an incident reporting system that is used to guide the human factors research is discussed. A design philosophy for human-centered automation is given, along with an evaluation of automation on advanced technology transports. Intelligent error tolerant systems such as electronic checklists are discussed along with design guidelines for reducing procedure errors. The data on evaluation of Crew Resource Management (CRM) training indicates highly significant positive changes in appropriate flight deck behavior and more effective use of available resources for crew members receiving the training.

Technological progress, safety, and the guardian role of inspection (with Appendix: Antecedants of the Nuclear Installation Inspectorate)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Critchley, O.H.

1981-01-01

Technological progress inevitably brings hazards which must be inspected to reduce the occurence of any attendant risks to a minimum. Although the responsibility for regulatory safety inspection in Britain is spread amongst a number of specialist inspectorates, it is arguably the most fully developed, efficient and satisfactorily operating regime of its kind, this being especially true for commercial nuclear installations. The latter aspect is a complex mix of engineering, legal and managerial practices which has been modelled on the developments in safety technology in atomic energy in the Manhattan Project and in the UKAEA, among others, and on to the present Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. (U.K.)

Perceptions of Psychological and Physical Safety Environments of Information Technology Employees: A Phenomenological Study

Science.gov (United States)

Payne, Sheila C.

2012-01-01

A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of psychological and safety environments of an oil and gas multinational enterprise. Twenty information technology professionals were interviewed to explore their feelings, perceptions, beliefs, and values of the phenomenon. The interviews elicited data about facets…

Whole blood pathogen reduction technology and blood safety in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review with regional discussion

OpenAIRE

Nkohkwo, Asa?ah; Agbor, Gabriel; Asongalem, Emmanuel; Tagny, Claude; Asonganyi, Tazoacha

2016-01-01

Background: Despite vast improvements in transfusion services in sub-Saharan Africa over the last decade, there remain serious concerns on the safety and adequacy of the blood supply across the region. Objective: This review paper ascertains the role of pathogen reduction technology (PRT) in improving blood safety and supply adequacy in the region. Method: The state of blood safety in sub-Saharan Africa was reviewed. Meetings, seminars and correspondence were undertaken with key clinic...

Health Information Technology, Patient Safety, and Professional Nursing Care Documentation in Acute Care Settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Lavin, Mary Ann; Harper, Ellen; Barr, Nancy

2015-04-14

The electronic health record (EHR) is a documentation tool that yields data useful in enhancing patient safety, evaluating care quality, maximizing efficiency, and measuring staffing needs. Although nurses applaud the EHR, they also indicate dissatisfaction with its design and cumbersome electronic processes. This article describes the views of nurses shared by members of the Nursing Practice Committee of the Missouri Nurses Association; it encourages nurses to share their EHR concerns with Information Technology (IT) staff and vendors and to take their place at the table when nursing-related IT decisions are made. In this article, we describe the experiential-reflective reasoning and action model used to understand staff nurses' perspectives, share committee reflections and recommendations for improving both documentation and documentation technology, and conclude by encouraging nurses to develop their documentation and informatics skills. Nursing issues include medication safety, documentation and standards of practice, and EHR efficiency. IT concerns include interoperability, vendors, innovation, nursing voice, education, and collaboration.

Practices and Exploration on Competition of Molecular Biological Detection Technology among Students in Food Quality and Safety Major

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yaning; Peng, Yuke; Li, Pengfei; Zhuang, Yingping

2017-01-01

With the increasing importance in the application of the molecular biological detection technology in the field of food safety, strengthening education in molecular biology experimental techniques is more necessary for the culture of the students in food quality and safety major. However, molecular biology experiments are not always in curricula…

Technological exploitation of Deuterium–Tritium operations at JET in support of ITER design, operation and safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Batistoni, P., E-mail: paola.batistoni@enea.it [ENEA, Dipartimento Fusione e Sicurezza Nucleare, Via E. Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, Roma (Italy); Campling, D. [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Conroy, S. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, SE-75120 Uppsala (Sweden); Croft, D. [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Giegerich, T. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, P.O.Box 3640, D-76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Huddleston, T.; Lefebvre, X. [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Lengar, I. [Jozef Stefan Institute, Reactor Physics Department, Jamova 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia); Lilley, S. [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Peacock, A. [JET Exploitation Unit, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Pillon, M. [ENEA, Dipartimento Fusione e Sicurezza Nucleare, Via E. Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, Roma (Italy); Popovichev, S.; Reynolds, S. [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Vila, R. [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión, CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Villari, R. [ENEA, Dipartimento Fusione e Sicurezza Nucleare, Via E. Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, Roma (Italy); Bekris, N. [ITER Physics Department, EUROfusion Consortium, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • Within the framework of the EUROfusion programme, a work-package of technology projects (WPJET3) is being carried out in conjunction with the planned Deuterium–Tritium experiment on JET (DTE2). • The objective is to maximise the scientific and technological return of DT operations at JET in support of ITER. • Preparatory experiments, analyses and studies are carried out in several fusion nuclear technology areas. • These are: neutronics, neutron induced activation and damage in ITER materials, nuclear safety, tritium retention, permeation and outgassing, and waste production. • This paper presents the progress since the start of the project in 2014. - Abstract: Within the framework of the EUROfusion programme, a work-package of technology projects (WPJET3) is being carried out in conjunction with the planned Deuterium–Tritium experiment on JET (DTE2) with the objective of maximising the scientific and technological return of DT operations at JET in support of ITER. This paper presents the progress since the start of the project in 2014 in the preparatory experiments, analyses and studies in the areas of neutronics, neutron induced activation and damage in ITER materials, nuclear safety, tritium retention, permeation and outgassing, and waste production in preparation of DTE2.

Optimizing Safety Stock Levels in Modular Production Systems Using Component Commonality and Group Technology Philosophy: A Study Based on Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth Edgar Hernandez-Ruiz

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Modular production and component commonality are two widely used strategies in the manufacturing industry to meet customers growing needs for customized products. Using these strategies, companies can enhance their performance to achieve optimal safety stock levels. Despite the importance of safety stocks in business competition, little attention has been paid to the way to reduce them without affecting the customer service levels. This paper develops a mathematical model to reduce safety stock levels in organizations that employ modular production. To construct the model, we take advantage of the benefits of aggregate inventories, standardization of components, component commonality, and Group Technology philosophy in regard to stock levels. The model is tested through the simulation of three years of operation of two modular product systems. For each system, we calculated and compared the safety stock levels for two cases: (1 under the only presence of component commonality and (2 under the presence of both component commonality and Group Technology philosophy. The results show a reduction in safety stock levels when we linked the component commonality with the Group Technology philosophy. The paper presents a discussion of the implications of each case, features of the model, and suggestions for future research.

Reports on research projects in the field of reactor safety sponsored by the Federal Minister for Research and Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-09-01

Investigations on the safety of Light Water Reactors (LWR) being performed in the framework of the Research Program Reactor Safety (RS - Projects) are sponsored by the BMFT (Federal Minister for Research and Technology), der Bundesminister fuer Forschung und Technologie. Objective of this program is to investigate in greater detail the safety margins of nuclear power plants and their systems and the further development of safety technology. Besides the investigations of LWR tasks first projects on the safety of FBR type reactors are sponsored by the BMFT. The GRS (Reactor Safety Association), Gesellschaft fuer Reaktorsicherheit mbH, by order of the BMFT, informs continuously of the status of such investigations by means of quarterly and annually publication of progress reports within the series GRS - F Fortschrittsberichte (GRS - F - Progress Reports). Each progress report represents a compilation of individual reports about objectives, the work performed, the results, the next steps of the work etc. The individual reports are prepared in a standard form by the contractors themselves as a documentation of their progress in work. The individual reports are arranged according to the amended LWR Safety Research Program of the BMFT. Another table contents uses the same classification system as applied in the Nuclear Safety Index of the CEC Communities and the OECD. (orig./HP) 891 HP [de

Reports on research projects in the field of reactor safety sponsored by the Federal Ministry for research and technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-09-01

Investigations on the safety of Light Water Reactors (LWR) being performed in the framework of the Research Program Reactor Safety (RS - Projects) are sponsored by the BMFT (Federal Minister for Research and Technology), Bundesminister fuer Forschung und Technologie. Objective of this program is to investigate in greater detail the safety margins of nuclear power-plants and their systems and the further development of safety technology. Besides the investigations of LWR tasks first projects on the safety of FBR type reactors are sponsored by the BMFT. The GRS (Reactor Safety Association), Gesellschaft fuer Reaktorsicherheit mbH, by order of the BMFT, informs continuously of the status of such investigations by means of quarterly and annually publication of progress reports within the series GRS - F - Fortschrittsberichte (GRS - F - Progress Reports). Each progress report represents a compilation of individual reports about objectives, the work performed, the results, the next steps of the work etc. The individual reports are prepared in a standard form by the contractors themselves as a documentation of their progress in work. The individual reports are arranged according to the amended LWR Safety Research Program of the BMFT in the near future. Another table contents uses the same classification system as applied in the Nuclear Safety Index of the CEC Communities and the OECD. (orig.) [de

SFR Safety Considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glatz, Jean-Paul

2012-01-01

Objectives of the Safety and Operation Project: • analysis and experiments that support approaches and assess performance of specific safety features, • development and verification of computational tools and validation of models employed in safety assessment and facility licensing, and • valorisation of reactor operation, from experience and testing in operating SFR plants

11-th International conference Nuclear power safety and nuclear education - 2009. Abstracts. Part 1. Session: Safety of nuclear technology; Innovative nuclear systems and fuel cycle; Nuclear knowledge management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

The book includes abstracts of the 11-th International conference Nuclear power safety and nuclear education - 2009 (29 Sep - 2 Oct, 2009, Obninsk). Problems of safety of nuclear technology are discussed, innovative nuclear systems and fuel cycles are treated. Abstracts on professional education for nuclear power and industry are presented. Nuclear knowledge management are discussed

Development, use, and validation of the CFD tool FLACS for hydrogen safety studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Middha, Prankul

2010-07-01

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculations for gas explosion safety have been widely used for doing risk assessments within the oil and gas industry for more than a decade. Based on predicted consequences of a range of potential accident scenarios a risk level is predicted. The development of applications using hydrogen as a clean energy carrier has accelerated in recent years, and hydrogen may be used widely in future. Due to the very high reactivity of hydrogen, safe handling is critical. To be able to perform proper consequence modeling as a part of a risk assessment, it is essential to be able to model the physical processes well. CFD tools have the potential to model the relevant physics and predict well, but without proper user guidelines based on extensive validation work, very mixed prediction capability can be expected. This paper deals with the development and validation of the CFD tool FLACS for hydrogen safety applications. Significant validation work against several experiments has been carried out in order to increase the confidence of predictions of scenarios relevant to hydrogen safety. The validation studies have included dispersion, explosion and combined dispersion and explosion studies. A range of different dispersion experiments is simulated, including low momentum releases in a garage, sub-sonic jets in a garage with stratification effects and subsequent slow diffusion, low momentum and subsonic horizontal jets influenced by buoyancy, and free jets from high-pressure vessels. LH2 releases are also considered. Some of the simulations are performed as blind predictions. FLACS uses a utility program in order to model releases from high-pressure reservoirs. Work has been carried out in order to extend the models in the utility program in order to include real gas effects. Validation against explosion experiments in geometries ranging from smooth and obstructed pipes, refueling station, tunnel, vented vessels, jet-ignited lane, etc. have been

Application of AI technology to nuclear plant operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sackett, J.I.

1988-01-01

In this paper, applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology to nuclear-power plant operation are reviewed. AI Technology is advancing rapidly and in the next five years is expected to enjoy widespread application to operation, maintenance, management and safety. Near term emphasis on a sensor validation, scheduling, alarm handling, and expert systems for procedural assistance. Ultimate applications are envisioned to culminate in autonomous control such as would be necessary for a power system in space, where automatic control actions are taken based upon reasoned conclusions regarding plant conditions, capability and control objectives

Occupational Safety Review of High Technology Facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee Cadwallader

2005-01-31

This report contains reviews of operating experiences, selected accident events, and industrial safety performance indicators that document the performance of the major US DOE magnetic fusion experiments and particle accelerators. These data are useful to form a basis for the occupational safety level at matured research facilities with known sets of safety rules and regulations. Some of the issues discussed are radiation safety, electromagnetic energy exposure events, and some of the more widespread issues of working at height, equipment fires, confined space work, electrical work, and other industrial hazards. Nuclear power plant industrial safety data are also included for comparison.

Research on the improvement of nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, Keon Joong; Kim, Dong Soo; Kim, Hui Dong; Park, Chang Kyu

1993-06-01

To improve the nuclear safety, this project is divided into three areas which are the development of safety analysis technology, the development of severe accident analysis technology and the development of integrated safety assessment technology. 1. The development of safety analysis technology. The present research aims at the development of necessary technologies for nuclear safety analysis in Korea. Establishment of the safety analysis technologies enables to reduce the expenditure both by eliminating excessive conservatisms incorporated in nuclear reactor design and by increasing safety margins in operation. It also contributes to improving plant safety through realistic analyses of the Emergency Operating Procedures (EOP). 2. The development of severe accident analysis technology. By the computer codes (MELCOR and CONTAIN), the in-vessel and the ex-vessel severe accident phenomena are simulated. 3. The development of integrated safety assessment technology. In the development of integrated safety assessment techniques, the included research areas are the improvement of PSA computer codes, the basic study on the methodology for human reliability analysis (HRA) and common cause failure (CCF). For the development of the level 2 PSA computer code, the basic research for the interface between level 1 and 2 PSA, the methodology for the treatment of containment event tree are performed. Also the new technologies such as artificial intelligence, object-oriented programming techniques are used for the improvement of computer code and the assessment techniques

Test Bed for Safety Assessment of New e-Navigation Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Axel Hahn

2014-12-01

Full Text Available New e-navigation strains require new technologies, new infrastructures and new organizational structures on bridge, on shore as well as in the cloud. Suitable engineering and safety/risk assessment methods facilitate these efforts. Understanding maritime transportation as a sociotechnical system allows the application of system-engineering methods. Formal, simulation based and in situ verification and validation of e-navigation technologies are important methods to obtain system safety and reliability. The modelling and simulation toolset HAGGIS provides methods for system specification and formal risk analysis. It provides a modelling framework for processes, fault trees and generic hazard specification and a physical world and maritime traffic simulation system. HAGGIS is accompanied by the physical test bed LABSKAUS which implements a physical test bed. The test bed provides reference ports and waterways in combination with an experimental Vessel Traffic Services (VTS system and a mobile integrated bridge: This enables in situ experiments for technological evaluation, testing, ground research and demonstration. This paper describes an integrated seamless approach for developing new e-navigation technologies starting with simulation based assessment and ending in physical real world demonstrations

A State-of-the-Art Report on Technologies of a Safety Assessment and a Radioactivity Exposure Assessment for the Decommissioning Process of Nuclear Facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Kwan Seong; Kang, Young Ae; Lee, Dong Gyu; Lee, Kune Woo; Jung, Chong Hun

2007-09-01

This report is to provide the reference contents of research and development for technologies of radioactivity exposure and safety assessment for development of the decommissioning technology for nuclear facilities. This report consists of as follows: - Analyzing and discussing on state-of-the-art technologies of a radioactivity exposure assessment of a decommissioning for nuclear facilities - Analyzing and discussing on state-of-the-art technologies of a safety assessment of a decommissioning for nuclear facilities

A State-of-the-Art Report on Technologies of a Safety Assessment and a Radioactivity Exposure Assessment for the Decommissioning Process of Nuclear Facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeong, Kwan Seong; Kang, Young Ae; Lee, Dong Gyu; Lee, Kune Woo; Jung, Chong Hun

2007-09-15

This report is to provide the reference contents of research and development for technologies of radioactivity exposure and safety assessment for development of the decommissioning technology for nuclear facilities. This report consists of as follows: - Analyzing and discussing on state-of-the-art technologies of a radioactivity exposure assessment of a decommissioning for nuclear facilities - Analyzing and discussing on state-of-the-art technologies of a safety assessment of a decommissioning for nuclear facilities.

Report on the projects in the field of reactor safety sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-12-01

Investigations on the safety of Light Water Reactors (LWR) being performed in the framework of the Research Program Reactor Safety (RS - Projects) are sponsored by the BMFT (Federal Minister for Research and Technology), Bundesminister fuer Forschung und Technologie. Objective of this program is to investigate in greater detail the safety margins of nuclear power-plants and their systems and the further development of safety technology. Besides the investigations of LWR tasks first projects on the safety of advanced reactors are sponsored by the BMFT. The GRS (Reactor Safety Association), Gesellschaft fuer Reaktorsicherheit mbH, by order of the BMFT, informs continuously of the status of such investigations by means of quarterly and annually publication of progress reports within the series GRS - F - Fortschrittsberichte (GRS - F - Progress Reports). Each progress report represents a compilation of individual reports about objectives, the work performed, the results, the next steps of the work etc. The individual reports are prepared in a standard form by the contractors themselves as a documentation of their progress in work and published by the FB (Research Coordination Department), Forschungsbetreuung at the GRS, within the framework of general information of the progress in reactor safety research. The individual reports are arranged according to the amended LWR Safety Research Program of the BMFT which will appear in the near future. Another table contents uses the same classification system as applied in the Nuclear Safety Index of the CEC and the OECD. (orig./HP) [de

Verification and validation benchmarks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oberkampf, William Louis; Trucano, Timothy Guy

2007-01-01

Verification and validation (V and V) are the primary means to assess the accuracy and reliability of computational simulations. V and V methods and procedures have fundamentally improved the credibility of simulations in several high-consequence fields, such as nuclear reactor safety, underground nuclear waste storage, and nuclear weapon safety. Although the terminology is not uniform across engineering disciplines, code verification deals with assessing the reliability of the software coding, and solution verification deals with assessing the numerical accuracy of the solution to a computational model. Validation addresses the physics modeling accuracy of a computational simulation by comparing the computational results with experimental data. Code verification benchmarks and validation benchmarks have been constructed for a number of years in every field of computational simulation. However, no comprehensive guidelines have been proposed for the construction and use of V and V benchmarks. For example, the field of nuclear reactor safety has not focused on code verification benchmarks, but it has placed great emphasis on developing validation benchmarks. Many of these validation benchmarks are closely related to the operations of actual reactors at near-safety-critical conditions, as opposed to being more fundamental-physics benchmarks. This paper presents recommendations for the effective design and use of code verification benchmarks based on manufactured solutions, classical analytical solutions, and highly accurate numerical solutions. In addition, this paper presents recommendations for the design and use of validation benchmarks, highlighting the careful design of building-block experiments, the estimation of experimental measurement uncertainty for both inputs and outputs to the code, validation metrics, and the role of model calibration in validation. It is argued that the understanding of predictive capability of a computational model is built on the

Verification and validation benchmarks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oberkampf, William L.; Trucano, Timothy G.

2008-01-01

Verification and validation (V and V) are the primary means to assess the accuracy and reliability of computational simulations. V and V methods and procedures have fundamentally improved the credibility of simulations in several high-consequence fields, such as nuclear reactor safety, underground nuclear waste storage, and nuclear weapon safety. Although the terminology is not uniform across engineering disciplines, code verification deals with assessing the reliability of the software coding, and solution verification deals with assessing the numerical accuracy of the solution to a computational model. Validation addresses the physics modeling accuracy of a computational simulation by comparing the computational results with experimental data. Code verification benchmarks and validation benchmarks have been constructed for a number of years in every field of computational simulation. However, no comprehensive guidelines have been proposed for the construction and use of V and V benchmarks. For example, the field of nuclear reactor safety has not focused on code verification benchmarks, but it has placed great emphasis on developing validation benchmarks. Many of these validation benchmarks are closely related to the operations of actual reactors at near-safety-critical conditions, as opposed to being more fundamental-physics benchmarks. This paper presents recommendations for the effective design and use of code verification benchmarks based on manufactured solutions, classical analytical solutions, and highly accurate numerical solutions. In addition, this paper presents recommendations for the design and use of validation benchmarks, highlighting the careful design of building-block experiments, the estimation of experimental measurement uncertainty for both inputs and outputs to the code, validation metrics, and the role of model calibration in validation. It is argued that the understanding of predictive capability of a computational model is built on the

Dimensions of Safety Climate among Iranian Nurses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z Naghavi Konjin

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Workplace safety has been a concern of workers and managers for decades. Measuring safety climate is crucial in improving safety performance. It is also a method of benchmarking safety perception. Objective: To develop and validate a psychometrics scale for measuring nurses' safety climate. Methods: Literature review, subject matter experts and nurse's judgment were used in items developing. Content validity and reliability for new tool were tested by content validity index (CVI and test-retest analysis, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA with varimax rotation was used to improve the interpretation of latent factors. Results: A 40-item scale in 6 factors was developed, which could explain 55% of the observed variance. The 6 factors included employees' involvement in safety and management support, compliance with safety rules, safety training and accessibility to personal protective equipment, hindrance to safe work, safety communication and job pressure, and individual risk perception. Conclusion: The proposed scale can be used in identifying the needed areas to implement interventions in safety climate of nurses.

Cost-Effective ISS Space-Environment Technology Validation of Advanced Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA), Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — DSS proposes to systematically mature, mitigate risk for; and perform hardware-based ground validations / demonstrations of a low-cost, high technology payoff,...

Report on the research projects in the field of reactor safety sponsored by the Federal Minister for Research and Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-09-01

Investigations on the safety of Light Water Reactors (LWR) being performed in the framework of the Research Program Reactor Safety (RS - Projects) are sponsored by the BMFT (Federal Minister for Research and Technology), Bundesminister fuer Forschung und Technologie. Objective of this program is to investigate in greater detail the safety margins of nuclear power plants and their systems and the further development of safety technology. Besides the investigations of LWR tasks first projects on the safety of FBR type reactors are sponsored by the BMFT. The GRS (Reactor Safety Association), Gesellschaft fuer Reaktorsicherheit mbH, by order of the BMFT, informs continuously of the status of such investigations by means of quarterly and annually publication of progress reports within the series GRS - F -Fortschrittsberichte (GRS - F - Progress Reports). Each progress report represents a compilation of individual reports about objectives, the work performed, the results, the next steps of the work etc. The individual reports are prepared in a standard form by the contractors themselves as a documentation of their progress in work, The individual reports are arranged according to the amended LWR Safety Research Program of the BMFT. Another table contents uses the same classification system as applied in the Nuclear Safety Index of the CEC Communities and the OECD. (orig./HP) 891 HP [de

Reliability and validity of a scale to measure consumer attitudes regarding the private food safety certification of restaurants.

Science.gov (United States)

Uggioni, Paula Lazzarin; Salay, Elisabete

2012-04-01

Validated and reliable instruments for measuring consumer attitudes regarding food quality certifications are lacking, but the measurement of consumer attitude could be an important tool for understanding consumer behavior. Thus the objective of this study was to develop an instrument for measuring consumer attitudes regarding private food safety certifications for commercial restaurants. To this end, the following steps were carried out: development of the interview items; complete pilot testing; item analyses (influence of social desirability and total-item correlation); reliability test (internal consistency and test-retest); and validity assessment (content and discriminative validity and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis). The subjects, all over the age of 18 and drawn from six non-probabilistic samples (n=7-350) in the city of Campinas, Brazil, were all subjected to an interview. The final scale included 24 items and had a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.79 and a content validation coefficient of 0.99, both within acceptable limits. The confirmatory factor analysis validated a model with five factors and the final instrument discriminated reasonably well between the groups and showed satisfactory reproducibility (r=0.955). Furthermore, the scale validity and reliability were satisfactory, suggesting it could also be applied to future studies. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Space Technology-7 Disturbance Reduction System Precision Control Flight Validation Experiment Control System Design

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donnell, James R.; Hsu, Oscar C.; Maghami, Peirman G.; Markley, F. Landis

2006-01-01

As originally proposed, the Space Technology-7 Disturbance Reduction System (DRS) project, managed out of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was designed to validate technologies required for future missions such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The two technologies to be demonstrated by DRS were Gravitational Reference Sensors (GRSs) and Colloidal MicroNewton Thrusters (CMNTs). Control algorithms being designed by the Dynamic Control System (DCS) team at the Goddard Space Flight Center would control the spacecraft so that it flew about a freely-floating GRS test mass, keeping it centered within its housing. For programmatic reasons, the GRSs were descoped from DRS. The primary goals of the new mission are to validate the performance of the CMNTs and to demonstrate precise spacecraft position control. DRS will fly as a part of the European Space Agency (ESA) LISA Pathfinder (LPF) spacecraft along with a similar ESA experiment, the LISA Technology Package (LTP). With no GRS, the DCS attitude and drag-free control systems make use of the sensor being developed by ESA as a part of the LTP. The control system is designed to maintain the spacecraft s position with respect to the test mass, to within 10 nm/the square root of Hz over the DRS science frequency band of 1 to 30 mHz.

Safety improvement technologies for nuclear power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishida, Koji; Adachi, Hirokazu; Kinoshita, Hirofumi; Takeshi, Noriaki; Yoshikawa, Kazuhiro; Itou, Kanta; Kurihara, Takao; Hino, Tetsushi

2015-01-01

As the Hitachi Group's efforts in nuclear power generation, this paper explains the safety improvement technologies that are currently under development or promotion. As efforts for the decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, the following items have been developed. (1) As for the spent fuel removal of Unit 4, the following items have mainly been conducted: removal of the debris piled up on the top surface of existing reactor building (R/B), removal of the debris deposited in spent fuel pool (SFP), and fuel transfer operation by means of remote underwater work. The removal of all spent fuels was completed in 2014. (2) The survey robots inside R/B, which are composed of a basement survey robot to check leaking spots at upper pressure suppression chamber and a floor running robot to check leaking spots in water, were verified with a field demonstration test at Unit 1. These robots were able to find the leaking spots at midair pipe expansion joint. (3) As the survey robot for reactor containment shells, robots of I-letter posture and horizontal U-letter posture were developed, and the survey on the upper part of first-floor grating inside the containment shells was performed. (4) As the facilities for contaminated water measures, sub-drain purification equipment, Advanced Liquid Processing System, etc. were developed and supplied, which are now showing good performance. On the other hand, an advanced boiling water reactor with high safety of the United Kingdom (UK ABWR) is under procedure of approval for introduction. In addition, a next-generation light-water reactor of transuranic element combustion type is under development. (A.O.)

Development of Safety Analysis Codes and Experimental Validation for a Very High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, H. Oh, PhD; Cliff Davis; Richard Moore

2004-11-01

The very high temperature gas-cooled reactors (VHTGRs) are those concepts that have average coolant temperatures above 900 degrees C or operational fuel temperatures above 1250 degrees C. These concepts provide the potential for increased energy conversion efficiency and for high-temperature process heat application in addition to power generation and nuclear hydrogen generation. While all the High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor (HTGR) concepts have sufficiently high temperatures to support process heat applications, such as desalination and cogeneration, the VHTGR's higher temperatures are suitable for particular applications such as thermochemical hydrogen production. However, the high temperature operation can be detrimental to safety following a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) initiated by pipe breaks caused by seismic or other events. Following the loss of coolant through the break and coolant depressurization, air from the containment will enter the core by molecular diffusion and ultimately by natural convection, leading to oxidation of the in-core graphite structures and fuel. The oxidation will release heat and accelerate the heatup of the reactor core. Thus, without any effective countermeasures, a pipe break may lead to significant fuel damage and fission product release. The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) has investigated this event for the past three years for the HTGR. However, the computer codes used, and in fact none of the world's computer codes, have been sufficiently developed and validated to reliably predict this event. New code development, improvement of the existing codes, and experimental validation are imperative to narrow the uncertaninty in the predictions of this type of accident. The objectives of this Korean/United States collaboration are to develop advanced computational methods for VHTGR safety analysis codes and to validate these computer codes.