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Conference Held to Share Solutions and Discuss Ideas Among Peers
Irvine, Calif. – July 9, 2010 – The tenth anniversary gathering of the ETAP Nuclear Utility User Conference (NUUC) took place recently in Irvine, CA, where members shared presentations on their use of ETAP software on a variety of projects, and on models of future nuclear plants.
NUUC was launched in 2001 as a forum for nuclear users of ETAP. Attendees come from across the globe for this unique experience exchange. Program developers and end users interact with each other via both formal presentations and informal break out discussions and members receive a preview of the next version of ETAP and provide insightful comments about future enhancements.
Operation Technology, Inc. (OTI), developer of ETAP, hosts the annual event in order to productively focus on the needs and ideas of users who hold high-impact, nuclear licenses.
“With the 2010 conference having the largest attendance in recent memory,” noted NUUC Chairperson, Doug Larson, an Electrical Manager at Sargent & Lundy, “it shows how proactive nuclear industry users are in sharing solutions and discussing issues with their knowledgeable peers.”
“From protective device coordination, arc flash, load flow and voltage profile calculations to transient analysis with auxiliary power systems interfaces,” explained Raj Patel, NUUC Technical Chair from Dominion Resources, “we must stay current with the latest in software technology, and this forum is a best practice in achieving that.”
“The effectiveness of the interaction is reflected both in the quality of concepts and deliverables requested by the end users and the resulting quality of ETAP software,” said Billy Roettger, President of Roettger Engineering, Inc.
ETAP is used throughout the world by nuclear generation plants, research laboratories, consulting firms, government agencies, and others. ETAP has established itself as the de facto standard within United States nuclear generation plants, so much so that 60 out of 64 operating plants (94%) have standardized on ETAP.
The nuclear version of ETAP software is backed by OTI's Quality Assurance Program that complies with U.S. Title 10 CFR 50, Appendix B. Each new revision of ETAP released by OTI goes through the same Verified & Validated (V&V) procedures in order to maintain its "safety-related" status. The QA program also complies with IEEE 730.1 and ASME NQA-1. OTI has been audited, accepted, and placed on the Quality Suppliers List of major nuclear facilities since 1991.
NUUC is open to client institutions using ETAP and licensed as nuclear users. ETAP users with a non-nuclear license who are interested in nuclear activities can request participation as associate members. |
