Events

SoTeRiA Director and Associate Professor Zahra Mohaghegh and Graduate Researcher John Beal will give a talk titled Nuclear Safety, Security, & Profitability via Probabilistic Risk Assessment at the NPRE 199 presentation series on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 from 12:00 – 12:50 pm. NPRE 199 is an undergraduate seminar for NPRE students intended to expose freshmen in the department to research and developments in nuclear, plasma, and radiological engineering through lectures and discussions led by faculty, advanced students, and visiting lecturers. Zahra and John’s talk will focus on presenting the SoTeRiA laboratory’s core missions, highlighting current projects and research in the field of Risk Analysis, and encouraging undergraduates to get involved in research!

Registration

The Socio-Technical Risk Analysis (SoTeRiA) Research Laboratory will be represented at the 2021 Beckman Institute Open House. This event will be held virtually from March 26-27 and will provide an opportunity to learn about the cutting-edge research and opportunities available at the Beckman Institute and the SoTeRiA Lab. Bringing together collaborators from a variety of engineering backgrounds, the Beckman Institute and the SoTeRiA Lab drive engineering innovation through a focus on interdisciplinary research, industry-academia collaboration, and sustainable engineering. Please visit us at the Beckman Institute Open House to learn more.

The Socio-Technical Risk Analysis (SoTeRiA) Research Laboratory will be presenting at the University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering Spring 2021 Engineering Research Fair, which will be held virtually on Thursday February 25, 2021 from 4-6pm. The Engineering Research Fair provides students with the opportunity to learn about research opportunities within and outside of the University.

The SoTeRiA Lab, directed by Associate Professor Zahra Mohaghegh, in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a multidisciplinary research laboratory that has a proven track record of developing scientific and innovative approaches for risk assessment, risk management, and risk-informed decision-making and regulation. SoTeRiA’s research focuses on maintaining or improving a high level of safety in technological systems such as commercial nuclear power plants, while reducing the cost of operations

Undergraduate researchers Jake Mitstifer, Madeline Morasca, and Andrea Roy will be leading the SoTeRiA presentation at the Research Fair, and will be happy to answer any questions related to ongoing research in the SoTeRiA Lab, potential research opportunities with SoTeRiA, and/or the field of Risk Analysis in general. An introductory video about the SoTeRiA Research Laboratory is available here.

Registration:

Please register to attend the research fair here.

SoTeRiA will be presenting virtually in this Zoom meeting from 4-6pm on Thursday February 25, 2021. We hope to see you there!

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ESREL 2020 PSAM 15

The ESREL 2020 PSAM 15 conference combines the 30th European Safety and Reliability Conference and the 15th Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management Conference and will be held in Venice, Italy, on June 21–26, 2020. “It will be a unique World Exposition (a real “Expo Tech”) of scientific methodologies and technical solutions for the reliable design and operation of components and systems, for the prevention and management of risk in complex systems and critical infrastructures.”

Important Dates

• Abstract Submission (November 10)
• Abstract Acceptance (December 5)
• Full Paper Submission (January 15)
• Notification of Acceptance (March 1)
• Final Full Paper (March 15)

http://www.esrel2020-psam15.org/

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2017 International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis (PSA 2017)

Professor Zahra Mohaghegh serves as the Academic Chair of the 2017 International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis (PSA 2017). The Socio-Technical Laboratory is involved in the Organizing Committee, chairing multiple sessions, and presenting several papers on their research. SoTeRiA Laboratory is excited to participate in the ANS PSA 2017 conference, as it brings together a vibrant and diverse community from industry, governmental agencies and academia to build this common vocabulary and expand upon a shared vision for enhancing risk analysis research and education in order to usher in a new era, void of catastrophic accidents, where scientific discoveries are used to raise social responsibility for the protection of workers, the public, and the environment. Building this community ensures that scientific contributions in risk analysis can continue to benefit complex socio-technical systems by advancing risk-informed decision making. As an educator of engineers, social scientists, and policymakers, the PSA conference creates a multidisciplinary environment for uncovering important areas of formal risk analysis training and education, advancing risk analysis knowledge sharing among academia, industry, and governmental agencies by creating an open scientific environment. By promoting risk analysis as its own academic discipline through the ANS PSA conference, we encourage the next generation of risk analysts being introduced into the workforce, thereby contributing to international safety, security, and peace in our global community.

View Conference Website

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U.S. – China Risk-Informed Regulation and Safety Culture Workshop

Photo Credit: Suzhou Nuclear Power Research Institute Co., Ltd., Source: International Regulatory Development Partnership Website

The SoTeRiA Laboratory aims to establish the University of Illinois as a global leader in Risk Analysis education and research. In March 2015, Mohaghegh and the SoTeRiA Laboratory developed and presented the U.S.-China Probabilistic Safety Assessment Workshop on “Risk-Informed Regulation and Safety Culture,” in Shenzhen, China, as part of the DOE’s Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology (PUNT) program.

The SoTeRiA team coordinated and taught one week of training workshop on risk-informed regulation and safety culture for the Chinese nuclear power industry. There were 72 representatives from 28 Chinese nuclear energy organizations and entities in attendance, which included plant managers, operators, engineers, and researchers. Prof. Mohaghegh, Ernie Kee (NPRE Research Affiliate), Tatsuya Sakurahara (NPRE PhD Candidate), Justin Pence (Informatics PhD Student) led the workshop, in collaboration with U.S. and Chinese industry partners, and U.S. regulatory experts Glenn Kelly (ret. from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) and Weidong He from AdSTM, LLC.

With 10 years experience in PRA research, Mohaghegh believes that “while the U.S. leads in risk analysis methods for nuclear safety, PRA researchers applying analysis techniques in countries such as China and Japan must take into account varying geographies, cultures and operating experiences to avoid potentially misleading results.” Mohaghegh and her team have initiated collaborations with national and international research institutions in order to achieve tailor-made solutions for high-risk operations around the world.

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ANS 2013 Risk Management Embedded Topical Meeting: Risk Management for Complex Socio-Technical Systems (RM4CSS)

The Socio-Technical Risk Analysis (SoTeRiA) Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC) has played a key role in organizing and planning the RM4CSS Meeting. Professor Zahra Mohaghegh served as the meeting’s Technical Program Co-Chair, and the SoTeRiA Laboratory-led panel discussions participated in technical sessions and presented research papers.

The meeting was not primarily for experts to talk to experts. Instead, it welcomed management, analysts, safety professionals, risk personnel, researchers, and students from all over the world for discussions on classical and multidisciplinary issues of risk, safety, reliability, and security of nuclear power and other complex systems.

From the opening plenary on “Risk-Informed Decision Making” to the closing plenary on “History and Perspectives of Risk Management”, leading experts discussed cutting edge approaches for risk assessment and risk management. The opening plenary, designed by Assistant Prof. Zahra Mohaghegh (NPRE), featured prominent speakers including, NRC Commissioner George Apostolakis – also the meeting’s honorary chair, Doug Coe (NRC), Prof. Ali Mosleh (UMD), Prof. Antoine Rauzy (Ecole Polytechnique), and Rick Grantom (So. Texas Project). The closing plenary, designed by Dr. Ron Knief (SNL), an NPRE alumnus, featured PRA-luminary Dr. B. John Garrick (PLG [ret.]), former-astronaut Dr. Sid Gutierrez (SNL), and Dr. William Mullins (HQ USAF).

In total, the meeting featured eight panels and 23 technical sessions, bringing together specialists to address: risk assessment & management, socio-technical systems risk modeling, cybersecurity, risk management for digital I & C, uncertainty modeling, simulation-based PRA, Fire PRA, external events modeling, physics of failure, systems thinking approaches to safety and security, complexity, emergency planning, risk-informed resolution of generic safety issue 191, aviation risk analysis, healthcare risk management, risk perception, expert elicitation, human and organizational factors, and safety culture.

Visit Meeting Website