Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) is a key pillar in the Risk-Informed Regulatory Decision-Making framework of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). A growing number of other U.S. government agencies are evaluating the use of PRA for decision making and policy setting. Dr. George Apostolakis, former Commissioner of the NRC has had a distinguished career as a professor, an engineer, and risk analyst. During his time at the NRC, he headed the Risk Management Task Force, whose purpose was to “develop a strategic vision and options for adopting a more comprehensive, holistic, risk-informed, performance based regulatory approach” (Apostolakis, Cunningham, Lui, Pangburn, & Reckley, 2012). In the taskforce’s seminal work, NUREG-2150, a vision for the evolution of PRA in Regulatory Decision-Making is laid out, and a Risk Management Regulatory Framework for improving safety and security in high-consequence industry applications is proposed.
As a research team dedicated to advancing PRA, the Socio-Technical Risk Analysis (SoTeRiA) Laboratory contributes to the vision put forth in NUREG-2150, to develop risk models that provide “credible accident sequences by considering the facility or operation as a “system of systems” consisting of structures, systems, components, and personnel” (Apostolakis et al., 2012). Due to the socio-technical nature of risk in complex systems, SoTeRiA Laboratory has initiated several areas of research to meet demands faced by industry, including; risk-informed emergency preparedness, planning and response modeling for severe accidents, fire PRA, location-specific Loss-Of-Coolant Accident (LOCA) frequency estimations, global risk importance measures, modeling the effects of human and organizational influences on technical system failure, estimating the monetary value of PRA, , and developing a risk-informed resolution of Generic Safety Issue 191, a long-standing issue for commercial nuclear power plants and the NRC. In a time where over-standardization in regulations is an important topic in the public narrative, risk-informed approaches can have significant impacts on safety improvements, cost-reductions and sustainability of high-consequence industries.
The Honorable George Apostolakis will present at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Grainger Lecture Series on March 7th, at 12:00 p.m. in Talbot Laboratory Room 103. Please see the flier below for more information.
Later in the day on March 7th, at 3:00 PM in Beckman Institute 2269-2nd Floor Tower Room, there will be an Informal Student Discussion with Dr. Apostolakis where students are encouraged to bring questions and discuss their multidisciplinary research.
REFERENCES
Apostolakis, G., Cunningham, M., Lui, C., Pangburn, G., & Reckley, W. (2012). A Proposed Risk Management Regulatory Framework. NUREG-2150, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, April.