Overview //
Nuclear power plants all over the globe have continued to increase their safety and productivity ratings over the last decade, in part due to the implementation of performance improvement initiatives and programs. In the US, several industry initiatives culminated in the formation of an integrated process which addresses Condition Reporting, Corrective Action, Trending, Operating Experience as well as several Human Performance and Management Observation processes.
In 2005, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators (INPO®) published INPO 05-005, Guidelines for Performance Improvement at Nuclear Power Stations©. This guideline depicts the PI process as a continuous loop of performance monitoring, analyzing, identifying, planning and implementing solutions. In 2006 the Nuclear Regulatory Council (NRC) added Safety Culture attributes and measurements to their Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) as documented in RIS-2006-13, which resulted in closer scrutiny by the regulator into performance improvement activities at the nuclear sites.
As a result, many nuclear utilities now face the daunting tasks of showing compliance with these industry standards, using antiquated and diverse processes and tools. Some have taken the lead by adopting the INPO 05-005 process and implementing a tool that supports it out-of-the-box. eB Nuclear Performance Improvement is the ONLY software tool available today that supports the entire Performance Improvement process in an integrated manner, seamlessly integrated with your Master Equipment List, Controlled Documents and other critical data.
INPO is a registered trademark of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations. References to INPO and its guidelines do not represent endorsement of Enterprise Informatics' products.
Corrective Action, Human Performance and Operating Experience Solutions
eB Nuclear Performance Improvement is based on industry standards and best practices.
Business Values
"Constellation Energy selected the Enterprise Informatics eB Nuclear solution for our Fleetwide e-PIC (electronic Performance Improvement Center) because they offer unparalleled knowledge and commitment to the Nuclear market and a fully integrated suite of Nuclear specific applications that implement industry best practices."
— Gerry Doyle, Director Fleet Performance Improvement, Constellation Energy.
eB for Nuclear Performance Improvement is the only out-of-the-box software solution developed based on INPO and NRC guidelines, providing a cost effective way for nuclear facilities to maximize regulatory compliance. The following INPO Performance Improvement Model shows the areas of the INPO 05-005 guideline that eB Performance Improvement specifically supports.
With eB Nuclear Performance Improvement, nuclear plants and fleets have an application that provides the robust features required to minimize non-compliance risk and streamline business processes related to corrective action, human performance and operating experience:
- Fully electronic, workflow-driven tools for efficiently managing all aspects of performance improvement
- Based on industry standards and best practices for rapid implementation and adoption by end-users
- Configurable workflow processes and forms via graphical user interface
- Tightly integrated with equipment, documents, and people on a single platform
- Powerful trending, reporting, and analysis capabilities
- Simple-to-use, task-driven approach greatly increases the productivity of reviewers, cause analysts, and managers
- Built-in INPO interfaces handle incoming operating experience data and periodic database upload
- Powerful online survey tool for observations, benchmarks, and self assessments
What Makes eB Nuclear Performance Improvement Different?
At most nuclear sites, Corrective Action started as a manual, paper process, with files moving from desk to desk gathering more information and approval. The next phase came about when electronic workflow and document management allowed the automation of the same process, but with very little productivity gain and certainly no improvement in data integrity and visibility. The same is true for the other processes associated with Performance Improvement, namely Operating Experience, Observations, Benchmarking and Self Assessment. These are often done as completely independent silos of information and oversight.
eB Nuclear provides the next generation of tools for integrated Performance Improvement, with workflows pre-configured according to industry best practices, but adaptable to individual plant or project requirements. Integrated Trending and Reporting across all PI processes eliminates silos and provides a level of data integrity and visibility not previously achievable.
Furthermore, unlike stand-alone corrective action tools, eB Nuclear Performance Improvement uses powerful enterprise information management (EIM) capabilities to associate areas of CAQ and areas for improvement with related equipment, systems, processes, documents, organizations, and people. This ability to manage CAQ in context aids in analyzing problems and making informed decisions about corrective and preventative actions. It also allows users in other disciplines (design engineering, maintenance, document control, etc.) immediate visibility into any issues of CAQ items or documents they are using.
For more information, download the eB for Nuclear Solution Brief and the Performance Improvement Application Brief.
Next Tab: Applications
Applications
"eB has proven itself as the core of our ePIC system. Not only do we have increased visibility to the information we need, we can trust the data integrity due to eB’s unique ability to manage the links between relevant information objects."
— Adrienne Allen, director performance improvement, R.E. Ginna Nuclear Plant
Corrective Action and Human Performance
Corrective Action automates and facilitates identifying and resolving conditions adverse to quality (CAQ) issues and incidents through user-friendly condition reports, reviews, action tracking, and eventual closure. Human Performance automates processes for conducting observations, self assessments, benchmarks, and operating experience. A powerful trending feature catalogs all events and actions for statistical analysis and reporting.
Unlike stand-alone corrective action tools, eB Nuclear Performance Improvement uses powerful enterprise information management (EIM) capabilities to associate areas of CAQ and areas for improvement with related equipment, systems, processes, documents, organizations, and people. This ability to manage CAQ in context aids in analyzing problems and making informed decisions about corrective and preventative actions. It also allows users in other disciplines (design engineering, maintenance, document control, etc.) immediate visibility into any issues of CAQ items or documents they are using.
eB Nuclear Performance Improvement is the single integrated platform for the management of:
- Condition reports
- Corrective actions
- Preventative actions
- Operating experience—Both incoming (automated from INPO) and outgoing
- Observations—Powerful online survey tool featuring predefined questions and answers with trend codes and positive or negative weighting assigned to answers
- Benchmarking
- Self assessment
Reports and Trending
eB Nuclear Performance Improvement provides a range of pre-defined reports, including:
- Progress and status reports on all incidents and corrective actions with full drill-down capabilities
- Productivity improvement reports for screeners, reviewers, and supervisors to process tasks quickly and efficiently
- Statistical analysis reports associated with trending and other criteria
Trending and Analysis
Screening and expert analysis of condition reports and other areas of improvement, are essential to determining appropriate corrective and preventative actions. Using eB, screeners are able analyze the event in context to equipment, documents, processes, and organizations—without having to access other systems to conduct research. What’s more, the impact of incidents and all subsequent actions are fully visible and understood.
Records Management
Once completed, all performance improvement events and associated actions become quality records and must be stored and managed according to Nuclear Records Management standards. eB Nuclear information management features provide rapid access to relevant and accurate information when evaluating and managing incidents, and the capability to store completed incidents and actions as corporate records, without the need to print and scan.
Next Tab: Technology
Technology
Built upon an advanced Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), eB uses the latest Microsoft technologies. Developed with the same technologies as SharePoint, eB embraces Microsoft's .NET framework to form the foundation of its application server tier, web services and user interfaces. This architecture allows eB to easily be integrated to other business critical applications.
eB is compatible with Windows 7 and certified for Windows Server 2008. Enterprise Informatics is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
The eB architecture is proven to be enterprise scalable and highly reliable, and offers the flexibility to adapt to the unique business requirements of a diverse customer base. eB is a highly effective solution for building bridges between SharePoint sites across the enterprise (eB for SharePoint) and other information repositories that are required to realize an effective EIM strategy.
eB for Enterprise is certified by the Institute of Configuration Management (ICM) as a four star Configuration Management software platform.
For more information visit the Technology page.
Next Tab: Resources
Resources
eB for Nuclear Solution Brief
Integrated Performance Improvement Methods: A Nuclear Performance Improvement White Paper
eB Nuclear Performance Improvement Application Brief
Constellation Energy: R.E. Ginna Nuclear Plant Case Study
Webinar: eB Nuclear Performance Improvement
A discussion and demonstration of eB’s Nuclear Performance Improvement Application. Download
Nuclear Information Life Cycle Solution Brief
Nuclear Knowledge Management White Paper
Configuration Management White Paper
Configuration Management Data Sheet
Further information is also available by following these links:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Institute for Nuclear Power Operations (INPO)
Next Tab: Customers
Customers
Energy Customers // Nuclear Performance Improvement
Constellation Energy (Calvert Cliffs 1 & 2, Ginna, Nine Mile Point 1&2)
Has been in production with eB Corrective Action since 2005 and eB Human Performance since 2007. All personnel at each of the plants have access to the system, which is considered a vital component of their ability to maintain safety and performance standards, as frequently monitored by the NRC and INPO©.
CH2M Hill
The CH2M Hill Nuclear Business Group provides engineering, procurement, and construction oversight for nuclear projects worldwide and use the eB Nuclear Corrective Action application in addition to the eB Nuclear Information Management solution for document control, and records management. eB for Nuclear has been in use at CH2M Hill for two years.
EnergySolutions
EnergySolutions, an international nuclear services company with operations throughout the United States and around the world, has chosen to standardize its enterprise information management on the eB for Nuclear platform, including Corrective Action, and Human Performance to support behavior based safety observations, surveys and trending.
AmerenUE (Callaway Plant)
Uses eB to manage their complete Design Basis requirements consisting of the licensing documents and Master Equipment List (MEL).
For more information about our customers and our nuclear products, visit the Download Center.
First Tab: Business Values
