Difficulty meeting data-related regulatory requirements compliance deadlines, and being dependent on a hard copy archive instead of an electronic document and records management system (EDRMS)
NuScale faced many enterprise data-related challenges further complicated by being part of a highly regulated industry. The company’s most critical needs were to pass U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspections for design acceptance, modernize with a move from paper-based to electronic records and leverage data assets to generate new revenue streams. Content Manager ensures NuScale can quickly and seamlessly retrieve records for NRC inspectors to review during an on-site visit by a 40 inspectors team that is expected to grant design certificate authorization for NuScale to build its small modular reactor for customer utility companies. Fast records access is essential to demonstrate compliance, to secure authorization and ultimately to proceed with the SMR build.
A key value of Content Manager is that the software allows NuScale to define custom fields that flag customer deliverables such as calculations and drawings. NuScale expects to programmatically parse those deliverables onto a separate data store for sale to customers as part of its information turnover services. This turnkey asset management solution will serve as an additional revenue stream for NuScale and allow its customers to maintain and operate their own SMRs with potential savings in the millions of dollars.
NuScale Power, LLC develops small modular reactors (SMRs) that reinvent nuclear energy to create safer, more economical, carbon-free power to support global demand. A NuScale plant is built on NuScale Power Modules, each producing 50 megawatts of electricity (gross) with its own factory-built combined containment vessel and reactor vessel, and its own packaged turbine-generator set.
A power plant with 12 NuScale Power Modules can produce up to 600 MWe gross. The reactor coolant is driven by natural circulation and can be shut down safely with no operator action, no AC or DC power and no external water supply.
Content Manager allows NuScale to utilize a requirements-based implementation methodology as cited in NIMRA guides TG11/15/16/21-1998 to meet all retention, retrieval, destruction, revision control and other document and records management objectives. Productivity gains help reduce the time required to build SMRs and accelerate delivery of entire projects.
Micro Focus software services assisted with solution design and implementation, ensuring NuScale could deploy the NRC-compliant implementation methodology within an aggressive six-month schedule. NuScale estimates that without these services, the project could have taken up to 12 months longer. NuScale employed Micro Focus education services to maximize effective knowledge transfer and provide the strategic training required for user acceptance testing.
Dasher Technologies provided server installation services. Certifications that Dasher engineers are Micro Focus-trained for each type of hardware installation ensure all services meet stringent NuScale quality requirements.
Micro Focus solutions have enabled NuScale to successfully comply with NRC Regulatory Issues Summaries NIS 2000-18 for managing electronic records in licensed commercial nuclear plants. In addition to meeting these stringent guidelines, the company was able to complete its transition to the new solution in less than six months to ensure readiness for NRC on-site review.
Implementation of Content Manager moved NuScale away from a paper-based repository to an electronic records management system with dual storage (15TB at each of two locations) and sub-4-hour disaster recovery. The solution has also streamlined migration of legacy records from Microsoft SharePoint database, migrating more than 9TB and enabling rapid integration of new records including test files of up to 500GB.
Through NuScale’s use of Content Manger, enterprise data is now an asset, not a liability. The solution enables compliance with stringent regulatory requirements, introduction of new revenue streams and accelerated delivery of a long-term green energy source for the next generation.
