Application of Probabilistic Structural Integrity: Methods and Benefits for Nuclear Asset Design, Operation and Decommissioning

Andy Holt: Professional Lead for Structural Integrity, Office for Nuclear Regulation

Andy Holt is the professional lead for Structural Integrity with the Office for Nuclear Regulation. The Office for Nuclear Regulation regulates nuclear safety, nuclear security and conventional health and safety at licensed nuclear sites in Great Britain and provides regulatory oversight for the transportation of civil nuclear materials. Its mission is to provide efficient and effective regulation of the nuclear industry, holding it to account on behalf of the public. Andy is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with extensive experience in the field of structural integrity. He has lead teams supporting the regulation of existing civil nuclear power reactors and in the assessment of new reactor designs. Andy now leads the Structural Integrity discipline in the organisation providing technical and professional advice on the regulation of nuclear safety related systems, structures and components.

Tim Jelfs: Acting Head of Nuclear Island, Horizon Nuclear Power

Tim Jelfs is currently Acting Head of Nuclear Island at Horizon Nuclear Power. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining with a strong background in structural integrity applied to gas reactors, PWRs and ABWRs. Tim has been Horizon’s Lead for Structural Integrity since joining the company in 2014, and has worked extensively with Hitachi-GE and the ONR during GDA steps 3 and 4 for the UK-ABWR assessment process. He continues to be involved heavily in structural integrity activities as the licensing and procurement phases of the project progress.

Mike Martin: Engineering Associate Fellow – Structural Integrity, Rolls-Royce

Mike Martin graduated with a Masters in Engineering from Queens’ College, University of Cambridge UK in 2000 and then worked in engineering roles in the offshore and gas transmission industries. Mike joined Rolls-Royce in 2006 and is now a Rolls-Royce Engineering Associate Fellow in the field of Structural Integrity, responsible for the development of advanced nuclear and gas turbine structural assessment methods. Mike is particularly interested in ensuring that industry design codes maintain pace with advances in technology and sits on the EDF Energy R5 Panel and HEXMAT programme advisory board. Mike regularly leads international conference sessions, delivers lectures on nuclear structural integrity and is a Fellow of the UK Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Caroline Pyke: Senior Statistician, National Nuclear Laboratory

Caroline Pyke is a chartered statistician with over 10 years’ experience in industry, working in both the pharmaceutical and nuclear sectors. Her main focus in the nuclear industry has been on applying statistical methods to the analysis of data arising from operating plants and experiments. The results of such analyses are used to inform customers, from plant operators to regulators, of the expected operating conditions and guide them in their decision making. Caroline also supports scientists with savvy experimental design and analysis. She is familiar with a number of statistical methods including (but not limited to); various forms of linear and non-linear regression, multivariate analyses, experimental design methodology, bootstrapping and monte-carlo simulation. Caroline is passionate about communicating statistics to a non-statistical audience, describing technical content simply.

Tom Siddall: Group Head, Structural Analysis Group, EDF Energy

Tom Siddall, Group Head - Structural Analysis, EDF Energy is a Mechanical Engineer, with 24 years’ experience in structures and dynamics. Early career began in heavy industry before moving to aerospace Engineering where I worked on structural design of flight controls and aircraft under carriage, including BAe Systems Hawk, Eurofighter Typhoon and Airbus 400M. Moved to EDF Energy in 2008, to support the UKs fleet of nuclear power stations. Discipline areas include blast and impact dynamics, fatigue, fracture mechanics and high temperature creep. Currently oversee a team of 20 structural analysts, providing technical support and governance for emergent station events and safety case development.

Isabel Hadley: Technology Fellow, Integrity Management Group, TWI Ltd

Isabel Hadley is a Technology Fellow in the Integrity Management Group at TWI. Her work focuses on the development of analytical flaw assessment techniques, and their application to safety-critical structures and pressure equipment. She chairs the committee that develops and maintains BS 7910 and is a member of the R6 panel. In 2016 Isabel took up the additional role of Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor in Integrity Management at the University of Bristol.

Julian Booker: Professor of Mechanical Design Engineering, Solid Mechanics Group, University of Bristol

Julian Booker’s holds a Chair in Mechanical Design Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol, UK. His research is associated with the development, application and implementation of design methods across a broad spectrum of engineering disciplines and industrial sectors. Working within the Solid Mechanics Group (SMG) at Bristol, his research into statistical and probabilistic methods has application to design analysis, failure assessment and the performance of machine components. He has published over 140 papers and has authored 3 books on these topics. He is on the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Engineering Design and the journal Designs, and has served on the scientific committees for numerous international conferences. He is a Fellow of the IMechE and a Chartered Engineer and sits on the Academic Standards Panel involved with accreditation of Universities for the institution.

Mark Joyce: Group Leader, Numerical Modelling, Frazer-Nash Consultancy

Following a PhD in fatigue and fracture mechanics, Mark developed his research interests in the micro-mechanical failure behaviour of cast Al systems, Ni-based alloys and latterly, nuclear graphite. Joining Frazer-Nash Consultancy in 2007, he continued to apply these approaches developing particular experience of employing probabilistic models to investigate system and material behaviour in the Nuclear, Defence and Power Generation sectors. Today, he leads a team with substantial experience in applying these methods to disparate datasets in order to develop physically based and empirical models of future behaviour permitting intelligent asset management decisions across a wide range of sectors.

Stephen Garwood: Professor of Structural Integrity, Imperial College London

Steve studied Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College, (graduated 1973) followed by a PhD in Applied Mechanics.  He developed his early career at the Welding Institute where he became Head of Engineering in 1989 and subsequently Head of Structural Integrity.
Steve joined Rolls-Royce in 1996 as Technical Director of Rolls-Royce and Associates, becoming Director of Engineering & Technology for Marine Power in 1998. He then took up various Corporate positions (Director of Technology, and Director of Materials) returning to the Marine business as Director, Engineering and Technology – Submarines in 2006. In 2013, Steve directed the research activities for the Nuclear Sector developing Rolls-Royce’s Nuclear UTC’s at Imperial College and Manchester.
Steve is a Chartered Engineer; a Fellow of IMechE, IOM3 and TWI and was elected to the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2002. 
He was principal author of the RAEng report on 'Industrial Systems' published in 2012.
Following retirement from Rolls-Royce in 2013, Steve joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at Imperial College, London as Professor of Structural Integrity (Visiting Professor since 2006). He is also a Non Executive Director of the Transport Systems Catapult and FESI, and serves on a number of Nuclear Advisory Committees.

Simon Williams: Chief Technologist - Nuclear Safety, Rolls-Royce

As Chief Technologist – Nuclear Safety for Rolls-Royce, Simon develops strategies and provides governance for nuclear safety cases across the submarines enterprise and provides specialist consultation in the civil nuclear sector. Simon has worked at Rolls-Royce for 22 years, with a background in core physics, radiation shielding design, consequence assessment, risk modelling and component design.  Over the past 12 years, he has worked predominantly on developing submarine reactor plant and nuclear site safety cases to modern standards.

Keith Wright: Chief Stress Engineer, Submarines, Rolls-Royce

Keith is the Chief Stress Engineer in the Submarines business of Rolls-Royce. He has over 30 years’ experience in the nuclear industry, civil and marine and another 5 years’ in the Oil and Gas industry. Keith specialises in the structural integrity assessment of pressure vessels, components and piping; providing stress, fatigue and fracture assessments. Keith is a member of various ASME Section III committees and former Chair of Working Group Environmental Fatigue Evaluation Methods. A Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, member of NAFEMS computational structural mechanics working group and a FESI council member.

Mutaz Bashir: Principal Engineering Analyst (Codes & Standards), UKAEA - Culham Centre for Fusion Energy

2001 – 2006; Mechanical Engineer in a challenging continuous production plant working on installation and maintenance of plant equipment machineries. 

2010 – 2012; Research Fellow at University of Nottingham with particular focus on finite element modelling of aeroengine welding processes and optimisation. 

2012 – 2018; Senior Engineer at Dunlop Oil & Marine Ltd leading flexible pipes product development through development of design and assessment methods. Also, leading certification of designs and respective prototype testing.

2018 – Current; Principal Engineering Analyst at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy leading and managing the development of design rules applicable to in-vessel fusion components. The development includes deterministic approach, in partnership with European research entities, and probabilistic approach, in partnership with the nuclear industry. 

Paul Donavin: Project Engineer and ASME Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

Mr. Donavin has more than 45 years of experience includes preparing and reviewing design modification packages, interfacing with modification implementation and operations personnel, and performing design changes to support backlog reduction of plant modifications. He has worked on the data collection for equipment information and performed walk-downs for modifications associated with various plant upgrades. He has also reviewed design documents and prepared project plans for plant modifications, as well as prepared modification packages for various plant component replacements and evaluated plant engineered repairs.

Paul Smith : Consultant, New Nuclear, Wood plc

Paul Smith is a specialist in design, manufacturing, conformity assessment, independent inspection and design assessment of nuclear pressure equipment. Paul has a background in stress analysis, having worked in the Wood Nuclear Structural Integrity Team, where he was responsible for the design and analysis of engineering structures, systems and components, production of design justification reports, and presentation of results to clients and the nuclear regulator. Paul participates and chairs national and international committees for nuclear pressure equipment and regularly publishes work on comparisons of international codes, standards and working practices for nuclear pressure equipment. Paul was previously the Head of Profession for Structural Integrity and Materials, responsible for leading the development of the Wood Nuclear Structural Integrity and Materials Profession and representing the interests of the profession both internally and externally.

David Langbridge: Head of DNSR, Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator

Nawal Prinja: Technology Director, (Nuclear), Wood plc