Gafcon Digital VP Brett Moushon Presents at Digital Engineering in Nuclear Technology
Gafcon Digital Vice President Brett Moushon has been invited to speak at Digital Engineering in Nuclear Technology, hosted by NC State and EPRI. The two-day event is for nuclear reactor stakeholders interested in utilizing digital engineering in nuclear power plants’ life cycles. Speakers will exchange knowledge on digital engineering to enable more efficient nuclear power plants deployment, operation, and maintenance.
Mr. Moushon was one of the principal investigators for groundbreaking research with EPRI: “Program on Technology Innovation: Digital Twin Applications for Advanced Reactors.” The report investigates how digital twin technologies can help reduce the cost of capital and operations and maintenance (O&M) costs while focusing specifically on applications pertinent to the next generation of advanced reactors.
“Advanced reactors present a unique opportunity to reap the potential benefits of digital twins because they are still under development and can incorporate digital twins early in the design phase. Early adoption could maximize cost savings over the course of a plant’s life,” said Mr. Moushon, one of the principal investigators for this report. “Moreover, regulatory frameworks for advanced reactors are still under development and could evolve to facilitate the adoption of digital twin technologies in advanced reactor designs.”
The report explores potential benefits, challenges, capabilities, and use cases of digital twins across the advanced reactor lifecycle and aims to make progress on the following key issues related to digital twin adoption:
Lack of a common conceptual framework and standardized procedures for digital twin development
Scarcity of successful, nuclear-specific DT demonstrations and business cases
Uncertainties in regulatory impacts and readiness of enabling technologies
Inertia in conventional business practices and workflows that might inhibit key features of digital twins, such as integration across technical disciplines, data-sharing among various stakeholders, and digitalization of workflows