Ep 79: Rob Austin, Electric Power Research Institute

In this episode we discuss...

• Rob’s background in history and his personal evolution in the nuclear industry
• Design flaws that led to the Three Mile Island accident
• Rob’s work in plant modernization managing major electrical and digital upgrades at plants in the US
• Pros and cons of analog systems versus digital systems
• The core inputs essential to safety control in a plant including coolant flow and temperature parameters
• Economic challenges in nuclear and how we can replace manual labor with automation to help overcome those challenges
• Concerns over software common cause failure
• Lessons we can learn from upgrade deficiencies in other countries
• How cybersecurity is maintained in digital systems
• How plant modernization methods are working to dramatically reduce the operation and maintenance costs required in nuclear