Fall Inside NIRMA Issue

Inside 

Leading the way in Nuclear Information and Records Management 

magazine 

Visit us at: NIRMA.org 

2024 NIRMA 

Board of Directors 

The Wonderful 

World of Microfilm 

On Site Capture 

(OSC) Projects 

A Call from the Past: Embracing the History 

and Future of Aperture Card Scanners 

Issue # 18, Fall 2023

CONTENT 

9 

12 

15 

16 

The Wonderful World of Microfilm 

By Kate Gleason, Inside Technical Sales Rep., nextScan/ST Imaging 

A Call from the Past: Embracing the History and Future of Aperture 

Card Scanners 

By Hannah Clawson, Communications Coordinator, The Crowley Company 

Introducing the 2024 Board of Directors 

On Site Capture (OSC) Projects 

By Manuel Bulwa, Integrated Scanning of America 

18 

19 

20 

28 

31 

This is “So Long!” Not “Goodbye” 

By Margie Janney, CRM/NS/FED, NRC 

Meet Helena Gilbert, NRC Agency Records Officer 

Symposium Pictorial 

Chronicles of NIM: A Retrospective on Information Management in 

Nuclear Power 

By Eugene Yang, KISMET Consulting, Inc. 

SIGET: Focused on Artificial Intelligence 

By Bob Larrivee 

2 Fall 2023 NIRMA.org Inside NIRMA

in every issue 

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD—4 

SYMPOSIUM CORNER—6 

TREASURER REPORT—17 

PDBU NEWS—32 

M&MBU NEWS—33 

RIMBU NEWS—34 

INDUSTRY NEWS—35 

Letter from the Editors 

We at Inside NIRMA, value your opinion and are 

always looking to improve our magazine. Let us 

know what you like and dislike and what you’d 

like to see more of. Share your thoughts with our 

Communication Team at 

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please take a moment to follow 

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NIRMA on LinkedIn. 

Thanks for reading. Please keep in touch! 

Neal and Sandra Miller 

Editors 

Editors 

Neal and Sandra Miller 

DevereauxInc@outlook.com 

Advertising 

Neal.F.Miller@gmail.com 

NIRMA Headquarters 

Sarah Perkins 

NIRMA Administrator 

nirma@nirma.org 

In addition to our own 

articles, Inside NIRMA 

publishes guest articles from 

agencies and vendors. Please 

be advised that the views and 

opinions expressed in these 

articles are those of the 

authors and do not 

necessarily reflect the 

opinions of NIRMA or its 

Board of Directors. 

Back to Content | Inside NIRMA NIRMA.org Fall 2023 3

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD 

A Wide Tent for NIRMA 

L 

ooking back upon another great NIRMA 

Symposium in August, we are thankful to all of 

you and the talents you bring to NIRMA. Those 

who attended are now officially NIRMA members, as 

we affectionally call "NIRMITES". 

NIRMA indeed offers a wide tent of interests and 

topics around regulated information management and 

nuclear power as we heard during the NIRMA 23 

Symposium. It became obvious that we are only in the 

infancy of what lies ahead. Our opening Keynote 

speaker, Ms. Erin Hultman, Nuclear Energy Institute 

(NEI) Vice-President, Member and Corporate Services, 

Chief Financial Officer) showed the way for a bright 

future for nuclear power. Then, Mr. Sadamaro 

Yamashita, Chairman of NRM Holdings provided an 

international perspective of Japan's nuclear power. 

Finally, we learned of the future potential from 

TerraPower on the third day's Keynote address provided 

by Mr. Eric Williams. What a fantastic opportunity for 

those in attendance to experience and to take back 

meaningful benchmarking to their own organizations! 

We celebrated our past with honoring the 

contributions of two great men with NIRMA Lifetime 

Member Awards to Bill Clover of Constellation Energy 

and Sadamaro Yamashita of NRM Holdings from 

Japan. What an honor it was to bestow the highest 

NIRMA recognition to two great members for decades 

of service to NIRMA and the nuclear industry. 

Congratulations! 

We look back on 2023 and are proud to say we 

advanced our NIRMA focus and Board Goals of: 

• Develop and maintain information management 

standards and technical guidance celebrating the 

likely final revision to the ANSI/NIRMA CM1.0- 

2007 (R2021), “Guidelines on Configuration 

Management for Nuclear Facilities” while seeing 

new guidance on the horizon for the industry. 

• Provide input to the hard copy and electronic 

records capture and retention in the context of 

ASME/NQA-1, “Quality Assurance 

Requirements for Nuclear Facility 

Applications.” 

Erin Hultman 

Sadamaro Yamashita 

• Research emerging technologies and assess how 

they will impact information and records 

management practices in the nuclear industry 

via the NIRMA Special Interest Group on Emerging 

Technologies (SIGET). 

• Provide educational and technical guidance for 

information and process management to our 

membership (via the Annual Symposium, Webinars, 

Mentoring Program, and Professional Certification 

Program). 


Eric Williams 

➔ Bill Clover with 

NIRMA President, 

Janice Hoerber 

• Promotion of NIRMA to increase membership, 

vendor exhibitors, business unit participation, 

sponsorships, and social media presence. 

• Further develop relationships with commercial 

entities, government agencies, and industry 

organizations such as the NRC, DOE, NEI, 

ASME, CMBG, NITSL, and others. 

The post-Symposium survey was very positive, 

along with great thoughts and ideas for improvement 

in the next symposium. Thank you! We ALWAYS 

value your feedback and thoughts on what NIRMA 

can do better to benefit its membership and to 

expand the NIRMA audience. 

The reality is that a long-standing organization 

such as NIRMA must continue to widen the tent of 

NIRMA interests, topics, and exhibitors. It benefits 

us all to acknowledge what is coming in the nuclear 

power industry and to lean in on what it means for us 

in the years ahead. Sometimes it is exciting and 

sometimes it is concerning if we are worried where we 

fit into the future workforce. Regardless, it is going to 

be quite a ride if we look at the future on a positive 

note and adapt to change and new technology. It 

might even be better. We may look back with a smile 

wondering how in the world did we exist with the old 

ways and tools that once were. 

Janice Hoerber and Bob Larrivee 

are concluding their NIRMA 

Board of Director terms in 2023 

with gratitude and great regard 

for NIRMA's mission. All things 

must come to an end, and indeed 

that time has come. NIRMA 

serves the industry once again at 

a great time in nuclear power, 

just as it did in 1976. Information 

will become an asset much like 

plant assets, and that is core 

business for NIRMA! 

Enjoy the ride. 


By Bruce Walters, CRM/NS 

L 

ast year, the Board kind of chuckled at Bob 

Larrivee’s prediction that we will hit 150 

attendees at the 2023 Symposium. Heck, we 

had hardly surpassed 100 attendees in 2022 so that 

seemed like a big stretch. With a plethora of great 

speakers, brand-new topics being presented, and more 

vendors in 2023, we looked like we would do it. Then 

came company cutbacks and some people were forced 

to cancel their plans. In the end, we had 132 

attendees, but our Bob Nostradamus would have been 

accurate otherwise. For 2024, many of you there 

heard him predict 200 attendees. I’m not chuckling 

this time around. 

I am thankful for all the sponsors who financially 

supported this year’s symposium and our vendors for 

turning out. And, of course, to all of you who came 

and participated. We had five international attendees 

from Japan, Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. 

Plus there were 37 first-time attendees. 

And what a pleasure it was to bestow Lifetime 

Membership Awards to Mr. Sadamaro Yamashita 

and Bill Clover. Both are so deserving of this honor. 

You might take a moment to congratulate them both. 

What a great event! What great support all of you 

provided by turning out in volume. The speakers were 

awesome. There were topics that I didn’t even know 

existed. There were sessions that we had been 

pleading to hear about and they came to fruition this 

year. The Exhibitor Hall was filled with 12 vendors 

and an ICRM representative who sincerely enjoyed the 

crowd. And our Keynote Speakers knocked it out of 

the park. Our meals and receptions were fantastic and 

the Banquets staff at the JW Marriott are second to 

none! 

Next year, you are going to want to be at the 48 th 

Annual Symposium. I am eager for my next role on 

the NIRMA Board and know that your new Vice 

President, Kathi Cole, will have all the support in the 

world to take on this task. I have learned a lot as VP 

and plan to help Kathi put on an even better 

symposium next year. To conclude, in the wise words 

of Lou Rofrano … All the best! 


37 First Time Attendees 

Board of Directors and the 

International Attendees 


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The Wonderful World 

of Microfilm 

By Kate Gleason, Inside Technical Sales Rep. 

A 

s record managers, you have undoubtedly 

worked with some sort of microfilm, but do 

you know all the different types? Within the 

world of microfilm there are many film varieties. As 

printing technology changed and processes advanced, so 

did microfilm production. Depending on the need of 

the company or organization, formats and types ranged 

from standard to custom. Microfilm, for the most part, 

can be divided into type, size, and printing process. This 

article addresses some of the more common types of 

microfilm that can be scanned using nextScan’s 

FlexScan Multi-Format Production Microfilm Scanner. 

Roll Film 

ANSI cartridges, and 

Tuscan SnapLOCK 

cartridges. M-cartridge 

types are durable plastic 

cases with a round metal 

axis in the center. This 

axis has four holes 

aligned in an even 

square. 

ANSI Cartridges are 

plastic outer cases, also 

known as C-Clips. They 

wrap around the roll 

film so that a spindle 

will still slot into the 

opening in the reel. 

Tuscan SnapLOCK 

cartridges are similar to 

3M in that they are a full 

cartridge encasing the 

film. Unlike the 3M, the 

Tuscan SnapLOCK can use a spindle. 

Roll film reels are wound with strips of film, usually 

around 100ft to 200ft in length, with some reaching 

1000ft. These strips of film can come in a variety of 

widths and containers. The most common sizes of film 

are 16mm and 35mm. Within these sizes exist simplex, 

duplex, duo, and duo duplex layouts. The most 

common are simplex and duplex. That is, a singular 

frame along the strip (simplex) or two frames along the 

strip of film (duplex). 

Cartridge Film 

A subcategory of roll film would be roll film 

contained in cartridges. Cartridges serve the purpose of 

protecting roll film from external elements. The most 

common cartridges available are M-cartridge types, 

Blipped Film 

Continued on page 10. 


Continued from page 9. 

fiche are being scanned. 

Aperture Card 

Another type of roll film, blipped film, has indication 

marks below the frames for reading purposes. There can 

be up to three levels of blips. A single blip will be a 

consistent size while a double or triple blip will have 

small and large blips. The largest blip will usually denote 

a folder, larger blips will indicate the start of a 

document, while the small blips are read as pages within 

that document. There are also non-blipped frames 

which can serve a variety of purposes depending on 

how the reels were set up. 

Fiche 

Fiche are flat sheets containing multiple frames in 

columns and rows. These frames can be laid out either 

horizontally or vertically. Fiche, like roll film, comes in 

the common sizes of 16mm and 35mm, but can also 

contain more unusual sizes. The size of the film usually 

depends on the purpose of what is printed on the fiche. 

Common Fiche Sizes: 

• 105 mm x 148 mm – Standard 

• 105 mm x 148 mm- 105mm Fiche 

• 77 mm x 127 mm – Standard 

• 16 mm and 35 mm Mixed Jackets 

• 85.7 mm x 187.3 mm – Ultra Fiche 

• 76.2mm x 127mm - Mini Fiche 

• 117.5 mm x 148 mm - AB Dick 

• 127 mm x 203.2 – Jumbo 

COM Fiche, or Computer Output Microfiche, are 

fiche that were created by printing directly from a 

computer to a fiche creating a uniform appearance. 

Jacketed Fiche are fiche made with film strips or 

single frames that have been inserted into a protective 

sheet, or “jacket”. These sheets have multiple rows with 

one side open, making it easy to add or remove film to 

modify the fiche. Most film within a jacketed fiche are 

16mm, 35mm, or a mix of the two. 

As archives often have multiple formats, the FlexScan 

has been designed to handle multiple formats and sizes 

of fiche to make the process easy for any user. It also 

has an optional automatic fiche loader that can scan up 

to 720 fiche per hour, eliminating the need to hand feed 

and allow the user to audit the scans while additional 

An aperture card is aptly named as it consists of a 

card with a rectangular opening where a frame is 

mounted. The common sizes for these frames are 

35mm and 16mm. These can be either one-up or twoup. 

A two-up card will have two apertures vs. the oneup 

cards that only have one aperture. 

Hollerith cards are a form of aperture card with added 

Hollerith hole punches that contain information about 

what is displayed on the film. This information is usually 

also printed on the card itself. 

While the Flexscan can’t read Hollerith punches, it 

10 Fall 2023 NIRMA.org Back to Content | Inside NIRMA

can scan the information printed on the card, which 

often includes notes that were added after the initial 

creation of the card. 

Film can be 

further divided into 

the chemical 

processes used to 

produce it. These 

can be identified by 

color, as well as 

shine. There are 

pros and cons to 

each type and often 

the choice of which 

to use comes down 

to purpose, storage 

environment, and 

usage. 

Emulsion Types 

Silver Halide has 

a dull and shiny 

side to the film due 

to the chemical 

processes on each 

side. This is the 

clearest and most 

accurate form of 

film. However, 

silver halide can 

scratch easily, 

making handling and storage a delicate process. Most 

archives prefer this type of film for its accuracy and 

life expectancy if stored properly. 

Diazo film is shiny on both sides of the film and can 

vary in color from purple-black, blue-black, or brownblack. 

This color aids with contrast when light is 

applied for reading. As long as it’s not oversaturated 

and stored properly, the Positive Diazo Duplicate is 

one of the best films that allow for access, durability, 

and clarity. 

Vesicular film is considered semi-scratch resistant. 

The print is light blue in color and formed from 

bubbles between the film layers. Due to the fact it’s 

created with these bubbles, vesicular film can be 

ruined with heat, pressure, or fade with light exposure. 

In terms of quality, it’s similar to silver halide. It differs 

in that silver halide is resistant to light exposure but 

can be scratched easily, whereas vesicular film is 

scratch-resistant but susceptible to fading with 

exposure to light. 

Rewriteable film, as the name suggests, is rewritable. 

While this filming solution makes it easy to reuse and 

reprint, it’s also considered a short-term record 

solution and questionable when it comes to records. 

Jacketed fiche are considered part of this group as 

frames can be added or removed. 

With all the different microfilm types, finding the 

best solution for your archive can be overwhelming. 

Our FlexScan Multi-Format Production Microfilm 

Scanner offers multiple modules to make scanning any 

type of microfilm a breeze. At nextScan, we strive to 

find the best fit for our users to make conversion 

simple and frustration-free. If you’re struggling with 

your film collection or having trouble finding a 

solution to fit your needs, contact the conversion 

experts at nextScan to solve your microfilm issues. 


A call from the past: 

embracing the 

history and 

future of 

aperture card 

scanners 

I 

t all started when I 

received a voice 

message from Walter 

(Walt) Spicer, a former 

records management 

professional from Napa, 

California. In his short (but 

informative) message, he 

told me the story of his 

patent for a machine which 

Walter (Walt) Spicer 

created aperture cards and 

patented a machine 

asked if The Crowley 

for making aperture 

Company (Crowley) could 

cards in the 1960s. 

send an aperture card as a 

memento of his life’s work 

to pass along to future generations. 

This interaction sparked the realization that the 

motivation of Walt's request paralleled the purpose of 

aperture cards themselves: to preserve information 

beyond one human life. In this blog, we’re sharing a little 

of Walt’s story and how he and Crowley have 

independently been working to progress records access. 

Total ReCALL 

This wasn't Walt's first time connecting with Crowley. 

He had commented on a 2017 blog which discussed 

how aperture cards originated and became a favorite 

media for nuclear, engineering, aeronautics, naval, 

aerospace and other technical industries. If you’d like 

more background on the media, we recommend reading 

that blog first. The following information is based on 

what Walt shared with us in recent months. 

By Hannah Clawson, 

Communications Coordinator 

The Voicemail 

Aperture cards uniquely combined 

microfilm images and Hollerith punch 

data and were popular in insurance, title, 

engineering and nuclear records 

industries. 

“In 1960, I was employed by First American Title 

Insurance Company (First American) [in] Santa Ana, CA 

as assistant vice president of administration. We were 

working to build new title plants in California, Arizona 

and Utah,” explained Walt. “Title plants are databases of 

property records and contain a running history of real 

estate parcels in a specific county and vital transactions 

that are recorded daily for each parcel.” The plants 

include deeds, mortgage documents, liens and other 

information that title companies would need to ensure 

property ownership and provide adequate insurance. 

“For many years copying information into the plants 

was done by hand. In the 1940s, microfilming the 

courthouse records became the norm and 35 mm film 

readers were used to search the microfilmed county 


ecords and duplicate records were added to the plants.” 

Walt continues, “Much later, IBM data cards [cards with 

punch data and no microfilm] were used to catalog the 

documents within each plant. The microfilm rolls 

containing the actual document images that would then 

need to be pulled from storage and the researchers 

would use viewers to search the records. The entire 

records 

pulling 

process was 

manual.” 

Walt 

helped to 

develop a 

mounting 

device which 

would a) 

increase the 

ability for 

those within 

the title 

plants to 

make their 

own aperture 

cards and b) 

facilitate 

faster 

records 

research by 

condensing 

all 

Copy of the First American newsletter 

announcing Walt’s invention of the 

aperture card creating machine. 

information onto one media, requiring fewer steps to 

access critical information. The machine was created in a 

shop in Costa Mesa, CA and punched a rectangular hole 

in the data card the size of a 35 mm film exposure. The 

microfilm was then viewed and cut to be attached within 

the hole or aperture of the card. The film was then 

secured it into the card with transparent Mylar adhesive 

tape.” 

Despite some testing and alterations to the mylar 

taping process, Walt’s concept stayed relatively the same 

throughout its use. The card design was patented and 

used by First American for many years. A First American 

newsletter published in May 1963 notes, "For the first 

time, users are able to make their own aperture cards on 

demand...The use of which results in large savings in 

engineering man hours." 

Many such mounting devices were made available in 

the years following, but to our knowledge Walt’s design 

was the first. 

From 1960 to 2023 

Crowley discontinued our aperture card creation 

services (formerly produced by our UK facility, 

previously known as Wicks and Wilson, Ltd.*) a few 

years back. Our aperture card creation services likely did 

not use Walt's design, nevertheless, we appreciate that 

someone with such a rich contribution to the media’s 

history contacted the Crowley team for help and we 

happily sent him a sample aperture card. 

While we no longer create aperture cards, Crowley 

still work intimately with the media both in 

manufacturing aperture card scanners and capturing 

them in our Digitization Services bureau. Crowley's 

latest aperture card scanner, the C400 Advanced, has 

made scanning this media an easier process while 

creating even higher image quality than ever before. 

Something to Call Home About: The 

New C400 Advanced 

Just as iPhones 

graduate to the 

next generation of 

technology, so do 

Crowley’s aperture 

card scanners. 

Released in late 

2022, the C400 

Advanced is the 

latest generation 

of aperture card 

scanner and 

utilizes what users 

love about the 

C400 and evolves 

it to the next level 

of efficiency, 

quality and ease. 

The Crowley C400 Advanced 

aperture card scanner, released 

to market in late 2022. 

Efficient: In addition to capturing both film and 

punch data simultaneously at high speeds (a key feature 

on the C400 as well), the C400 Advanced holds even 

larger batches of aperture cards (up to 300 cards) for 

automatic loading, scanning and unloading. These 

production features, paired with the scanner’s ability to 

output multiple end-use files from a single scan, 

contribute to the C400 Advanced impressive efficiency 

for records managers. The scanner’s batch scanning 

mode allows operators to use multiple scanners at once 

for even more performance. 




Image Quality: The clear difference between the 

two generations of C400 scanners is the enhanced 

image resolution. The C400 Advanced features a new 

high-resolution camera and uniform light source. We’ll 

just let the below images speak for itself on image 

quality. 

Grayscale images from the C400 (right) and 

the C400 Advanced (left). 

Ease of Use: The C400 Advanced software makes it 

easy for users of all familiarity levels to run production 

scan jobs with ease. Using templates allows the 

specifications of scan projects to be pulled up 

automatically and users can facilitate fast and consistent 

capture between different operators or over multiple 

workstations. 

Watch the new C400 Advanced in action in Crowley’s 

new video. 

Stop “Phoning In” Aperture Card 

Capture and Preservation 

Crowley’s sales teams have seen that many with 

aperture card collections just aren’t sure what to do with 

them, so their critical information goes untouched. 

Through digitization, vital records are preserved, 

accessible through easy-to-use digital files and physical 

copies are saved from degradation. 

In addition to manufacturing the new C400 

Advanced, Crowley Digitization Services – our awardwinning 

service bureau – has also employed the 

scanners in their aperture card scanning department. 

“The image quality is really what blew me away,” 

notes Crowley microform scanning project manager, 

Kristina Bane. “It’s magnificent. The speed 

enhancements and new design make a difference in our 

timelines too since scanners are easier to maintain, scan 

faster and need little-to-no downtime. Overall projects 

are taking less time to complete and are in better 

quality.” Using this new speed and efficiency, Crowley’s 

Digitization Services captures large aperture card 

collections faster than ever. 

“We’ve seen a remarkable difference in project speed 

and image quality,” bureau director Patrick Hill states. 

“Production speed has increased significantly, making it 

simple for us to digitize any size collection with a betterthan-expected 

turn-around time.” 

Preserving Aperture Card’s Long 

Legacy…With More to Come 

Crowley is honored to share Walt’s story and 

commend him for his contributions to innovating the 

media. We applaud his work in making this media what 

it is today and hope you enjoyed reading the retelling as 

much as we enjoyed writing about it. 

INTERESTED IN 

PRESERVING YOUR 

INFORMATION? 

If you have aperture card collections and are looking 

to convert records to digital copies, Crowley can help! 

Visit www.thecrowleycompany.com for a no-obligation 

demo, sample scan or quote! 

* Since acquiring Wicks and Wilson, Ltd. in 2011, 

Crowley has also manufactured aperture card scanners 

such as the C-Drive X (discontinued) and C400. 


2024 NIRMA 

BOARD OF 

DIRECTORS 

W 

e are proud to introduce NIRMA’s 

2024 Board of Directors and our 

Business Unit Directors and Co-Directors. This is 

a great team that will help lead our organization 

through 2024 and beyond. 

• President: Bruce Walters, CRM/NS, 

AECOM 

• VP: Kathi Cole, CRM, TFE, Inc 

• Secretary: Stephanie Price, Southern Nuclear 

• Treasurer: Tammy Cutts, PG&E Diablo 

Canyon Power Plant 

• Director of Infrastructure: Sheila Pearcy, 

CRA, Los Alamos Technical Associates, Inc/ 

WIPP 

• Director of Technical Programs: Lou 

Rofrano, AMS Store & Shred 

2024 NIRMA Board of Directors (L-R): Lou Rofrano, 

Sheila Pearcy, Bruce Walters, Stephanie Price, and Kathi 

Cole. Inset: Tammy Cutts. 

2024 Business Unit Directors & Co-directors 

• Director: Stephen Fleshman, 

Cohesive Group 

• Co-Director: TBD 

Help 

WANTED 

• Director: Rhonda Redding, 

Evergy WCNOC 


• Director: TBD 


NIRMA is looking for members 

interested in becoming: 

• M&MBU Co-Director 

• RIMBU Co-Director 

• PDBU Director and Co-Director 

• Nominating Committee 

If interested, please contact 

the NIRMA 

Office (nirma@nirma.org). 


ON SITE CAPTURE 

(OSC) PROJECTS 

By Manuel Bulwa, Integrated 

Scanning of America 

www.isausa.com 

A 

n organization planning to 

digitize a large volume of 

documents must decide 

between: 

• WHO: Engaging a professional 

service provider, undertaking it 

internally, or a combination of 

both. 

• WHERE: Executing the project 

on site client premises, or at the 

service provider’s plant(s). 

Due to editorial limitations, we will 

only focus on selected issues for on 

site capture (OSC) projects. 

Factors leading to a decision to 

capture on site may include security 

and privacy concerns, fear of losing 

control, mistrust around proper 

handling of documents (physically 

and operationally), liabilities, 

logistics, regulatory restrictions, and 

timely access to work in progress 

(WIP) documents. 

To contain anticipated risks and 

costs in OSC projects, close 

attention to details must be paid in 

areas such as: 

• WORK VENUES: Each 

production line frequently 

requires one desk space for 

scanning and two desks for 

prepping. Additional space may 

be needed for secondary 

scanners such as wide format, 

flat bed, overhead, transparencies 

and open track. Indexing, quality 

control (QC), workflow 

management, publishing, 

posting, etc., could be performed 

via remote access. Multiple 

production lines may be 

implemented to meet deadlines. 

Boxes need to be stacked in 

staging areas such as 

“RECEIVED”, “TO PREP”, 

“SET ASIDE”, “TO SCAN”, 

“SCANNED”, and “TO 

REMOVE”. The venue must 

provide clean power, adequate 

year-round HVAC, janitorial 

service, access at extended hours, 

a break room, surveillance, 

security, and Internet. 

• STAFFING: Onsite operators 

are likely to be local, clerical 

labor hired for the project, so it 

is important to address all 

formalities and legalities of 

temporary hiring, conduct 

background checks and careful 

interviews to secure protection 

against potential HR or labor 

union issues. Cell phones with 

cameras should be surrendered 

in a cabinet by the entrance, 

while phone calls may be 

handled wirelessly. 

• LOGISTICS: It is essential to 

implement robust check in-check 

out processes, box labeling, 

inventorying, transportation, 

logging, disposition, reporting 

and tracking of each box of 

documents. QC and production 

databases must always accurately 

sync with all logistical dynamics. 

Logs, status reporting, health 

codes and manifests should be 

available in real time. Boxes must 

navigate the workflow with 

unambiguous identity and 

profuse metrics. No box may be 

allowed to change custody or 

advance a workflow step without 

a thorough check of its QC 

health status. 


• INDEXING: Capture 

projects usually involve multiple 

collections of documents, each 

with its own structure, filing and 

search methods and 

idiosyncrasies. Their physical 

filing methods provide a starting 

template to imitate when 

deciding the digital structuring 

and indexing for each collection, 

but this will soon get 

complicated as the parties 

negotiate digital indexing 

specifics. When humans search 

manually for a document, they 

browse through filing cabinets, 

drawers, folders, dividers, etc., 

equipped with eyes, brains, hands 

and fingers that facilitate 

improvisation and visualization 

of details that make the search 

feasible. The digital counterpart 

seldom preserves the physical 

structure of originals (stapled sets 

for example, rarely get 

represented digitally, but do help 

when searching manually). 

Finding digitized records using 

only index data without a 

supplemental visual search could 

be frustrating. OCR, full text 

search and artificial intelligence 

(AI) may overpromise and 

underdeliver, but wherever 

feasible they are extremely 

powerful. Unstructured and semi 

-structured documents need 

thorough discussion, 

collaboration and negotiation 

between Subject Matter Experts 

(SME) from both sides. 

• COMMUNICATION, 

COLLABORATION: 

Clients possess subject matter 

expertise in their industry 

superior to that of service 

providers. Service providers 

must communicate and 

collaborate with the client SMEs 

to acquire and apply knowledge. 

Users should be enticed to freely 

experiment with various indexing 

and display structures of what 

would eventually be on their 

designated digital repository. An 

interim repository (sandbox) 

with special collaboration 

features will motivate users to 

experiment, annotate, flag, 

consult, approve and test 

changes without fear of doing 

damage. 

• QC: Every workflow step must 

be subject to strict QC. 

Remediation delays are costly, 

especially when originals are 

allowed to go too far down the 

workflow. Each workflow task 

creates profuse metrics that must 

be captured and thoroughly 

analyzed, crosschecked and 

logged. 

• CALCULATIONS: At risk 

of being accused of 

oversimplifying, I will throw 

round numbers to estimate 

timings and costs. The VENUES 

bullet (on the previous page) 

already addressed the issue of 

workspaces on typical business 

size paper documents. A typical 

production line requires 5 to 10 

man/hours of clerical labor for 

prepping and scanning, yielding 

at least 100 bankers boxes a 

month. Qualified labor for 

indexing, QC and remediation 

control is roughly estimated in 

one full time support (FTS) per 

line. Compute how many lines 

are needed to meet desired 

deadlines and calculate labor 

costs. Add one qualified FTS for 

overall project management and 

workflow control. 

Tammy Cutts, NIRMA Treasurer 

NIRMA’s Financial Holdings 

as of September 18, 2023 

Checking Account $143,495.74 

Debit Account $ 334.66 

Investment Account $ 91,622.25 


This is “So Long!” 

Not “Goodbye” 

B ack in 1992, as a contractor 

with the Department of Energy 

working on Yucca Mountain, a 

mentor suggested that I should go to 

the ARMA Conference or the 

NIRMA Symposium. Attending the 

1992 NIRMA Symposium in San 

Francisco was one of the best 

decisions I’ve ever made. 

What followed was a lot of work 

and a lot of fun. 

• Treasurer of the 1995 

Symposium in DC. 

• Writing a glossary. 

• The Electric Slide. 

• Hans, and joining the NQA-1 

Committee in his stead. 

• Karen & Eugene = “Paradise by 

the Dashboard Lights”. 

• Elected as NIRMA Treasurer 

and discovering the symposium 

contractor was not exactly 

aboveboard. 

• M&M Committee. 

• The Milwaukee SafeHouse. 

• How could anyone be as 

passionate about NARA as Steve 

Adams? 

• Our ANSI Standard. Jane 

Hannum always ensuring I had a 

Coke in the morning, even if the 

Board was staying in a Pepsi 

hotel. 

I could go on and on. The 

memories all center around people. 

You all. 

Since I’m retiring, I think I’m 

supposed to give you advice. 

• Get mentors. Many. There 

are never too many people in 

your life; some will become your 

best friends. Branch out to 

include good people who aren’t 

in your industry; you won’t be 

sorry. 

• Get involved, and not just 

at work or your professional 

organizations. You’ll make 

friends for life. (Hence, this is 

not a goodbye; you are my 

friends for life.) 

• Be kind. It is very true that 

people won’t remember what 

you said, but they will remember 

how you treated them. And treat 

yourself kindly, too. You can’t 

help others if you don’t help 

yourself. 

Margie Janney, 

CRM/NS/FED 

Some of my favorite quotes: 

• “You learn more about a 

person in an hour of play 

than in a year of 

conversation.” 

Plato 

• “What lies behind us and 

what lies before us are 

tiny matter compared to 

what lies within us.” 

Henry Stanley Haskins 

• “How lucky am I to have 

something that makes 

saying goodbye so hard.” 

Winnie the Pooh 

So long! I will see you again! If 

Meg Milligan’s retired boss (who I’d 

never met) can sit down next to me 

in a sidewalk café in Paris, I will run 

into you, also! 


MEET HELENA 

GILBERT, NRC 

AGENCY RECORDS 

OFFICER 

W 

e are pleased to introduce 

Helena Gilbert, who is 

replacing Margie Janney’s 

involvement with NIRMA as the 

NRC’s NIRMA liaison. Helena will 

be a regular contributor to Inside 

NIRMA offering updates and insights 

from the NRC. 

Helena is a native of Florida. She 

earned an Associates in Science degree 

from Miami Dade Community 

College and completed 129 hours 

towards a Bachelor’s in Science 

Degree in Business Administration. 

She also completed Executive 

Leadership training. She has earned 

the Certified Professional Secretary 

and Certified Records Analyst 

certifications in addition to a U.S. 

Navy Surface Warfare qualification. 

Helena served 22 years in the U.S. 

Navy retiring in January 2001. Her 

assignments on active duty included 

Florida, Alaska, Virginia, and 

Washington, D.C. She served on sea 

duty onboard the USS EMORY S. 

Land (AS-39). She enlisted as a 

Seaman, rising through the enlisted 

ranks to Senior Chief and then served 

as a Limited Duty Officer in 

Administration, ultimately retiring as a 

Lieutenant Commander. 

She has been a civil servant since 

October 2004. She has worked for 

the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and 

the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

She will be the Agency Records 

Officer at the NRC. 

She has been married to Mark for 

the past 36 years. They have two 

daughters, Jennifer and Amanda and a 

grandson, Jack. 

Margie Janney with OpenText Cybersecurity vendors 

Gil Brueckner presenting Fundamentals of Records 

Management. 


WELCOME RECEPTION

NIRMA would like to thank all the 

amazing Speakers!

A huge “Thank you” to all our Vendors. 

You helped make the NIRMA 

Symposium a huge success.

C 

loud computing. The emerging world of 

harnessing the vastness of the Internet to 

access computing power and storage beyond 

your imagination. Running a computer model? More 

CPU, more RAM! Need to slam through hundreds of 

thousands of transactions in a single day? No problem! 

Want to store gazillion records ranging in size from 50K 

to hundreds of Mbytes? I’ll take a few terabytes, thank 

you very much! 

You have power of the universe in your very hands! 

But enough of the hype… 

By Eugene Y. Yang, 

Principal Consultant 

KISMET Consulting, Inc. 

I’ve been asked a lot lately about my take on the use of the cloud for the 

storage and management of electronic records pertaining to nuclear plant 

operations. I hope this issue’s column provides some clarity. 

Haiku on the Cloud 

The cloud, the promise 

No Infrastructure to keep 

Records protection? 

So, what’s cloud computing? 

Cloud computing is the delivery of on-demand 

computing services -- from applications to storage and 

processing power -- over the Internet, on a pay-as-yougo 

(“subscription”) basis. Cloud computing allows an 

organization to lease computer systems and services 

from computer service organizations. These 

organizations pool resources to serve multiple 

customers via the Internet, thus relieving the customers 

of buying, supporting, maintaining, and providing 

storage equipment and software themselves. Generally, 

the offerings consist of following types: 

• Infrastructure-as-a- Service (IaaS) - This 

type provides infrastructure resources, such as 

servers, network, operation systems, and data 

storage, from a location(s) where the services are 

provided to many clients on usually shared 

resources. 

• Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) - This type 

provides frameworks that developers can use to 

build custom applications and deliver their 

applications over the Internet. PaaS provides the 

data serving, storage and management resources to 

the developer so they do not have to own the 

software and hardware and manage the technology. 

Like with IaaS, the customer is utilizing those 

resources as a service and relying on the PaaS 

vendor to maintain the equipment, software 

resources, security and technology. 


• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) - This type 

refers to cloud-based software that is hosted by a 

software vendor who provides the software service 

to multiple customers from shared datacenters of 

equipment and services. The shared data centers 

may or may not own the infrastructure being used 

by the software. For example, many of the SaaS 

software vendors use Amazon Web Services or 

Microsoft Azure to house their SaaS. 

What’s the compelling reason(s) for 

getting into it? 

Cloud-based services provide the opportunity to have 

improved business processes and/or potentially obtain 

a meaningful return on investment (ROI) when 

replacing nuclear facility-maintained server storage 

solutions. Potential benefits include subscription-based 

software fees, reduction of on-premise hardware, 

operating software, application software, database 

management, and content storage. Also, an 

organization can potentially re-target staff, as updates 

and upgrades hardware, software, and applications are 

addressed by the cloud provider. 

What should I look out for? 

• Functionality – It has to have the functionality 

that supports your document control and records 

management programs. Make sure the offering has, 

among others: electronic review and approval; 

controlling revisions and enforcing major and 

minor versioning; ability to apply security to 

different versions of a document (i.e. in-progress 

and superseded versions must have limited access); 

change package support; dynamic workflow; audit 

trail; annotations; a robust search engine for both 

metadata and content (text-readable); and able to 

view multiple file formats, such PDF, TIF, and 

perhaps even 3D diagrams. 

• Integration - Integrations with other plant 

information systems will occur and need to be 

thought through, especially when another company 

is hosting the cloud solution. Hosting companies, 

understandably so, need to limit what is installed on 

their servers and how outside applications push and 

pull information from their servers. The impacts 

need to be understood to prevent any surprises later 

in a project. 

• Security - There needs to be secure protection of 

data in transit and data at rest. “Data in 

Transit” (data in motion) is data actively moving 

across the Internet or through a private network. 

For cloud solutions, this protection is needed while 

data is traveling from network to network or being 

transferred to a cloud storage device. “Data at Rest 

“ is data that is stored on a hard drive, laptop, or 

archived/stored in some other way. With nuclear 

quality assurance records, protection at rest aims to 

secure inactive data stored on any device or 

network. Encryption can then be applied to secure 

data both in transit and at rest. For protecting data 

in transit, sensitive data is encrypted prior to 

moving and/or use encrypted connections 

(HTTPS, SSL, TLS, etc.). For protecting data at 

rest, encrypting sensitive files may occur either prior 

to storing them or encrypting the storage drive 

itself. 

• Environments - When moving from an onpremise 

application to the cloud, quotes by service 

providers typically limit the size of the nonproduction 

environments. When working in our 

industry, we typically require the test/QA 

environment to be of similar specifications to 

production. Understanding how non-prod 

environments are sized and any cost impacts to 

increase these environments in number or size 

should be understood upfront. 

• Emergency/disaster consideration - Vital 

records (e.g., procedures, critical control room 

drawings) need to be accessible and available in the 

event of a disaster and/or an Internet outage. Cloud 

backups and redundancy do not fulfill these 

requirements, as Internet unavailability is the issue. 

Because of this requirement, some hardware and 

software must be deployed on-premise. The cloud 

will not fully remove these dependencies. 




Is there a “dark side”? 

The following are some 

“watch outs” as you move into 

cloud computing: 

• Data breach (e.g., technical 

approaches; contractual 

“assurances”); 

• Use of third-party resources to execute; 

• Export control non-compliance; 

• Planned/unplanned outages (e.g., vendor outage, 

network outages; disaster recovery approaches/ 

methods); 

• Loss of control of functional features; 

• Contractual issues (e.g., price increases when renew 

the lease, long lead time to renew); and 

• On-ramp and off-ramp terms and conditions (e.g., 

data migrations into, and out of, the cloud service) 

[this is in the event that you choose to move the 

cloud solution from one service organization to 

another (or “back home”)] 

Where do I go from here? 

The Regulations and Information Management 

Business Unit (RIMBU) published WP07-22, “Cloud 

Computing Considerations” (October 2022), a white 

paper on cloud computing. More detail is provided on 

the types of cloud offerings, requirements, an evaluation 

process, going “hybrid” (some combination of cloud/on 

-premise computing), and more. For members, you can 

access it on the NIRMA website under “Reference 

Documents”. In there you’ll see a folder that contains 

our NIRMA White Papers. 

Will going to the cloud be all sunny and 

bright, or will it be dark and stormy? 

Eugene has been a member of NIRMA for over 

35 years, and served as President from 1999-2001. 

At the time he joined, NIRMA had only been in 

existence for 11 years. He would love to hear about 

stories and anecdotes from others, so please email him 

at eugene.yang@kismetconsulting.com. 

Eugene Yang and Rhonda Redding presenting VENI, 

VIDI, VICI: Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station Moves to 

the Cloud Part II 

vs. 


siget: 

Focused on artificial 

intelligence 

t 

A 

t the Symposium this year, I 

presented a session titled 

“This plant is too big! This 

plant is too Small! This Plant is just 

right.” This session looked at the 

rapid changes now in progress, 

within the nuclear power generation 

segment. 

Gone are the days of having only 

large generators and plant facilities. 

In today’s world, and that of the near 

future, nuclear power generation for 

both government and commercial 

purposes presents growing 

challenges to the efficient, effective 

and accurate capture of vital 

information and records. Just think 

about the process of tracking a 

mobile reactor traveling cross 

country to a disaster site. What 

information is to be captured and 

how will that capture process work? 

There must be a greater 

understanding of the current data 

capture challenges, and there must 

be planning in a proactive sense 

rather than a reactive response. One 

discussion that arose from this 

session was related to the 

manufacturing of Small Modular 

Reactors (SMR) that could someday 

be manufactured in a factory, 

delivered to the site, and plugged in 

to begin operations. 

From a NIRMA perspective, this is 

where the Special Interest Group on 

Emerging Technologies (SIGET) 

serves the NIRMA community. 

SIGET was formed to investigate 

new technologies – like the new 

nuclear power stations – evaluate 

the impact this technology will have 

on information management 

practices and develop recommended 

white papers that present the 

technology and the considerations 

one might want to make note of in 

reaction to information capture and 

management. 

Additionally, SIGET works with 

other NIRMA business units to 

develop standards, and educational 

materials to be made available to 

NIRMA members. If you are 

interested in being part of SIGET, 

please contact: 

• Ron Hedges at 

r_hedges@live.com or 

• Stephen Fleshman at 

stephen.fleshman@cohesivegroup.c 

om. 

By Bob Larrivee, 

Board of Directors, 

Retired Purveyor of Process Automation 

The Rapidly Changing Nuclear Landscape 

Ron Hedges presents Assisting 

Litigation: Contributions IG and RIM 

can make to Favorite Outcomes. 

Not a NIRMA Member? 

Click here and join 

TODAY! 


Professional Development 

Business Unit (PDBU) News 

Lou Rofrano, PDBU Director 

S 

ummer is rapidly coming to a close and in 

the rearview mirror the very successful 

NIRMA 2023 Annual Symposium has 

concluded. So many great presentations and a host of 

returning members and most importantly a large 

number of first-time attendees. Like nuclear energy 

itself, with all of its new technology and advancement, 

we are seeing new members and new individuals 

entering Nuclear Records Management. 

As a result, the PDBU will be focusing much of its 

energy on the NIRMA Mentor Program in the back 

half of the year. Individuals who worked with our 

mentors found great benefit in the exchanges of 

professional knowledge and skills. In the coming 

weeks and months, you can look for some exciting 

additions and changes to the program, including: 

• Recruiting additional Mentors and Mentees 

• Revised topics of knowledge and skills sets based 

on your needs 

• Programs to support your professional 

development plans 

• Specialized communications for the newest 

NIRMA members 

• and more 

PDBU will also continue to provide updates on 

professional credentialing and certifications. We look 

forward to assisting your goals and development. 

Here is to a great finish to 2023 and an amazing 

2024. 

Scenes 

from the 

Symposium 


MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING 

(M&M) Business Unit News 

Stephen Fleshman, M&MBU Director 

m 

&MBU is looking for members to help come 

up with fresh ideas to bring new members to 

NIRMA, as well as ideas of how to share 

everyone’s expertise with the membership. M&MBU 

meets the first Wednesday of every month for one 

hour at 12 p.m. CT. Please join us. 

Your Help Needed to Grow our 

Membership Via social media! 

Growing membership 

is a crucial focus to 

NIRMA. One of the best 

ways to reach new 

potential members is via 

social media. NIRMA is 

currently on four social 

media platforms and has 

its own YouTube 

channel. Here are each 

of the platforms along with the current number of 

followers: 

• Facebook - 656 followers 

• X (formerly known as Twitter) - 191 followers 

• LinkedIn - 136 followers 

• Instagram - 25 followers 

To improve our reach and performance on social 

media, we need your support. If you are not already, 

please follow us on one or more of these platforms. 

NIRMA posts regularly on these platforms. These 

posts include monthly communications, Inside NIRMA 

magazine and information on upcoming events like the 

annual symposium. Having our members like, reply, 

and share NIRMA posts will dramatically increase the 

reach of these posts and demonstrate the value we 

provide to potential members. 

Looking for Nominating 

Committee Volunteers! 

NIRMA is currently looking for current 

members interested in serving on the Nominating 

Committee. The Nominating Committee is 

responsible for identifying candidates for next 

year’s Board of Directors election and will ensure 

that all appropriate supporting documents are 

received from each candidate. 

If you are interested in being a member of the 

committee, please contact the NIRMA Office 

(nirma@nirma.org). 


Regulations and Information 

Management Business Unit 

(RIMBU) News 

By Stephanie Price, RIMBU Director 

RIMBU 2023 Summer Meeting 

T 

he RIMBU team held our annual Summer 

meeting on August 10th following the 

NIRMA Symposium. The team spent time 

discussing several topics, including: 

• The Industry Foundation Class (IFC) for 3D 

Models white paper, which Rich Giska is 

authoring and will be ready for RIMBU review in 

October. 

• The combining of the four TGs on Electronic 

Records Management to which Eugene Yang has 

dedicated a great deal of time and expertise. 

• Valuable operating experience on Radiographs 

with ammonia syndrome and how Meg Milligan 

at Hanford addressed those issues. 

• How best to include new RIMBU members and 

get them familiar with our committee through a 

review of our policies and guidelines. 

Director and Co-Director Positions 

I am honored to have been elected to the 2024 

NIRMA board this year and I cannot thank the 

membership enough for their votes of confidence. 

Since I will be stepping down from my role as 

Director of RIMBU, I made a motion during the 

Summer meeting to nominate Rhonda Redding 

(Wolf Creek) for the Director role and she was 

confirmed by a vote of those in attendance. 

Congratulations Rhonda! With Rhonda accepting the 

role of Director, the role of Co-Director is now 

vacant. If you are interested in getting more involved 

with RIMBU or if you would like to nominate 

someone for the role of Co-Director, please reach out 

to Rhonda at Rhonda.redding@evergy.com. 

RIMBU is a great opportunity to benchmark with 

others in the industry, share valuable operating 

experience, and have the opportunity to influence 

industry standard guidance in records management. If 

you’re interested in getting involved, please reach out 

to Rhonda Redding at Rhonda.redding@evergy.com. 


Nuclear energy has a proven track 

record of producing the clean and 

reliable energy communities need, 

while being an accommodating 

neighbor. As the most land-efficient 

source of energy, nuclear power 

plants require just 1.3 square miles 

per 1,000 megawatts of energy. 

With the next generation of 

technologies coming online, 

nuclear’s land usage may shrink even 

more. Many advanced reactor 

designs are poised to be simpler, 

smaller, and modular while creating 

good-paying jobs, enhancing our 

energy security, and helping us meet 

our climate goals. But did you know 

that some designs go one step 

further, providing resilient 

electricity...while being on a body of 

water? 

It may sound like science fiction, 

but it’s a fact that investors 

are expressing interest in floating 

nuclear power plants (FNPPs), and 

that nuclear-powered innovations 

have the potential to go seaborne. As 

a cutting-edge nuclear technology, 

FNPPs can address several global 

energy challenges with flexible 

power, innovation, and the ability to 

decarbonize heavy industries faster 

than you can say, “All aboard!” 

Spurring Versatile Power 

FNPPs allow for a wide range of 

versatile power applications. 

Developers construct them on ships 

or barges as self-contained, mobile 

power stations, ensuring they can 

deploy them to virtually any coastal 

region or waterway. 

This flexibility opens new 

possibilities for generating clean 

energy in areas that were previously 

inaccessible for traditional nuclear 

facilities. FNPPs can be an ideal 

solution to meet the specific energy 

demands of these regions, such as 

island nations that need energy for a 

wide variety of applications including 

water desalination, district heating/ 

cooling, and electricity. 

Additionally, developers can build 

FNPPs with ready-made 

infrastructure like shipyards. By 

utilizing modular construction 

techniques to construct smaller, 

simpler reactors, developers reduce 

costs while paving the way for the 

quick deployment of nuclear power 

at sea. 

Decarbonizing Heavy Industries 

Addressing climate change will 

require significantly reducing our 

greenhouse gas emissions, especially 

from heavy industries that have 

historically relied on fossil fuels. 

FNPPs can be deployed near 

coastal industrial complexes, 

minimizing transmission losses and 

providing a stable power supply to 

energy-intensive operations. This 

localized power generation helps 

reduce the strain on existing power 

grids and assures a consistent energy 

supply to critical industries. 

Companies are also planning on 

deploying nuclear reactors on civilian 

maritime vessels for power and 

propulsion. Ocean transportation 

carries more than 80 percent of the 

world’s exported goods via large 

diesel engines. If these vessels were a 

country, they would be sixth globally 

on greenhouse gas emissions—just 

above Germany. Next-generation 

nuclear is the only zero-emission 

energy source available to power 

these vessels that make up the 

backbone of global shipping. 

Fostering Innovation 

This isn’t nuclear’s first time at 

sea—in fact, our nation has a rich 

history of using nuclear energy to 

Continues on page 36. 



support our naval operations. 

Though the technologies used by 

the Navy and proposed floating 

nuclear plants differ, they both 

showcase the innovation that the 

nuclear industry is known for. 

The United States developed the 

world’s first nuclear-powered 

submarine, the USS Nautilus, which 

first went to sea in 1955. In 1958, 

the Nautilus set another record 

when it became the first submarine 

to traverse under the North Pole. 

Six decades later, we now have 

the world’s largest nuclear-powered 

navy, which has traveled over 130 

million miles using nuclear power 

(enough to circle the Earth 3,500 

times!). 

From shaping the flexible energy 

systems of tomorrow, to advancing 

decarbonization across the 

economy, FNPPs are an innovative 

solution that can accelerate progress 

toward our climate goals. Learn 

more about how nuclear energy 

creates opportunities for industries 

to reduce or eliminate their carbon 

footprint —shaping a brighter 

future on land and at 

sea. 

Article reprinted with permission of 

NEI. Read full article here. 

Washington, D.C.—The Nuclear 

Energy Institute (NEI) has 

launched its first 

podcast, “Fissionary,” with debut 

guest Grace Stanke, a talented 

nuclear engineer and the reigning 

2023 Miss America. Hosted by 

Mary Carpenter and Jordan 

Houghton, the podcast aims to 

bring together diverse and 

compelling guests in conversations 

about how nuclear drives the world 

toward a cleaner and more 

sustainable future. 

Conversations in support of 

nuclear have grown louder among 

decision makers, government 

leaders, and energy enthusiasts. 

“Fissionary” aims to bring those 

conversations to communities and 

people who are searching for 

solutions to some of the most 

pressing issues we face today like 

climate and sustainability. 

In its premier season Houghton, 

NEI’s media relations lead, and 

Carpenter, who leads NEI’s content 

and digital strategy, set out to 

engage experts, researchers, and 

Grace Stanke, a talented nuclear 

engineer and the reigning 2023 Miss 

America 

influencers and explore some of 

today’s questions such as solving 

the climate crisis and securing 

energy independence through 

nuclear energy. 

The first episode, titled “Nuclear 

101 with Miss America,” is now 

available for streaming. Stanke joins 

Carpenter and Houghton to discuss 

her “origin story” that brings 

together pageants and nuclear 

power. The discussion explores how 


Operations extended at Xcel Energy’s 

Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant 

until 2040 

In signing off on increased storage 

of spent nuclear fuel at Xcel 

Energy’s Monticello Nuclear 

Generating Plant, the Minnesota 

Public Utilities Commission (PUC) 

last week greenlit a further 10 years 

of operation at the site. 

NEI Launches New 

“Fissionary” Podcast, continued 

to become a nuclear advocate, the 

significance of advocating for 

nuclear energy, and the 

opportunities and challenges that lie 

ahead for the industry. 

With new episodes airing biweekly 

on Thursdays, "Fissionary” boasts 

an impressive lineup of guests, 

including well-known influencers, 

former anti-nuclear climate 

activists, leaders in sustainable 

fashion, and global policy experts. 

“Fissionary” is available to stream 

on popular platforms such as Apple 

Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon. 

Please visit the NEI website for 

more information on each episode 

and featured guests. 

As a result, Monticello will 

be in operation until 2040. 

Together with Prairie 

Island Nuclear Plant, 

Monticello provides more 

than 30 percent of the 

electricity Xcels upper 

Midwest customers use. 

Last year, they provided 

nearly 14,700 GW hours of 

energy, and the company 

has labeled them critical to 

achieving a fully carbonfree 

electricity portfolio by 2040. 

“We thank the Commission, 

Minnesota Department of 

Commerce and other stakeholders 

for their careful review and 

recognition of the importance of the 

Monticello nuclear plant to our 

shared clean energy goals,” Chris 

Clark, president of Xcel Energy – 

Minnesota, North Dakota and South 

Dakota, said. “Nuclear power is 

crucial to achieving those goals 

because of its unique combination of 

reliability, affordability, and zero 

emissions.” 

Part of the reason these sites are so 

prized by Xcel is their regularity. 

They tend to operate even through 

extreme weather, shutting down only 

to refuel the reactors every two 

years. In recent years, Monticello has 

updated its efficiency and cut its 

operating costs by 35 percent over 

the past decade. 

Xcel also filed for an extension 

with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, requesting an 

extension for the plant’s operating 

license at the federal level. A 

decision is expected in late 2024. 


NEI. Read full article here. 


DEI. Read full article here. 


Inside NIRMA Magazine is 

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