The Center was established to meet the increasing needs of governmental bodies which require independent risk assessment and management associated with complex technological systems to create regulations and procedures which balance those risks against societal benefits. The Center will focus on integrating and packaging risk analysis tools, techniques, and data in support of organizations that will be affiliated with the Center. The specifics of each division is outlined below. The key members of the Nuclear Systems Division of CTRS have been intimately involved with the development and application of PRA techniques and tools, and have the capabilities, software, and data to perform risk and performance-based analyses. The Nuclear Systems Division draws upon its members and a broad level of expertise from persons at the University and outside to form strong teams to address risk and performance-based issues of nuclear facilities.
Risk analysis is a relatively new discipline with little standardization.
Accordingly, the use of risk and performance-based techniques in regulation and operation of nuclear facilities requires broad expertise and training. The Nuclear Systems Division provides such capabilities. In order to foster multi-national cooperation, standards must be established and agreed upon by the international community in the areas of hazard definition, accident sequence modeling, data acquisition, risk quantification and consequence assessment. The purpose of the Division is to respond to this need and be the coordinating body of the Center for Technology Risk Studies in its international interactions. Risk analysis techniques and tools are used to assess maritime systems that include offshore, coastal and maritime facilities, and natural systems such as coastlines, waterways, water channels, rivers and streams.