WASHINGTON, D.C. – An EM employee has been honored for bringing a greater international perspective to work to maintain standards for nuclear quality assurance.

   Gustave “Bud” Danielson recently received a certificate of acclamation from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for excellence in forming the society’s International Working Group-Europe. Danielson is a senior-level general engineer reporting to EM’s Chief of Nuclear Safety, Greg Sosson, who oversees EM’s high-hazard nuclear facilities.

   “It was pretty meaningful to see it come to fruition,” Danielson said of the society’s first international working group. “My task group was excited that we were able to move it from a concept to a functioning body.”

   The Europe international working group falls under the domain of the society’s Nuclear Quality Assurance Committee (NQA), of which Danielson is a member. The group maintains the American National Standard ASME-NQA-1, Quality Assurance Requirements for Nuclear Facility Applications. The standard is used to develop quality assurance programs for DOE and commercial nuclear facilities worldwide.  

   The society’s high-level Council on Standards and Certification honored Danielson with the certificate at a committee meeting. The certificate says the Europe group supports the evolution of the committee in the international community and furthers the society’s goal to increase the international understanding and use of the society’s codes and standards, particularly for nuclear quality assurance.

   Danielson, a DOE employee of 26 years, has represented the Department on the society’s committee for more than 20 years. 

   A few years ago, Danielson was honored with a society award for leading a team that helped make the nuclear quality assurance standard reflective of DOE’s nuclear safety regulation, 10 CFR 830. These changes allow for DOE’s contractors and suppliers to achieve full compliance with 10 CFR 830 requirements through implementation of NQA-1. 

   His latest award honors work that is farther reaching, impacting the international nuclear industry, Danielson said. The committee will benefit from the knowledge of the new international participants while a general understanding and adoption of the society’s codes and standards grows internationally, he said. It also will support DOE’s international supply chain for items and services affecting nuclear safety.  

   “People in other countries now have the opportunity to influence the standards,” he said. “They have good ideas, as well as problems implementing standards we can’t always know about since our membership has been almost exclusively from the USA for decades.”

   The 15-member Europe group includes members from Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Romania, and Czech Republic.

   Prior to the formation of the group, it was challenging to arrange for international officials to travel to the U.S. to discuss codes and standards used internationally, Danielson noted. Now, members of the new group can meet closer to home while maintaining a formal connection with the voting body of NQA. 

   Danielson and other committee members are building on the momentum of the Europe group to help establish other international working groups in China, India, Japan, and Latin America. Danielson is scheduled to travel to China for a formation meeting in September, where he’ll conduct a workshop with ASME staff and NQA members to help launch the country’s new group.

   “The success from the Europe group is helping us form other groups, he said.