A regulator's perspective on NRC's participation in the operations ampersand maintenance committees

As a regulator fairly new to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Operations and Maintenance (O ampersand M) Committee process, the author does not have a personal historical perspective as do many of the longer-term, and highly respected, members of the O ampersand M Committee. However, as Branch Chief of the Mechanical Engineering Branch, Division of Engineering, in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at the NRC for just over two years, he has responsibility for the regulatory agency's review of licensee actions involving the products that come from the efforts of the O ampersand M Committee, as well as responsibility for portions of the activities of interest to other ASME Code groups such as Section III, Section XI, and Qualification of Mechanical Equipment. As a result, the author has learned a great deal about the code process in a short time. Here he gives his perspectives on the process and provides a few thoughts on the direction for the future