Locus and Overhoff to Offer Real Time Tritium Monitoring and Compliance Software at Nuclear Facilities

Cloud Computing Solution for Tritium Transparency at Nuclear Power Plants

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 15, 2010 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in web-based environmental compliance and information management software, and Overhoff Technology Corporation, the world’s leader in the design and manufacture of Tritium monitors and radiation monitoring systems, have partnered to offer a complete Tritium monitoring solution for the nuclear industry using Overhoff’s Tritium instrumentation and Locus’ award winning Cloud Computing software.

As the new Administration advocates expansion of America’s nuclear power industry, pushing for billions of dollars in federal incentives and announcing plans to build the first nuclear plant in decades, new issues have arisen regarding leaking and possibly dangerous levels of Tritium, a radioactive byproduct of the nuclear process. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which oversees the inspection and licensing of nuclear facilities, says roughly 30 of the nation’s 104 reactor units have experienced Tritium leaks. According to the NRC, none of the leaks have impacted public health or safety but, the unmonitored and unexpected releases have raised concerns within the industry and among watchdog groups nationwide.

Similar concerns regarding leaks at several plants in the mid 2000’s prompted the members of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) to put forth a Ground Water Protection Initiative (NEI-07-07) in 2007. This Initiative identifies actions that utilities can take to improve their management and response to instances where the inadvertent release of radioactive substances may result in low but detectible levels of plant-related materials in subsurface soils and water, even when these are well below the NRC limits pertaining to the protection of public health and safety. One of the key actions that adoptees of the Initiative are expected to undertake is the establishment of an on-site groundwater monitoring program involving on site monitoring or regular sampling and analyses to ensure the timely detection of inadvertent radiological releases. The Tritium groundwater challenge was addressed in 2009 when Locus introduced the nuclear module for its flagship product EIM that is already deployed at several nuclear power plants.

According to the NRC, additional requirements pertaining to the monitoring of air releases of Tritium and Carbon-14 are likely to be promulgated in the future. To meet these requirements, new monitoring instruments and data management tools will have to be installed since many facilities are still using over 30-year old stack monitors and few, if any currently have H-3 or C-14 stack monitors in place.

For those nuclear facilities wanting to fulfill their responsibility under existing (e.g., 10CFR-51 and 10CFR-52) as well as likely forthcoming regulations, the Locus/TA Overhoff solution provides a complete system for Tritium monitoring. TA-Overhoff has been designing and manufacturing nuclear air and stack monitors since 1946. The company recently announced the new, state-of-the-art CAM-TC and CAM-TCI series monitors. The model CAM-TC is a full-service, state-of the-art, stack monitor that reads, analyzes and records Beta-Gamma Particulates, Iodine, Noble Gases, C-14, Tritium and optionally, Alpha Particulates. The data captured by the CAM-TC monitors is immediately passed to Locus’ EIM where it is managed and integrated with groundwater and other monitoring data. Within EIM, graphs can be plotted, reports generated, maps can be produced and statistical analyses performed.

“Nearly all of the activities associated with water and air protection at nuclear power plants, including the assessment of site characteristics, the ongoing monitoring of site conditions, and decommissioning of old plants or permitting of new plants, involve the collection and/or analysis of data. The tools and systems used to manage and store this information must satisfy strict NRC security and QA/QC requirements such as NQA-1 or ISO 9001:2008 to ensure that only the appropriate people can access the data, and that the quality of the data adheres to the highest NRC standards. It is also critical that these applications allow engineers and scientists to do their work in a cost-effective way, allowing them to focus less of their time on finding the data they need and formatting various outputs, and more on the evaluation and analysis of these data. In addition data must be transparent and verifiable to all stakeholders. All of these requirements are instantly met using Locus/Overhoff monitoring and data management solution. We are very pleased that Overhoff Technology has decided to join forces with Locus. The company’s outstanding reputation for having monitors that excel in performance will enhance Locus’ offering in the important nuclear monitoring market,” said Dr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

“We are very pleased to join with Locus to bring an integrated and elegant solution to address the nuclear industry’s Tritium monitoring needs. Our experience in producing hundreds of different types of monitors for different users, coupled with Locus’ market leader position in Cloud Computing-based environmental data management, will benefit our joint clients,” said Dr. Robert I. Goldstein, President and CEO of Overhoff.

 

ABOUT OVERHOFF
Founded in 1972, Overhoff Technology Corporation specializes in the design and manufacture of Tritium monitors. With the world’s largest selection of Tritium monitors, Overhoff can offer monitors ranging from simple hand held units to complex integrated digital radiation monitoring systems.

For more information, visit www.overhoff.com or email sales@overhoff.com.

San Francisco Chronicle | One word: emissions

CEO Neno Duplan would not disclose the dollar amount of the contract, which was announced last week, but, he said, “I can tell you, in this industry, it doesn’t get bigger than this.”

Locus Technologies Wins Environmental Business Journal’s 2009 Business Achievement: Information Award

The 2009 crop of winners contended with what likely was the most challenging business conditions in history.

EPA Delays Start of New Rules on Emissions

The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday the agency would delay subjecting large greenhouse-gas emitters such as power plants and crude-oil refiners to new regulations until 2011, and would raise the threshold for using the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.

This decision will be welcomed by the industry but will also afect many GHG (single product) software companies.

ExxonMobil to Implement Locus EIM Worldwide

ExxonMobil to Implement Locus EIM Worldwide

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., February 22, 2010 — Locus Technologies, the industry leader in Cloud Computing-based environmental compliance and information management software, today announced that it has received a 2009 Business Achievement Award in Information Technology (IT) from the Environmental Business Journal (EBJ). This award recognizes Locus for significantly expanding its client base and its product line.

In 2009, Locus expanded its Software as a Service (SaaS) applications in the areas of environmental compliance, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions monitoring, Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) and sustainability, and added clients in the utilities, grocery and engineered materials industry sectors. Locus also expanded its presence in its key market—oil and gas—by starting worldwide implementation of its environmental information management (EIM) product at ExxonMobil. In addition, the company expanded its presence in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) market.

Locus also gained recognition among key IT independent research analysts with initiation of coverage by Gartner, Verdantix, and UtiliPoint for its position in enterprise-level environmental software offered through its Cloud Computing platform. Also in 2009, Locus received accreditation by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to provide GHG emissions verification services, one of just a few companies to obtain this status.

“We are honored to be recognized for the fourth time by the Environmental Business Journal with its Business Achievement Award,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus Technologies. “The year 2009 was an outstanding one for Locus. As one of the oldest and most established providers of EH&S software using the Cloud Computing model, we broadened our offerings by introducing an entirely new category of SaaS GHG and sustainability products for the environmental industry, while at the same time solidifying our position at the top of water quality management services. We also significantly enhanced our Fortune 100 customer base, who embraced our new offerings.”

Said Environmental Business Journal Editor Grant Ferrier: “Locus has continued to innovate and demonstrate its leadership position in the environmental software industry by expanding its Cloud Computing-based services from water quality management to GHG and Sustainability offerings. We congratulate them on their continued innovation and success in serving the environmental business community.”

The EBJ Business Achievement Awards will be presented during the Environmental Industry Summit 2010, scheduled for March 3-5 in San Diego.

 

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS JOURNAL
Environmental Business Journal (EBJ), a ZweigWhite publication, is the leading business publication for companies operating in the environmental industry. EBJ provides a strategic overview and an independent perspective on market trends and business strategies that affect this changing industry including competitive strategies, new business opportunities, and up-to-date market trends and data.

For more information, visit www.ebionline.org.

Congress to investigate hydraulic fracturing for concerns about potential drinking-water contamination

WSJ reported today that concerns about potential drinking-water contamination are prompting Congress to investigate hydraulic fracturing, a controversial drilling technique that has helped boost U.S. natural-gas production. Hydrofracturing has been used by the oil industry for decades but has become far more common in recent years as companies discovered large new gas fields  in the US. The resulting drilling boom helped U.S. gas production surge by about 20% since 2005, but sparked concerns that chemicals from the process could seep into drinking-water supplies.

“As we use this technology in more parts of the country on a much larger scale, we must ensure that we are not creating new environmental and public health problems,” Mr. Waxman, chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, said in a statement.

The industry beleives that hydrofracturing is safe and with proper tools like Locus EIM water quality management software can prove that hydrofracturing can be managed to protect groundwater resources. Now, more than ever, a proper water quality management tools are necessary to address skeptics and prove that hydraulic fracturing is not linked to large scale drinking water contamination.  It is almost certain that EPA will legislate this technology and require better monitoring and reporting.

Locus Again Recognized as Carbon Software Leader

Groom Energy Research Study Reveals Carbon Software Growth

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 25, 2010 — Locus Technologies was recognized as one of the leaders in software for greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and reporting by Massachusetts-based research firm Groom Energy Solutions. Their Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) report is titled “2010 Enterprise Carbon Accounting: An Analysis of Corporate-Level Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Reporting and a Review of GHG Software Products.” This report comes only weeks after UtiliPoint International, Inc., a key utility and energy industry analysis and consulting firm, in a similar report recognized Locus as one of the oldest and most comprehensive providers of GHG software.

“We are very pleased that some of the leading industry analysts, first UtiliPoint, followed by IDC, and now Groom Energy, have recognized Locus as one of the most established and versatile companies in the sustainability and environmental software space,” said Dr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

Founded in 1997, Locus pioneered the use of the Internet’s power to manage all aspects of environmental business, focusing on environmental information management (EIM) developed on a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform and delivered through Cloud Computing. In addition, ePortal, the Locus environmental executive dashboard, brings key environmental information to the user’s desktop in a Yahoo!-style single sign-on (SSO) interface, providing the ability to drill into the data when a more in-depth view is needed.

“With our suite of diverse but well integrated products offered through an SSO, along with our stellar client list who manage environmental information in real time using Locus Cloud Computing software at over 36,000 sites around the world, Locus is well positioned to continue to lead the environmental software market,” added Dr. Duplan.

Thirteen years after Locus’ founding, environmental software has become a multi-billion dollar industry with new players entering almost daily. In its report, Groom Energy stated that more than $46 million in venture capital was invested in ECA startup companies in 2009, while large software companies like Microsoft and SAP also entered the market. The research also confirmed that the number of corporations disclosing GHGs increased significantly in 2009 and predicts that ECA software purchases will increase 600 percent by 2011. To distinguish Locus from competition, Locus offers a proven track record of delivering complex environmental information management and compliance solutions over the Internet for over 10 years.

The New York Times, in commenting on the Groom Energy Study, reports that the current ECA industry leaders are a mix of longtime software players and startups. The newspaper predicts that winners will be the companies that can integrate various applications that not only manage GHGs but also provide management of other, mission-critical environmental data and information, such as water quality and consumption management.

The analyst reports highlight Locus’ experience in Cloud Computing, not only for the company’s GHG emissions management, but also for its general leadership in the complex space of environmental sustainability software, including water quality management.

Locus is an industry leader in providing Web-based Cloud Computing information technology to help manage data and information related to water supply and quality to meet the growing need for clean water.

Any climate bill before the U.S. Congress is almost certainly to be delayed after the 19 January 2010 special election of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown to fill the U.S. Senate seat of the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last December declared greenhouse gases a danger to public health. The “endangerment finding” announced by EPA will allow EPA to manage GHG emissions under the 1970 Clean Air Act, and opens up large emitters such as power plants, oil refineries, chemical plants and metal smelters to regulations that limit their output of carbon dioxide and other gases. Managing GHG under the Clean Air Act will be more costly to the industry. The biggest threat of huge new energy taxes and government controls right now comes not from cap-and-trade legislation, but from the existing regulation such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. As a result, the industry will focus on the broad spectrum of existing environmental compliance issues, all of which require specialized software and a deep knowledge of regulations, all of which Locus developed and deployed over the last 13 years.

Requirements for environmental compliance have existed for years. The Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule of September 2009 represents yet another element (and a relatively small one at that) in a long list of environmental compliance activities to which U.S. companies are subject. In particular, oil and gas companies are facing increased regulation and enforcement by the EPA.

As a result, many companies are revisiting their environmental, health and safety (EH&S) strategies and are looking for software applications not only to manage GHG or environmental data, but also to improve operational efficiency and reduce operating costs.

“Locus has served this market exceptionally well since 1997, and maintains the leading position in many of its segments,” noted Dr. Duplan.

ZDNet GreenTech Pastures | Need to verify your greenhouse gas emissions? Locus Tech has your back

Environmental software developer Locus Technologies has earned the right to provider greenhouse gas emissions verification services by the California Air Resources Board.