ALGOR SOFTWARE PASSES MAJOR NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION INSPECTION

October 30, 1998, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- Mechanical engineering software manufacturer ALGOR, Inc. today announced that it has passed a U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspection. In addition to passing this inspection, ALGOR regularly passes audits by nuclear customers.

"ALGOR's acceptance by the NRC shows the superior level of quality that we offer to all our customers and is good news to all users of ALGOR software," said Michael L. Bussler, founder and president of Pittsburgh-based ALGOR.

ALGOR's Quality Assurance Program is designed to comply with sections 10CFR50, Appendix B, and 10CFR21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which govern the United States requirements for the nuclear industry regarding vendor eligibility and quality control. These regulatory standards include 18 separate criteria that encompass virtually the full range of a company's software development and manufacturing processes, including but not limited to design, procurement, documentation, outsourcing, production, measurement, inspection, handling, storage and shipment. Algor's quality assurance program is also compliant with the ISO 9001 standard.

The NRC inspection performed by NRC personnel revealed only one Level IV finding -- the lowest NRC cited violation level. The NRC cited that a minor modification was needed to the required time frame in which ALGOR reports Part 21 errors and work solutions to customers. ALGOR quickly revised its procedures to be in compliance with NRC requirements.

"ALGOR appreciates the constructive criticism offered by this NRC inspection team," said Bussler. "The experience of these NRC inspectors and their broad and tactical inspection process gave us an extraordinary opportunity to improve our Quality Assurance Program."

The NRC 10CFR21 (Part 21) requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations call for reporting if any component supplied to a nuclear facility contains defects which could create a substantial safety hazard. One way in which to examine Algor's quality assurance record is to review Part 21 reports received by the NRC. These reports of FEA companies and other nuclear suppliers can be found on the Internet at the NRC Web Site.

ALGOR serves 16,000 customers in 60 countries. It originated FEA for PCs in 1984 and interfacing with CAD systems in 1985. Since first offering finite element software in 1979, ALGOR has just completed its 20th year of serving mechanical engineers in a wide variety of industries including nuclear energy, aerospace, automotive, medical, consumer products and others.

Thousands of engineers around the world have selected ALGOR software and have reported that it helps them to develop products that are better, safer, more efficient and less costly to produce. ALGOR's latest software invention, Accupak/VE Mechanical Event Simulation for Virtual Prototyping with Linear and Nonlinear Stress Analysis, replaces physical testing with virtual testing. Accupak/VE realistically simulates motion in mechanical events, eliminating the need to input a force. The software computes and shows resulting stresses on the computer model at each instant in time. Within its virtual prototyping system, ALGOR offers a range of finite element analysis capabilities including linear and nonlinear stress, vibration and natural frequencies, heat transfer, electrostatics, fluid flow, piping design and composite materials. In addition, ALGOR works with virtually any CAD system and offers advanced FEA meshing tools.