Case Study: Carnegie Mellon University achieves an 80% reduction in nuclear plant cost overruns with Palisade's @RISK

Carnegie Mellon University - Customer Case Study

Carnegie Mellon University (through Dr. Sola Talabi and her risk-management practice) tackled a major industry challenge after a U.S. nuclear power company signed EPC contracts for three plants with expected costs above $30 billion and a history of massive cost overruns (historically ~300% of planned cost). To address the concurrent design, construction and supply-chain risks, the team selected Palisade’s @RISK as part of a new, dedicated risk organization to move beyond deterministic estimates and improve decision-making.

Using Palisade’s @RISK Monte Carlo simulation and sensitivity-analysis tools, the team modeled distributions, event probabilities, variable correlations and cost drivers, which revealed unexpected drivers (notably supply-chain risk) and estimation errors. The Palisade-driven approach enabled targeted mitigation and changed project planning and governance, yielding a roughly 80% reduction in cost overruns versus the historical trend and materially improving focus on the highest-impact risks.

Carnegie Mellon University

Sola Talabi

Risk Management Professor