Area 4: NUCLEAR SAFETY PROGRAMS AND ANALYSIS

DOE regulations, requirements, and guidance are developed, implemented, and maintained; and safety programs at defense nuclear facilities are established and implemented; as necessary to protect adequately the health and safety of the workers and the public.

Other Information:

The Board’s oversight effort in this area focuses on issues where a complex-wide perspective on health and safety issues across the DOE complex is required to identify and correct generic health and safety problems. Under the aegis of Integrated Safety Management (ISM),1 significant resources are applied to areas such as the technical competence of DOE’s Federal workforce, the efficiency of DOE’s line management and safety oversight, and the development and implementation of ISM systems with particular focus on safety analyses and controls. Key supporting functional areas are also reviewed, such as quality assurance, nuclear criticality safety, and training and qualifications. The Board’s reviews in this strategic area often build on data collected at the field level in the first three areas, integrating and analyzing the results to feed back key information that can be used to direct safety program improvement across multiple management lines. For example, at the Board’s urging, DOE issued a quality assurance improvement plan to strengthen the implementation of existing quality requirements for safety-related components and systems. Similarly, the Board continues its efforts to ensure that DOE maintains a vigorous nuclear criticality safety infrastructure to support nuclear operations. The Board has been instrumental in driving recent DOE efforts to verify that vital safety systems have been identified throughout the defense nuclear complex and that their condition is understood and controlled. Outcome: DOE will have acknowledged, acted upon, and/or resolved the health and safety issues raised by the Board. In addition, follow-up technical evaluations of DOE’s safety programs at defense nuclear facilities will verify necessary improvements in safety, and effective implementation of ISM principles.

Indicator(s):

Indicator:1

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