April 2018

Enterprise Assessments Lessons Learned from Assessments of Integration of Safety into Design of New U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Facilities – April 2018

Lessons Learned from Assessments of Integration of Safety into Design of New U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Facilities

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environment, Safety and Health Assessments, within the independent Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA), conducted assessments at DOE high-hazard (Hazard Category 2) nuclear facility design and construction projects between 2012 and 2017. These projects were under the direction of the DOE Office of Environmental Management and the National Nuclear Security Administration. The objective of these assessments was to examine the integration of safety into the design, as well as the development of the safety design basis for the new nuclear facilities. A disciplined safety-in-design approach ensures that the required level of safety is integrated early into facility design, so that undue project delays and cost increases can be prevented. The safety design basis leads to the facility’s final safety basis, which comprises the documented safety analysis and technical safety requirements. An adequate safety basis provides reasonable assurance that the facility can be constructed and operated in a manner that adequately protects workers, the public, and the environment. This lessons learned report focuses on safety design basis development issues that potentially affect multiple nuclear facility projects at different DOE sites, and identifies strengths and weaknesses, best practices, and recommendations, with the goal of promoting organizational learning. The lessons learned are based on analyzing and grouping significant observations from EA assessments in the following three fundamental aspects of safety-in-design integration and safety design basis development: (1) hazard and accident analyses; (2) hazard control selection; and (3) safety functional and performance requirements.