July 2015

Targeted Review of the Safety-Significant Systems at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Radiochemical Processing Laboratory

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environment, Safety and Health Assessments, within the Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA), conducted an independent review of certain aspects of management and oversight of the safety-significant Criticality Alarm System and Fire Suppression System at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL), Building 325, a nuclear facility operated by Battelle Memorial Institute (hereafter referred to as Battelle).  The principal focus was on technical procedure development, use and adherence; training; maintenance and calibration of equipment.  EA also evaluated the effectiveness of Federal safety system oversight by reviewing the performance of the DOE Office of Science Pacific Northwest Site Office (PNSO) oversight at PNNL.  This independent review, conducted during March 2015, was part of a larger targeted assessment of safety-class and safety-significant (SS) structures, systems, and components across the DOE complex.