Title: Six Sigma Evaluation of the High Level Waste Tank Farm Corrosion Control Program at the Savannah River Site

Abstract

Six Sigma is a disciplined approach to process improvement based on customer requirements and data. The goal is to develop or improve processes with defects that are measured at only a few parts per million. The process includes five phases: Identify, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. This report describes the application of the Six Sigma process to improving the High Level Waste (HLW) Tank Farm Corrosion Control Program. The report documents the work performed and the tools utilized while applying the Six Sigma process from September 28, 2001 to April 1, 2002. During Fiscal Year 2001, the High Level Waste Division spent $5.9 million to analyze samples from the F and H Tank Farms. The largest portion of these analytical costs was $2.45 million that was spent to analyze samples taken to support the Corrosion Control Program. The objective of the Process Improvement Project (PIP) team was to reduce the number of analytical tasks required to support the Corrosion Control Program by 50 percent. Based on the data collected, the corrosion control decision process flowchart, and the use of the X-Y Matrix tool, the team determined that analyses in excess of the requirements of the corrosion control program were beingmore » performed. Only two of the seven analytical tasks currently performed are required for the 40 waste tanks governed by the Corrosion Control Program. Two additional analytical tasks are required for a small subset of the waste tanks resulting in an average of 2.7 tasks per sample compared to the current 7 tasks per sample. Forty HLW tanks are sampled periodically as part of the Corrosion Control Program. For each of these tanks, an analysis was performed to evaluate the stability of the chemistry in the tank and then to determine the statistical capability of the tank to meet minimum corrosion inhibitor limits. The analyses proved that most of the tanks were being sampled too frequently. Based on the results of these analyses and th e use of additional Six Sigma tools, the team identified improvements that allow sampling frequencies to be extended without increasing the overall risk associated with the Corrosion Control Program. Overall, the team identified improvements to the process that would reduce the number of analytical tasks required to support the corrosion control program by approximately 77 percent reducing analytical costs by $1.2 million per year.« less

Authors:

Hill, P J

Publication Date:

Wed Feb 26 00:00:00 EST 2003

Research Org.:

Savannah River Site, Aiken, SC (US)

Sponsoring Org.:

US Department of Energy (US)

OSTI Identifier:

826257

Resource Type:

Conference

Resource Relation:

Conference: Waste Management 2003 Symposium, Tucson, AZ (US), 02/23/2003--02/27/2003; Other Information: PBD: 26 Feb 2003

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; CHEMISTRY; CORROSION; CORROSION INHIBITORS; DEFECTS; EVALUATION; SAMPLING; STABILITY; STORAGE FACILITIES; TANKS; WASTE MANAGEMENT; WASTES