The Cold and Dark Process at the Savannah River Site
- CH2SRC, Savannah River Site, Aiken, SC 29808 (United States)
- Washington Savannah River Company, Aiken, SC 29808 (United States)
The deactivation and decommissioning (D and D) of a facility exposes D and D workers to numerous hazards. One of the more serious hazards is coming into contact to hazardous energy sources (e.g. electrical, pressurized steam). At the Savannah River Site (SRS) a formal process for identifying and eliminating sources of hazardous energy was developed and is called 'Cold and Dark'. Several 'near miss' events involving cutting of energized conductors during D and D work in buildings thought to be isolated identified the need to have a formal process to identify and isolate these potentially hazardous systems. This process was developed using lessons learned from D and D activities at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (Rocky Flats) in Colorado. The Cold and Dark process defines an isolation boundary (usually a building perimeter) and then systematically identifies all of the penetrations through this boundary. All penetrations that involve hazardous energy sources are then physically air-gapped. The final product is a documented declaration of isolation performed by a team involving operations, engineering, and project management. Once the Cold and Dark declaration is made for a building work can proceed without the usual controls used in an operational facility (e.g. lockout/tag-out, arc flash PPE). It is important to note that the Cold and Dark process does not remove all hazards from a facility. Work planning and controls still need to address hazards that can be present from such things as chemicals, radiological contamination, residual liquids, etc., as well as standard industrial hazards. Savannah River Site experienced 6 electrical events prior to declaring a facility 'cold and dark' and has had zero electrical events after 'cold and dark' declaration (263 facilities to date). The formal Cold and Dark process developed at SRS has eliminated D and D worker exposures to hazardous energy sources. Since the implementation of the process there have been no incidents involving energized conductors or pressurized liquids/gases. During this time SRS has demolished over 200 facilities. The ability to perform intrusive D and D activities without the normal controls such as lock outs results in shorter schedule durations and lower overall costs for a facility D and D.
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, Illinois 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21144203
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: DD and R 2007: ANS Topical Meeting on Decommissioning, Decontamination, and Reutilization 2007, Chattanooga, TN (United States), 16-19 Sep 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France; Related Information: In: Proceedings of the 2007 ANS Topical Meeting on Decommissioning, Decontamination, and Reutilization - DD and R 2007, 336 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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