Emergency operating procedure maintenance - a perspective at four utilities

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Supplement; (USA)

OSTI ID:5321965

Adler, M R; Allen, R T; Draper, D M; Wadley, M; White, T; Volpenhein, E C

Since the publication of the Three Mile Island Action Plan, NUREG 0737, in 1980, the nuclear industry has been upgrading and refining symptom-based emergency operating procedures (EOPs) for use in restoring the plants to a safe shutdown condition following an abnormal operating occurrence. Four specific areas are required to develop technically correct and accurate procedures: (1) technical bases; (2) plant-specific writer's guide; (3) programmatic verification and validation process; and (4) operator training program. With various degrees of success, nuclear utilities are implementing their upgraded EOPs in accordance with these requirements. With that challenge not yet behind us, however, a new challenge is emerging: a challenge to maintain and integrate the EOPs into the normal activities of engineering, operations, and maintenance. While the new EOPs are universally regarded as a major improvement, they are also less flexible. The ability to respond to an unanticipated event is increasingly dependent upon the quality of the EOPs. It is inconsistent to encourage reliance on procedures and to also assume that operator training, cognitive capabilities, and experience will compensate for procedural deficiencies. In this paper the authors examine the EOP maintenance process at four Westinghouse-designed pressurized water reactors to provide insight into the development of an effective and efficient program.

• OSTI ID: 5321965
• Report Number(s): CONF-890833--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Supplement; (USA) Journal Volume: 59
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
DOCUMENTATION
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
EMERGENCY PLANS
ENGINEERING
HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
MAINTENANCE
MODIFICATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
OPERATION
PERSONNEL
POWER PLANTS
PUBLIC UTILITIES
QUALITY ASSURANCE
REACTOR OPERATION
REACTOR OPERATORS
TESTING
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
VALIDATION
VERIFICATION