Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Management experience using a novel probabilistic risk assessment format for safety communication

Conference · · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)
OSTI ID:7055869
; ;  [1]; ;  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Pickard, Lowe and Garrick, Inc., Newport Beach, CA (United States)
  2. Dept. of Energy, Aiken, SC (United States)
  3. Houston Lighting and Power Co., Bay City, TX (United States)
  4. Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation, Aiken, SC (United States)

In order to independently assess the effectiveness of the Savannah River Site (SRS) restart test program using level 1 probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) logic, it was necessary that the PRA logic be reformatted in a manner that could facilitate usage as a process tool. The US Department of Energy (DOE) management elected to develop a new top-down presentation format for the existing K-reactor PRA. Despite the availability of the PRA, its widespread use for evaluating safety was hampered by the mystique surrounding its traditional presentation of models and results. The DOE desired a format that could speak clearly to engineers, scientists, and managers who have not directly participated in the PRA and who may not be intimately familiar with the design and operation of the SRS reactors. Similar needs led South Texas Project (STP) to pursue a program to provide summary information about the plant safety capabilities that were integrated from the final safety analysis report (FSAR), PRA, emergency operating procedures, and other sources into an easy-to-use graphic format. The new models represent the hardware and operator actions required to mitigate accident initiating events, as depicted in the STP probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). The models allow important design-basis accidents and core-damage sequences from the PSA to be illustrated in the same format.

OSTI ID:
7055869
Report Number(s):
CONF-920606--
Journal Information:
Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Vol. 65; ISSN TANSA; ISSN 0003-018X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English