Risk management considerations for seismic upgrading of an older facility for short-term residue stabilization
- TENERA Rocky Flats, LLC, Golden, CO (United States)
- Foppe and Associates, Inc., Golden, CO (United States)
Building 707 and its addition, Building 707A, were selected, after the production mission of Rocky Flats was terminated a few years ago, to stabilize many of the plutonium residues remaining at the site by 2002. The facility had undergone substantial safety improvements to its safety systems and conduct of operations for resumption of plutonium operations in the early 1990s and appeared ideally suited for this new mission to support accelerated Site closure. During development of a new authorization basis, a seismic evaluation was performed. This evaluation addressed an unanalyzed expansion joint and suspect connection details for the precast concrete tilt-up construction and concluded that the seismic capacity of the facility is less than half of that determined by previous analysis. Further, potential seismic interaction was identified between a collapsing Building 707 and the seismically upgraded Building 707A, possibly causing the partial collapse of the latter. Both the operating contractor and the Department of Energy sought a sound technical basis for deciding how to proceed. This paper addresses the risks of the as-is facility and possible benefits of upgrades to support a decision on whether to upgrade the seismic capacity of Building 707, accept the risk of the as-is facility for its short remaining mission, or relocate critical stabilization missions. The paper also addresses the Department of Energy`s policy on natural phenomena.
- Research Organization:
- Dept. of Energy Rocky Flats Field Office, Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC34-90RF62349
- OSTI ID:
- 350832
- Report Number(s):
- RFP-5240; CONF-990609-; ON: DE99002577; TRN: AHC29921%%15
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Energy Facility Contractor Group 1999 safety analysis workshop, Portland, OR (United States), 13-18 Jun 1999; Other Information: PBD: [1999]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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