Operational qualification, plant design

Most basic validation activities within the cGMP pilot plant are identical to those expected in practice in a manufacturing facility. A validation master plan should be developed that addresses the design specifications and qualification, installation qualification (IQ), operational qualification (OQ), and performance qualification (PQ) of all major utility systems, process equipment, and computer control systems. Installation and commissioning data should be retained as part of an engineering documentation package. A workable... 

These design objectives were carried over to the work on the power reactor PIUS, basically a pressurized water reactor (PWR) in which the primary system has been rearranged in order to accomplish an efficient protection of the reactor core and the nuclear fuel by means of thermal-hydraulic characteristics, in combination with inherent and passive features, without reliance on operator intervention or proper functioning of any mechanical or electrical equipment. Together with wide operating margins, this should make the plant design and its function, in normal operation as well as in transient and accident situations, much more easily understood and with less requirements on the capabilities and qualifications of the operators. 

Membranes and graphite electrodes gave a little longer than the estimated service of 9 and 6 months continuous use, respectively. A qualification is needed in the case of electrodes, as the plant operated for much of its time at well below the maximum designed current density, because the ohmic resistance of the packs, due to sludge formation and polarization, rose to approximately twice the designed value. 

Jacket services—It is common in BPC facilities, especially those which are reconfigured frequently to accommodate the production of different materials, to have each major vessel equipped with identical utilities, such as chilled water, plant steam, compressed air, and coolant. The use of identical utility configurations on the vessels maximizes the flexibility of the facility, reduces the potential for operator error, and simplifies the design of the facility. The control systems for these jacket services on the vessels would also be identical. Under these circumstances, the qualification effort is greatly simplified through the use of identical requirements. 

Detailed experimental designs are undertaken at all levels of process development—discovery, scouting, product and process development and improvement, qualification, prove-outs, even start-up. With respect to startup in an industrial environment, not only will DOE quantify the relationship between operating conditions and product specifications, it can also help develop standard operating procedures as well as optimize stand-by conditions (conditions at which the plant runs at reduced capacity due to poor market conditions or problems downstream). DOE is an efficient means to assess the effect and interaction of factors. The effect is defined as the variation of the response variable with respect to a change in a factor while interactions assess the relative change in the response variable with respect to two or more factors. 

Cold hydro qualification tests, hot functional qualification tests, periodic in-service Inspections, and periodic in-service operation will be performed in situ to verify and assure the functional ability of the valve. These tests will guarantee reliability of the valve for the design life of the plant. The valves will be designed using either stress analyses or the pressure containing minimum wall thickness requirements. On all active valves, an analysis of the extended (e.g., actuator) structure will also be performed for static equivalent SSE loads supplied at the center of gravity of the extended structure. The maximum stress limits allowed in these analyses will assure structural integrity. 

Each of these conditions varies for each area of plant, depending on prevalent environmental conditions during normal operations and the local effects of Design Basis events. The conditions are defined in Appendix A of the APIOOO Equipment Qualification Methodology and Appendix 3D of the European DCD, and a bounding length of time for which the equipment must be demonstrated to withstand these conditions throughout life is also identified. 

This section and Section 10.2, "Training," outline the minimum requirements for both the selection and training of selected reactor facility personnel. These criteria are based on commercial industry standards such as American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Nuclear Standards (ANS) 3.1, "Selection, Qualification, and Training of Personnel for Nuclear Power Plants" (Reference 1) and DOE Order 5480.6, "Safety of DOE-Owned Reactors" (Reference 2). This section also discusses the minimum staffing levels designed to assure that the reactor is operated with adequate numbers of qualified personnel to assure safe operations. 

As specified in both the draft DOE Nuclear Safety Policy and Policy and Expectations for Formal Conduct of Operations in DOE Owned Nuclear Material Production Program Facilities, facilities shall be operated and supported by personnel designated by management as qualified to perform their assigned function. Minimum qualification criteria shall be established and documented consistent with the requirements in DOE Order 5480.6 ANSI/ANS 3.1 draft DOE Order 5480.XX, "Personnel Section, Qualification, and Training Requirements" (Reference 3) and the NRC Policy Statement on Education for Senior Operators and Shift Supervisors at Nuclear Power Plants. Deviations from these requirements will require the approval of the Department of Energy Savannah River Site. Selected positions and their associated requirements are highlighted due to the restart issues that surround them. 

A summary of the transients analyzed is provided in Table 12-2. This compilation of transients provides initial insight into the SNPP design space that is the first step in specifying the specific design requirements of each power plant component. For some transients, numerous operating and/or protection strategies were modeled. Future transient analysis would involve model qualification and new model detail. Transients similar to those provided here would eventually become the Design Events Document (DED) that would be used for detailed equipment specifications, thermal-hydraulic and structural analysis, as discussed in Section 11. 

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