Reporting plant safety programs

The aforementioned reviews and assessments were assimilated to characterize the effect of dielectric, rotational, and mechanical hazards on motor performance and operational readiness. Functional indicators were identified that can be monitored to assess motor component deterioration caused by aging or other accidental stressors. The study also includes a preliminary discussion of current standards and guides, maintenance programs, and research activities pertaining to nuclear power plant safety-related electric motors. Included are motor manufacturer recommendations, responses from repair facilities to a questionnaire, in-service inspection data, expert knowledge, USNRC-IE audit reports, and standards and guides published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). 

Research and development programs, either planned or in progress, that provide further technical information directly related to plant safety are identified and reported in the Regulatory Technology Development Plan. (Ref. 1)... 

Initial Plant Test Program - Final Safety Analysis Report... 

Training is a vital part of the safety program for those exposed to caustic. It should meet all regulatory requirements and cover all aspects necessary for each job involved. Plant programs must also include reporting procedures for all incidents and an emergency response procedure. 

In the overzealous company, safety personnel usually seem loud, harsh, overly watchful, and too quick to criticize. In plants where programs for safety are livelier and more rewarding, safety professionals are usually seen as friends, people much like the employees. In the more lax organizations, the employees complain that there are not enough safety professionals around, and they doubt that reporting to them does much good, since little happens [2]. 

OSHA has the right of entry to any site to inspect or investigate for compliance with federal regulations. This does not reduce the responsibility of the plant owner, who should, at a minimum, monitor contractor incident reports for adverse trends. The owner should also have a program of surveillance by which he can monitor the contractor s day-to-day adherence to plant safety rules. 

The NPRDS collects failure data on safety-related systems and components. At present, more than 60 plants are reporting data. The data are compiled and disseminated in periodic report,s to the participants of the program and other potential users. In addition, special searches of tl may be requested by the... 

From a theoretical point of view, it is unclear whether participation in such cooperative ventures will be reduced or maintained. On the one hand, companies in financial difficulty may not be able to spare either the ftmding or the personnel time to participate in collaborative industry programs such as safety bench-marking activities. Similarly, successful companies may choose not to participate in order to maintain their competitive advantage rather than share Imowledge with their competitors. Thus, NEI president Colvin (1997, pg. 35) reports, Some have suggested that in a competitive era, nuclear power plants will become reluctant to continue to share [safety and operating] information. ... 

Fast forward a decade and a half to 1998 and echoes of the Markham report resonate in the standard EN 61508. This standard, called Functional safety ofelectrical/electronic/program-mable electronic safety-related systems, was developed in response to an increasing number of industrial accidents whose cause was attributed to Programmable Electronic Systems (PES). The increasing trend was to use the PES to perform the safety and plant control functions, and move away from mechanical or hardwired electrical controls. While the estabhshed method... 

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