“a new tool at our disposal, a tool that can be applied to maintain and improve the quality and reliability of our operations. ”

This REASON® Case Study was delivered at a Maintenance Conference.  The subject of the case study is part of the US Department of Energy Hanford deployment.

Hanford is a 560 square mile site is located on the Columbia River in South Eastern Washington State. USA.   The Hanford Site is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy.

As a plutonium production complex, Hanford played a pivotal role in the nation's defense for more than 50 years.  The site was a part of the original Manhattan Project. Currently, Hanford is engaged in the world's largest environmental cleanup project, with many challenges to be resolved in the face of overlapping technical, political, regulatory, and cultural interests.

The attached slides were prepared Presented at the conference by:

Mr. Tom Daniels, Director Waste Division, Richland Operations Office

Mr. John D. Long, Program Manager

The Department of Energy role is to manage the site that is operated by a number of contractors.

Prime Functions of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Project (SNFP)

(1) Maintain safety of the fuel and maintain the fuel to preclude further corrosion; and (2) Prepare the fuel and the K Basins for transfer of the fuel into Multi-Canister Overpacks (MCOs) for shipment to other SNFP facilities.

EXCERPTS FROM THE ATTACHED PRESENTATION.

• “With this utility it will be possible for us to audit in real-time each contractor’s effectiveness and improvement of organizational controls’
• “One major advantage to the new system is the ease of submitting data into the system. Our Lessons Learned system will not require someone to select, analyze, write and post each story on the Internet. Instead the lessons will go automatically into the system without the effort or time of personnel, because the lesson is the file already created by the root cause analysis software”
• “Our office will use the system routinely to keep abreast of the causal influences that are interacting at the site. Searching and identifying those interactions proactively for potential danger and opportunity to improve controls.”
• “I would like you to think about what happens when we pinpoint a root cause, and act to remove it from our environment. There is a feeling that we have made things right again, isn’t there? But, when the Point of Occurrence analysis method is applied to the root cause analysis task, we usually find multiple root causes, not one. The system measures each root cause and the part it played in producing the occurrence. Each root cause represents a lack of control . . . and each lack of control is an amount of risk in the operation   .  With this perspective, we will be able to go beyond the conventional methods of risk assessment, which are based upon historical experience and numerical predictions. We will be able to pinpoint, measure, analyze, and “manage” the risk. “
• “With the real-time ability to monitor the effect of contractor strategies, policies and procedures upon the goals of DOE, we will have a tool that will enable us to make early course corrections, so that we and the contractors can avoid those last minute crisis corrections, or worse . . . after-the-fact corrections.”
• “The REASON system has many direct benefits for the contractor as well.   The Point of Occurrence methodology can be applied to all types of occurrences. That means the reliability, quality of data, and efficiencies are available on all cases.
  • With logic criteria to validate analyses, the contractor can be confident of accuracy and completeness before submitting a report. This will dramatically reduce rework and wordsmithing of reports.
  • With the ability to automatically generate and instantly edit analytical models, in many cases, hours will be saved on reporting. Instant analyses and automatic cause and effect narratives can be transferred in seconds to reports, saving endless hours of deliberation, writing and reworking.
  • Cap these with the real-time assistance that we will be able to provide contractors by virtue of our advanced  knowledge management system.  “
• “ In summary, when we faced the challenge of new and increased responsibilities, we set out to find better methods and tools to meet the challenge. Our K Basin study showed us where important improvements could be made in the quality of analysis and data from occurrence reporting. We took that visibility and set about to design an information system that would provide improved planning and control capabilities. Over the coming months we will be setting in a computerized system that will provide an integrated solution for root cause analysis, lessons learned, risk assessment and management oversight. With the new data, both DOE and our contractors will have a new tool at our disposal, a tool that can be applied to maintain and improve the quality and reliability of our operations. ”

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO ACCESS THE PDF DOCUMENT DETAILING THE PRESENTATION AND OVERHEAD SLIDES

 

          

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