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David Hembree Institute of Nuclear Power Operations June 20, 2007 Charleston, SC

INPO Perspective on Configuration Management. David Hembree Institute of Nuclear Power Operations June 20, 2007 Charleston, SC.

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David Hembree Institute of Nuclear Power Operations June 20, 2007 Charleston, SC

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  1. INPO Perspective onConfiguration Management David Hembree Institute of Nuclear Power Operations June 20, 2007Charleston, SC

  2. Overall, the state of engineering and configuration management across the nuclear industry is good. Many organizations are addressing margin issues, completing major modifications without incident, and providing effective engineering support in areas such as equipment reliability improvement and reactor engineering. . . HOWEVER, almost all sites have some areas needing improvement, and some continue to experience significant challenges because of engineering and configuration management issues.

  3. CM Evaluation Results 2007 data through March

  4. INPO CM Focus Areas • Specific concerns • Nuclear fuel performance • Transformer/switchyard/grid events • Broader issues(from evaluation results) • Quality of vendor-provided engineering products • Engineering Fundamentals, including knowledge, critical thinking, and questioning attitude • Margin management

  5. INPO CM Focus Areas • Nuclear fuel performance • Industry goal of zero fuel failures by end of 2010 (current performance not on track to achieve this goal) • Industry working groups established guidance to help prevent each of the recurring fuel failure causes • Review visits focus on management direction, fuel designs, core designs, manufacturing oversight, fuel inspections, failure cause determination, chemistry, FME, etc. • Results being shared with industry

  6. INPO CM Focus Areas • Transformer/grid/switchyard (TSG) events • Little improvement in trends of scrams and other events from TSG issues • SOERs 99-1 and 02-3 provide guidance • Review visits focus on interfaces, adequacy of calculations for offsite power reliability, preventive maintenance, and other aspects discussed in the SOERS. All sites to be visited by end of 2008 • Sites should consider conducting self-assessment and acting to address weaknesses

  7. INPO CM Focus Areas • Improving quality of vendor-provided engineering • Many areas for improvement are associated with engineering performed by outside organizations. Causes include: • Weak communications, including lack of detailed specifications and few quality interactions between station and vendor personnel • Inconsistent participation in plant walkdowns and design review meetings • Fast-track scheduling without compensatory controls • Incomplete review and verification • Over-reliance on vendor expertise, which may have eroded over time

  8. INPO CM Focus Areas • Vendor-provided engineering -- cont’d • Situation is made more important by trend toward greater use of vendors for engineering support • INPO has generated several documents that may be of use in this area • ED 2007-01, Use of Engineering Vendors • SER 4-05, Errors in Prep and Implementation of Mods • AP 930, Supplemental Personnel Process • INPO 05-6, Engineering Organizational Success Factors

  9. INPO CM Focus Areas • Engineering fundamentals weaknesses • Knowledge deficiencies • Often associated with design and licensing bases, integrated system interactions, and specialty information • Often caused by staff changes from reorganizations, attrition, and rotational assignments • Points to weaknesses in turnover, supervisory effectiveness, and position-specific continuing training

  10. INPO CM Focus Areas • Engineering fundamentals – cont’d • Use of critical thinking and questioning attitude • Not enough attention to detail by individual engineers • Not proactively identifying failure modes and effects or understanding the risks and consequences of technical decisions • Not thoroughly reviewing engineering vendor products • See Engineering Digest ED 2007-02

  11. INPO CM Focus Areas • Margin management shortfalls • Known margins issues not integrated into other plant processes • Actions not taken to identify latent issues before self-revealed • Actions not taken to prioritize and improve margins; margin information not used in decision making • Calculations and other design basis information not maintained, or known weaknesses not addressed • See INPO Engineering website under Focus Areas for additional information

  12. INPO CM Focus Areas • Current INPO efforts • Continue focus on fuel integrity and TSG issues through review visits, plant evaluations, and assistance • Continue focus on improving fundamentals • Dominion/INPO workshop on engineering human performance July 25-27 in Richmond • Evaluators probing fundamentals as potential causes of AFIs • Other activities to be determined (provide suggestions) • Develop better guidance for vendor-provided engineering • Develop document to support margin management improvements • Support new plant construction with CM guidance and assistance to NSSS and AE design organizations

  13. Your input is welcome and encouraged. Please provide suggestions for improving in any of these focus areas. Also, provide input on other areas needing industry wide attention. David Hembree (770) 644-8991 hembreejd@inpo.org

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