Construction Assessments cont'd

DOE-STD-1073-2003

Configuration Management

As specified in DOE O 420.1A, Facility Safety, these assessments should be conducted as

part of the review of system operability, reliability, and material condition during facility

inspections required by DOE O 433.1, Maintenance Management Program for DOE

Nuclear Facilities. These periodic reviews assess the system's ability to perform its

design and safety functions. In addition, these assessments should integrate with the

activities performed to meet the Quality Assurance Program (QAP) under 10 CFR Part

830, Subpart A. As stated in DOE O 433.1, the goal of the assessment process should be

to ensure the integrity of the identified SSCs. Contractors must analyze discrepancies

and take appropriate corrective action to resolve them. If substantive discrepancies

(either in number or type) are discovered, the contractor must develop appropriate

immediate corrective actions to establish agreement between the physical configuration

and the documentation. Corrective actions should include technical evaluations, based on

system requirements, to determine whether the physical configuration or the

documentation should be changed. For existing facilities, the corrective actions should

include additional walkdowns to characterize the problem and to determine the extent of

the problem.

Physical configuration assessments should be conducted at a specified periodicity to

establish confidence. Contractors should routinely review the configuration of those

systems performing vital safety functions (safety SSCs). Additional systems of lesser

importance should be included at a lesser periodicity to ensure the breadth of the

configuration is being maintained adequately. Special reviews may be required on an as

needed basis, such as to verify input into a new DSA or when unusual or off-normal

occurrences affecting the safety basis systems results in a lack of confidence in the

facility configuration or in a concern that it has been compromised. Contractors should

consider scheduling reviews of the configuration of safety SSCs on an annual basis on a

schedule appropriate to support the annual update of the DSA.

Physical configuration assessments may be performed on a sample basis, with the sample

providing a representative cross-section of component types within the system being

assessed. The sample should be large enough to ensure that a statistically significant

portion of the system and its components are chosen. For instance, the sample should

include major and minor components, large and small bore piping (where applicable),

and instruments and controls.

Two common types of physical configuration assessments are "walkdowns" and

resolution of configuration and documentation discrepancies. While the processes of

walkdowns and resolution of configuration and documentation discrepancies have

significant overlaps, the distinctions between them need to be understood. One

distinction is based on the products of these processes. A product of the walkdown

process is a set of marked-up documents that reflect the actual physical configuration and

identify discrepancies with the currently approved facility documentation. A product of

the resolution of configuration and documentation discrepancies is "as-built documents"

that have been field-verified and design-verified.

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