Developing Drill Scenarios

DOE-HDBK-1099-96

5. DEVELOPING DRILL SCENARIOS

All drills should be conducted in accordance with a drill scenario approved by facility

management or a group or individual(s) specifically identified by facility management to approve

drills. While anyone may prepare a drill scenario, only qualified personnel should validate the

scenario to determine its credibility, technical accuracy, and safety implications. When preparing

a scenario, remember that a simple drill may often accomplish training objectives more

effectively than a complicated one. However, the more detailed the scenario is in terms of cues

and props and specific duties of evaluators and safety monitors, the lesser the chances are for a

problem occurring during the drill. In any case, drills developed to be conducted in the facility

should not lead to or have the potential for safety concerns.

Components that should be included in the scenario are Scope, Purpose, and Terminal

Objective(s), Initial Conditions, Precautions and Limitations, Drill Team Duties, Drill Initiation,

Expected Response and Evaluation Criteria, and Termination and Restoration. These are

discussed below and shown in a template in Appendix A, and in example scenarios in Appendix

B. Different formats are shown as examples in Appendix B.

Scope, Purpose, and Terminal Objective - Defines the boundaries (scope) of the drill, the reason

(purpose) for running the drill (i.e., verify operators can startup the machinery with

failed...), and the guidelines for evaluation of the outcome of the drill terminal objective.

Generally these should be stated on the cover sheet.

Initial Conditions - Identifies initial conditions for the drill, i.e., the facility configuration needed to

meet the objective. All organizations that could be affected by the conduct of the drill

should be listed here and notified prior to drill initiation. Examples of these organizations

include the fire department, safeguards and security, and facility emergency response

organizations.

Precautions and Limitations - Lists any special safety or hazard considerations here as well as

Technical Safety Requirements (TSR) for the affected systems or components. Hazards

are generally identified in facility procedures, Safety Analysis Reports, special test

operational requirements, etc.

Drill Team Duties - Includes specific instructions for each person performing drill team duties,

i.e., the initiator, evaluator, safety monitor, cue and prop handler, etc. Each drill team