Background: The Role of Procedures in Managing Facility Operations (continued)

DOE-STD-1029-92

Background: The Role of Procedures in

Managing Facility Operations (continued)

The technical programs basis documents define the particular safety aspects and

safety implications of the facility's processes. Various hazards analyses and the

outcomes of probabilistic risk assessments are first synthesized in a primary safety

document-- the Safety Analysis Report (SAR)-- which details the technical and

administrative elements of the operation and defines safety requirements, risks, and

postulated accidents. The safety parameters reflected in the SAR are then

translated into Technical Safety Requirements (TSRs) that describe the specific

operating limits necessary to provide a reasonable safety margin for operations.

Additional documents are used to maintain the efficacy and currency of the SAR:

Test Authorizations provide direction for temporary modifications, such as when

conducting brief experimental runs to test process adjustments. Unreviewed Safety

Questions assess the implications of any modification in the design, equipment, or

operating ranges of the system to ensure that the modifications do not change the

magnitude or type of safety issues the SAR originally considered.

The management control programs basis documents define all of the management

programs and controls needed to support and maintain the operation. These

documents define the programs that will accomplish the facility's mission. They

address the facility's administrative programs (e.g., quality assurance, document

and records management, property management); the operational programs (e.g.,

corrective and preventative maintenance requirements); technical support

operations (e.g., facility safety, radiological controls); and facility design and

engineering controls (e.g., configuration management). This collection of

documents may also include certain additional management baseline information,

such as an annual operating plan, the operational budget, and integrated schedules

for accomplishing the work scope.

The design programs basis documents include the design criteria; calculations and

analyses (e.g., seismic calculations) that represent the engineering and construction

criteria used; the vendor materials that demonstrate the quality and suitability of

equipment; and the engineering standards, drawings, and

specifications that were used in the actual procurement, construction, testing,

and turnover phases of the facility's lifecycle.

These management and programmatic bases documents, if available, provide much of the

information to be used in developing a facility's procedures. However, in many DOE

facilities, basis documentation is out-of-date, incomplete, or has not yet been developed.

In some facilities, procedure writers are being set the impossible task of preparing sound

procedures without basis documentation or are required to develop it themselves before

they begin writing procedures.

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