Graded Approach - Continued

DOE-STD-1082-94

The consideration of the life cycle stage of a facility [item (3) above],

will permit the implementing organization to assess the best application

for the current life cycle stage of the facility (e.g., a facility in the

decommissioning phase would not require extensive documentation on the

original design basis for the safety analysis report, but rather would need to

focus on assessing information required for current and future

decommissioning activities).

The programmatic mission of a facility [item (4) above] may suggest a need

for more rigorous implementation of a requirement than would be necessary

for safety considerations alone. DOE as the owner of the facilities has the

responsibility to protect capital equipment and missions at its facilities. These

programmatic responsibilities may result in stricter requirements than would

be justified by safety risks or hazards alone. For example, a component such

as a circulating pump may have a minimal safety function but could be critical

to the continued operation of a facility. Consequently, both DOE and the

implementing organization may agree that a more rigorous maintenance

program should be applied than what would be required by the safety

significance alone. Programmatic considerations cannot be used to reduce

the rigor of implementation.

The particular characteristics of a facility [item (5) from the definition] will also

influence how nuclear safety requirements are applied. This consideration

overlaps the four considerations discussed above. For example, the training

activities developed to meet nuclear safety requirements would be

substantially different in a laboratory versus a production facility. The

differences would be influenced by (1) the specific risks, (2) the specific

hazards, (3) the life cycle stage of the facilities, and (4) the enhancements

required to support the mission. In addition, the training activities would need

to be tailored to the particular hardware and operations of the facilities.

There is no cookbook procedure for application of the graded approach to

all of the nuclear safety requirements. When a DOE requirements document

is developed, the Office of Primary Interest may include information in the