General Guidance - std_3006

DOE-STD-3006-2000

important to safety as previously evaluated in the facility safety analyses could be increased; (2) the

possibility for an accident or malfunction of a different type than any evaluated previously in the facility

safety analyses could be created; and, (3) any margin of safety as defined in the bases of the Technical

Safety Requirements could be reduced.

4.0 GENERAL GUIDANCE

4.1 Purpose and Coverage. It is the Department's policy that program work shall not be started or

resumed in nuclear facilities until the facility has been brought to a state of readiness to safely conduct

that program work and that the state of readiness to operate has been verified (DOE O 425.1B). In some

circumstances, the Order requires that an Operational Readiness Review (ORR) be conducted by both

DOE and the responsible contractor to provide the verification. Procedures and requirements for the

ORR are described in this technical standard. This standard also provides procedures and guidance for

conduct of alternative readiness reviews such as Readiness Assessments.

The Operational Readiness Review is an activity to confirm that management has brought the facility to a

state of readiness to commence or resume program work. The management effort may include

management self-assessment activities in preparation for the ORRs. Once management concludes that

readiness has been achieved, this state of readiness is independently verified by the contractor ORR and

confirmed by the DOE ORR. Only then will the nuclear facility be authorized to resume program work.

There are two types of ORR, a contractor ORR and a DOE ORR. The DOE ORR is different from a

properly executed contractor ORR. The DOE ORR should start with an assessment of the adequacy and

accuracy of the contractor ORR. Because the contractor ORR provides the substantial basis for

acceptance of readiness, the DOE ORR should include an assessment of the scope of the contractor ORR,

and it should include actual verification by a sampling of contractor ORR results (e.g., verification of the

conduct of operations by walk-down of procedures, observation of normal and off-normal operations or

training evaluations, quizzing of personnel on training material, etc.). The DOE ORR should place

significant emphasis on the effectiveness of the contractor's preparations through actual demonstrations

of normal operations, abnormal events, emergency drills, etc. Additionally, the DOE ORR should assess

the readiness of the responsible DOE line organization(s) to safely manage operations, and the

effectiveness of coordination among organizations.