Operating Experience Committee

Conference Call Minutes

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

December 13, 2011 Call

Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EST

Call-In Number: 301-903-7082. Confirmation #: 354509 (70 lines)

Agenda

Welcome / Jeannie Boyle
Group Sharing of Recent Lessons Learned – Be prepared to discuss YOUR recent LL. / All
Sharing of Lessons Learned from OPEX assessments (i.e. HS-64, PSO, Site Office, and internal assessments) / All
Identification of External Events for Review / All
Capturing Our Success / Tom Williams,
NNSA
Roundtable / Subjects for Next Call / All

Welcome / Participants

# / NAME / SITE / ORGANIZATION /
1 / Barber, Sherry / ORO / Navarro Research & Engineering Inc.
2 / Bentley, Jeffrey / SR / Savannah River Operations Office
3 / Boyle, Eugenia / DOE HQ / HS-24
4 / Branson, Gary / INL / Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
5 / Brown, Sharon / DOE HQ / HS-24
6 / Cole, Matt / DOE HQ / SC
7 / Daugherty, Paul / SR / Savannah River Operations Office
8 / Davis, Pamela / National Enrichment Facility / Louisiana Energy Services
9 / Estes, Tracy / Princeton Site Office / PSO
10 / Fong, Jackey / Atomic Energy of Canada, LTD / Chalk River Laboratories
11 / Gile, Andrea / NTS / NSTec
12 / Harris, Allan / EMCBC / Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center
13 / Hartney, Melissa / Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator (TJNAF) / Jefferson Science Associates (JSA)
14 / Haskell, Russell / Rockville, MD / Nuclear Regulatory Commission
15 / Heard, Marie / Stanford Site Office (SSO) / SSO
16 / Hicks, Clyde / Kansas City Plant (KCP) / Honeywell
17 / Horning, Jeff / Livermore Site Office (LSO) / Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
18 / Hubbard, Chelsea / Oak Ridge / ORO (for EM)
19 / Innocent, Jesse / Kansas City Site Office / KSO
20 / Jolly, Debora / PPPO / Swift & Staley (SST)
21 / King, Mark / Rockville, MD / Nuclear Regulatory Commission
22 / Landmesser, Jim / DOE HQ / EM
23 / Larson, Jay / DOE HQ / SC-31.1
24 / Lopez-Cardona, Emma / DOE HQ / EM
25 / Lowry, William / NETL / Albany, Fairbanks, Morgantown, Pittsburgh, & Tulsa
26 / Lyons, Thomas / Walnut Creek, CA / Innovative Technical Solutions Inc.
27 / McCallister, Russell / Portsmouth/ Paducah Project Office - Lexington / PPPO
28 / Menas, Matt / NETL / Albany, Fairbanks, Morgantown, Pittsburgh, & Tulsa
29 / Murphy, Stephen / DOE HQ / NA-711
30 / Myszka, Larry / West Valley / WVES
31 / Natoli, Ross / DOE HQ / HS-24
32 / Neilson, Steve / Thomas Jefferson Site Office / TJSO
33 / Norbury, Michael / DOE HQ / NA-712
34 / Owen, Donald / Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board / DNFSB
35 / Pavalko, Kelly / NTS / NSTec
36 / Pearson, John / Oak Ridge / ORAU
37 / Pottelberg, Paul / Atomic Energy of Canada, LTD / Chalk River Laboratories
38 / Ramsey, Kenneth / SR - NA-26 / MOX Services
39 / Reitz, Mike / DOE HQ / NA-54
40 / Retorick, Karen / DOE HQ / NA-711
41 / Robertson, Tom / Charlotte, NC / Shaw Power Group, Nuclear Division
42 / Robison, Camille / INL/AMWTP / ITG/AMWTP
43 / Roddy, Michael / Watts Bar Unit 2 / Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
44 / Roggenkamp, Ken / Kansas City Site Office / KSO
45 / Schwehm, Kelly / SPRO / SPRPMO
46 / Shidal, Suzanne / PPPO / LATA Kentucky
47 / Stolte, Bruce / Nevada Site Office / NSO
48 / Tamplain, Jeffrey / SPR / DM Petroleum Operations Company (DM)
49 / Vasquez, Katatra / Oak Ridge / ORO
50 / Westich, Bryan / Oak Ridge / ORO (for EM)
51 / Whitney, Gerry / RL / Mission Support Alliance, LLC
52 / Williams, Tom / DOE HQ (at LLNL) / NA-1

Group Sharing of Recent Lessons Learned

1.  Low-Voltage System

Jeff Horning (Livermore Site Office) – Recently, a worker experienced a shock from a system thought to contain only low voltage components. The worker was changing out the abrasive loop of a small precision wire saw when the shock was experienced. Loop change-out occurs several times a week when the saw is in use, and there were no previous incidents of this type. Lateral movement of the saw is via a structure driven by a piezoelectric electric “Inchworm” drive. The drive operates from a manual controller via a nine-pin serial cable, a configuration commonly used in low voltage applications. Because of the configuration of cable and connectors used, workers and supervisors incorrectly believed the saw assembly consisted of components powered by 24 volt DC or less. Under such conditions, lockout/tagout is not required. The abrasive loop is powered from its own source that was turned off. The “inchworm” controller is powered from a different source that was turned on, but the control setting was set such that no motion could occur. The “inchworm” controller provides power to a high-voltage (759 volt DC) piezoelectric component. Further investigation revealed that the piezoelectric component was faulty and the source of the shock. The shock to the worker was minor as it was across the knuckles of one hand. Had it followed a different path, e.g., entering at one hand and exiting via the other hand or a foot, a significant injury may have resulted.

Recommended action:

Investigate all piezoelectric drives/components and

• Ensure all components are appropriately identified and controlled.

• If high voltage, contact the electrical program authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) and take follow-up actions as needed.

2.  Document Management Center

Debra Jolly (Paducah) – In the document management center they were transferring boxes to the document storage center. A worker opened a box and noticed that the contents didn’t align with the inventory. She saw greasy handprints and thought she recognized where the logbooks came from. She confirmed the content and suspected contamination. The facility where the box came from had contamination issues. Only the content of the box was discovered to be contaminated. The lesson learned is that it is good to have a positive questioning attitude.

3.  Gas Leak

Steve Nielson (Thomas Jefferson Site Office) – There was an excavation activity in which a ¾” flex gas line was breached. During the interview with the equipment operator, he told them that he heard the sound of gas and used the excavator bucket to pin the gas line to reduce leakage. This helped prevent additional release of the gas, and he was able to secure the gas line in short order before leaving.

Question – Is it better to leave the area immediately, or stay and try to solve the problem? Sparking from the equipment around the gas could lead to more serious consequences.

Response – It should be at the operator’s discretion.

Sharing of Lessons Learned from OPEX assessments (i.e. HS-64, PSO, Site Office, and internal assessments)

Ken Ramsey (MOX Services, SR) – There was an assessment at their site last Spring with a conclusion that the program was excellent.

Identification of External Events for Review

No discussion

Capturing our success

Tom Williams (NNSA) – First off, Jeannie has done a superb job; we will miss her! She has performed a remarkable achievement with the Lessons Learned program. A round of applause for Jeannie! (hand-clapping).

An order was recently approved making it a requirement for ISM assessments to also review the operating experience program. During a similar presentation at the ISM conference, the term “Metrics” was introduced and not received too warmly. It may not be a requirement to use metrics during an assessment. The first goal of an assessment should be to do no harm. Verify that the program is working well and that it is effective. Secondly, consider participation in the monthly OEC calls as a positive part of a program.

Question from Jeannie – What are our successes?

Comment from Mike Reitz (NNSA) – There has been good progress toward incorporating both NNSA and EM Project Management lessons learned and operating experience into the HSS corporate program. An intergroup panel, consisting of HSS, NNSA, and EM, have been working together to develop the processes further, as well as to enhance networking in the field. The strong relationships between the three organizations help to keep the program moving forward.

Comment from Steve Nielson (Thomas Jefferson Site Office) – Since there have been a lot of electrical events, are there comparable numbers of electrical lessons learned that would equate in some way to the number of events? Should that be evaluated?

Comment from Gerry Whitney (Mission Support Alliance) – They use some metrics in their assessments. They track the number of articles read with the number of articles determined to be applicable to help assess the quality of their program.

Comment from Kelly Pavalko (Nevada Test Site) – They track the number of distributed lessons learned versus the number of lessons learned used. They also consider procedure changes resulting from lessons learned. They are setting a goal for the number of lessons learned to be submitted.

Comment from Russell Haskell (NRC) – The NRC considers about six years as the half life on operating experience knowledge. Therefore, it is important to share operating experience and periodically share it again. They also look at external events to identify lessons learned that may apply to them.

Roundtable

Question – Who is going to replace Jeannie?

Answer (Jeannie) – Jeannie doesn’t personally know the person who will take over the operating experience function. She is supposed to come on board in early January. Jeannie will provide as much transition as remaining time permits. Jeannie’s check-out date is this Thursday (12/15/2011), and her retirement date is 12/31/2011. She will do her best to get everything caught up before turnover. Jeannie is not sure if there will be a January conference call, due to the lack of preparation time available for the new person.

THANK YOU!

Thanks so much to Sherry Barber for the very fast and compressive recording of the minutes. Thanks also to Theresa Perry and DOE ORO for financially supporting the OEC in this very important way.

OE Wiki @ http://operatingexperience.doe-hss.wikispaces.net/ OE Summary Blog @ http://oesummary.wordpress.com/

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