December 2012

Review of the Hanford Site Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant Low Activity Waste Melter Process System Hazards Analysis Activity

The Office of Enforcement and Oversight (Independent Oversight), within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS), observed a key activity for developing a hazards analysis (HA) for the melter process system of the Low Activity Waste (LAW) nuclear facility at DOE’s Hanford Site.

Independent Oversight is reviewing efforts leading to development of the Documented Safety Analysis (DSA) and Technical Safety Requirements (TSRs) for the LAW, Balance of Facilities (BOF), and Analytical Laboratory (LAB) facility, collectively known as LBL facilities of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The subject HA for the LAW melter process system is one of a series of system-by-system HAs that have been planned and scheduled in support of developing the DSA for LBL facilities. These HAs, which will be consolidated into an HA report, are subject to further review by Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI) and constitute an intermediate step toward preparing LAW DSA Chapter 3, Hazard and Accident Analyses.