Conduct of Operations — Lecture Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering Conduct of Operations study notes, including Nuclear Safety Culture, Human Performance tools, Station Document Hierarchy, and Flowsheets.

Reactivity management

The constant focus on monitoring and controlling critical parameters to maintain safe operation in the plant, summarized as control, cool and contain (the 3 C's).

Risk

An uncertain event or condition that has the potential to affect the achievement of an objective, which can be positive (opportunities) or negative.

Human performance

A series of behaviors executed to accomplish specific task objectives.

Behavior

An observable physical act which can be seen, heard, and likely measured.

Accountability

Committing and taking ownership of decisions, actions, and results.

Personal accountability

A trait where all individuals take personal responsibility for safety, with well-defined and clearly understood responsibilities and positional authorities emphasizing the overriding importance of nuclear safety.

Questioning attitude

A mindset where individuals avoid complacency and continuously challenge existing conditions and activities in order to identify discrepancies that might result in error or inappropriate action.

Effective safety communication

Broad communications maintaining a focus on safety, encompassing plant-level, job-related, worker-level, labeling, operating experience, and documentation, where upward information flow is as important as downward flow.

Vigilance

Being attentive for unusual observations, specifically in the cyber world and in people's behaviours, to enable prompt identification of vulnerabilities and proactive intervention.

Safety

Protection from harm, defined in terms of risk such that an activity is considered safe when associated risks are controlled to acceptable levels.

Culture

The collective beliefs, values, and behaviors of individuals belonging to an organization, including behavioral norms, shared attitudes, traditions, and mechanisms for incentivizing desired behaviors.

Safety-conscious work environment (SCWE)

An environment maintained so that personnel feel free to raise safety concerns without fear of retaliation, intimidation, harassment, or discrimination.

Work processes

A deliberate process where work is identified, selected, planned, scheduled, executed, closed, and critiqued so that plant safety is maintained.

Nuclear Safety Policy

A policy requiring that Nuclear Safety and Security shall be the overriding priority in all activities performed in support of OPG nuclear facilities, taking clear priority over schedule, cost, and production.

Nuclear Safety

The protection of workers, the public, and the environment from hazards posed by the enormous energy in the reactor core, radioactive material, and decay heat produced by fuel.

Nuclear Security

Measures aimed at preventing intentional acts that might harm the facility or result in the theft of nuclear materials.

Four elements of nuclear safety

Nuclear Safety, Radiological Safety, Employee Safety, and Environmental Safety.

The Energy Wheel

A hazard identification concept comprising ten energy forms: Gravity, Mechanical, Electrical, Pressure, Temperature, Chemical, Biological, Radiation, Sound, and Motion.

Nuclear professionals

Individuals who apply the essential knowledge, skills, behaviors, and practices needed to conduct their work safely and reliably.

Enterprise risk management (OPG – POL – 0004)

The structured risk framework defined by four continuous steps: Identify, Assess, Prioritize, and Manage.

Principles of human performance

Five core tenets: Error is normal, Blame fixes nothing, Learning is vital, Context drives behaviour, and Response to failure matters.

Error modes

The three modes in which errors occur: Knowledge based (inaccurate mental model), Rule based (misinterpretation), and Skill based (inattention).

Core 4+

A set of essential human performance tools consisting of Pre job briefing and post job debriefing, 2 minute job site drill, Procedure use and adherence, Verification process, and Stop when unsure.

Stop when unsure triggers

Four specific situations requiring work to halt: Trigger #1 (different from the get-go), Trigger #2 (different than expected), Trigger #3 (that's not clear or understood), and Trigger #4 (that is not described).

Worker steps for a good stop

A four-step response: 1 – Stop when safe, 2 – Safestate the work, 3 – Step away from the work area without troubleshooting or answering own questions, and 4 – Contact FSOS/FLM to resolve issues.

SAFER model

A structured pre-job brief tool for error prevention: Summarize the task and risks, Anticipate hazards, Foresee consequences to 3 C's, Evaluate defenses, and Review OPEX with repeat-backs.

Error precursor

A condition, behavior, or situation that increases the likelihood of a human error occurring before the error actually happens.

TWIN

An event-free tool categorizing error precursors into Task demands, Work Environment, Individual Capabilities, and Human Nature.

Place keeping

The practice of placing a distinctive mark when a step is about to start and a second different/distinct mark when the step is addressed and completed before proceeding.

Operations flagging

A human performance technique applied based on four specific risk factors: Proximity, Similarity, Location, and Risk.

Coaching

A human performance tool used to promote safe and reliable plant operation and minimize error consequences, guided by peer support and the concept: 'I care to coach, someone coached you because they care.'

OPEX

An operating experience program enabling OPG to exchange event information and lessons learned within the industry and between OPG sites to promote transparency, learning, and prevention.

Safety report

A site-specific document summarizing the safety analysis that details how a facility will handle defined accident scenarios specified by the CNSC to provide assurance of public safety.

PROL

A licensing contract between OPG and the CNSC that defines the general boundaries and requirements of the station.

OP&P

Operating Policies and Principles; an agreement specifying how to operate, maintain, and modify facilities to maximize nuclear safety and keep public consequential risk acceptably low.

Operating Manuals (OM)

Documents providing approved procedures and specific operational limits for standard and non-standard states, divided into Sections 4 (Standard Conditions), 5 (Non-Standard Conditions), and 6 (Actions Following Trips and Alarms).

Operating memo

A document that records approved temporary changes to Operating Manual instructions for an applicable system, superseding the relevant OM section once issued.

Design manual

A manual providing a detailed description of a system, including design intent, process system descriptions, and operating controls and logic.

Flowsheets

Technical road map drawings or diagrams using standard symbols to represent equipment layout and maintain current, accurate records of process system configuration.

Operational flowsheets (OFS)

Diagrams representing flow paths and operable isolation points that serve as Master Flowsheets if updated in ESM; the ONLY flowsheets permitted for work protection application.

Master flowsheets

Updated operational flowsheets maintained in ESM and at the ANO desk that provide an accurate reflection of the plant's physical configuration, used with Master Power and Air Supply lists.

Informational drawing flowsheets

Diagrams providing a representation of system operation, equipment, or plant layout for information only; never used for work protection.

Plant status control

The requirement that the physical plant must always match the 'paper' plant recorded in ESM, maintaining plant configuration conservatively within licensing and design bases.

System alignment checks

Verifications performed to ensure that systems, structures, and components are in an approved configuration for the current plant state, with any deviations documented and dispositioned.

Single point vulnerability (SPV)

A plant component whose failure directly and through automatic action results in a Turbine Trip or Reactor Trip.

Minor change order

A process used when no approved procedure exists for minor component manipulations, restricted to up to 5 items, lasting 1 shift, and requiring Shift Manager approval for safety-related manipulations.

Abnormal incident manual (AIM)

A manual highlighting expected system responses to serious process failures or faults that reduce safety system effectiveness in preventing fuel failures and radioactive releases.

Alarm response manuals (ARM)

Procedures directing an operator through defined actions for a specific alarm, identifying the initiating source, probable causes, automatic actions, required mitigation steps, and references.

Safety related system test (SRST/SRS)

A formal test performed to ensure that the availability requirements claimed in the Safety Report or testing commitments in other licensing documents are satisfied.

Operator test procedure

A procedure used to test non-safety related systems and equipment, formatted similarly to a Safety Related System Test.

Operator field aids

Laminated procedures or flowsheets intended to be used directly in the field to provide an easily accessible reference during task execution.