Re: TMI root causes -Reply

[Chasmig <Chasmig@aol.com>]

In a message dated 98-03-07 11:21:53 EST, you write:

<< I want to reiterate that PROCESS CONTROL and SYSTEMS are the 
 keys to everything.  >>

I must disagree with the 'everything' part, from my 'worker bee' point of
view. In my travels as a rent-a-tech, what impresses me the most between
different management styles is the CULTURE they encourage. I really think that
the major difference between a SALP 1 plant and having the keys taken away is
the SAFETY CULTURE that management encourages, and the worker bees just do out
of well-taught habitual thinking patterns. On the one hand you've got, say,
Clinton, where the plant manager refused to let the operators shut down when
recirc pump leakage exceeded specs, because "the grid needs power". Contrast
that to Monticello, shut down in the middle of the peak load season to fix an
ECCS concern that they could have (maybe) pencil-whipped until the next
refuel.

Process controls and systems are futile if they are routinely blown off in the
name of expediency or the almighty buck. Sometimes short-sighted (or
technically incompetent) managers make decisions based on short-term economic
pressures, compromising safety. I certainly cannnot speak definitively on
this, but it is my humble impression that the NRC looks very closely at the
culture of a plant's management and workforce during an inspection. Procedural
details are important, but not as important as understanding the principles
behind them. Procedures built around solid, practical, safe principles are
easy to follow and become a self-promoting instrument. Poor procedures are a
monkey on our backs. A certain east coast plant (where I worked last spring)
comes to mind.... their HRA (note: not LHRA) procedure had the word
"barricade" written into it. This one word caused a lot of expense and
hassles... I've never seen anything like the 12 foot high chain link fences
all over containment. But it was job security, because someone had to guard
every HRA.....

Charles Migliore
Chasmig@aol.com