QA assessment for the defense waste processing facility

The purpose of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) is to vitrify the high-level liquid radioactive waste at the Savannah River Plant (SRP), which is operated by E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company for the US Department of Energy (DOE). QA assessment is concerned with both public and operating personnel safety and economic consequences. It provides a step-by-step approach to evaluating normal and abnormal conditions that could exist. It also involves determining which items (equipment, components, and operation and construction procedures) require special attention above and beyond standard engineering practices and what mitigating actions must be taken. All DWPF items will be assessed either Q or NON-Q, based on consequences of failure during credible events exceeding the DWPF QA assessment criteria limits. This facility and its QA assessment program is unique in that it is a DOE facility, not subject to US Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing, and there are no directly applicable regulatory guides or other standards for QA assessment. A similar assessment program is used by Du Pont on all SRP projects