Operational Risk Management for a NPP

Abstract

Organizational failures are a hazard to the successful operation of a nuclear power plant. Risk reduction strategies have been developed around two themes: using an understanding of the nature and mechanism of human failures to eliminate them by modifying work processes; or, modifying human behaviour by creating a strong safety culture that overrides the tendency to fail. This paper examines the problem from the perspective of operational risk management. It includes the internal management of operations and the influence of the external environment on the organization. A model is proposed that encompasses all the operational risk factors in the organization decision making process. To prevent failure the organization must have the capability to adapt and the capacity to evolve. The hazards that would lead to an organizational failure are developed from this evolutionary model. The operational risk management program includes these hazards as well as the conventional nuclear safety hazards.