National Technology and Engineering Solutions has established adequate safety systems management programs at Sandia National Laboratories, but a new watchdog report questions whether those programs can ensure safe nuclear operations at the lab’s New Mexico research reactor.
The Energy Department’s Office of Enterprise Assessments inspected the safety system management practices at Sandia’s New Mexico campus, which is managed for the National Nuclear Security Administration by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS), in May and June.
Inspectors focused on the “safety-significant structures, systems, and components” at the Annular Core Research Reactor facility and its oversight by the NNSA’s Sandia Field Office, according to a report published Wednesday.
A pool-type research reactor, the Annular Core Reactor is used primarily for testing electronics and for reactor safety research, the report said.
Identified weaknesses in safety system management programs and their implementation reduced inspectors’ confidence that intended safety functions can be performed, according to the report.
Enterprise Assessment inspectors found that NTESS, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell [HON], has no training and qualification requirements for personnel engaged in quality control inspections and the contractor at times did not adhere to procedural requirements for engineering calculations, equipment labeling, change control, system health reports, and surveillance and testing at the reactor.
“Some NTESS surveillance procedures are not all correctly categorized as ‘continuous use’ procedures,” the report said. “Some NTESS procedures contain inaccuracies and conflicting requirements. The NTESS assurance management program procedure does not address timely reporting and completion of corrective actions for deficiencies, other than those categorized as events.”
On a positive note, the report found that NTESS “has established an effective process for training and qualifying lead auditors that requires participation in five audits, including one nuclear quality assurance audit, within the year prior to completing their initial qualification.”
This story first appeared in Defense Daily affiliate publication Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.