Applying the Systems Engineering Process for Establishing Requirements for the Safety and Health Monitoring System of the Waste Solidification Building at the Savannah River Site

Authors

P. J. Simpkins, W. E. Farrell, D. A. Gracy, D. R. Patel

Abstract

The Safety and Health Monitoring (SHM) System technical basis document for the Waste Solidification Building (WSB) was developed by Systems Engineering with the integrated efforts of the WSRC Health Physics Technology (HPT), Design Authority, and the Design Team. The WSB is being designed and built to support the waste disposal needs of the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility (PDCF) and the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. The main mission of the WSB is to process the radiological liquid waste streams from the PDCF and the MFFF into a solid waste form. The solid waste form, concrete encased waste, will be acceptable for shipment and disposal as transuranic (TRU) waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and as low-level waste (LLW). The SHM System will also monitor the job control waste from the PDCF, the MFFF, and the WSB. The SHM System will serve to monitor personnel radiation exposure and environmental releases. The HPT design serves as the basis for determining the air monitoring equipment required for the WSB. The Systems Engineering (SE) process was applied to define the functions and requirements necessary to design and operate the SHM System. The SE process is a proven, disciplined approach that supports management in clearly defining the mission or problem, managing system functions and requirements, identifying and managing risk, establishing bases for informed decision making, and verifying that products and services meet customer needs. Applying the SE process to the SHM System was a major effort encompassing both requirements analysis and interface control. Use of the SE process combined with HPT design input resulted in requirements to support the procurement of a well-defined SHM System.

Meeting

This abstract was presented at the 37th Annual Midyear Meeting, "Air Monitoring and Internal Dosimetry", Workplace Air Monitoring, Part 1 Session, 2/8/2004 - 2/11/2004, held in Augusta, GA.

 
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