An Evaluation of Safety and Health Data, with an Emphasis on Developing Performance Measures for Nuclear Chemical Facilities, Using Quantitative and Semi-quantitative Methods

Abstract

Nuclear chemical facilities are facilities that contain the operating hazards of a complex chemical facility with the additional hazards of radioactive materials. The approach to safety management at nuclear chemical facilities is rooted in nuclear hazard analysis techniques, and could benefit from lessons learned from the chemical industry. A content analysis of chemical industry accident reports, as well as occurrences from select nuclear chemical facilities was undertaken to determine common themes of process safety accidents. Grounded theory was applied to these common causes and themes to develop a set of theories about safe operations at nuclear chemical facilities; these theories were, in turn, used to postulate a set of leading performance indicators to monitor safety. The performance measures were reviewed for practicality and effectiveness by subject matter experts, and impact on facility safety using an existing probabilistic risk assessment. Guidelines are provided for facility implementation of the performance measures.