Independent Assessment of Safety System Management of Cell Equipment Blast Door Interlocks at the Pantex Plant - May 2023

May 2023,

Independent Assessment of Safety System Management of Cell Equipment Blast Door Interlocks at the Pantex Plant

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) conducted an independent assessment of safety system management of the cell equipment blast door interlocks (BDIs) at the Pantex Plant from December 2022 to January 2023. The cell equipment BDI systems are safety class systems that ensure that at least one blast door is closed and latched with the floor gasket in a lowered position to mitigate effects of analyzed accidents in the cell. Pantex Plant is managed and operated by Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and overseen by the NNSA Production Office (NPO). This assessment evaluated the effectiveness of CNS’s programs and processes for engineering design, quality assurance, safety system surveillance and testing, operations, cognizant system engineering, feedback and improvement, and safety basis evaluation for the cell door interlocks. EA also reviewed NPO oversight of CNS’s management of the cell equipment BDI systems. This assessment was part of an ongoing review of the management of safety systems at hazard category 1, 2, and 3 facilities across the DOE complex.