Assessment of Conduct of Engineering at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant – November 2017

November 2017

This assessment evaluated the procedures that implement WIPP engineering processes, along with a representative sampling of engineering deliverables produced under those processes.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Safety and Environmental Assessments, within the independent Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA), performed an assessment of conduct of engineering at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The purpose of this EA assessment effort was to evaluate the effectiveness of engineering processes and programs implemented by the facility contractor, Nuclear Waste Partnership, LLC (NWP). This assessment is a follow-up to an EA review of engineering and procurement, documented in EA report Review of Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Engineering and Procurement Processes, dated November 2015. 

This assessment examined engineering process improvements implemented by NWP since the earlier review and included a review of technical products created using the updated processes. EA also examined the cognizant system engineer program, the configuration management program, and the issues management program as implemented within the engineering organization. Finally, EA followed up on findings identified in previous reviews of engineering processes and programs to assess the efficacy of corrective actions taken in those areas.