Example of training scheme for PWR plant 
In this example, a suitable training package is defined for two categories.
1. Those staff needing to receive detailed training on SAMG - both control room and TSC aspects. This category included all operating shift staff and shift managers (including members of the TSC accident assessment team), and all TSC leaders.
2. Those staff requiring an overview of the SAMG. This included TSC members who are not part of the accident assessment teams, Emergency Controllers and other members of the Emergency Response Organisation.
Table 4-1: SAMG Training Requirements for Members of the Emergency Response Organisation
Considerations on training in severe accident phenomenology
Most plant staff will not have detailed knowledge of severe accident phenomenology described in Module 2.
This topic must then be included in a SAMG usage training program. Phenomenology can either be integrated into the presentation of the SAM measures and strategies, or it can be covered in a dedicated session or sessions. The topic is a large and very broad one, as illustrated by Table 4-2, which presents a list of phenomenological issues which could be considered for presentation at a PWR SAMG users training session. While an understanding of phenomenology is important, it is important that this topic is not allowed to dominate what should be an essentially practical training course. All topics should be reviewed, but not all to the same level of detail. This is because the emphasis of the phenomenology training should be on those phenomena important to severe accident management, especially where the actions or priorities may appear to conflict with EOP training.
To illustrate this, the phenomena in Table 4-2 are classified into high (H), medium (M) or low (L) importance for severe accident management training. The basic reasons for particular phenomenon being attributed a H or L are shown in the table. A phenomenological issue may be of high importance for one or more of the following four basic reasons:
- Priorities: Like EOPs, SAMG must set up a system of prioritisation of recovery actions. At each level a minimum set of plant parameters is monitored, and the values are used to prioritise the actions. The important point for training here is that these priorities are not always the same as those which plant personnel trained in EOP use are familiar with. Indeed, it may appear that there is a conflict. Training must cover certain severe accident phenomenological issues in sufficient detail to allow explanation of SAM priorities.
- Evaluation: Most potential recovery actions have both positive and negative potential impacts on the plant. In these cases, an evaluation of the likely benefit of taking a certain action must be made in the light of the potential for additional damage or worsening of the situation. The training must cover severe accident phenomena in sufficient detail to explain the possible positive and negative impacts of SAM actions, and provide the basis for the TSC to decide to recommend, or not, the action. The training should include sufficient tools to estimate the negative consequences of SAMG actions, where these have not been provided by the SAMG development team. Where such tools are not readily available, the training results should be fed back to the development team to provide the information which is lacking, to prevent the TSC to try to estimate these during the accident.
- Alternatives: In some situations, more than one recovery action may be possible, and another type of evaluation will be required to select one of the candidate strategies. This situation, in a similar way to those described above, also leads to requirements to provide training on certain aspects of phenomenology, to enable the TSC to perform a sound evaluation.
- Impact: Actions or strategies contained in SAMG which require a specific action or actions to implement, and which can greatly impact the accident sequence must be covered, together with their underlying phenomenological issues.
Table 4-2: The relative importance of phenomenological issues in SAM Training (L=Low, M=Medium, H=High).
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