Aspects of SAMG drills and exercises
Purpose
SAMG drills and exercises involve practical, hands-on use of the SAMG in as realistic as possible simulation. They are particularly useful in two areas: validation and training.
In validation, the guidelines are being tested, for usability (“ease of use”). This affects the approach in several areas since specific aspects must be considered (for example definition of acceptance criteria, the feedback of results to guideline modification, etc.).
In training, the participants are being trained. In training, the exercises/drills should be incorporated into a fully defined training program, which will contain different elements for different ERO functions, and also for “new” member training vs. refresher training.
In this section a number of important issues that need to be addressed when specifying and performing exercises and drills are described.
Exercise approach
The adopted approach will depend on the availability and capability of supporting tools. For example, in SAMG exercises, “table top” exercises are often performed where the evolving plant data is presented to the participants (players) at regular intervals and is based on pre-calculated scenarios. Use of full scope simulators can be extremely valuable, but is often limited by the modelling capabilities of the simulator. Where the simulator can model severe accident progression (or even just the early phase), its use should be strongly considered. Alternatively, plant analysers or engineering simulators may also be used.
The method of provision of plant data to the exercise participants must be defined. Where there is a data link from the plant (simulator in the exercise) to the TSC, then this may be used, provided the accident scenario allows for availability of the required equipment. Otherwise, data transfer from MCR to TSC by phone or simple manual transfer must be used. Often plant “data sheets” are designed and used to communicate the changes in plant data over time to the TSC team.
Defining the scope of the exercise(s) involves defining the extent of participation of the ERO:
  • “Integrated exercises” mobilise the whole (or a large part) of the Emergency Response Team, and are often used to    validate roles, responsibilities and communications aspects.
  • “Individual exercises” will involve only a specific part (for example the TSC) of the ERO. These are often used to perform    checks on specific duties and functions within the SAMG (e.g. SAMG evaluation and strategy recommendation).
In a validation program, both types of exercise will be needed. The type of exercise(s) defined for training will depend on the objectives and participation of the specific training module.
Participation and Roles must be pre-defined during the planning phase. Generally, there are three main types of participants in an exercise:
  • Controllers impose the exercise boundary conditions, supervise the flow of the exercise, and manage the supply of plant    data to the players.
  • Players assume the role of SAMG users; they have no prior knowledge of the scenario or exercise content and are    expected to use the SAMG to recommend, authorize and perform recovery actions.
  • Observers are responsible for collecting insights and gathering feedback from the participants in the exercise. Outside    observers (e.g. from other plants or from the regulatory body) may also attend and provide feedback.
Conduct of exercise: An exercise or drill will often commence with an initial briefing by controllers, to set boundary conditions etc., then proceed to the exercise itself, and once the exercise is over, a de-brief session will typically be held to gather feedback from participants.
Scenario development
Depending on the adopted approach, exercise scenarios will need to be defined and pre-run, and in the case of table top exercises, data sheets (if applicable) prepared. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully define supporting analysis needs, method to provide them, codes to be used, etc.
Scenarios should be prepared by the controllers, and not communicated to the players prior to the exercise. Some aspects to be considered when preparing scenarios include:
  • Exercise as many guidelines as possible;
  • Try to be realistic!;
  • Define start and end conditions for each exercise (example: “terminate exercise when injection flow sufficient to reflood    core per dedicated computational aid is re-established”);
  • Pre-plan and analyse scenarios, including expected and other possible paths;
  • Prepare data sheets in advance;
  • Use time jumps if needed (e.g. for severe challenge situations);
  • Exercise specific issues, for example:
     o Use of non-permanent equipment;
     o Shift transfers and handovers;
     o Source term prediction and local radiation fields (access to equipment);
     o Potential loss/unavailability of some (or all) instrumentation;
It should be noted that exercises for SAMG do not have the same objectives as exercises for Emergency Planning. In order to allow some success paths in the SAMG exercise, the chosen scenarios will typically be different from those used in the Emergency Planning exercise, even for the case of integrated exercises.
Note that generic SAMG programs often develop “scenario templates” which can be used by trainers to develop suitable plant specific drill scenarios.
Exercise follow-up
Following completion of an exercise or drill, feedback should be assembled and lessons learned developed and documented. In case of validation exercises, there must be a process in place to ensure that any required changes to the guidance are addressed/implemented. For training exercises, a suitable self-assessment process should be in place.
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