NFS aims to improve plant safety
Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS), which operates a fuel fabrication facility in Erwin, Tennessee, announced that it has joined two performance-oriented industry organizations as part of its efforts to improve plant operations with a focus on safety and regulatory compliance. The company now belongs to the Energy Facilities Contractor Group (EFCOG), which is an organization of companies who either manage and operate US Department of Energy (DoE) facilities or are key suppliers to the DoE. NFS has also joined the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), which sets performance objectives and operational guidelines for commercial nuclear power plants and their suppliers. NFS has set the target to become the standard of operational excellence among nuclear fuel fabrication plants by 2011. The company's executive vice president and general manager, Tim Lindstrom, said: "Our initiative to improve operations at NFS began in 2006 and we are beginning to see positive results. However, I want to accelerate our progress. One way to do that is to learn more about how the best in our business have achieved operational excellence." A serious spillage of high-enriched uranium (HEU), used to fuel military reactors, occurred at NFS's Erwin plant on 6 March 2006, but was not made public until May 2007. The event occurred when 35 litres of HEU solution leaked into a glovebox while being transferred. The glovebox was not tightly sealed, which allowed the HEU solution to leak onto the floor and to collect in a nearby elevator pit, where criticality could have been achieved.
Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS), which operates a fuel fabrication facility in Erwin, Tennessee, announced that it has joined two performance-oriented industry organizations as part of its efforts to improve plant operations with a focus on safety and regulatory compliance. The company now belongs to the Energy Facilities Contractor Group (EFCOG), which is an organization of companies who either manage and operate US Department of Energy (DoE) facilities or are key suppliers to the DoE. NFS has also joined the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), which sets performance objectives and operational guidelines for commercial nuclear power plants and their suppliers. NFS has set the target to become the standard of operational excellence among nuclear fuel fabrication plants by 2011. The company's executive vice president and general manager, Tim Lindstrom, said: "Our initiative to improve operations at NFS began in 2006 and we are beginning to see positive results. However, I want to accelerate our progress. One way to do that is to learn more about how the best in our business have achieved operational excellence." A serious spillage of high-enriched uranium (HEU), used to fuel military reactors, occurred at NFS's Erwin plant on 6 March 2006, but was not made public until May 2007. The event occurred when 35 litres of HEU solution leaked into a glovebox while being transferred. The glovebox was not tightly sealed, which allowed the HEU solution to leak onto the floor and to collect in a nearby elevator pit, where criticality could have been achieved.
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