The topic of training at TMI prompted me to comment. I was in the Navy Nuclear
Program and the training there was extensive. Most people do not realize that
the Navy has a training facilty in Idaho Falls, Idaho. The training lasted a
year - plus some previous training. The logic was to prepare us for most any
malfunction. I mention all this because after I was out, I went to a
"landbased" plant and applied for an operators position (around 1982). There
they explained to me that knowledge of the systems theory was not encouraged.
That they trained only for standard procedures under what they assumed would be
most likely scenarios. The operators had check lists for different
casualties.(that part is ok) They told me that the operators "should not think,
just react " I was surprised by their logic. It goes to show that there are very
different types of management.
Pete
Hi Paul
in my opinion TMI was a disaster - a management disaster if we are looking
at the cause.
Faulty instrumentation is, regrettably, a fact of life.
It appears that the operators decided instrumentation was faulty, but did
not know or had forgotten how to proceed in such an event.
This means they were improperly trained or selected.
Ensuring effective training and selection are management functions.
Cheers
Steve
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Bowers [mailto:pbowers@pipingdesign.com]
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 3:07 PM
To: <a href="/group/PipingDesign/post?postID=Gx7trnb8knN2BPngJnSdHrKjzZbWV8fUdSASrkwtEzsr2KVrDXc2NdLW76qwRUSzud-tLRgdqXY89ahjUe4Jr4x2SsQ">PipingDesign@yahoogroups.com</a>
Subject: Re: [PipingDesign] RE: OT: Three-Mile Island Events
One of the Slashdot comments mentioned that digital gauges
malfunctioned, showing 0000 (interpreted as a computer malfunction)
instead of what actually was happening. Supposedly, an analog gauge
would have been reading "over the top" and would have alerted the
operators. Assuming they were not Homer Simpson clones, of course.
Overall, though, in my opinion, TMI was not a "disaster" unless PR and
public opinion is factored into the equation. And politics.
Also, one has to remember that in those days, the word, "nuclear" was
more readily associated with the popular "stick your head between your
legs and kiss your ass goodbye" mantra as we all awaited imminent
vapourization from Soviet missiles. Now we have something else to worry
about.
Ducking and covering,
Paul
From: "Davis McConnico"
> Great book on this subject:
>
> Inviting Disaster: Lessons From the Edge of Technology by James R.
Chiles
> From: Bruce Bullough
> It amazes me that educated people continue to think that "engineers"
> should be able to design and install any system (simple or complex)
to
> be completely fail-proof. Everything becomes obvious in hind-site.
>
> I spent part of 7 years working on TMI cleanup. I got to know the
> situation fairly well. I even interviewed for a maintenance
supervisor
> job at a sister plant. There were plenty of problems, some are
design
> and engineering related, but the issue of corporate culture
(management)
> and regulatory issues (again, management) were the biggest factors.
I
> suppose we can all point fingers and live in fear, and we as
designers
> and engineers need to take full advantage of peer review and codes
to do
> our best to prevent disaster, but they will continue to happen -
> especially those that are multiple event causes.
> From: Paul Bowers [mailto:pbowers@pipingdesign.com]
>
> Interesting discussion about the build-up to the shutdown:
>
>
<a href="http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=101979&cid=8695178&threshold=-1&mode">http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=101979&cid=8695178&threshold=-1&mode</a>
> =nested&commentsort=0
>
> or
>
> <a href="http://makeashorterlink.com/?I10125AE7">http://makeashorterlink.com/?I10125AE7</a>
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Received on Sat Apr 03 09:36:00 2004
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