Nuclear Engineer

A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm. Workers and others have a right to be protected from harm caused by a failure to take reasonable control measures.

 Don’t overcomplicate the process. In many organisations, the risks are well known and the necessary control measures are easy to apply.

 A  hazard  is anything that may cause harm (see previous post)

The risk  is the chance, high or low, that somebody could be harmed by these and other hazards, together with an indication of how serious the harm could be.

  Risk assessment step by step (based on UK HSE guidance)

 Step 1  - Identify the hazards

 Step 2  - Decide who might be harmed and how

 Step 3  - Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions

 Step 4  - Record your findings and implement them

 Step 5  - Review your assessment and update if necessary

 This is the most basic set of risk assessment activities but it is the foundation of a nuclear safety assessment.

 We will discuss each of the steps and it’s relationship to nuclear safety in coming posts…

Technorati Tags: Nuclear Engineer

What is it that makes a ‘nuclear engineer’ different from any other engineer?

There are probably a plethora of answers to this question any one of which may be correct. However for the purposes of this article my definition is:

A nuclear engineer is an engineer who has the credentials to deal with the Hazards presented by nuclear or radiological plant.

So what are Hazards? The definition of a hazard is usually along the lines of something which has the capacity to do harm. In this case those hazards which are specific to the role of a nuclear engineer are those hazards associated with ionising radiation. Of course nuclear engineers must deal with any hazard which they come across in their roles but here we are looking at the differentiator, that which puts the ‘nuclear’ in nuclear engineer.

Now there is a tendency for engineers, who find themselves in a nuclear related role, to become lost in the maze of techno jargon, legislation and science. Many become proficient in a small area whilst being completely baffled by the ‘big picture’.

However nuclear engineering like most disciplines is based on some fairly simple basic principles and if done well will conform with common sense.

The starting point is – Hazards

The Hazards are the golden thread which runs through any nuclear engineering project. Of course there is the need for other engineering basics such as value and efficiency but most of these other basic principles come and go within the various phases of the engineering design process. The Hazards remain throughout and must be addressed at each phase from concept design through operation of the plant and finally decommissioning.

The Hazards are identified at the beginning of a project and must be addressed at each ensuing phase. The project life cycle phases then do not stand alone but have running through them this thread of hazard management.

Many of the design and safety processes which occur are driven only by the need to manage Hazards.

Much of the physical plant, systems and operating methodology will exist purely to manage the hazards

When a plant is finally decommissioned the hazards identified at it’s conception will have to be addressed.

Technorati Tags: Nuclear Engineer, Nuclear Safety

Technorati Tags: Nuclear Engineer