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DTRA’s advancements in nuclear and radiological detection
A new, more complex nuclear age has begun. Echoing the tensions of the Cold War amid rapidly evolving nuclear and radiological threats, preparedness in the modern age is a contest of scientific innovation. The Research and Development Directorate (RD) at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is charged with winning this contest.
W. H. Hedley, F. S. Adams, G. E. Gibbs, D. R. Ming, K. J. Myers, J. E. Wells
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 21 | Number 2 | March 1992 | Pages 678-682
Safety and Measurement (Monitoring) | doi.org/10.13182/FST92-A29825
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A probabilistic risk assessment was made on the TERF process in order to establish its expected degree of reliability and to locate places in the system which could be improved by revision of the equipment or the operating procedures. The equipment design of the TERF was evaluated using a fault tree study. The probability of human failures was then evaluated by adding their probabilistic effects to the fault tree and then reevaluating it. It was found that 1) the TERF system is expected to be very reliable, with an annual expected downtime of only 2.35 hours, 2) the expected downtime comes almost entirely from process equipment failure rather than human errors, and 3) that certain equipment changes could be made that increased the system reliability. These equipment changes included 1) making provision for blocking off certain automatic control valves with more reliable manual valves to facilitate their repair and 2) making the two sources of power to the TERF totally independent of each other.