Preparatory stage

It is assumed that a decision has already been made to implement a project for procurement of an AFR storage facility based on the spent fuel management strategy. The aim of the selection process is to find the most suitable storage system and its implementation, which extends to the tendering process.

The review of available information at the beginning of the project such as customer‘s needs and the review of options in the light of the spent fuel management strategy will determine the preparatory stage. This could range from a very simple process where the customer already has a working concept and where the main focus is to identify a supplier, to a fairly complex one where detailed feasibility studies are carried out and preferred options are to be chosen.

Depending on the specifics of the licensing and environmental assessment processes in Member States development of safety assessment reports and environmental assessment (EA) reports and their approval through the relevant regulatory processes for licensing and EA become major activities in the preparatory stage.

Based on the information available at the beginning of the selection, it is of high importance to identify the steps of the selection and the decision making process, and define the participants of each step and their tasks in it. The interfacing relationships among various participants such as NPP management, plant engineers, project engineers and safety analysts are often complex and bring into focus project management skills such as in directing, planning, organizing, and integrating the disparate elements of the project.

Similar challenges arise also in the interfacing of various stakeholder groups, which may often include special interest groups who may not be readily favorable to the project. The skills of the project organization in getting overall stakeholder acceptance will often determine the success of the project as a whole.

5.5.1.1. Functional specification

One of the main aims of the preparatory stage is to prepare a business case and the functional specification. While the business case is generally an internal statement of project justification prepared primarily for approval of the NPP or the implementing organization, the functional specification is to provide all functional requirements of the facility and criteria for its selection for use of the potential bidders. The functional specification will necessarily include a schedule, statement of the work to be done, specifications, drawings, delivery dates, special conditions that may govern the work and necessary approvals for carrying out the work. To compile the functional specification it is necessary to go through all the functional and related requirements and issues that could affect the selection process. Section 3 provided an outline of the main requirements and boundary issues that have to be reviewed during this process.

Specific topics that provide the content for a functional specification could be as under:

• Reason for needing the facility;

• Outline of criteria for selection and desirable attributes;

• Strategic requirements or project boundaries (design and build; design, build and operate, etc.);

• Descriptions of the spent fuel and quantities and schedule of arising;

• Capacities of the facility;

• Facility needs and conditions;

• Site information (geographical, infrastructure, meteorological, ground conditions etc.);

• Services available at the site (power, infrastructure, human resources, transport etc.);

• Health and safety issues;

• Operating philosophy (human resources available, shifts, unions, client’s experience);

• Design and quality standards (Codes of practice, national codes and standards);

• Operational needs;

• System flexibility requirements;

• Safety and licensing;

• Environmental impacts;

• Safeguards;

• Inspection and maintenance;

• Physical security;

• Interfaces (such as transportation, NPP modifications, transport to disposal etc.);

• Radioactive waste management;

• Decommissioning; and

• Costing and their tabulation.

The project sponsor (somebody from the NPP or the implementing organization) is normally the authority for the project and holds responsibility for the project. The Functional Specification will be submitted to the sponsor for approval of the project and its funding for proceeding with the tendering process and project implementation.

5.5.1.2. Design information

It is common practice that the project management organization develops various design guidance packages and specific needs and general specifications in the first phase, following which an appointed architect/engineer develops various detailed plans, site utilization drawings, topographic surveys and detailed engineering information of use to potential bidders. Any early design and development phases or prototypes required to prove the design will be identified in cases where the selected technology is not fully ‘off-the-shelf’ and requires proof of concept by the bidder. Various constraints would be defined and assumptions made in the feasibility study would be listed.

5.5.1.3. Work breakdown structure

The project would be defined in terms of its work scope with a detailed work breakdown structure (WBS) to facilitate the bidders in appreciating the scope of the work involved. The WBS, besides breaking up the project into manageable pieces, will describe the hierarchical relationships of various activities in the project to the lowest level possible. Together with written descriptions of each work, it provides a powerful specification of the project size, its nature and interrelationships of activities within the project. This also provides flexibility in contractual approaches allowing split or multiple package bids and in organizing bid information. An appropriate accounting system attached to the work breakdown would be very useful for the cost estimation and reporting.