In November 2001, Bechtel National issued a purchase order to
procure a control system for the integrated control network at the
Waste Treatment Plant (Plant). The integrated control network is
an automated system that monitors the quality and safety of
systems and processes of the Plant. The control system, which is a
critical component of the integrated control network, monitors the
status of pumps, mixers, and flow rates of the waste through the
treatment process. Bechtel National identified the integrated
control network as affecting the quality of immobilized high-level
radioactive waste.
Departmental Orders require the establishment of quality assurance
programs over systems and operations. Bechtel National, in
implementing the Department's quality assurance directives,
concluded that the control system needed to meet quality assurance
standards for nuclear facilities or equivalent because it affected the
quality of immobilized high-level waste.
