Chris Schneidmiller
WC Monitor
8/28/2015
The Department of Energy failed to meet “essential federal oversight requirements” when it issued an updated version of software used to assist the packaging and transport of radioactive materials, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Vice Chair Jessie Roberson asserted this month.
In an Aug. 10 letter to Deputy Energy Secretary Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Roberson also said DOE’s release of Radcalc 4.1.1 contradicted earlier statements from the department.
Radcalc is a custom PC-based software program with hundreds of registered users spread across the DOE complex. It “provides consistency, accuracy, reproducibility, timeliness, quality, compliance, and appropriate documentation to shippers of radioactive materials and wastes” at DOE sites across the nation, according to a department fact sheet.
Early this year, DNFSB staff cited problems with governance, upkeep, and use of Radcalc that could lead to harm for personnel and the public from an accident involving radioactive materials in transit. In response to the board’s concerns and questions regarding Radcalc’s capacity to meet DOE quality assurance mandates, the department on July 6 called for suspension of use of the 4.1 version of the program as of July 13. The department on Aug. 4 then announced the release of Radcalc version 4.1.1.
Releasing the software and authorizing its use “is contrary to DOE’s response … to our letter dated March 16, 2015, and to DOE’s Radcalc Safety Advisory dated July 6, 2015,” Roberson wrote. “DOE issued Radcalc 4.1.1 without following essential federal oversight requirements. DOE had previously committed to mitigating the risks of the undocumented pedigree of the prior version of Radcalc (version 4.1) by establishing the quality pedigree in the next revision of Radcalc.”
Roberson indicated the board remains concerned about the reliability of Radcalc’s safety calculation results. Should an accident occur, “an error in Radcalc’s calculation of decay heat, radioactivity, and/or hydrogen gas generation could lead to the selection of packaging that would not protect workers and the public from serious consequences.”
Roberson requested the board received a briefing no later than Aug. 20 regarding the reasoning for issuing the latest version of Radcalc at defense nuclear sites, along with steps taken to prevent contravention of DOE quality assurance and oversight mandates.
A DNFSB spokesman said the board would not comment on the matter. A DOE spokesperson said on Thursday the briefing had occurred, but that otherwise the “Department of Energy does not comment on incoming letters from regulators, the DNFSB, Congress, etc. in the media.”
“RADCALC 4.1.1 has been developed as commercial software. RADCALC 4.1.1 is based on RADCALC 4.1, which has been used for many years, with changes that resulted from the [Department of Transportation’s] rulemaking activities under Docket HM-250 and problem fixes, which were identified by user community,” the spokesperson said by email.
DOE said in its Aug. 4 update that it is continuing to develop Radcalc version 4.2, which it said “will be released as qualified software, reestablishing a defensible and pedigreed program to ensure confidence within the RADCALC community.”
