What is a Nuclear Safety and Quality Culture (NSQC)?

NSQC is defined as “an organization’s values and behaviors modeled by its leaders and internalized by its members, which serve to make nuclear safety and quality the overriding priorities on the project.”

It is essential for the Vit Plant to be designed and built with nuclear safety and quality at the forefront. Bechtel and the Department of Energy are committed to ensuring that future Vit Plant workers can work in safe, reliable facilities and that the public and environment are protected when the Vit Plant becomes operational.


Why is a strong Nuclear Safety and Quality Culture (NSQC) important to the Vit Plant project?

The Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, also known as the “Vit Plant,” is a first-of-a-kind facility that will treat 56 million gallons of radioactive waste currently stored in aging underground tanks. A legacy of national defense efforts during World War II and the Cold War, the waste, if left untreated, poses a serious threat to the Columbia River, surrounding communities and millions of residents downstream.


The media has reported that there are a number of safety concerns involving the design of the Vit Plant; how do I know the Vit Plant is being built safely and with quality?

We are confident in the safety and quality of the Vit Plant. Hundreds of experts from government, industry and academia confirm that Vit Plant’s current design will safely treat the vast majority of the waste. More than $500 million and 10 years have been committed to getting the science right, and we continue to work tirelessly to ensure that Vit Plant will safely and efficiently make glass.


There have been recent media reports that question the strength of the Vit Plant project’s Nuclear Safety and Quality Culture; how do you respond?

Numerous assessments that have been performed to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Vit Plant’s Nuclear Safety and Quality Culture (NSQC) have found it to be quite strong, particularly for such a large and complex project. Results of the assessments by independent external and internal groups and surveys of nearly one thousand employees, while identifying some areas for improvement, have consistently found that the vast majority of WTP employees feel comfortable that they can raise issues, and they are aware of and frequently use the many avenues made available to voice issues of any type. 

Our systems and processes for soliciting issues have enabled our employees to bring to our attention nearly 10,000 issues, questions, opportunities, or concerns in five years alone. All of these have been carefully evaluated in an objective and transparent manner.

We understand that project objectives, including cost and schedule, are only achieved when a transparent culture underpins the project. We thank our employees for their willingness to raise issues and for being an active partner in ensuring project safety at the Vit Plant. Safety has and always will be paramount to the success of the Vit Plant project.


How do Vit Plant employees incorporate a nuclear safety and quality into their work?

Our employees incorporate a nuclear safety and quality into their daily work by regularly practicing the following behaviors:

  • Taking ownership of safety and quality by implementing and following their personalized safety and quality plans
  • Questioning what does not seem right by raising concerns to their line manager in a timely manner, offering solutions, and following up
  • Identifying and sharing improvement opportunities by engaging in dialogue with co-workers and managers, using the Lessons Learned Program, and employing the Project Issues Evaluation Report (PIER) system when appropriate
  • Embracing and accepting procedure compliance, stopping work when it becomes unclear or impossible to follow a procedure as written and waiting until the issue is resolved before continuing

How do Vit Plant supervisors and managers balance encouraging a questioning attitude with meeting cost and schedule deadlines?

The overriding values for the Vit Plant project are and always will be safety and quality, and it is our supervisors’ and managers’ first responsibility to listen to employees, raise their concerns to the appropriate levels, provide them with feedback regarding the action taken or the reason actions were not taken, and thank employees for raising their concerns.

These last actions, providing feedback and thanking employees, are the most important, as they encourage employees to continue to feel empowered to bring forward issues or concerns, which is a key component of a strong Nuclear Safety and Quality Culture (NSQC).

Also, a healthy NSQC contributes to meeting cost and schedule deadlines.


What programs and resources are in place at the Vit Plant to cultivate a strong Nuclear Safety and Quality Culture (NSQC)?

Cultivating a strong NSQC begins with our employees who regularly demonstrate the following behaviors:

  • Take ownership of safety and quality by implementing and following their personal safety and quality plans
  • Question what does not seem right by raising concerns to their line manager in a timely manner, offering solutions, and following up
  • Identify and share improvement opportunities by engaging in dialogue with co-workers and managers, using the Lessons Learned Program and employing the PIER system when appropriate
  • Practice procedure compliance, stopping work when it becomes unclear or impossible to follow a procedure as written and waiting until the issue is resolved before continuing

In addition, there are currently a number of Vit Plant programs and resources in place that help cultivate a strong NSQC. They include the following:

  • Corrective Action Program
  • Differing Professional Opinion (DPO) process
  • Employee Concerns Program
  • Human Performance Improvement
  • Integrated Safety Management System
  • Lessons Learned Program
  • Management assessments
  • Project Issues Evaluation Report (PIER) system

What are some of the tools available to employees who have a safety or quality concern?

First and foremost, employees are strongly encouraged to raise concerns with their leads, supervisors, and managers. Open communication between all project employees and managers is key to cultivating a strong Nuclear Safety and Quality Culture (NSQC). If, however, employees do not feel comfortable going to their line supervisors or managers, the following tools are available:

  • Corrective Action Program
  • Differing Professional Opinion (DPO) process
  • Employee Concerns Program
  • Project Issues Evaluation Report (PIER) system

How do you disseminate nuclear safety and quality information to your employees?

We are committed to providing our employees with the information they need to cultivate a strong Nuclear Safety and Quality Culture (NSQC). We provide regular communications to our employees in the form of all-employee emails, all-employee meetings, management videos, project newsletters, posters and meeting handouts. All of these materials are also readily accessible on our employee website, and many of them are available in our Newsroom.

We also recognize the value of top-down communication and are training our supervisors and managers on the importance of a strong NSQC. These supervisors and managers are held accountable for further disseminating their training to their employees until everyone has received the information.

We are committed to continuous improvement and are always looking for additional opportunities to share this critical information. We are only successful when everyone understands and adopts nuclear safety and quality in all aspects of their daily work.


I’ve heard Nuclear Safety Culture referenced before in the commercial nuclear power industry; why does the Vit Plant incorporate quality?

Nuclear Safety Culture and Nuclear Safety and Quality Culture are the same concept. The Vit Plant consciously elected to include both “Safety” and “Quality” because they are both fundamental values for the project, and the words provide a continuous reminder to our employees.


What is the difference between industrial safety and nuclear safety?

Industrial safety focuses on avoidance or containment of non-radiological hazards to workers such as heat, cold, noise, light, falls, electricity, chemicals, confined spaces, and vehicular accidents. The safety of the worker is the priority.

Nuclear safety focuses on avoidance or containment of current and future radiological releases to the worker, the public, and the environment. The safety of the public is the priority. Nuclear safety is established during design and construction and continues through commissioning and operations.

To be effective, both types of safety require the establishment and maintenance of a strong safety culture where managers and workers commitment to safety as the highest priority.


How is a strong Nuclear Safety and Quality Culture (NSQC) measured? How do we know if Vit Plant has it (or doesn’t have it)?

We know we have a stronger NSQC when our surveys and assessments tell us we have incremental improvement in the attitudes and behaviors of our employees and managers. The Vit Plant project will periodically assess the health of its NSQC through management assessments and employee surveys through independent assessments, management assessments, and employee surveys.