Management of Occupational Health and Safety

Running Head : Nuclear Power Plants

Management of Occupational Health and Safety in Nuclear Power Plants

Introduction

It was back in April 28 , 1986 when the Chernobyl incident in Ukraine created a reverberating imprint throughout the Soviet Union . It was a result of an unsound reactor design in Chernobyl 's Unit 4 that was mismanaged by inept personnel and also due to their disregard for proper safety and precautionary measures . The accidental destruction of Chernobyl 's Unit 4 reactor generated extensive spread of radioactive material and a large amount of radioactive waste

in the Unit , at the plant site and in the surrounding area (IAEA , April 2006 ,

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A decade since the Chernobyl accident , there had been efforts to conduct a series of safety improvement within the technical areas . In a seminar for consortium between the U .S . and European Countries supporting safety projects at Chernobyl , it was stated that there was a development in the technical areas mainly of training , analytical simulator , symptom-based emergency operating instructions , management and operational control procedures , quality assurance , fire safety upgrades and safety parameter display system (Moffitt , 1996

Actions Done to Resolve the Incident

Based from the 2006 Annual Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency , an Operational Safety Review Team (OSART ) program has been conducted since 1982 to provide assistance on selected operational aspects and on the safety management of nuclear power plants . Ukraine was one of the visited areas wherein the OSART would review and impart their expertise on accident management , long term operation and application of probabilistic safety assessment for decision making

The involvement of the United States in many countries all over the world can be viewed as a necessity , for the U .S . plays a vital role in providing assistance and technical support to those that are inept of the technical expertise . In the case of the Chernobyl nuclear plant , the U .S . Department of Energy has sent a team of experts to coordinate with the Chernobyl plant personnel in an effort to upgrade operational safety and training at the said nuclear plant . The U .S . experience in employing improved practices for management of operations is shared through teaching Chernobyl plant personnel and presenting them opportunities to observe and study nuclear power plants in the United States . The main objective of training was to improve operational safety through enhanced training for plant personnel . Symptom-based emergency operating instructions provide operational safety by developing and implementing symptom-based emergency operating instructions . Such are now being taught with greater emphasis as to ensure that the personnel in the nuclear power plants gain awareness and the right mindset when handling emergency situations . Instructions as to how to stabilize the nuclear reactors are being taught firsthand by the team of experts to the plant operators . Plant safety information are also computerized in a safety parameter display system that alerts control room operators in case of an emergency . On top of that , the management of Chernobyl is also collaborating with the U .S . Department of Energy...