Advent was commended recently for completing a rigorously prepared Environmental Qualification (EQ) Program Design Basis Document (DBD) for Wisconsin Electric's Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant. At the final turnover meeting, WE's EQ Staff expressed appreciation for Advent's thoroughness and attention to detail. The EQ DBD, even in draft form, had already proven to be extremely useful in getting quick and easy access to needed EQ design basis information to support continued plant operation and future design change considerations.

Environmental qualification is auditable evidence demonstrating that safety related equipment will be capable of performing essential safety functions even when exposed to the harsh environment effects of an accident and also at the end of a predetermined acceptable installed period of aging. Most EQ Programs were developed and modified over a ten year period complicating future referral needs. The purpose of a design basis document is to capture and efficiently summarize the program requirements and their bases (reasons why) to greatly facilitate future evaluations and decisions.

To complete this DBD, it was necessary for Advent to carefully review, assess, and screen over 500 potential input documents of EQ Program (design) requirements, commitments, and approaches and condense into a complete ~180 page document of consolidated, hierarchal program design requirements and bases for greatly improved future reference. In many cases, Advent chose to use timelines and other graphical means to explain the evolution of basis information.

The resulting report prepared under Advent's approved Quality Assurance Program, provides an in-depth basis for the PBNP's EQ Program and as such serves an essential need in today's regulatory and operating environment as well as to support future personnel turnover when needed.

PBNP was one of the first nuclear power plants built in the US. Units 1 and 2 are each 485 MWe Westinghouse pressurized water reactors (PWRs) and have been supplying power to Southeastern Wisconsin since 1970 and 1972, respectively. Each unit has approximately 30 different safety-related systems with thousands of electrical components.