August 7, 2018 – EB Empowers Shipbuilders to Improve Processes

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By Erik Walsh, NTO Electrical Production Radiological Controls Operations Supervisor
August 7, 2018

If you ever feel you haven’t been given the chance to come to the table with a better way of doing something, I ask you to look to your drawings, references, and procedures. These represent the recorded voices of your teammates, who are responsible for the construction, operation, and maintenance of our nuclear submarines. These documents are the output of many challenges encountered — they are the combined answers to the “how to” questions. Trust the hard work that has gone into making these processes, and procedures; it will keep you safe and ensure that what you are trying to do is appropriate.

Each time a document revision is put into use, it signals that an individual has come to the table with a new way of doing something. It is our responsibility to those that have come before and certainly to those that will come after us, to develop safer, more-efficient solutions. Come to the table, provide your input, and improve our team.

Installing and protecting nuclear instruments is significantly important to EB, specifically to the nuclear trades and test groups. History has shown that the detectors have the possibility of being damaged at every phase from construction through install and need significant protection until delivery of the reactor compartment (RC). Many proposals have been implemented to improve our methods of protecting the detectors.

Staging in the RC has been reconfigured by Manufacturing Engineering (D467) to support detector installation earlier in the construction process. Previously, temporary staging was welded to the deck, delaying installation of some detectors until a month after others. This deferred NTO analysis of the detector integrity, which further delayed identifying problems. Communication of the difficulties associated with the install was critical to starting the discussion and revisiting how and when we build and install components in the RC.

NTO recently implemented the use of custom cases to safeguard the detectors and provide detector location assignment information in support of install. In the past, wooden shipping crates housed all components of the detector at receipt. The crates were then reconfigured to house the NTO-built detector for transportation to the RC. The detector and supplemental pieces would travel in different containers to be rigged into the RC at the time of install. Using the new cases and improving handoffs during the procedure, NTO (with assistance from Carpenters D252 and Riggers D230) was able to safely and effectively install these detectors on the 793 boat (Oregon) in four days – that’s 60% fewer days compared to previous typical installations!

Additionally, D274 NTO/NSM has implemented protective covers, Tygon tubing, and markings to further protect the cables until the RC construction is complete. In the past, detector cabling was not sufficiently protected to prevent damage, resulting in costly repairs and rework. These protective covers are of significant importance and must not be removed without proper authorization and coordination with Nuclear Ship’s Management.

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