USAF Nuclear Weapons Safety Center – Booz Allen Hamilton Engineering and Nuclear Safety Services
Sigma Science provides nuclear engineering and nuclear safety services under a $2.2 million, seven-year task order contract (with options), awarded in September 2020. Under the contract, Sigma Science provides a certified nuclear surety engineer to assist with the Air Force (AF) Nuclear Safety Design Certification (NSDC) for nuclear Weapons Generation Facilities (WGFs) across the U.S. Air Force (USAF) mission. Currently, four WGFs are in various design and construction stages (i.e., two intercontinental ballistic missile facilities and two bomber facilities for nuclear asset maintenance and storage). Three additional sites are pending design over the next six years. The NSDC's role is to review design submittals and evaluate them against pre-determined design requirements, ensuring facilities can perform their intended functions and missions and meet nuclear surety standards.
Key contract accomplishments include:
- Prepared and submitted (December 2019) a contract deliverable for assessing the Nuclear Weapon System Safety Group (NWSSG) process for establishing NSDC design efficiencies.
- Performed WGF design reviews and evaluations against design requirements for:
- FE Warren: 35%, 65%, 95%, and final design.
- Malmstrom: Charrette, 35%, 65%, 95%, and final design.
- Barksdale: Charrette, 35%, 65%, 95%, and final design.
- Ellsworth: Charrette, 35%, 65%, 95%, and final design.
- Reviewed and commented on the WGF Fire Hazards Analysis and Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports above.
- Completed the following Technical Nuclear Safety Analysis (TNSA) sections for the Malmstrom 35% design in June 2019:
- 3.4 Fire Protection Systems.
- 3.9 Fire Hazard Analysis.
- 3.10 Radiation Monitoring System.
- 3.13 Combined Facility Section.
- 3.14 Firefighting Guidance.
- Development of the Qualitative Risk Assessment discussion.
- Developed and submitted a draft AF procedure for hazard analysis for safety and compatibility design requirements (January 2020).
- Assisted with training AFGSC/Safety on the compatibility requirement for facilities on stockpile-to-target sequence environmental conditions and how to provide controls of those conditions.
- Reviewed and evaluated methods to perform hazard analysis per MIL-STD-882E.
- Prepared and provided training on hazards analysis to Air Force Safety Center Weapons Safety Division (AFSEC/SEW) staff (August 2021).
- Prepared and submitted blast containment analysis required for WGFs in January 2023.
- Developed a Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) for Barksdale WGF to determine the overall probability of exceeding stockpile-to-target-sequence environmental conditions resulting from a fire. (The PRA was used to support a deviation not to require blast containment, radiological containment, and radiation monitoring.)