PVS Structures’ Commitment to Safety Related Steel

(ASME NQA-1, 10 CFR 50 Appendix B, 10CFR Part 21)

 Beginning in January of 2013, PVS Structures accepted the responsibility to provide structural steel on the first new nuclear plants to be built in the United States since the late 1970’s.  Four new AP1000 nuclear plants were to be built in Georgia (Vogtle 3&4 unit) and South Carolina (VC Summer Units 2 &3). This project presented PVS Structures with incredible opportunities and challenges.  One of the challenges was providing error free documentation packages with each shipment.  Documentation packages contain specific information related to the material and the fabrication of a completed structural member or assembly. 

 The documentation packages for the AP1000 projects were very similar to those of the Hanford River Protection Project (Radioactive Waste Treatment & Immobilization Project), but required additional coating system records.   Bechtel working with  the DOE on the Hanford River Protection Project brought PVS Structures onboard to fabricate structural steel beginning in 2001.  PVS Structures supplied 14,000 tons of NQA-1 safety related steel in helping to protect the Columbia River from leaking  Cold War chemical and radioactive waste stored in aging unground tanks.  The Hanford River Protection Project enabled PVS Structures to gain the necessary experience in producing safety related steel and proper documentation.

 PVS Structures through continuous improvement updated our SMART fabrication traveler program.  The SMART fabrication traveler program aids PVS Structures in maintaining fabrication life-cycle records from first step processing through shipment.  Our quality documentation team began updating our processes to produce documentation packages that met very strict customer requirements of 98% conformance. 

 The processes needed for the assembly of documentation packages were improved with the help of our friends in the IT department along with our dedicated documentation reviewers.  These system improvements enabled PVS Structures between March 2017 and June 2018 to complete 50,248 pages while maintaining a conformance percentage of 99%.    Our improvement efforts elevated our document package conformance percentage from 94% to 99%  and above the Westinghouse 98% compliance goal.    In order to achieve these results, PVS Structures developed personnel and intuitive software systems to provide complex structural fabrication documentation to our most discriminating customers now and into the future.   If your project demands this type of quality and attention to detail call your friends at PVS Structures!

 Steven M. Riddell

Director of Quality Systems