Project risk management is crucial in the control and management of Conventional and radiological risks. It plays a role in supporting objectives of project safety similar to cost and schedule objectives. Having the right plan to manage project risks is, therefore, crucial to prevent damages that may occur, making it wise to invest in companies like IQIP to give the most appropriate approach for your project.
In the final phase of the project lifecycle, it is important to ensure the protection of the general population and the environment by minimizing the abundance of residual radionuclides in the facilities and materials on site. It helps to ensure the materials are reused, disposed or safely recycled, which is possible by Decommissioning. The process starts by drafting of Initial decommissioning plan (IDP), then undergoes the preparation, approval and implementation of the Final decommissioning plan (FDP), and finalizes when dismantling, decontamination and cleanup activities are done, and the license is terminated.
Project risks have an impact on the success of the project. Project risks arise from circumstances like:
- Ongoing requirements on how to deal with uncertain conditions
- Insufficient information on shutdown facilities
- Non-routine activities
- Hazardous conditions and materials presence
- Containment barriers changes
- Staffing level reductions
- Unpredictable working environment
- High contamination and radiation levels on a routine basis
- Frequent use of temporary structures
- Dependence on supporting projects like waste disposal facilities
Process of Project Risk Management
Establishing key Assumptions
It is critical to ensure that the identification of key assumptions is done systematically to ensure the completion of the process. Key assumptions are monitored, analyzed and adjusted because they have different levels of uncertainty. Key assumptions may include; A facility’s operation for its design life with the absence of major incidents that prevent an impromptu dismantling strategy. It also includes a facility’s operation for a longer period, enough to accumulate sufficient resources for dismantling.
Assigning Uncertainty Level
The next step in Project risk management is to delegate an uncertainty level to each key assumption. Where three levels of uncertainty (low, medium, high) are used, a qualitative approach follows. It’s valuable to prepare a documented explanation for the reasoning behind the assignment. In most instances, the primary risk related to the key assumptions rests on the fact they change.
Identifying Actions to Minimize Uncertainty Levels
The focus in minimizing project risks is usually on key assumptions at the start of the process. The key assumptions are those that have a high uncertainty level and are of importance in both project execution and dismantling. Actions must be established and implemented in cases with high-level key assumptions and uncertainty to minimize the uncertainty level. If the action proposed is unable to minimize uncertainties, then the assumption is revised and replaced.
Assumptions Monitoring
It is crucial that the monitoring of key assumptions is carried out periodically, appropriate to the decommissioning planning process. The operator or entity responsible for the decommissioning plan is considered to be the one responsible for the review of assumptions which may include; reviewing action plans status in the assumptions register, reviewing key assumptions’ validity, reassessing uncertainty levels for key assumptions, reassessing action plans alongside their assignment.
Evaluation and Analysis of key Assumptions
In this section, a more qualitative approach is used in the evaluation and Analysis of key assumptions. It is useful to perform a more quantitative risk assessment for more assumptions to understand better the results of an assumption going through a substantial change or becoming invalid. The risk assessment methodology is the most applicable for key assumptions with high uncertainty.
Conclusion
The fundamental objective of project risk management is to ensure key assumptions and appropriate decisions are based on clear and reliable information. It entails identifying, analyzing, evaluating and monitoring key assumptions and strategic decisions to prevent damages that may result from the risks.
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