GLOBAL NUCLEAR |


design information and Independent Nuclear Safety Assessment of nuclear safety cases. The work includes in-service support, advice on


operating documentation, review of safety management arrangements, and the provision of independent members for nuclear safety committees. It is supported by specially developed program management techniques to ensure the effective delivery of complex assessment programs. Jacobs’ independent assurance service is a ‘ring-fenced’


organization that provides an impartial, expert, second opinion, providing scope and depth proportionate to risk. The service is demonstrably independent of constructors, designers, maintainers, and safety case authors, providing the independent scrutiny expected by regulators. During 55 years of acting as sole supplier of independent assurance services to the submarine program, the role has constantly evolved and demonstrable improvements in delivery have been achieved.


Over the past 15 years, the effectiveness and


sustainability of service has been improved by making significant investments in the operational environment, associated infrastructure and laboratory facilities. This includes the creation of a new data library to help maintain and develop the NPIA “corporate memory”. The other pillar of Jacobs’ support to the submarine


service is a long-standing role as a collaborative research and development partner to the naval nuclear propulsion program. This entails specialist support, including laboratory materials testing, design engineering, structural integrity, and stress modeling.


The MOD has expressed confidence not only that Jacobs


can do the work but also that it can safeguard the highly specialized technical capabilities and suitably qualified and experienced people needed to sustain it. In particular, the MOD values technical know-how, comprehensive laboratory and analytical resources, strong relationships with academia and best-in-class project and program management. This capability is underpinned by Jacobs’ nuclear


laboratories at Birchwood Park in Warrington. The largest complex of its kind in the U.K., the labs provide many rare capabilities which are directly relevant to the submarine mission, including UKAS-accredited mechanical testing to verify materials and high integrity components to the highest levels of quality assurance. The labs can evaluate materials behavior at temperatures from -200°C up to in excess of 1,000°C using techniques such as fracture toughness, fatigue endurance, thermo-mechanical fatigue, and fatigue crack growth. Bespoke rigs are designed and built to carry out customized tests on components under simulated operating conditions. Steve Hilton, Jacobs Group Director, Assurance and


Technology, says: “Many of the colleagues who deliver our work for the submarine service used to serve in the Royal Navy and the sense of duty they feel remains every bit as strong. Together, we are working to safeguard the lives of the naval personnel serving in these boats and we are helping to secure an effective submarine service which is vital to the defense of the U.K.” ■


To learn more: steve.hilton@jacobs.com | 19


Above: HMS Astute, the Royal Navy’s latest class of attack submarine Image courtesy of Ministry of Defence


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