Miscellaneous Lessons Learned

Engage a technical editor, if at all possible, during the second week of the review. The final report left at the closeout briefing, although a draft, is the site or facility's first encounter with the full results of the review and as such warrants a technical editing. This person should stay until all Forms 1, Forms 2, and summaries have been approved, the executive summary edited, and the final report formatted, collated, and printed. The introductory material (cover sheet, background, scope, etc.) can be written before the review is started, thus reducing the workload during the review and allowing the team to concentrate on issues at hand.

Do not assign any CRADs to the Team Leader, however technically qualified.

Identify an Assistant Team Leader or Senior Advisor. Having an Assistant Team Leader/Senior Advisor can greatly improve efficiency in the conduct of the ORR/RA. An Assistant Team Leader/Senior Advisor is particularly beneficial during the labor intensive ORR preparation phase.

If possible, include at least one trainee on the ORR team so that the pool of experienced readiness review team members continues to increase.

Select a Review Coordinator with previous experience in the ORR/RA process, as this function is essential in the assimilation of the data provided by the team members. Without accuracy and timeliness in this function, conclusions are subject to question.

Select the Team Leader carefully. The Team Leader should be senior to the team members. He or she should not be a peer or a co-worker of the team members. Selection of the appropriate Team Leader is important in that he/she must exercise some degree of control over the team.

Evaluate on-the-job-training, drills, and other training evaluation against the established guidance in DOE Orders, standards, guides, and handbooks. This helps eliminate the subjective aspects of the review. Additionally, this intention should be communicated to the contractor for the conduct of the contractor ORR/RA.

For further information or comments on the ORR web site, please contact James M. Heffner.