Safety Basis Information System (SBIS) Background

On October 10, 2000, DOE amended 10 CFR Part 830, Nuclear Safety Management, to add Subpart B, Safety Basis to its regulatory requirements.  The new Subpart B requires contractors and operators of DOE hazard category 1, 2, and 3 nuclear facilities to develop and maintain a Safety Basis for each facility and to perform work in accordance with that Safety Basis.  The amended rule and the associated Federal Register Notices are available on the Nuclear and Facility Safety Policy Rules web page. 

DOE contractors had until April 2003 to develop or revise their Safety Bases to be consistent with the new Subpart B and submit them to DOE for review and approval. 

In Appendix A to 10 CFR Part 830, DOE committed to provide members of the public with up-to-date information on its nuclear facility Safety Bases.  The SBIS was created to meet this requirement and also to provide DOE line managers with an effective tool for obtaining regularly updated profiles of the entire inventory of Safety Bases for hazard category 1, 2, and 3 DOE nuclear facilities.  The DOE Office of Nuclear and Facility Safety Policy maintains the SBIS.  The DOE Program and Operations Offices provide information for the site.

The SBIS provides a means to search for a particular DOE nuclear facility or to search for a set of DOE nuclear facilities based on a common attribute (e.g., facilities at the same DOE site).  It also provides a Point of Contact to assist in determining what Safety Bases information is available for a particular facility.