Fire Protection for Department of Energy (DOE) Facilities - a PDH Online Course for Engineers, Surveyors and Architects

Fire Protection for Department of Energy (DOE) Facilities

Course Outline

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) constructs, maintains, and operates a very large system of national laboratories and technical facilities including well know facilities at Brookhaven, Los Alamos, and Oak Ridge. Many of these laboratories and facilities are classified as Hazard Category (1, 2, 3) Nuclear Facilities and should incorporate safety significant (SS) and safety class (SC) designated fire protection systems. This online course provides a comprehensive review of the specific fire protection engineering criteria required to design and construct new facilities or alter existing facilities. The course materials are based entirely on the recently revised and updated DOE Standard – Fire Protection (DOE-STD-1066-2012), issued in December 2012. The course is intended to give engineers and architects an understanding of the fire protection requirements for all types of DOE facility construction projects, and it will enable their active participation in the entire project development process.

This course requires the completion of a multiple-choice quiz at its conclusion in order to obtain the necessary certification.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will be aware of:

The Standard’s purpose and range of applicability;
The referenced codes, standards, and documents as applicable to DOE facilities;
The definitions of unique technical terms;
General fire protection requirements that apply to all types of facilities;
Requirements for administration of a fire protection program (FPP);
Fire protection design requirements that apply to new construction and significant modifications;
DOE-specific fire protection requirements for facilities containing radioactive and other hazardous materials;
Requirements for on-site operations including inspection, testing, and maintenance (ITM);
Required emergency response resources based on the development of Baseline Needs Assessment (BNA);
The necessity for, and the content of facility fire protection evaluations including fire hazard analysis (FHA), design analysis, and facility fire protection assessments;
Specifications for safety significant (SS) and safety class (SC) fire protection systems;
Typical water supply arrangements for DOE facilities;
Guidelines for developing a DOE-specific Fire Hazard Analysis;
Fire protection guidelines that apply to all relocatable structures at DOE facilities;
Special fire protection requirements classified as Transitional Facilities; and
DOE standards to qualify as a Fire Protection Engineer for DOE facilities.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for engineers and architects.

Benefit to Attendees

Attendee will understand the specific fire protection requirements for construction projects at all types of DOE facilities including those classified as Hazard Category (1, 2, 3) Nuclear Facilities, which will enable active participation in the entire project development process.

Course Introduction

The mission of the DOE is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. As a leading federal research and development agency, the DOE operates a large system of national laboratories and technical facilities with a yearly budget of over $27B. In December 2012, the DOE re-issued its updated and revised Fire Protection Standards (DOE-STD-1066-2012) for the purpose of protecting the public, facility personnel, property, and the environment in a fire event at a DOE facility. Design professionals wanting to be involved in the DOE’s construction programs should fully understand and be able to apply the special fire protection engineering criteria specified by the Standard. The course provides a comprehensive review of the Standard, which will enable engineers and architects to actively participate in new construction projects or in special projects for existing facilities.

Course Content

In this lesson, you are required to download and study the following document:

Department of Energy Standard – Fire Protection (DOE-STD-1066-2012) [PDF]

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Course Summary

This course is a comprehensive review of the fire protection engineering and design criteria for all types of DOE facilities based on DOE-STD-1066-2012. The Standard presents the requirements in eight sections and six allied appendices indentified below. Appendices A-E contain detailed criteria and guidance for specific conditions, such as for fire protection systems used in SS and SC applications. Appendix F provides additional explanatory material indicated as endnotes throughout the body of the Standard. Due to the importance of the explanatory material, the student is strongly urged to review Appendix F concurrently with the Standard’s content.

Section 1, Introduction
Section 2, General Fire Protection Requirements
Section 3, Fire Protection Program Administration
Section 4, Fire Protection Design
Section 5, Operations
Section 6, Emergency Response
Section 7, Facility Fire Protection Evaluations
Section 8, Wildland Fire Management

Appendix A, Safety Significant and Safety Class Fire Protection System Specifications
Appendix B, Fire Hazard Analysis
Appendix C, Relocatable Structures
Appendix D, Transitional Facilities
Appendix E, Sample Qualification Template for Lead Fire Protection Engineers
Appendix F, Explanatory Material

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following website:
Energy.gov | Department of Energy

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.