Plans for Operations Training and Operations Procedures David D. Mantrom Glenn L. Hermes Bruno M. Van Wonterghem Gregory L. Tietbohl National Ignition Facility Start-up and Operations Planning Group Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, CA USA Abstract The National Ignition Facility (NIF) will be a US Department of Energy (DOE) experimental facility to study inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and other physical phenomena that occur at very high temperature and density. NIF will use 192 high-power, short-pulse laser beams that converge on a small target. The scale of this advanced technology facility requires a strict procedure-based operations organization with highly trained and qualified staff. The Start-up and Operations Planning Group within the NIF Project provides management and technical oversight necessary to ensure a smooth project transition from a construction and R&D effort to a fully functioning experimental facility. The group has developed detailed plans to guide the training of NIF Operations staff and the writing of NIF Operations procedures. A preliminary plan for NIF Operations training has been developed for the 200+ staff anticipated to operate the NIF facility. The implementation schedule for this plan is driven by staffing requirements of key phases such as special equipment installation (beginning FY00), system start-up, and turning over subsets of beamlines from the NIF Project to NIF Operations until all 192 beamlines are operational (planned in FY04). We have divided the training in four categories: Institutional classes (largely safety-oriented), NIF-specific training (providing technical and operations background information), Hands-on training (within off-line development labs and staging areas), and Qualification and Approval (formal certification process within the NIF facility). The trainees will be in groups of 10-50 personnel with a new group starting every 6-12 months, depending on operations requirements. The training will start in FY99 with the first group of 10-20 experienced operators from the existing Nova laser facility at LLNL. They will provide feedback to improve the training and most will be mentors for future trainees. A full-time NIF Operations training coordinator will be responsible for implementation of the plan, and a training database will be set-up to track individual personnel training records and requirements. We also addressed the development and implementation of NIF Operations procedures. NIF Operations procedures include all procedures involving the operation, maintenance, assembly (recurring), and installation (recurring) of NIF facility systems as well as facility administration and training. These standard operating procedures are important because it is anticipated that there will be 500 or more discrete unit operations requiring procedures to safely handle complex high value equipment These procedures will also serve as an essential part of staff training program. A special aspect of NIF Operations procedures is that they will be on-line and will likely incorporate electronic checklists and archiving capabilities.