Project Coordination (SPOC)

Nothing happens spontaneously at a nuclear plant. Every single piece of work follows a rigorous, gated pipeline that begins up to 52 weeks before execution. This process is governed by N-PROC-MA-0022, the Integrated Online Work Schedule procedure.

Work is tracked on a "T-day" system where T-0 = execution week. Each T-milestone represents a specific number of weeks before execution, with defined requirements that must be met before the work advances to the next gate. Miss a gate, and the work risks being removed from the schedule entirely. At a nuclear plant, that can mean waiting years for the next execution window.

Phase 1: Long-Range Planning (T-52 to T-26)

At T-52, the outage scope is frozen and all work for the outage is locked in. Work Orders (WOs) are created, long-lead parts are identified, Bills of Materials (BOMs) are submitted, and design packages are approved. Planning Holds are placed on items not yet ready.

Phase 2: Resource Planning (T-26 to T-19)

At T-26, the pre-planning review is complete. By T-24, the resource split between online operations and outage work is determined and entered in the Resource Booking Tool. Between T-21 and T-20, the work week scope is completed and posted for review. Then comes T-19, the Scope Commitment Meeting, where all parties formally agree to the scope. This is the critical commitment point, and this is where I first engaged with the work in the pipeline.

Phase 3: Detailed Engineering & Operational Planning (T-19 to T-11)

From T-18 to T-15, planning is completed, preliminary Operations reviews are conducted, scope is rationalized against available resources and known plant configuration, and engineering non-parts holds are expected to be removed. By T-15, all permit support tasks must be identified and Operations assessing must be complete. At T-12, a comprehensive DN Site Meeting assesses overall readiness.

Phase 4: Final Readiness (T-11 to T-8)

At T-10, a supply issue "at risk" report is generated to flag materials that may not arrive in time. By T-9, all parts should be cleared except pressure boundary items. At T-8, the Scope Readiness Meeting takes place, accompanied by a field walkdown where field personnel physically inspect work areas.

Phase 5: Frozen Execution Period (T-7 to T-0)

At T-7, the online scope is locked. Any changes after this point require the formal Scope Addition Process (N-FORM-10312). Pressure boundary holds must be cleared by T-6. The last opportunity for Priority 1 and 2 work orders to be added is T-3, following the final walkdown (known as "Breakplan"). At T-2, resources are reconciled and the final schedule is distributed. At T-1, the EXEC-RBT is approved. Then T-0 arrives, and execution begins.

Work is planned years ahead because there are only specific windows to perform work on nuclear equipment: outages, unit shutdowns, and carefully coordinated online windows. If you miss a window, the work gets pushed back significantly, potentially years. Work is being executed every single day at the plant across multiple units, and each unit may be in a different state: operational, in outage, or undergoing refurbishment. I was there during refurbishment activities on Unit 3, with Units 1, 2, and 4 in various operational states. Everything had to be coordinated to avoid conflicts and ensure safety.

Each major T-milestone meeting fell on a different day of the week. My week was structured around these meetings and the preparation required for each one.

Before each meeting, I reviewed the milestone schedule prepared by Work Control (WC). This was a multi-page document showing all scheduled projects for a specific future work week, with each project listed alongside its associated tasks, their status, and any holds. I identified any issues related to MMOD work on the schedule, contacted the relevant groups to understand holds and gather resolution paths, and pre-resolved issues where possible so the meeting could proceed smoothly.

During each meeting, Work Control chaired the session, going through the work package one project at a time. The focus was on projects with holds, the things blocking progress. I attended on behalf of all 19 MTLs for the MMODs group and gave applicable updates for every MMOD project on the schedule. Nuclear Operators, representatives from each work group, and other stakeholders were all present. If issues could not be resolved on the spot, Action Items were assigned with deadlines. Work Control would, as the saying went, "put you on the chopping block" if you did not address them.

After each meeting, I followed up on Action Items, relayed outcomes to the relevant MTLs, updated tracking systems, and continued working holds toward resolution.

When MMOD work was on the schedule and being executed that week, having made it all the way down the pipeline, I attended the daily morning T-0 PCC Daily Status meeting. Before the meeting, I got updates directly from the MTL responsible for the work. I then relayed execution status to the meeting: either "proceeding on-track as scheduled" or a detailed outline of specific issues requiring attention. Coordination between work groups happened in real time during these sessions for any execution problems.

On top of the milestone meetings themselves, there was a separate weekly meeting dedicated to proactively reviewing all upcoming milestone packages. This PCC T-Package Review covered work at T-26, T-23, T-17, T-12, T-4/5, and T-2 milestones in advance. Its purpose was to ensure milestones would be achieved on time and that the actual T-meetings would go smoothly. It was another layer of oversight and planning, and it meant I was pre-screening all MMOD projects across every upcoming milestone so I would not be blindsided in the actual meetings.

Holds were the primary obstacles to work progressing through the pipeline. Each hold type had a specific code and a specific resolution path, defined in N-LIST-08130-10024, Work Planning Hold Codes. Managing these holds was the core of my daily work.

A Parts Hold meant the required parts or materials were not yet available. This was one of the most common holds I dealt with. The resolution path involved multiple groups. First, I would contact Supply Chain (SC) to identify the risk, which was usually attributed to late vendor delivery quotes that would not meet our PH milestone of T-6. SC would then follow up with the vendor to request expedition. Meanwhile, the MTL would work with Procurement Engineering (PE) to explore alternative procurement paths. We would also reach out to Plant Design to seek equivalent replacement parts and have them perform a review. The best path forward was then selected and progressed.

Supply Chain contacts differed by milestone: Lori Cameron handled T-8 Parts Holds, while Tobby Mattakathu handled T-15 and T-19 Parts Holds. SC attended all T-meetings except T-21.

A Planner Hold was a planning-related hold on the work order. Resolution required speaking with the appropriate MTL to understand the issue, with additional information available in SWMS (Station Work Management System) under the Holds Task view.

An Engineering Hold typically involved a workplan issue. Mohammad Mahad or other PE individuals dealt with ENA holds, with escalation to Plant Design if issues persisted. PE attended all T-meetings, so these could often be discussed and resolved in real time.

An EQI hold was an Operations hold, typically flagging configuration conflicts. Resolution required coordinating with Operations to resolve equipment availability or configuration issues, ensuring the plant would be in the right state for the work to proceed.

An ITP hold related to inspection and testing requirements. Resolution involved speaking with the appropriate MTL, with additional information available in the SWMS Holds Task view.

The pattern was consistent regardless of hold type. First, identify holds on the milestone schedule before the meeting. Second, contact the responsible group to understand the hold. Third, relay the information to the MTL. Fourth, work together with other groups on resolution. Fifth, communicate the path forward at the milestone meeting to oversight organizations (Operations, Work Control) and all other stakeholders. If a hold persisted past its milestone deadline, the work was at risk of being removed from the schedule.

Multiply that workflow across 20 or more concurrent projects, every week, for 12 months. That was the SPOC role.

An MTL on my team had a modification scheduled for Work Week 33 of 2021: a flow transmitter replacement. The MTL had followed the Engineering Change Control (ECC) Process in full. The design was complete, parts were ready, every gate in the pipeline had been cleared. The modification was fully prepared for execution.

Then, eight weeks before execution, Work Control rescheduled the work. The reason was Control Maintenance (MC) resource unavailability. MC had lost a significant number of hours to support backlog recovery work, and cuts had to be made to the schedule. The backlog work was higher priority because it had already been rescheduled before; further delays could have jeopardized plant health.

It was frustrating. Our team had done everything right, followed every procedure, met every milestone. But I learned something important that day: in nuclear, plant health and safety always take priority. The Codes, Standards, Regulations, and Laws (CSRLs) that governed the station designated the backlog work as higher priority, and that decision was correct. I communicated the rescheduling back to the MTL, worked with Work Control to identify the next available execution window, and ensured all the preparation work was preserved so it would not need to be repeated.

This story captures something essential about working in nuclear engineering: even with perfect preparation through the entire pipeline, operational priorities can override. Safety and plant health come first, even when it is frustrating for your team.

For the first five months of my internship (July to December 2020), I worked on-site at the Engineering Support & Services Building (ESSB) at Darlington, adhering to the Ontario Government's health and safety guidelines for essential workers during the pandemic. In January 2021, after multiple mandatory stay-at-home lockdown orders, my team transitioned to working from home full-time for the remainder of my term.

All meetings shifted to Microsoft Teams. Before COVID, these had been in-person sessions in conference rooms with representatives from each group. The transition required adapting communication and coordination workflows, but the SPOC role continued with the same scope and expectations regardless of whether I was sitting in the ESSB or at my desk at home.

Project Management at Nuclear Scale. 353 projects across 4 reactor units, managed through a pipeline spanning up to 52 weeks. Nuclear is arguably the most heavily safeguarded industry; the stakes are catastrophic if things go wrong. Every modification must be planned, designed, installed, commissioned, and accepted within the Safe Operating Envelope (SOE) or Safety Design Envelope (SDE), with respect to the design basis and licensing conditions. There are only specific windows to perform work. Miss one, and it may not come back for years. This is not Jira tickets and sprint planning. This is work that directly affects whether a nuclear reactor operates safely.

Stakeholder Communication and Coordination. I interfaced with 8 or more distinct work groups across the station, each with their own priorities and constraints. I represented my entire team of 19 MTLs and 353 projects in cross-functional forums with Operations, Work Control, Supply Chain, and others. I learned to prepare for meetings, pre-resolve issues, and communicate the path forward concisely. Over 12 months, I sent and read hundreds of emails and attended hundreds of meetings. This was my first internship, and it built my professional communication skills from zero.

Systems Thinking. I had to understand how all the groups interconnected: Design creates the plan, Supply Chain provides materials, Work Control schedules the window, Operations accepts the change, and the field executes the work. A hold in one area cascades across the entire pipeline. I learned to trace issues to root cause and coordinate resolution across multiple groups simultaneously. I came to understand the plant as a system of systems: 4 reactor units in different operational states, refurbishment happening alongside normal operations, work executed daily.

Working Under Regulatory Rigor. All activities were governed by CSRLs. N-PROC-MP-0090 defined the ECC Process. N-PROC-MA-0022 defined the Integrated Online Work Schedule. N-GUID-00700-10000 provided the ECC Guide to Management Expectations. Nuclear Safety was the overriding priority in every decision. Regulatory oversight came from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). This level of process rigor and accountability is unmatched in other industries.