Design basis for Arctic infrastructure facilities

Abstract

A discussion related to the selection of a proper design basis for Arctic infrastructure facilities is presented. The design basis, which must be sufficiently robust to ensure safe operations of the facilities during their planned lifetime, should include relevant information available from the local and indigenous people of the area. The need to properly document all data and assumptions made when preparing the design basis is highlighted, and it is emphasized that, in the case of the upgrading of the facilities, all new data collected must be included in the database. Documentation of all updating is necessary and must be available to all involved during maintenance activities and for possible later upgrading of the facilities. This database must be available digitally, as access to the basics for the design may be of particular concern in the sparsely populated Arctic region, where the distribution of paper copies takes a long time, particularly in the case of emergency situations. Therefore, this database must be protected from cyberattacks. A “Plan B” is needed to ensure that a backup of the fully updated design basis documents, as well as documentation of the “as built” facilities, is available at any time.