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This Safety Assessment (SA) documents the hazard analysis conducted for the Scaled Wind Farm Technology (SWiFT) Facility. The Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Authorization Basis process requires Safety Assessment documents for all moderate-hazard industrial facilities. Together with the Primary Hazard Screening (PHS) Document [SNL11A00204), the SA documents the SWiFT safety basis, which is defined as the safety analysis and hazard controls that provide reasonable assurance that a DOE facility can be operated in a manner that adequately protects the workers, collocated/onsite workers, the public, and the environment. The SA specifically addresses the potential impact of hazards on the worker, collocated worker, and public.

The purpose of this Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is chosen to examine the potential failures of the systems which could result in an overspeed event with a potential for flying debris from the wind turbine blades. The FMEA method was chosen to examine the turbine hydraulic system because two important turbine protective features use hydraulic pressure to function: the blade pitching system, and the brake. The objective of the FMEA was to determine if the two safety features have a likely common failure point, or if the safety systems can be individually credited for protection of the turbine.