Forged Operations · Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the standards, regulations, and quality processes that govern nuclear facilities, from NQA-1 to NCRs.
Standards & Regulations
ASME NQA-1: Quality Assurance Requirements for Nuclear Facility Applications
The primary quality assurance standard for nuclear facilities in North America. Defines 18 requirements covering design control, procurement, inspection, testing, nonconformance, corrective action, and records.
10 CFR 50 Appendix B: Quality Assurance Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants
The NRC regulation that establishes 18 QA criteria for US nuclear power plants. NQA-1 is the consensus standard that demonstrates compliance with Appendix B.
10 CFR 21: Reporting of Defects and Noncompliance
The NRC regulation requiring suppliers to evaluate deviations in basic components for substantial safety hazards and report defects to the NRC and affected purchasers. Applies throughout the supply chain, not only to reactor licensees.
CSA N286: Management System Requirements for Nuclear Facilities
The primary management system standard for Canadian nuclear facilities, regulated by the CNSC. Covers quality, safety culture, leadership, and continuous improvement as an integrated system.
CSA N299: QA Program Requirements for Supply to Nuclear Power Plants
The Canadian standard that defines quality assurance requirements for suppliers to nuclear power plants. Uses a four-level structure based on safety significance and purchaser-specified qualification requirements.
CSA N299.1: Category 1 Supplier QA Requirements
The highest tier of the CSA N299 series, applying to suppliers of safety-critical items and services. Requires the most comprehensive nuclear QA program and evidence of implementation for purchaser qualification.
CSA N299.2: Category 2 Supplier QA Requirements
The second tier of the CSA N299 series, for suppliers of items and services with significant, but not the highest, nuclear safety significance. Requirements are graded relative to N299.1 with purchaser-specified qualification requirements.
CSA N299.3: Category 3 Supplier QA Requirements
The third tier of the CSA N299 series, for suppliers of items with lower nuclear safety significance. Applies the graded approach more extensively than higher categories while maintaining purchaser-specified quality controls.
CSA N299.4: Category 4 Supplier QA Requirements
The entry-level tier of the CSA N299 series, for the lowest nuclear safety-significance supply. Builds on an ISO 9001 foundation with a defined nuclear QA overlay and is the common starting point for new nuclear suppliers.
ISO 19443: Nuclear Supply Chain Quality Management Standard
The international QA standard for nuclear supply chain organizations, extending ISO 9001:2015 with nuclear-specific requirements for safety significance classification, graded approach, human performance, and nuclear safety culture.
ASME Section III: Rules for Construction of Nuclear Facility Components
The construction code for nuclear pressure boundary components, covering design, materials, fabrication, examination, and testing. N-stamp certification under Section III is one of the most recognized quality credentials in the nuclear supply chain.
IAEA GSR Part 2: Leadership and Management for Safety
The IAEA general safety requirement establishing international expectations for integrated management systems at nuclear installations. Places safety culture and senior leadership accountability at the centre of the management system.
Quality Processes
Nuclear Quality Assurance Program
The complete, documented set of planned controls that ensure safety-related work meets its requirements and can be demonstrated. Every other quality process in this glossary operates inside it. Governed by 10 CFR 50 Appendix B, NQA-1, and CSA N286.
Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control
Quality control checks a specific product against a requirement. Quality assurance is the surrounding system that makes quality control trustworthy. Why the distinction matters in nuclear, where defects can be irreversible.
Objective Evidence
Verifiable, fact-based information such as records, measurements, test results, and signatures that demonstrates a required activity was performed and a requirement met. In nuclear QA, an activity with no objective evidence is treated as one that never happened.
Non-Conformance Report
A formal record of any material, component, service, or process that does not meet specified requirements. Required under NQA-1 Requirement 15 and 10 CFR 50 Appendix B Criterion XV.
Corrective Action Program
The organisational system for identifying, evaluating, and resolving conditions adverse to quality. Required under NQA-1 Requirement 16 and 10 CFR 50 Appendix B Criterion XVI.
Supplier Qualification
The process of verifying that a supplier has the quality program and technical competence to deliver safety-related items or services to a nuclear facility. Required under NQA-1 Requirement 7.
Document Control
The QA process ensuring that the correct, approved revision of every procedure, drawing, and specification is available at point of use and that superseded documents are removed. Required under NQA-1 Requirement 6.
Records Management
The controlled creation, storage, retrieval, and retention of quality records, the objective evidence that required activities were performed. Required under NQA-1 Requirement 17.
Inspection & Test Control
The systematic verification that items and activities conform to specified requirements through inspection and testing at defined points, including hold points and witness points documented in inspection and test plans.
Auditing & Assessment
The planned, independent evaluation of quality activities and results to verify compliance with QA requirements. Includes internal audits, supplier audits, and regulatory inspections. Required under NQA-1 Requirement 18.
Training & Qualification
The process of ensuring that personnel performing quality-affecting activities have the necessary education, training, and demonstrated competence. Required under NQA-1 Requirement 2.
Calibration & M&TE Control
The program ensuring that measuring and test equipment used for quality-affecting measurements is calibrated, traceable to national standards, and controlled to prevent use of out-of-tolerance instruments. Required under NQA-1 Requirement 12.
Design Control
The QA process ensuring that design requirements are correctly translated into design documents, that changes are evaluated and approved, and that the design basis is maintained throughout the lifecycle of a nuclear structure, system, or component.
Procurement & Supplier QA
The process of translating technical and QA requirements into purchase documents, qualifying and selecting suppliers, and verifying that supplied items and services meet those requirements before acceptance into the nuclear program.
Nonconformance Management
The end-to-end process for identifying, segregating, documenting, evaluating, dispositioning, and closing nonconforming items and activities. The operational backbone of NCR and CAP requirements in nuclear QA standards.
Configuration Management
The discipline of maintaining alignment between physical plant configuration, design documents, and operational procedures. Ensures that the nuclear facility operates in accordance with its analysed and licensed design basis.
Work Planning & Control
The process of translating approved work scope into controlled work packages with correct procedures, authorisations, hold and witness points, and documentation requirements before safety-related work begins.