Annals ofNuclearEnergy, Vol. 4 pp. 283-287. Pergamon Press, 1977. Printed in Great Britain.

O W N E R ' S Q U A L I T Y A S S U R A N C E AS A T O O L F O R T E C H N O L O G Y T R A N S F E R

M. STAUFFER, P. GRIMM and D. WHITE Nuclear Division, Motor-Columbus, Consulting Engineers Inc., Baden, Switzerland

Abstract - Participation in the implementation of the QA program for building a nuclear

power plant provides and excellent opportunity for ensuring the transfer of nuclear techno- logy to the owners' personnel, within the various phases involved in the engineering, per-

mitting the gradual build-up of knowledge on the owner's side simultaneously with the development of the project.

Participation in the QA program also ensures that the owner has a large say in the applica-

tion of the QA concept to those parts of the plant which are critical from an overall plant availability and efficiency aspect and not only to those which are related to nuclear safety.

Strong owner's participation in quality assurance implementation provides the following

main benefits: familiarization with the project and with the most important realization steps; the training of personnel in view of many functions of plant operation; providing means for developing the capability to implement the owner's responsibilities for licensing, take-over and operation; realizing a plant with a high quality level ensuring high safety,

reliability and efficiency; possibility of the owner to intimately keep track of all phases

and schedules, as well as any special problems during project realization.

1. THE ROLE OF QUALITY ASSURANCE IN NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY

Quality Assurance (QA) is an essential 'Management Tool'. It has been developed and implemented step by step in order to facilitate the introduction, achievement, improvement and transfer of more sophisti- cated technologies. Using a somewhat unconventional approach, the result of QA can be expressed as the 'Probability' that a certain reque~ed quality level will be reached and objectively proved. Its primary goals are: plant reliability, availability and safety by assurance of predictable behaviour and performance of all critical parts of the specific plant.

In order to avoid misunderstandings of the terms used in this paper, the following shall be understood as definitions:

Quality Assurance, as overall comprehension, includes quality administration or surveillance, as well as quality control;

Quality Administration or Surveillance comprises all organizational measures to assure that design, fabrication, erection and operation follow planned procedures and will be fully monitored, recorded and documented;

Quality Control comprises the systematic actions to control and measure the physical state or the characteristics of a component, system, assembly or structure, with respect to pre-established criteria and requirements.

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284 Owner's quality assurance as a tool for technology transfer

For economic and safety reasons, QA plays a predominant role in nuclear power plants, and the quality requirements have been continuously increased during the last decade. QA programs stipulate in detail the scope and amount of formalized organizational measures, as well as of tests, examinations, and inspections to be performed. As a consequence, the requirements in number and qualification of engineers and inspection personnel for correct application, execution and supervision of the QA-program are increasing accordingly.

2. OWNER'S QA PARTICIPATION

In the past, plant owners have often delegated or left the responsibility for QA implementation (if not otherwise specified by licensing authorities) in the hands of their main contractors and subcontractors. Very stringent QA programs have been applied for the reactor primary coolant boundary and for some safety systems, whereas other systems (particularly auxiliary systems within the Balance of Nuclear Island and the Thermal Island) which are also important from an availability point of view have been practically QA ignored. While the contractors and manufacturers play an important role in QA, and have their own interest in the quality of their delivery, experience has shown that it is to the owner's ad- vantage to participate (if necessary with the cooperation of a consultant) actively in the QA for the following reasons:

to assure a high availability of the whole plant by comprehensive and consistent QA requirements for all parts of the plant. The economic penalties of reduced plant availability can never be covered by the contractors' guarantees;

to reach well defined and supervised quality levels for plant structures, systems and components, and this not only for those parts of the plant which are related to nuclear safety, but also for those which are critical from an overall plant availability and efficiency point of view;

to ensure that tests, examinations, and inspections performed (including their reported results) are adapted to the item's function in an optimum manner;

to assure complete documentation which describes in a fully traceable manner all important fabrica- tion and control steps and gives at any time brief, sufficient and reliable information about the 'as-built or pre-operational' state of the components and systems;

to assure by extensive contacts of the owner's QA organisation with contractors and subcontractors (manufacturers) during construction of the plant, access to extensive and detailed information re- garding fabrication and erection history, including difficulties and weaknesses, which - despite any QA program - can always be encountered during manufacturing, assembly, transport or erection, and

to be well prepared to take over the operation and the nuclear safety responsibility after com- missioning of the plant.

3. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BY OWNER'S QA PARTICIPATION

Participation of the owners' personnel in O.A offers particularly productive possibilities for technology transfer from an early stage of a nuclear power plant project to its commissioning. The main reasons are:

design and manufacturing of major components start very soon after award of general contract;

M. Stauffer, P. Grimm and D. White 285

the necessary QA documents are very detailed and make it possible for the owner at an early stage to obtain additional information, which otherwise would not be available for him to this extent, and

the participation of owners' QA personnel or agents in manufacturing operations, examinations, inspections and acceptance tests gives to the owner a possibility of additional personnel education and training.

The latter point is of particular importance for the gradual transfer and build-up of knowledge, as from the early beginning of the manufacturing processes, the owners' personnel or representatives become successively more and more confident with the components and systems of the plant.

Specific areas of QA which, under the guidance of experienced experts, are particularly suitable for a successful transfer of technology by 'on-the-job-training' are briefly described below.

3.1. Review of pre-examination documents

Documented design criteria, specifications, drawings, procedures and prescriptions have to be verified or reviewed, regarding mainly the fulfilment of the requirement for non-destructive test examinations, especially with respect to material selection and behaviour and to future in-service inspection.

The objective of this activity is to identify already at the planning or design stage, a possible operation and maintenance problem and to foresee sufficiently in advance means and ways to avoid this or mini- mize its effect. Attention is particularly drawn here to testability of components and systems, as well as to accessibility for in-service inspections.

Performance of such an activity gives to the participants a good overall survey of the whole plant, as well as detailed knowledge of components, piping and systems.

3.2. Surveillance of component fabrication and corresponding document control

This task is most important for the QA organization of the owner, allowing also the widest possibilities for a very enriching technology transfer. The following main fabrication operations, controls and tests are particularly suitable: casting; forging; forming; destructive material testing; welding and heat treat- ment; cladding and plating; non-destructive material testing (NDT), such as X-radiography, ultrasonic flaw detection, surface defects detection; special processes, not covered by existing codes and standards; cleaning, surface treatment and preservation; pre-assembly and erection (e.g. heat exchanger tubings); acceptance tests (hydrostatic and leak tests).

Through the participation in these fabrication and testing operations, the following advantages can be simultaneously obtained in addition to detailed information and education of the owners' personnel: the owner's presence shows to the manufacturer his interest in irreproachable product manufacturing and testing, thus giving the manufacturer a special incentive for careful fabrication; continuous inform- ation of the owner regarding manufacturing status; assurance and certainty that components or parts have been manufactured with the necessary care.

Especially welding and heat treatment, as well as NDT, are fields of particular importance for the future operation and maintenance of the plant. Knowledge in these fields can, in a first step, be acquired by specialized education and training courses, but experience shows that 'on-the-job-training' is necessary

286 Owner's quality assurance as a tool for technology transfer

for professional personnel. Active participation in such particular fields allows the owner to obtain pro- found and detailed knowledge, e.g. in: fabrication and testing of major and heavy components, welding of special materials, realization of failure-free welds, new testing methods for special material or ad- vanced apphcation.

This hst of activities is not exhaustive, but it shows how much detailed know-how can be gained by practical acitivities.

Since in most of the cases, several subcontractors with different fabrication and testing methods partici- pate in the supphes, the possibility is given to compare and judge these methods.

3.3. Transport and erection supervision

The supervision of transports offers the possibility to the owners' personnel to familiarize with the handhng of large and delicate components. This know-how, combined with the knowledge of the trans- port facilities and conditions in his country, allows the owner to be specifically prepared to survey and support delicate transports in his country, and to avoid dangerous situations.

During the erection of components, the possibility of participation of the owners' personnel is similar as during component fabrication. Since the erection takes place in the owner's country, the oppor- tunities of participation of the owners' personnel are much better than during fabrication in foreign countries. This opportunity should, therefore, be extensively used for education. Moreover, this phase gives an excellent possibility to familiarize with the plant, as preparation for operation.

3.4. Commissioning

During commissioning, many weaknesses and deficiencies become apparent which could not be detected during fabrication and erection. The practical solution of these problems offers a good opportunity to widen the knowledge and to become aware of difficult technical areas.

A fruitful participation of the owner must be well organized, however, since in this phase of the project, the contractor has to fulfil a very tight schedule to which he has to give priority.

3.5. Documentation

A complete and reliable documentation results during operation of the plant and, especially, during its revisions, in considerable savings of time and money. A deep familiarization of the operating personnel with the details of documentation will pay off in any case. The participation in fabrication and tests offers the owners' personnel the opportunity to inform themselves about the documentation already during the first phase of the project.

4. CONDITIONS FOR A FRUITFUL OWNER'S PARTICIPATION IN QA

The kind of participation of the owner in the QA of a nuclear power plant should be decided in an early stage of the project. This decision will be mainly influenced by: the type of contract; the situation in the owner's country (e.g. industrial background, nuclear experience, technical personnel capacity); the geographic origin of the delivery, especially of components; the consultant.

The participation of the owner in the QA is possible with all types of contracts, including turnkey.

M. Stauffer, P. Grimm and D. White 287

However, the QA procedure should be fixed in an early stage of the bidding and contracting phase, in order to assure the availability of information and the readiness of cooperation of the contractor(s) and the manufacturers.

Experience of utilities with rather small technical personnel capacity has shown that, once a nuclear power plant is in commercial operation and behaves fairly well, a QA staff of about five to six qualified and skilled persons is sufficient to cope with all problems arising during operation. At the minimum, these specialists should be trained during the construction phase by participation in the practical work as described in Sections 2 and 3. Particular attention should be paid to the early selection and basic educa- tion of this highly specialized personnel in mechanical and metallurgical engineering or electrical engi- neering. At the end of the construction and commissioning period these specialists should be able to manage all QA problems arising during maintenance and in-service inspection, and to call upon special- ized firms to overcome peak work loads and to solve special problems.

In addition to these specialists, personnel foreseen for plant operation and maintenance can be trained on the job by participation in the execution of QA, especially during inspection and tests in factories and on site during erection and pre-operational tests.

Experience shows that a good guidance during the education and on-the-job-training of such personnel by experienced experts is required. Moreover, outside support will usually be necessary for the execution of the QA program.