From the earliest beginning of the nuclear era, governments have estab­lished, and then have relied on regulatory organizations to audit the per­formance of organizations of all sorts related to use of ionizing radiation — isotope users, miners, researchers, health professionals, and power plant operators. These regulatory organizations issue licences to operate within carefully defined rules and regulations. They usually perform detailed audit­ing and enforcement duties, especially through staff members at the loca­tion of major facilities such as power plants.

The positive value of audit staff to the plant owner/operator arises from their emphasis on safety. This emphasis helps to provide balance to the strong motivation of plant senior management, who may at times consider production as their first and overriding priority. This need for balance pro­vides the most fundamental infrastructure requirement that justifies the purchase of a nuclear plant; that is, the need for a competent review of plant safety performance before the plant is purchased, to ensure that later per­formance will meet the exacting standards required by the safety regulatory agency.