The IAEA has produced a considerable body of work on quality assurance (QA) that has been widely adopted by Member States with NPP pro­grammes. Quality assurance in design, construction and operation is con­sidered in detail in Chapter 21. The IAEA approach to quality programmes for NPP processes has continued to evolve to be consistent with modern approaches (Persson, 2008). Initially, quality control was established to verify the conformance of systems at the completion of a process. Then, quality assurance was implemented to focus on prevention of non-confor­mance during production, thus becoming more performance-based as opposed to compliance-based. Next, a quality management approach was developed to encompass everyone involved in the processes. This included the concept of corporate safety culture and a focus on people.

The most recent manifestation of the IAEA quality programmes is an integrated management system where safety, health, environmental, secu­rity, quality and economic elements of an organization are all considered together (IAEA, 2006d). This approach was designed to address two general aims stated in INSAG-13, Management of Operational Safety in Nuclear Power Plants (INSAG, 1999):

To improve the safety performance of the organization through the planning, control and supervision of safety-related activities in normal, transient and emergency situations, and

To foster and support a strong safety culture through the development and reinforcement of good safety attitudes and behaviour in individuals and teams so as to allow them to carry out their tasks safely.

Such a system is intended to produce a single coherent management system where all functions are integrated to achieve an organization’s objectives, and quality requirements are incorporated fully into all the daily work. The IAEA has published Safety Guides for implementing the system (IAEA, 2006e, 2009c).

A management system for construction is also covered by these Safety Guides, particularly in Appendix V of IAEA (2009c). This Guide stipulates that an organization should develop and implement a management system that includes the overall arrangements for the management, performance and assessment of the NPP during construction and that the organization should ensure the following:

• Construction work and work at the installation are carried out in accord­ance with design specifications, drawings, procedures and instructions, including the implementation of the relevant requirements.

• Construction work and work that is undertaken at the installation, including work by contractors, are coordinated, carried out and com­pleted in accordance with planned programmes.

• Access to the construction site is controlled.

• Interface arrangements exist among the construction organizations, sup­pliers and other organizational units performing the work.

During construction, QA includes all the actions necessary to provide confidence that a SSC will perform satisfactorily in service. This includes independent assessments of the effectiveness of all the processes related to design, procurement, and construction. The purpose of this is to ensure that the constructor delivers high-quality project work, taking into account both industrial and nuclear safety requirements. The QA plan verifies each of the processes using the hierarchy of prevention, detection, and correction. Suppliers of products and services also have to comply with the licensee’s QA requirements, which could cover all the important operational areas such as procurement, materials, manufacturing, handling and storage, and shipping.

The licensee must demonstrate to the RB that the QA requirements for the construction license are being met. The RB would normally review and inspect the licensee’s QA programme as well as the programmes for other involved organizations, such as suppliers of safety-related products and services, testing and calibration laboratories, nuclear steam system suppli­ers, and architect-engineering companies.

The licensee must also ensure that the constructor supplies all the docu­mentation needed to define the design basis for the plant in support of operations. This involves the implementation of a comprehensive document management system that enables all records, including QA records, equip­ment, materials, manuals, and drawings to be controlled and maintained.