The main objective of the commissioning period is to demonstrate that the nuclear power plant has been constructed and functions according to the design intent and therefore the operation stage may start. An adequately established and implemented quality assurance programme will provide confidence of the fulfilment of such goal.

Commissioning is specifically considered in Chapter 22 so that the items covered in the previous and the following paragraphs are considered in a much broader sense, not only from the quality assurance point of view.

The IAEA has established internationally accepted criteria and practices on quality assurance in commissioning (IAEA, 1996c).