Information Notice No. 86-21: Recognition of American Society of Mechanical Engineers Accreditation Program for N Stamp Holders

                                                           SSINS No: 6835 
                                                           IN 86-21       

                                UNITED STATES
                        NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
                    OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT
                           WASHINGTON, DC 20555

                               March 31, 1986

Information Notice No. NO 86-21:   RECOGNITION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY OF 
                                   MECHANICAL ENGINEERS ACCREDITATION 
                                   PROGRAM FOR N STAMP HOLDERS 

Addressees: 

All nuclear power facilities holding an operating license (OL) or a 
construction permit (CP) and all recipients of NUREG-0040 (white book) 

Purpose: 

This information notice is provided to licensees, construction permit 
holders, and vendors to inform them of the NRC's recognition of the American 
Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Accreditation Program for holders of 
N, NPT, NA, and NV stamps and Certificates of Authorization It is expected 
that recipients will review the information for applicability to their 
facilities However, suggestions contained in this information notice do not 
constitute NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written 
response is required 

Discussion: 

In March 1981, representatives of the NRC, ASME, and the National Board of 
Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors (NB) signed an Exchange of 
Correspondence that outlined an agreement to work toward establishing a 
single set of quality requirements and recognition by the NRC of ASME's 
Accreditation Program for N, NA, NPT, and NV stamps and the associated 
Certificates of Authorization Quality System Certificates issued to 
Material Manufacturers (MM) and Material Suppliers (MS) are excluded from 
this recognition The primary reasons for developing the Exchange of 
Correspondence were to eliminate overlapping requirements and to allow NRC 
licensees and their subcontractors to use the results of the ASME/NB nuclear
accreditation and inspection system as an acceptable method for satisfying 
NRC requirements for evaluating the programmatic adequacy of their 
suppliers' documented quality assurance (QA) programs 

In a meeting on December 10, 1985, representatives of the NRC, NB, and ASME 
agreed that based on the requirements contained in the 1986 Edition of the 
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code all of the conditions established in 
the Exchange of Correspondence as prerequisites for NRC recognition of the 
Accreditation Program had been met On this basis, the NRC has sent letters 
(see attached) to the National Board and ASME recognizing the holding of an 



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                                                            IN 86-21      
                                                            March 31, 1986 
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ASME N, RA, NPT or NV Certificate of Authorization as evidence that the 
holder of the Certificate of Authorization has a documented QA program that 
meets the requirements of Appendix B to 10 CFR 50 In accordance with the 
Exchange of Correspondence, the NRC will make the appropriate changes to 
Regulatory Guides 128 and 133 in the next revision Licensees and their 
subcontractors, when assessing whether a potential supplier has an 
acceptable documented QA program, may rely on the fact that ASME has 
surveyed the supplier and issued a Certificate of Authorization of 
appropriate scope and for the desired location without performing any 
additional evaluation of the supplier's QA program 

Licensees and construction permit holders that take credit for the ASME 
Accreditation Program may have to revise their QA Program They are reminded 
that 10 CFR 5054(a)(3) and 5055(f)(3) set forth the requirements for 
making changes to QA programs 

It should be noted that NRC's recognition applies only to the programmatic 
aspects of the ASME Accreditation Program Licensees, construction permit 
holders, and their subcontractors are still responsible for ensuring that 
the supplier is effectively implementing the approved QA program 

No specific action or response is required by this information notice If 
you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact the Regional 
Administrator of the appropriate NRC regional office or the technical 
contact listed below 


                                   Edward L Jordan Director 
                                   Division of Emergency Preparedness 
                                     and Engineering Response 
                                   Office of Inspection and Enforcement 

Technical Contact:  E T Baker, IE
                    301-492-4874

                    G G Zech, IE
                    301-492-9663

Attachments:
1   Letter to ASME
2   List of Recently Issued IE Information Notices


                                                            Attachment 1  
                                                            IN 86-21      
                                                            March 31, 1986 

                                UNITED STATES
                        NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
                           WASHINGTON, D C 20555

                               March 18, 1986

Mr Melvin R Green, Managing Director
Codes and Standards
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
345 East 47th Street
New York, New York 10017

Dear Mr Green: 

SUBJECT: NRC ENDORSEMENT OF ASME'S ACCREDITATION PROGRAM 

At the December 10, 1985 meeting of the NRC/ASME/NB Coordinating Committee 
it was agreed that all conditions established in the Exchange of 
Correspondence as prerequisites for NRC recognition and endorsement of the 
ASME Accreditation Program had been met At that meeting it was also agreed 
that the NRC would publish an information notice communicating the NRC's 
recognition and endorsement of the Accreditation Program Enclosed is a copy 
of the information notice which is being sent to all licensees and to other 
parties on the information notice distribution list 

                                   Sincerely,

                                   James M Taylor, Director
                                   Office of Inspection and Enforcement 

Enclosure
Information Notice