Personnel interviews will provide useful information. Likewise, qualification records, which should be current and readily available, are useful for evaluating an individual's capability to competently verify a specific area. However, interviews and records should not be used as the sole bases for questioning an individual's ability. The fewer technically-experienced personnel a quality verification organization has, the more closely the NRC inspector should assess the licensee's verifications to determine its ability to detect operational and technical quality flaws. For members of the licensee's quality verification organization to function effectively in areas other than their own areas of expertise, it is essential that they be accompanied by individuals who have the necessary technical or operational background to find the obvious as well as the not so obvious quality conditions requiring corrective action.
Organizations perform various types of quality verifications.
Audits are one of the most obvious. The inspector should be aware of the various types of verifications and their relation to other parts of the quality verification program. The licensee's quality verifications should be in depth, not superficial, and should emphasize technical achievement more than programmatic conformance. Time spent on a verification by licensee personnel, when compared to the complexity of the subject matter being verified, should provide insight into the depth of the verification and its importance to the licensee. The NRC inspector should determine the level of the verification's detail.