Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: 74c49394-8dbf-46e7-b62a-b85de93b47d8
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Initial Test Programs for Water-Cooled Nuclear Power Plants + HISTORY - HISTORY 11/2012 – DG-1259 , Proposed Revision 4 11/2006 – DG-1166 , Proposed Revision 3 (Rev. 4)
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 1
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1229/ML12298A071.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-1.68
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
2. Prerequisites for Testing The construction or installation of SSCs should be essentially complete (to the degree that outstanding construction items could not be expected to affect the validity of test results). The designated construction-related inspections and tests also should be completed before preoperational tests begin. The overall test program should also include TS surveillance tests necessary to demonstrate proper operation of interlocks, set points, and other protective features, systems, and equipment. In addition, administrative controls should be established to ensure adequate retesting of systems or design features that are returned to construction custody, maintained, or modified during or after preoperational testing. 3. Scope, Conditions, and Length of Testing The testing of SSCs should include, to the extent practical, simulation of the effects of control system and equipment failures or malfunctions that could reasonably be expected to occur during the plant’s lifetime. The test program also should include testing to determine that the system and component interactions are in accordance with design. To the extent practical, the plant conditions during the tests should simulate the actual operating, abnormal operating occurrences and emergency conditions to which the SSCs may be subjected. To the extent practical, the duration of the tests should be sufficient to permit equipment to reach its normal equilibrium conditions (e.g., temperatures and pressures) and, thus, decrease the probability that failures, including “run-in” type failures, will occur during plant operation. “Run-in” type failures are early "infant mortality" or “burn-in” failures where SSCs exhibit high failure rates when first introduced or operated due to defects, design errors, and other early sources of potential failures such as handling and installation errors. The ITP can greatly reduce the possibility of SSCs failing early in plant operation by