Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: a5ee4c78-1135-4bb6-8d54-e974a3402f87
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: An Approach for Plant-Specific, Risk-Informed Decisionmaking: Graded Quality Assurance
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 1
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1221/ML12216A017.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-1.176
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
hanges could relate to (I) the need to consider all design input aspects as stated in Section 3.2 of ANSI N45.2.11, instead replacing this need with the need to prepare a documented checklist for only these items deemed necessary; (2) the need to consider, and document when deemed necessary, the 19 design review items delineated in Section 6.3.1 of ANSI N45.2. I1; and (3) the adoption of independent design verification provisions contained in section 6.1 of ANSI N45.2.1 I in lieu of the more restrictive position in previously withdrawn regulatory guides.- This would not obviate the need for inter-disciplinary design reviews. 3.3 Integrated Performance Monitoring Process The implementation of an integrated performance monitoring process is necessary to ensure that the observed reliability and availability of SSCs following implementation of GQA remains consistent with the engineering evaluation developed to support the categorization process. The elements of an effective performance monitoring process are generally discussed in Section 2.5 of Regulatory Guide 1. 174 (Ref. 3). As discussed in this regulatory guide, GQA programs do not follow in detail all the steps inherent in other risk-informed regulatory decisionmaking appli- cations as outlined in Regulatory Guide I. 174, because many of the SSCs of interest in GQA programs are not modeled in the PRAs, and it may not be possible to quantify the effects of changed QA programs on the modeled SSCs' performance. For these reasons, a larger portion of the decisionmaking is left to the discretion and judgment of licensee personnel who perform the integrated assessment function (typically an expert panel). In the GQA program, the "operational feedback" and "corrective action" portions of the program assume considerable importance, and their accept- ability must be pivotal in the determination of the overall program's acceptability and effectiveness. The licensee should develop criteria for monitoring the reliability and