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:
regulatory guide. In proposing to reduce controls, two basic objectives should be kept in mind. These are that the GQA program should be sufficient to ensure the SSC's design integrity and ability to successfully perform its safety function and that the GQA program should include processes and documentation that support an effective corrective action program as discussed in Regulatory Position 3.3.2. Accordingly, in reducing or enhancing the QA program for any SSC, the licensee must describe how the proposed changes will achieve the objectives. Also, consideration should be given to issues such as CCF, as discussed in Regulatory Position 2.2. 1.176-14 It should be emphasized that a certain number of SSCs currently categorized as non-safety-related (i.e., that have not previously been subjected to an Appendix B QA program) may fall into the high safety-significant category based on application of the methods described in this regulatory guide. These non-safety SSCs become important because the categorization of safety-related SSCs as either high safety significant or low safety significant is derived either directly or indirectly from the licensee's PRA or from qualitative methods that consider the results of PRA when available. In particular, PRA takes credit systematically for non- safety-related SSCs as (1) providing support to, (2) alternatives to, and (3) back-ups for safety-related SSCs. Thus, the categorization of safety-related SSCs as low safety significant depends upon the proper operation and reliability attributed to non- safety-related SSCs as part of the safety-significance determination process. Licensees should evaluate whether augmented QA practices are warranted for "high safety- significant, non-safety-related" SSCs. The applica- tion of augmented controls provides reasonable confidence that the reliability assumed in the risk analysis, or the associated qualitative decisionmaking process, remains valid. Licensees may voluntarily select certain