THE ROLE OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT STANDARDS IN NUCLEAR SAFEGUARDS

Nuclear safeguards conclusions are largely based on conformity assessment elements where items, processes and systems are evaluated against pre-stated criteria. The conformity assessment elements used in nuclear safeguards are measurements, inspections and audits. This is valid for international safeguards (IAEA), regional safeguards (Euratom, ABACC...) or domestic safeguards (NRC, STUK....). The use of recognized international standards describing the requirements that entities implementing conformity assessment activities must fulfil has proven to be useful in boosting efficiency and trust in other industrial fields. These standards have proved that having the right people using the right methods and the right tools can produce reliable conformity assessment results when everything is managed under quality management principles. This paper describes how the nuclear safeguards community could benefit from the use of mutually recognized standards on conformity assessment to enhance efficiency by increasing transparency and trust.