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Nuclear

Nuclear outage ASME XI inspection record

2026-08-26 · Class 1, 2 & 3 pressure boundary components (ASME Section XI / NQA-1)

Measured outcome100% of Section XI outage examinations verified for examiner qualification and procedure alignment before closeout.

During a nuclear refueling outage, the in-service inspection (ISI) program must execute hundreds of volumetric, surface, and visual examinations (VT-1, VT-2, VT-3, UT, PT, MT) under ASME BPVC Section XI and 10 CFR 50 Appendix B quality assurance rules.

Tracking which welds were examined, whether the examiner held a current qualification for that specific technique, and how any deferred examination was justified under 10 CFR 50.55a previously required constant manual cross-checking across outage schedules and vendor folders.

Current state before intelliSPEC

  • Manual credential cross-checks: Verifying that every NDE examiner, calibration block, and procedure matched the Section XI examination category took hours of QA review per package.
  • Disconnected outage frontier: Outage management saw schedule percent-complete, while the ISI engineer held the actual examination findings and disposition status in a separate tracker.
  • Slow NRC and ANII package assembly: Compiling the Owner's Activity Report (Form OAR-1) and supporting NDE evidence after breaker-to-breaker completion dragged on for weeks.

Configured path

The station configured intelliVISION, intelliNDT, intelliCREW, intelliTRACK, intelliPROJECTS, and intelliCOMPLY.

  1. Weld and component register: Isometric welds, supports, and pressure-boundary components were indexed in by Section XI examination category and interval period.
  2. Examiner and instrument gating: enforced ASME Section XI Appendix VII /VIII and ISO 9712 examiner qualifications at assignment, while verified current calibration on every ultrasonic flaw detector, transducer, and gauge assigned to the job.
  3. Gated refueling execution: tracked daily outage exam completion and held startup readiness gates until all required VT-2 system leakage walks and Section XI dispositions were signed in .

Measured outcome

  • Zero disqualified examinations: Credential and calibration checks happened before the examiner walked into containment, eliminating rework from expired certs or overdue instruments.
  • Live Section XI interval accounting: Completed exams, flaw evaluations, and any 10 CFR 50.55a relief links remained bound to the weld identity for the ten-year ISI interval.
  • Fast OAR-1 preparation: Post-outage summary packages assembled directly from signed examination records.