Reviewing Welding Procedures—Checklists for Nuclear Power Systems

Abstract

To ensure effective control of the welding process, nuclear power architecture and engineering (AE) companies routinely undertake the review of procedure qualification records (PQRs) and welding procedure specifications (WPSs) for safety-related structures, systems, and components (SSCs), as qualified by manufacturers and construction contractors. Given the substantial quantity of PQRs and WPSs necessitating evaluation, along with the multitude of variables inherent in these documents, a set of review checklists has been devised. These checklists, developed from the perspective of AE companies' welding engineers, transform welding procedure qualification rules and requirements into intuitive descriptions, assessments of correctness, or numerical comparisons of scale. AE companies' welding engineers employ these review checklists to scrutinize PQRs and WPSs, facilitating a comprehensive, accurate, and efficient review process.