Nuclear N Stamp

[msutherland]

We are looking into the possiblity of obtaining our N stamp and wanted to see if others could give me some feedback on a few items. We currently have our standard U, UM & R stamps, CE mark vessels and have our China manufacturing license. Our current Quality system is ISO 9001 compliant, not certified and I beleive this is close to being acceptable for Nuclear. Also I have read that designs need to be approved by a PE and that material suppliers require certain certifications. Is this correct?

Thanks for any feedback you can give.

 

[racookpe1978]

Bookmarked. More later.

 

[trottiey]

In a nutshell:
Basic QA requirements are in ASME NQA-1
Fabrication QA requirements are in Section III NCA-4000
Material supply QA requirements are Section III NCA-3800
Engineering qualifications are in Section III Appendix 23
We could write a whole textbook about it, but there is no substitute for reading the code.

Note that ISO 9001 is not even sufficient for a U-stamp. When ASME audited you, they would have compared your QA system to Section VIII Appendix 10. ISO 9001 if "not certified" means you have nothing except pretentious MBA's, and no, that's not remotely close to what you need for nuclear work.

 

[632451]

For Material, you shall know that have different ways for material qualification.
From the ASME opinion, any one who prepare well, you can get the N certificate.
Best Suggestion: you shall study your products first then you can make the decision what type nulcear ASME Certificate you will really need.

 

[QAFitz]

At some point in time you will weigh the option of getting a consultant to help. Do yourself a big favor and get a consultant that has NQA-1 Lead Auditors Qualifications. Expensive, but if you don't you may end up getting what you pay for and still not passing The ASME Audit. A meeting with your AIA expressing your desire to get an N Stamp may be an eye opener for you.
Trust me, I've been through QSC (Material) and NPT (Fabrication) ASME Certifications and, helped a few other obtain their N-Stamps. The experience can be comparable to root canal without Novocain unless you really do your homework. The ISO Program is nowhere near what you need.