Protecting People and the EnvironmentUNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
WASHINGTON D.C. 20555-0001
October 7, 1996
NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 96-40, SUPPLEMENT 1: DEFICIENCIES IN MATERIAL
DEDICATION AND
PROCUREMENT PRACTICES
AND IN AUDITS OF VENDORS
Addressees
All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power reactors.
Purpose
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this supplement to correct an
inspection date that was incorrectly reported in Attachment 1 to Information Notice (IN) 96-40
and to discuss further the applicability of the material dedication concerns identified in IN 96-
40 to the individual suppliers identified in Attachment 1 to that notice. It is expected that
recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as
appropriate, to avoid similar problems. However, suggestions contained in this information
notice supplement do not constitute NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or
written response is required.
Background
On July 25, 1996, the NRC issued IN 96-40 to alert addressees to deficiencies in
commercial-grade-item dedication practices used by manufacturers and suppliers of material
to NRC licensees under the rules of Appendix B to Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR). The information notice included a summary of NRC inspection
findings and a listing of the material manufacturers and suppliers inspected.
Discussion
1. Attachment 1 to IN 96-40 gave the NRC inspection date for Cardinal Industrial
Products, Las Vegas, Nevada, as November 29-December 1, 1995. The correct date
of this inspection is November 29-December 1, 1994.
2. The series of inspections described in IN 96-40 was specifically designed to assess
the current dedication practices for commercial-grade-items and ASME Code material
upgrading practices in the nuclear industry. The inspections also assessed the
licensee oversight of these practices. The inspections were initiated in early 1994 and
concluded by mid-1995, after the inspectors had determined that a sufficient cross-
section of material vendors had been inspected to draw reasonable
9610010230 . IN 96-40, Supp. 1
October 7, 1996
Page 2 of 2
conclusions about current material supply practices under the rules of the ASME Code
and under the quality assurance requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B.
3. There was no effort to compare or rank the vendors inspected during this series of
NRC inspections. The concerns identified on page 2 of the IN are a summary of
findings on all of the vendors inspected, and it should not be assumed that these
findings are applicable to each of the vendors inspected. The specific inspection
findings for each of the vendors are discussed in the respective inspection reports,
which are available in NRC's Public Document Room and have been published in
NUREG-0040, "Licensee Contractor and Vendor Inspection Status Report."
4. Although the NRC had inspected material suppliers before the start of this inspection
series, no attempt was made to include historical data in IN 96-40 since the main
purpose of the series was to characterize current industry practice. The earlier
inspections generally had a different or more narrow scope and did not cover the
same program areas. The exclusion of any suppliers inspected earlier from the
vendors listed in Attachment 1 to the IN should not be viewed as an indication that the
commercial-grade-item dedication practices of these suppliers were found to be
superior to those of the companies identified in the IN.
This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If you have any
questions about the information in this notice, please contact the technical contacts listed
below.
signed by B.K. Grimes
Thomas T. Martin, Director
Division of Reactor Program Management
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Technical Contacts: Uldis Potapovs, NRR
(301) 415-2959
E-mail: uxp@nrc.gov
Larry Campbell, NRR
(301) 415-2976
E-mail: llc@nrc.gov
