NOMIS concludes US maintenance rule may not be necessary

Maintenance Team Inspections have been a major undertaking of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff over the past two years. They aim to determine the state of industry maintenance programmes as a whole, and as a possible precursor to a maintenance rule. The Nuclear Operations and Maintenance Information Service (NOMIS), operated by NUS Corporation, initiated a study in April 1990 to analyse the inspection results independently. This study included a detailed review of 40 maintenance team inspection reports. The study has four objectives: to provide a detailed look at the findings, including specific examples, using a computer database; to provide a broad base for the review; to provide the ability to answer specific questions raised by general concerns expressed by the NRC regarding maintenance practices and programmes; to provide a basis for determining if further maintenance regulation is necessary. It was concluded that effective maintenance across the industry could be achieved without new regulation. (author)