ISO 9000 for the U.S. nuclear industry? Why not?

The growing popularity of the recently developed International Standard for Quality, ISO 9000, is challenging the traditional approach to ensuring quality in the nuclear industry and raising new questions as to whether this standard with its likely worldwide acceptance could become a successor to 10CFR50, Appendix B. The experience of a jointly owned British-American engineering consulting firm may be a harbinger of the future. Halcrow Gilbert Associates, Limited (HGA), was established in the fall of 1988 as a joint venture between two of the world's largest consulting engineering firms, Sir William Halcrow ampersand Partners, Ltd., of the United Kingdom and Gilbert/Commonwealth, Inc., of the United States. Although it initially concentrated on nonpower infrastructure markets, such as environmental, transportation, and alternative energy systems, it has broadened its focus to include the electric power industry over the past 2 yr and expects to play a major role in the U.K. market for this sector