Quality assurance activities by the companies in the Mitsubishi group for nuclear power plants in Japan

The paper summarizes the quality assurance (QA) activities of the Mitsubishi group regarding PWR plant construction. 1. To ensure a uniform approach to QA activities in the group, the Nuclear System Quality Assurance Administration Centre was established at the headquarters of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. This Centre is engaged in establishing and promoting comprehensive QA plans, in supervising the interface control between the companies concerned, and in auditing each company's QA programme. 2. In parallel with endeavours to complete QA systems, a great effort has been made to instill consciousness of QA in everyone concerned with the work. It is emphasized that quality control (QC) circle activities play an important role in maintaining a high level of quality. An innovative system of design computerization coupled with model engineering is now being developed to improve design reliability and to prevent human error. Reliability improvement and preventive maintenance systems using computers are being introduced with the object of performing systematic corrective actions based on analyses of plant operation. (author)