Status of efforts for establishing maintenance standards for nuclear power facilities in Japan

In Japan, nuclear power plant facilities are designed, manufactured, installed, and tested before commercial operation in accordance with the codes of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Notification. The contents of the codes are almost equivalent to ASME Sec. 3 and related ASME Code Sections. The facilities are also maintained to meet the Japanese codes during the inservice period. In addition, inservice inspections are made in accordance with the industry standards published by the Japan Electric Association. These correspond to the rules of inservice inspection in ASME Sec. 11. This paper presents the background of the work for the Maintenance Standards in Japan, outlines the progress of the work, and describes the expected scope, items, and contents of the standards