Regulatory Endorsement Activities for ASME Nuclear Codes and Standards

The ASME Board on Nuclear Codes & Standards (BNCS) has formed a Task Group on Regulatory Endorsement (TG-RE) that is currently in discussions with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to look at suggestions and recommendations that can be used to help with the endorsement of new and revised ASME Nuclear Codes & Standards (NC&S). With the coming of new reactors in the USA in the very near future we need to look at both the regulations and all the ASME NC&S to determine where we need to make changes to support these new plants. At the same time it is important that we maintain our operating plants while addressing ageing management needs of our existing reactors. This is going to take new thinking, time, resources, and money. For all this to take place the regulations and requirements that we use must be clear concise and necessary for safety and to that end both the NRC and ASME are working together to make this happen. Because of the influence that the USA has in the world in dealing with these issues, this paper is written to inform the international nuclear engineering community about the issues and what actions are being addressed under this effort.