Qualifying a commercial-grade item for safety-related service — deemed equivalent to a part designed and built under a 10CFR50, Appendix B quality program.
Commercial Grade Dedication (CGD) is the process by which a commercial-grade item (CGI) is designated for use as a basic component in a safety-related application. The acceptance process provides reasonable assurance that the item will perform its intended safety function — and, in that respect, is deemed equivalent to an item designed and manufactured under a 10CFR50, Appendix B quality assurance program.
That assurance is achieved by identifying the item's critical characteristics and verifying their acceptability through inspections, tests, or analyses — performed by the purchaser or a third-party dedicating entity.
Our engineers and quality personnel perform every aspect of CGD in accordance with 10CFR50 Appendix B, ASME NQA-1, and 10CFR21 — aligned with industry guidance such as EPRI NP-5652.
Perform a full engineering analysis of the item.
Determine the safety function the item must perform.
Identify the critical characteristics for acceptance and their criteria.
Select the appropriate acceptance method(s).
Produce a statistically valid sampling plan for each critical characteristic.
Perform NDE as required by the dedication plan.
Create a dedication plan for evaluating the critical characteristics.
Verify all critical characteristics for acceptance.
Prepare and issue the Certificate of Dedication.
A commercial grade dedication may be required in any of the following situations.
The item can't be sourced from a supplier operating under a 10CFR Part 21 / 10CFR50 Appendix B and/or ASME NQA-1 compliant Quality Assurance Program.
The item is readily available as a commercial product and can be dedicated to safety-related applications.
An equal or greater level of acceptability can be achieved by dedication versus procurement from a nuclear supplier — with significant cost and/or schedule savings.
Recovery from a classification change for an item previously purchased or manufactured as commercial material.
Dupill Group has served the nuclear industry for decades — with the experience and knowledge base to dedicate safety-related and Q parts. Tell us what you need qualified.