Performance Requirements for Radiography Equipment

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending the regulations pertaining to performance requirements for radiography equipment. The amended provision permits a licensee to use an alternate value of torque for the performance testing criteria. The specified torque test for the drive cable that is currently in the regulations is not practical to meet, given the design of radiographic equipment. Further, the amendment allows for the use of engineering analysis to demonstrate that a modest change in an already approved design is acceptable without the need to perform prototype tests. The amendment is necessary to relieve licensees from compliance with an impractical and unnecessary test criterion.