Templates and records · UNE 73401

Commercial grade dedication of items for nuclear use

Many components that end up in a power plant are bought on the general market. Dedication is the process that shows a particular one is fit for its safety function.

In one sentence

The commercial grade dedication record identifies the component bought on the general market, the safety function it will perform, the critical characteristics that ensure that function, the acceptance methods applied —testing, inspection, evaluation of the manufacturer— and their result, because CSN guide GS-10.1 only allows commercial-quality equipment in safety functions if it is shown, through the relevant dedication processes, to have the required characteristics.

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Type of information: Mandatory record Acceptance of commercial-quality equipment under GS-10.1; procurement control criterion
Who fills it in: Engineering and quality assurance Engineering defines the function and critical characteristics; quality assurance oversees acceptance
When: Before the item is installed The dedication plan is defined when the decision to buy commercially is taken
How long it is kept: Lifetime or at least 5 years IS-24 requires licensees to keep as lifetime records, for the whole life of the facility or component, those meeting any of its criteria, and to keep non-permanent records for at least five years. Suppliers apply whatever the licensee’s purchase order specifies.

What the standard requires

What UNE 73401 demands and what it leaves to your judgement

GS-10.1 allows equipment from suppliers whose quality programme is far removed from UNE 73401 to be used when it is shown, through the corresponding dedication process, that it has the characteristics required beforehand and will perform its safety functions correctly.

The process starts from the item’s safety function, identifies the critical characteristics that must be checked to ensure that function and selects the acceptance methods: special tests and checks, source inspection, evaluation of the manufacturer or performance history.

The result is an item accepted for use in a safety application, backed by a record as robust as if it had been bought from a nuclear supplier.

Read it in context: Procurement and process control, in the UNE 73401 Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Item, manufacturer, part number and batch
Application and safety function it performs
Critical characteristics and acceptance criteria
Acceptance methods applied
Test and inspection results
Sampling and its justification
Conclusion: accepted or rejected for the application
Traceability to the installed item
Approval

Example

Example: commercial anchor bolts

Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.

Field	Content
Item	High-strength M16 bolts · commercial manufacturer · batch L-88412
Application	Anchoring of support SP-114, safety-related
Critical characteristics	Chemical composition, tensile strength, hardness and dimensions
Methods	Chemical analysis and tensile test at an accredited laboratory; hardness and dimensional checks at receipt
Sampling	3 bolts for destructive testing and 13 for hardness and dimensional checks, per dedication plan PD-07
Results	All values within specification
Conclusion	Batch accepted for the application · 4 March 2026
Traceability	Batch linked to support SP-114 and its manufacturing order

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

The commercial manufacturer’s certificate is accepted as the only evidence.
Critical characteristics are not derived from the safety function.
Sampling with no statistical or technical justification.
The dedicated batch is mixed in the store with non-dedicated commercial stock.
Dedication is done after the item has been installed.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1Each dedicated item is linked to its installation process, with traceability from source to installation.
2Test and inspection results are recorded in the item’s file.
3Each item’s inspection status is documented, so it is not used before acceptance.
4The dedication plan is managed as a versioned record.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

What is a critical characteristic?

An identifiable, measurable property of the item which, once verified, gives reasonable confidence that it will perform its safety function. It is derived from the function, not from the commercial data sheet.

Is the manufacturer’s certificate enough?

As a starting point, yes; as the only evidence, no, unless the manufacturer has been evaluated. Dedication requires the critical characteristics to be checked by methods the purchaser controls.

Does the licensee or the supplier do it?

Either can, provided it has a quality assurance programme that covers dedication. A nuclear supplier usually dedicates the commercial components it builds into its items.

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Sources

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

Guía de Seguridad GS-10.1 (Rev. 2) — Guía básica de garantía de calidad para instalaciones nucleares (Basic quality assurance guide for nuclear facilities) Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear (Spanish Nuclear Safety Council) · February 1999
Guía de Seguridad GS-10.8 (Rev. 1) — Garantía de calidad para la gestión de elementos y servicios para instalaciones nucleares (Quality assurance for the management of items and services) Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear (Spanish Nuclear Safety Council) · January 2001
10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B — Quality Assurance Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants and Fuel Reprocessing Plants (an alternative accepted by GS-10.1) U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission · Current text