The Code Builders

This article elaborates the evolution of code and standards for nuclear power plants. In the 1950s, need was felt for a revised set of design and fabrication rules to facilitate the development of safe, economically competitive water-cooled reactors contained in pressure vessels. These rules were codified in the first edition of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section III, which was completed in 1963 and published in 1964. From the outset, both regulators and industry realized that the best way to develop many of the needed rules for the design, construction, and operation of nuclear facilities was the national standards consensus process. This process, followed by the American National Standards Institute and other recognized standards-issuing bodies such as ASME, brings together the expertise of individuals from government, industry, academia, and other stakeholders. In the years following the first publication of Section III, the coverage of the Code expanded to incorporate piping requirements, pressure-retaining components for pumps and valves, equipment and piping supports, reactor vessel internal structures, and other features of nuclear power plants.