Use of procedures at U.S. nuclear powered electricity generating plants
After the Three Mile Island nuclear powered electricity generating plant incident in 1979,
the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) began emphasizing the use of
procedures and checklists (among many other measures) when carrying out both
corrective and preventive maintenance on safety related systems of reactor plants. In
addition, the nuclear industry‘s internal watchdog agency, the Institute for Nuclear Power
Operations, provides guidance and audits to ensure that procedures, among many other
initiatives, fully support the goal of preventing an incident like the one in 1979 or worse.6