Our custom equipment design team paired with our AZCO subsidiary to fabricate, assemble and test a nuclear enclosure (glovebox). The initiative was part of a qualifications program by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to increase the number of NQA-1 qualified fabricators for containment systems. Our Federal Quality Assurance Program (FQAP) was utilized during this project to achieve full design and fabrication ASME NQA-1 compliance.

Our teams developed procedures for special fabrication and testing processes, including capacitive discharge stud welding, weld distortion minimization, base metal weld repair, shop travelers, cleaning, structural proof testing, and dimensional inspections. Our design team developed detailed shop fabrication drawings using the NNSA’s build-to-print drawings and defined the workflow for procurement, fabrication, inspection, assembly and testing steps. The AZCO shops procured new equipment and tools necessary for fabrication, inspection and testing during the fabrication process and for final acceptance testing. New facility spaces were created, including a storage area, a dedicated fabrication area, and an assembly and functional testing area.

Together, the teams fabricated a glovebox that required minimal rework and satisfied client requirements, allowing us to compete moving forward for design and fabrication for federal projects requiring NQA-1 quality assurance compliance.