Nuclear & Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing worked example

Safety-Class Inspection Cost at 92% inspection coverage share: a worked example

What does the result look like when inspection coverage share reaches 92%? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. Use it when an inspection plan for safety-class parts is being priced and you need a defensible cost that reflects how much of the lot is inspected plus fixed program cost.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Safety-class components to inspect: 100 components (unchanged)
  • Cost per inspection: 45 $ / component (unchanged)
  • Inspection coverage share: 92 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 80)
  • Fixed inspection and qualification cost: 2,500 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Variable inspection cost = safety-class components to inspect × cost per inspection × inspection coverage share) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 6,640 $ for total inspection cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 66.4 $ / piece for inspection cost per component.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 4,140 $ for variable inspection cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 2,500 $ for fixed inspection and qualification cost.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where inspection coverage share sits at 80% and the headline result is 6,100 $, this scenario comes in 8.85% above the baseline at 6,640 $.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when inspection coverage share is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. It uses one blended cost per inspection; jobs mixing cheap visual checks with expensive radiography need separate runs or the blended figure misleads.

Results at a glance

  • Total inspection cost: 6,640 $ (headline result)
  • Inspection cost per component: 66.4 $ / piece
  • Variable inspection cost: 4,140 $
  • Fixed inspection and qualification cost: 2,500 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Safety-Class Inspection Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.