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Nuclear Safety and Regulation
Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA)
The CNRA contributes to developing a consistent and effective regulatory response to current and
future challenges, addressing in particular operational experience feedback, inspection practices,
the regulation of new reactors and public engagement concerning safety in the use of nuclear energy.
Highlights
• The CNRA senior task group continued to co-ordinate NEA activities to implement lessons learnt
from the Fukushima Daiichi accident.
• Two workshops were held on the safety of new reactors (Atlanta, United States, October 2012)
and on inspection practices (Baden, Switzerland, May 2012).
• Crisis communication and transparency were important areas of focus for identifying key
programme elements for nuclear regulatory organisations.
• Emphasis continued to be placed on identifying and applying lessons learnt and commendable
practices in the areas of operating experience and inspection practices.
Regulatory impacts of the Fukushima
Daiichi accident
The task group of senior-level regulators that was
formed in March 2011 continued to provide a dedicated
forum for the timely and efficient exchange
of information on national activities and safety
reviews in response to the Fukushima Daiichi accident.
It also continued to identify areas of concern
for member countries that would benefit from an
international collaborative effort. Several activities
have been undertaken in this context (see page 6 for
further details).
Operating experience
The Working Group on Operating Experience
(WGOE) focuses its activities on follow-up actions
regarding national trends and lessons learnt
from national events submitted to the joint NEA/
IAEA International Incident Reporting System for
Operational Experience (IRS). The IRS is the only
international system providing regulators with information
about lessons learnt from safety-significant
events at nuclear power plants (NPPs). The group
completed a report on regulatory activities concerning
“Maintaining and Transferring Knowledge on
Operating Experience”.
Regulation of new reactors
The Working Group on the Regulation of New
Reactors (WGRNR) is reviewing regulatory activities
concerning siting, licensing and oversight of new
commercial NPPs. Given that sharing information
about the licensing process, construction experience
and inspection practices will be helpful to all countries,
a construction experience programme (ConEx)
has been developed. The ConEx objectives are to
identify deficiencies associated with NPP design and
construction, to assess the adequacy of, and to supplement
if necessary, regulatory activities to detect
and correct such events, and to disseminate information
to ensure appropriate regulatory attention is
given to lessons learnt from past events. A web-based
interface has been provided and member countries
have begun submitting information. The first
ConEx report assessing the construction experience
information from 2008 to 2011 was issued in 2012.
A report was completed on the regulation of site
selection and preparation aimed at reviewing the
various practices used by regulators. It is based on
a survey covering different aspects of the regulation
of nuclear sites. In 2012, the WGRNR initiated a
follow-up activity related to new plant siting including
changes or enhancements as a result of the
Fukushima Daiichi accident. A survey was prepared
covering such siting topics as: multi-unit sites, site
layout considerations, consideration of external hazards
and combinations of hazards, population density,
emergency preparedness integration activities
with siting, social acceptability, and assessments to
examine the nuclear power plant design parameters
and how they are affected by the site characteristics.
A study was undertaken on recent regulatory
experiences describing licensing structures, the
resources and skills needed to perform design
reviews, assessments and construction oversight,
the types of training needed for these activities
and the various licensing processes. Answers to the
survey were collected in 2012 and an assessment
of the responses to identify best practices in design
reviews is underway.
These three areas, licensing structure, siterelated
and construction activities, formed the basis
of a workshop held in October in Atlanta, United
States, and hosted by the US Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC). Participants also visited the
Vogtle construction site where the first NPP is being
constructed in the US after more than 30 years.
20 Technical Programmes