Topical issues in nuclear safety: Proceedings of an international conference

In 1991, the IAEA organized an international conference entitled 'The Safety of Nuclear Power: Strategy for the Future'. Recommendations from that conference prompted actions in subsequent years to advance nuclear safety worldwide. One of those actions was the establishment of the Convention on Nuclear Safety, which entered into force in October 1996. In 1998, the Agency held a conference on 'Topical Issues in Nuclear, Radiation and Radioactive Waste Safety'. The nuclear safety issues discussed were: (i) safety management; (ii) regulatory strategies; and (iii) backfitting, upgrading and modernization of nuclear power plants. Senior nuclear safety decision makers at the technical policy level reviewed these issues and formulated recommendations for future actions by national and/or international organizations. On the safety management issue, recommendations were made to monitor safety performance by using indicators. Recommendations on the regulatory strategies issue indicated the need for further work on utilizing probabilistic safety assessment and on optimizing the prescriptive nature of regulations, as well as on the future availability of competent professionals. Substantial progress has been made, and continues to be made, by Member States in enhancing the safety of nuclear power plants. At the same time, the safety standards for research reactors are being updated and new standards are planned on the safety of other facilities in the nuclear fuel cycle. In the light of these developments, it was considered appropriate to convene another conference on the following current topical issues: Risk informed decision making, Influence of external factors on safety, Safety of fuel cycle facilities, Safety of research reactors, Safety performance indicators. The conference had the objective of fostering the exchange of information on these topical issues in order to consolidate an international consensus on these issues, on the priorities for future work and the on needs for strengthening international co-operation, including recommendations for future IAEA activities. The conference discussed the topical issues on the basis of topical issue papers prepared in advance by a group of experts in each of the areas. Each paper contained specific questions for discussion by the conference. The programme was supplemented by a panel discussion on maintaining competence and by presentations on safety culture, communication and other views on risk management. Although the topical issues focused on aspects related to nuclear power plants, fuel cycle facilities and research reactors, the recognition of many common issues between these facilities was considered an important element of the conference. The essential role of the management of safety and safety culture in ensuring the safety of nuclear installations was repeatedly highlighted as the most important common element, and the IAEA was encouraged to strengthen its activities in this area. The conclusions from the conference offer detailed recommendations on many of the issues discussed. They will be used in the formulation of future IAEA safety projects. Some interesting features that emerged were as follows: There was broad agreement that where the capability exists, risk informed decision making can be a significant enhancement to nuclear safety and the safety focus. With regard to external factors, it was revealed that in cases where the achievement of strong business performance was recognized to be a natural result of strong safety performance, market liberalization might enhance safety. For fuel cycle facilities the conference suggested that while the IAEA could provide safety services to Member States, the development of appropriate safety standards was a prerequisite to providing these services. Organizations responsible for research reactors should develop strategic plans on the future utilization of these reactors, which will help in making decisions on whether or not to terminate operations or decommission reactors in extended shutdown. While continuing to provide a range of courses, the IAEA should also place emphasis on helping countries to build their national infrastructure for sustainable education and training programmes. It was recognized that research reactors are being under-utilized, but they could become valuable resources for training and practical experience, especially if they were supporting regional centres for education and training. A three tier approach was considered for the development of a possible framework for safety indicators, first focusing on the needs of the nuclear facility, then on the regulatory bodies and later on the public. The IAEA should continue its work to ensure that definitions of safety performance indicators allow their effective use for nuclear power plants, research reactors and other nuclear fuel cycle facilities. These proceedings contain the topical issue papers, keynote papers, lead-in discussions, special presentations in the opening and final sessions, statements of the panel members and conclusions of the sessions, conclusions of the panel discussion, and the Chairman's closing report. A CD-ROM containing the contributed papers can be found in the back of this book