VVER performance: the Russian experience

Comments are made on an earlier paper by other authors which was concerned with conditional support for the continued running of VVER-440s (type V-230). The framework of centralized structures within which the construction and operation of nuclear plants in the USSR was carried out is described and its contribution to plant reliability stressed. Attention is drawn to the Soviet organization of responsibility for project development in the nuclear industry and its contrasts with the Western system of operator, project designer/builder and regulating authority. In the Soviet system, in addition to a general project designer and chief reactor designer there was a project scientific leader. As well as providing scientific support for development work and coordinating scientific and technical strategies, the scientific leader was responsible for nuclear safety provision. This compensated for the lack of a national regulatory authority. Although the high prestige of the nuclear industry and its access to advanced technology contributed to the high operational reliability of the V-230s, project deficiencies such as over reliance on the inherent safety of the design and consequent weakening of safety systems could result. A final comment relates to the lower performance of the WER-1000s which relied on inadequate technology for the safety systems and lacked the customized design approach used for the WER-440s. (UK)