International review of Kursk unit 1 in-depth safety analysis report

The paper presents the objectives, organisation, main findings and conclusions of the international review of the Kursk unit 1 safety analysis report (K1IRSR). The K1IRSR was administered by RISKAUDIT IRSN/GRS international and carried out by international experts from 7 western countries plus the Russian Federation, under the supervision of the safety review group (SRG) of the European bank for reconstruction and development (EBRD). The project was financed by the nuclear safety account (NSA) administered by the EBRD. The Russian experts worked under a contract with IBRAE financed by Rosenergoatom. The main conclusions were that the SAR followed a correct approach, broadly in line with Russian and international guidance documents, but needed improvement in structure and content. It established that the safety level of the unit has been increased significantly by the modernisation programme. The important deviations of the unit from current Russian regulations and the IAEA safety issues for RBMK are either fully resolved or are being addressed to the extent possible by compensatory measures to further reduce the risk. The K1IRSR experts have made a number of recommendations for improvement of the K1SAR. The authors agreed to take the recommendations into account in future revision of the K1SAR. (orig.)