The need for increasing the safety of nuclear power plants in Eastern Europe

The IAEO's project on assessing the safety of the WWER-440/230 reactors in Eastern Europe has drawn up a list of serious security defects specific to nuclear power plants and has categorized them according to their relevance to the question of reactor safety. The results of other studies, where available, were taken into account as well. These investigations must be supplemented by generic studies as well, for which status reports are to be compiled. In additional, futher individual analyses might prove to be necessary. The results of the WWER-project show that in principle there are ways to correct the deficits. These results form an important basis for assessing the concrete technical solutions in question. Plans for concrete technical solutions and a work schme must also take the intended period of operation into account and must be presented to national licencing authorities. In the future, the task of the IAEO as an international government institution will continue to consist in their serving as a consultant for governmental agencies and in seeing that the defects which have been ascertained are taken into account. Furthermore, in some areas direct assistance can be given to the operators. One of the IAEO's most important functions consists in their capacity to commission experts. The aim is to coordinate all assistance measures within the framework of the G-24 countries. Plans for initiating an international project on the assessment of the safety of RBMK reactors are being considered at present. (orig./HSCH)