NEA Annual Report 2011

The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is a semi-autonomous body within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), located in the Paris area in France. The objective of the Agency is to assist its member countries in maintaining and further developing, through international co-operation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 2011 was a pivotal year for the NEA and its member countries. The 11 March Tohoku earthquake and tsunami were at the origin of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, with the earthquake having resulted in the loss of offsite power and the tsunami in the loss of onsite emergency power necessary to keep the cooling systems functioning. While the accident itself was not responsible for any casualties, it has affected the lives of thousands of displaced Japanese citizens and caused considerable environmental damage in the surrounding area. At the NEA, monitoring of the accident began immediately as well as working with all members to fully ascertain the technical and regulatory lessons that could be learnt. In that context, on 7-8 June 2011, the NEA hosted in co-operation with the French Presidency of the G8, a ministerial seminar on nuclear safety and a regulatory forum to discuss insights and approaches. The insights gained during the forum have strongly influenced the work of the NEA and also provided valuable input to the IAEA ministerial conference and subsequent action plan. At present, the three NEA standing technical committees most involved in Fukushima follow-up work are the Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities, the Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health, and the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations. A number of activities are underway in the areas of nuclear regulation, nuclear safety and research, crisis communication, radiological protection, decontamination and recovery. Furthermore, third party liability aspects of the accident are being examined by the Nuclear Law Committee, and the accident's impact on the future of nuclear power is being investigated by the Nuclear Development Committee. In parallel, the NEA has devoted significant efforts to directly support the technical needs of the Japanese government, with this assistance primarily focusing on 1) the recovery of land and decontamination, 2) the development and implementation of national reviews and stress tests, and 3) enhancements to the regulatory infrastructure. Several NEA missions of experts from member countries have already been sent to Japan, and the Agency has actively participated in the organisation of, and discussions which took place at, various meetings and symposia. This annual report comments the activities of the Agency for the year 2011: 1 - Message from the Director-General; 2 - The Fukushima Daiichi Accident and NEA Follow-up; 3 - Nuclear Power in 2011; 4 - Technical Programmes: Nuclear Development and the Fuel Cycle, Nuclear Safety and Regulation, Radioactive Waste Management, Radiological Protection, Nuclear Science, Data Bank, Legal Affairs, Joint Projects and Other Co-operative Projects; 5 - Technical Secretariat: Generation IV International Forum (GIF), Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP); 6 - General Information: Information and Communications, Nuclear Energy and Civil Society, Organisational Structure of the NEA, NEA Publications and Brochures Produced in 2011