No abstract available

[en] There is an emerging need in the nuclear industry for regulatory bodies to process applications for licenses/permits in order to allow nuclear license applicants to prepare a nuclear site by undertaking early construction activities before the issuance of a construction permit by the regulatory organization or the selection of a specific facility design. This is proving to be a challenge as most regulators have no experience in dealing with this issue. Furthermore, there are no explicit IAEA guidelines addressing the issue. Some countries such as Canada, UK and USA have established local practices based on current projects they are engaged in. However, such practices are both country and project specific. This challenge presents increased opportunities for TSOs to participate in licensing activities for which regulatory bodies are not routinely structured to undertake. It also presents an opportunity for regulatory bodies to diversify their organizational structures in order to meet increasing industry demands and expectations. The aim of this paper is to disseminate information on the process currently being followed by the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) of South Africa to address the challenge highlighted above in a country and project specific context. The paper presents the operational model chosen by the NNR to address the issue, provides a summary of the project deliverables accomplished so far in order to formalize their acceptance and closure, highlights lessons learnt, outlines the strategic objectives for future deliverables. Major risks for mitigation are also outlined to ensure that subsequent phases of the project remain on track. The successful completion of the phases of the project completed so far, despite some challenges, serves as an important demonstration that similar projects can be planned and completed with products that have direct use by other regulatory bodies. (author)

No abstract available

[en] Deregulation of electricity markets is driving electricity prices downward as well in the U.S. as in Europe. As a consequence high burnup fuel will be demanded by utilities using either the storage or the reprocessing option. At a minimum, burnups consistent with the current political enrichment limit of 5 w/o will be required for both markets.Significant progress has been achieved in the past by Siemens in meeting the demands of utilities for increased fuel burnup. The technological challenges posed by the increased burnup are mainly related to the corrosion and hydrogen pickup of the clad, the high burnup properties of the fuel and the dimensional changes of the fuel assembly structure. Clad materials with increased corrosion resistance appropriate for high burnup have been developed. The high burnup behaviour of the fuel has been extensively investigated and the decrease of thermal conductivity with burnup, the rim effect of the pellet and the increase of fission gas release with burnup can be described, with good accuracy, in fuel rod computer codes. Advanced statistical design methods have been developed and introduced. Materials with increased corrosion resistance are also helpful controlling the dimensional changes of the fuel assembly structure. In summary, most of the questions about the fuel operational behaviour and reliability in the high burnup range have been solved - some of them are still in the process of verification - or the solutions are visible. This fact is largely acknowledged by regulators too. The main licensing challenges for high burnup fuel are currently seen for accident condition analyses, especially for RIA and LOCA. (author)

[en] The paper presents the experience of international cooperation in the field of nuclear safety within the bounds of OECD countries. Three main questions are discussed: Why is it in the interest of all countries to share their experience in nuclear safety; how can countries most profitably interact to achieve this objective; how do countries already cooperate in nuclear safety. The necessity of international cooperation on nuclear safety based more on international organizations and less on direct bi-lateral contacts is stressed

[en] The paper reviews the current situation of French regulations and procedures dealing with the safety of the main nuclear facilities and, more broadly, nuclear security. The author outlines the policy of the French administration, which requires that the licensee responsible for an installation has to demonstrate that all possible measures are taken to ensure a sufficient level of safety, from the early stages of the project to the end of the operation of the plant. Thus, the administration assesses on a case-by-case basis the safety of each installation before granting a nuclear licence. In addition, the administration lays down the overall safety requirements for specific categories of installations or components that determine the ultimate safety performance, but avoid, as far as possible, detailing the technical specifications to be applied in order to comply with these goals. This approach, which provides the designers and the licensees with sound codes and standards, has the advantage of a great flexibility without imparing nuclear safety. At the same time, the industry (both designers and operators) are encouraged to develop collections of detailed specifications that have been used in the design and construction of large installations. The author outlines the state of licensing progress for the main categories of installations in France. The development of the technical regulations is presented with emphasis on the importance of international co-operation within the nuclear community. The current situation, far from being static, is in constant evolution. The author concludes by reviewing the preliminary examination of the safety options of future projects. (author)

[en] CAREM is a CNEA (Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica) project. This project consists on the development, design and construction of a small nuclear power plant. First, a prototype of an electrical output of about 27 MW, CAREM 25, will be constructed in order to validate the innovation of CAREM concept and then developed to commercial version. After several years of development the CAREM Project reached such a maturity level that the Argentine government decided the construction of CAREM prototype. Several activities are ongoing with the purpose of obtaining the Construction License for CAREM Prototype. (author)

[en] CAREM is a CNEA (Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica) project. This project consists on the development, design and construction of a small nuclear power plant. First, a prototype of an electrical output of about 27 MW, CAREM 25, will be constructed in order to validate the innovation of CAREM concept and then developed to commercial version. After several years of development the CAREM Project reached such a maturity level that the Argentine government decided the construction of CAREM prototype. Several activities are ongoing with the purpose of obtaining the Construction License for CAREM Prototype. (author)

[en] Management System is a quite new managerial structure that deals with the organization as whole, integrating processes in the direction of the shared goals and objectives. Nuclear organizations have been able to adapt themselves to the new managerial and administrative trends and improvements driven by experience along the time. The role of the Regulatory Body has been well established, taking care about avoiding undue interference in the activities of the Operating Organizations. The organizational integration proposed by the Management System brings new risks about how to define the field of the Regulatory Body actions. (author)

[en] Through the amendment of the Reactor Regulation Law in 1999, following review of the JCO criticality accident, the Nuclear Safety Inspection System was established and the Safety Preservation Rules were refined in an attempt to further improve nuclear safety maintenance. According to the Safety Preservation Rules, the safety preservation activities at nuclear power plants must be built upon safety culture.Under such circumstance, the TEPCO issue was revealed in 2002. Triggered by this issue, NISA has been implementing a variety of improvements, one of which involves the establishment of a study group in 2003, to discuss on how to implement safety culture sufficiently and possible recommendations. Subjects such as the followings piled in the report will indicate leading keys in case it is going to realize such efforts: 'Foundation of safety culture is a quality management' and 'Realistic and scientific technique is necessary for the evaluation of safety culture'. In order to respond to these requests, JNES has been developing an Integrated System for Monitoring and Evaluation of Safety Culture, of which concept is structured by 3 elements: (1) 'System for safety (formal structure, method, and activity)', (2) 'Safety attitude and behavior of organizational members' and (3) 'Sharing of safety attitude and behavior of organizational members'. This paper delivers the background of the development, illustrates a representative early sign of declining plant performance extracted by a root cause analysis of human and organizational factors, and introduces the Integrated System examined and verified from various viewpoints. (author)