NEA Monthly News Bulletin - March 2011

Nuclear safety and regulation

Discussing the New Entrants Programme with Indonesian and Vietnamese regulators
In February 2011, NEA staff met with the Indonesian Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (BAPETEN) and the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (VARANS) to discuss the possibility of their participation in select NEA safety activities that could help develop their regulatory infrastructures to support the addition of nuclear power. BAPETEN has dedicated 100 of its 455 staff to nuclear power plant licensing, construction and operation. While Indonesia has decided to add nuclear power to its energy mix, the utility that will license and construct the first nuclear power plant has yet to be identified. VARANS plans to increase its staff from 90 to 280 by 2014 to support the addition of nuclear power in Vietnam. Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) is currently completing its evaluation of the Phouc Dinh site that will host two VVER-1000 reactors. BAPETEN and VARANS have expressed interest in participating in select NEA safety activities as they work with other regulators and the IAEA to establish their respective regulatory frameworks.

Safety of research reactors
The NEA hosted the first meeting of the Safety of Research Reactors Task Group (SORRTG) on 7-9 February in Paris. Participants from six NEA member countries, two observer countries and the IAEA discussed the current state of national and international policy and guidance for research reactors as well as best practices and lessons learnt from participating countries in implementing these policies. The NEA Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) agreed to establish the SORRTG in December in order to assess the current state of regulatory requirements, guidance and tools for ensuring the safety of research reactors with the aim of potentially identifying areas or topics that the CNRA could pursue. The next SORRTG meeting is planned for early May in Paris when the results of a questionnaire prepared by the task group will be discussed. The mandate of the SORRTG expires in December 2011 when the group will deliver a final report to the CNRA. For more information on CNRA activities, please click here.

Nuclear development

Public involvement in siting nuclear facilities
The NEA Nuclear Development Committee held a workshop on public involvement in siting nuclear facilities at OECD Headquarters in Paris on 15-16 February. The meeting brought together 55 people from 20 countries and 2 international organisations. The main themes of the workshop were the public consultation processes adopted by member countries and their experience in implementing them. These themes were explored through a series of presentations followed by round tables on topics such as waste facilities, nuclear power plants, research reactors and uranium mines. The meeting offered an opportunity to compare and contrast the approaches used in different types of facilities. In each case, the role of the various stakeholders, utilities, government organisations, regulators and community groups was discussed. The proceedings of the meeting will be issued shortly. Click here for more information on the NEA Nuclear Development Committee.

Nuclear law

The NEA launches International Nuclear Law Essentials
The ever-increasing demand for education in nuclear disciplines, including nuclear law, has encouraged the NEA to launch a new programme called International Nuclear Law Essentials (INLE). The objective of the INLE is to provide a one-week comprehensive, high-quality course in international nuclear law that is geared towards professionals with a busy schedule. The programme will be carried out under the leadership of Paul Bowden, an experienced and highly reputed lawyer with Freshfields, Bruckhaus and Deringer LLP, London. Lectures will be delivered by renowned specialists in nuclear law from international organisations, governments, the nuclear industry and by other experts in the nuclear field. The first session of the INLE will take place on 3-7 October 2011.  Click here to find out more about the INLE or write to inle@oecd-nea.org.

Nuclear science

Scientific issues of reactor systems
The NEA Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems (WPRS) held its 8th meeting on 4 February 2011. The WPRS Expert Groups on Reactor Fuel Performance (EGRFP), Radiation Transport and Shielding (EGRTS), Reactor Physics and Advanced Nuclear Systems (EGRPANS) and Uncertainty Analysis in Modelling (EGUAM) also met in Paris during the week prior to the WPRS meeting. This was the first time the expert groups had met following the restructuring of the Working Party in 2010. A key component of the new technical programmes for these groups is the development and application of Integral experiments databases for fuel performance (IFPE), radiation shielding (SINBAD) and international reactor physics (IRPhE). An extensive review has been initiated to look at current and future data requirements and to identify any changes needed to the structure, contents or review processes for these databases. The NEA has also initiated a study on the possible development of a search tool for the International Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments (IRPhE) Project which will allow users to search the database and identify experiments matching a set of user-defined characteristics and/or physics parameters.

Six new reports on scientific issues of the fuel cycle
The NEA Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle (WPFC) and its Expert Groups on Advanced Fuel Cycle Scenarios and Innovative Fuels met in Paris on 21-25 February 2011. The WPFC reviewed ongoing activities and approved the following six reports to be issued shortly: Global Nuclear Fuel Cycle Transition Scenarios; Phase-I of a Heavy Liquid Metal Cooled System Benchmark; a Comparative Study on Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Recycling of Transuranics in Fast Reactors; a Review of the Benefits and Impacts of Advanced Fuel Cycles with Partitioning and Transmutation; a Status Report on Innovative Structural Materials; and a Status Report on Innovative Fuels. The Expert Group on Advanced Fuel Cycle Scenarios discussed possible future activities including system code uncertainty propagation, inter-comparison of different burner reactors and a benchmark on new fuel cycle simulators. The Expert Group on Innovative Fuels proposed an international workshop on post-irradiation experiments (PIE) on innovative fuels.  More information on the WPFC.

23-FEB-11

CCC-0761

RSAC-7.2, Gamma doses, inhalation and ingestion doses, fission products inventory after fission products release
(Arrived)

23-FEB-11

CCC-0644

HOTSPOT 2.07.1, Field Evaluation of Radiation Release from Nuclear Accident
(Arrived)

10-FEB-11

NEA-1486

ICSBEP-2010, International Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiment Handbook
(Arrived)