NEA Monthly News Bulletin - August-September 2013

New at the NEA

NEA to release new report on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is set to release an important new report on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. The report, which takes a comprehensive look at OECD/NEA activities in follow-up to the March 2011 accident, provides an overview of the efforts made by the NEA and its member countries to strengthen nuclear regulation, safety, research and radiological protection in the post-Fukushima context. It also highlights key messages and lessons learnt, notably as related to assurance of safety, shared responsibilities, human and organisational factors, defence-in-depth, stakeholder engagement, crisis communication and emergency preparedness. The report, entitled The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident: OECD/NEA Nuclear Safety Response and Lessons Learnt, will be released on Tuesday 10 September (available online as from 17:00 Paris time).



New publication

Summary of the Fourth International Nuclear Emergency Exercise (INEX-4)
NEA No. 7143, 48 pages.


New Deputy Director for Safety and Regulation

The NEA has appointed a new Deputy Director for Safety and Regulation. Mr. Kazuo Shimomura, a Japanese national, will provide strategic and technical guidance for NEA activities on nuclear safety and regulation, and will have global responsibility over the three principal NEA standing technical committees involved in Fukushima follow-up activities – the Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA), the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) and the Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health (CRPPH) – as well as the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC). Mr. Shimomura, who took up his duties on 26 August, has over 35 years of experience in the field at both the national and international levels. He most recently served as the Executive Advisor to the President of the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organisation (JNES). He has also been actively involved in the work of the Agency, having served as Deputy Director for Safety and Regulation at the NEA from 2000 to 2005 and as Vice-Chair of the NEA Steering Committee Bureau from April 2010 to August 2013.



Nuclear law

International School on Nuclear Law attracts global interest

The impact of international law in the field of nuclear energy is attracting growing interest as graduates and young professionals from across the globe meet in France to learn more about the legal framework and current major issues affecting the nuclear energy industry. From 26 August to 6 September, the two-week International School on Nuclear Law (ISNL) is offering participants from the academic, private and governmental sectors an in-depth look at nuclear energy from an international law perspective. The course focuses on areas such as nuclear safety, security, non-proliferation and liability. Organised by the NEA and the University of Montpellier 1 with support from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the ISNL has been holding courses for 13 years, and has attracted more than 600 participants worldwide from an increasingly diverse range of countries. About 60 participants from 30 NEA member and non-member countries are taking part in this year's programme.


Medical radioisotopes

Medical radioisotope concerns heard at high-level group meeting

On 9-10 July, the NEA High-Level Group on the Security of Supply of Medical Radioisotopes (HLG-MR) held its final meeting under the group's second mandate. During this mandate, the HLG-MR has focused on the implementation of the principles previously agreed by the group, including encouraging producers of medical radioisotopes to move to full-cost recovery, to introduce reserve capacity to cope with unexpected outages and to convert from high-enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium for reactor targets. The results of a self-assessment of the supply chain were discussed at the Paris meeting, and participants outlined the current status of a range of proposed new infrastructure. Issues of concern to the HLG-MR include government subsidies for existing and proposed new infrastructure, as well as the crucial 2015-2020 period during which security of supply could be challenged by the expected shutdown of production from the OSIRIS (France) and NRU (Canada) reactors. The HLG-MR recommended a third mandate for the group to ensure good co-ordination of supply and demand over this period.


Data Bank

NEA Data Bank newsletter

Training courses

Computer program services

New computer programs available

17-JUL-13

USCD1241

MCART, solve the time dependent neutron transport equation
(Arrived)

11-JUL-13

NEA-1859

MCUNED, MCNPX Extension for Using light Ion Evaluated Nuclear Data library
(Arrived)

11-JUL-13 CCC-0638

TART2012, 3D Coupled Neutron-Photon Combinatorial Geometry, Time Dependent, Monte Carlo Transport Code
(Arrived)

10-JUL-13 NEA-1864

GEF 2013/2.1, Code for Simulation of Nuclear Fission Process
(Arrived)


An online archive of previous editions is available here.

The monthly bulletin only lists new and updated material. It is distributed by email to registered users of the Nuclear Energy Agency's Online Services. Registration is free; please use this link.