NEA Mandates and Structures


Working Group on the Safety of Advanced Reactors (WGSAR)

Chair(s): Amy CUBBAGE, United States
Secretary:  Marina DEMESHKO
(marina.demeshko@oecd-nea.org)
Vice-Chair(s): Olivier BAUDRAND, France
Member(s):All NEA member countries*
Russia (Suspended*)
*Russian Federation suspended pursuant to a decision of the OECD Council.
Full participant(s): European Commission
Under the NEA Statute
Participant(s): India
Observer(s)(International Organisation): International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
By agreement
Date of creation:04 June 2018
End of mandate:31 December 2022

Mandate (Document reference):

  • Summary Record of the 37th Meeting of the Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) held on 29-30 May 2017 [NEA/SEN/NRA(2017)3]
  • Summary Record of the 61st Meeting of the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) held on 1-2 June 2017 [NEA/SEN/SIN(2017)2]
  • Summary Record of the 38th Meeting of the CNRA held on 4-5 December 2017 [NEA/SEN/NRA(2017)5]
  • Summary Record of the 39th Meeting of the CNRA held on 4-5 June 2018 [NEA/SEN/NRA(2018)3]
  • Mandate of the Working Group on the Safety of Advanced Reactors (WGSAR) [NEA/SEN/NRA(2018)4]
  • Participant Status of India in the CNRA and its subsidiary bodies: 2018 Update of the NEA Participation Plan [NEA/NE(2018)8] and official letter received from India on 15 October 2018 confirming its acceptance of Participant Status in the CNRA and its subsidiary bodies

Mandate (Document extract):

Extract from document NEA/SEN/NRA(2018)4

[...]

Mandate

In this context, the mandate of the WGSAR is to exchange information and experience from licensing and oversight of past and current nuclear facilities. The WGSAR will plan its work to ensure improvements in nuclear safety through appropriate regulation for advanced reactors and associated installations.

The WGSAR will provide regulatory perspectives through the issuance of technical reports containing discussions of areas in which additional or revised regulatory framework and licensing approaches, including safety research, may be needed to facilitate effective regulation of advanced reactors and to develop common understanding and approaches.

As part of its activities, the WGSAR will take into consideration the GIF safety design criteria and the development of the GIF safety design guidelines. It will provide its feedback to GIF to establish effective and independent interactions with industry at early stages of advanced reactors development.

Objectives

To further this mandate, the WGSAR will identify and share:

  • information and experience related to regulatory framework and licensing approaches used or under consideration by those countries that are licensing, or may license advanced reactors;
  • gaps in the knowledge required for the assessment of the safety case for advanced reactors;
  • review of specific areas for resolving important regulatory needs, such as, for example, fuel testing and development, codes development and validation.

Working methods

In terms of working methods, the WGSAR will:

  • constitute a forum of regulatory body representatives to share information and experience on regulation of advanced reactors to facilitate a cooperative approach to identify key regulatory issues, promote a common resolution and document commendable practices;
  • report to the CNRA and assist this Committee with its work;
  • report regularly to the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) on identified for advanced reactors and a common approach for resolving the gaps
  • interact with the organisations performing research and design of advanced reactors, such as GIF, as appropriate;
  • organise, on a regular basis, meetings, workshops and conferences;
  • closely co-ordinate with, provide input to and consider inputs from other relevant NEA bodies, such as the Working Group on the Regulation of New Reactors (WGRNR), the Working Group on Accident Management and Analysis (WGAMA), the Working Group on Fuel Safety (WGFS), and the Nuclear Innovation 2050 project (NI2050);
  • co-ordinate with other international organisations (e.g. IAEA and EC) to facilitate exchange of information to ensure consistency of approach and to avoid duplication of work, in particular with the IAEA SMR Regulators’ Forum.