The NEA Working Group on Reactor Oversight (WGRO) will organise its first international workshop on 11–15 November 2024 in Fukui, Japan. The First International Nuclear Reactor Oversight Workshop (INROW) will consist of two sessions:

• Session 1 (Days 1, 2, and 3) - open only to WGRO members and invited participants;
• Session 2 (Days 4 and 5) - open to participants from licensees, local governments and academia.

Reactor oversight provides a regulatory body (RB) the ability to verify that licensees, during all the phases of the performance of their activities, operate the facility safely, that their activities fully comply with all applicable regulations and that safety is given the highest priority. Reactor oversight also provides a basis for regulatory enforcement. In this framework, the main purpose of the workshop’s Session 1 is to provide a forum to participating countries to exchange technical information on regulatory oversight activities. Participants will have the opportunity to meet with their counterparts from other countries and organisations to discuss current and future issues on the selected topics. They will develop conclusions and commendable practices regarding these issues and identify methods to help improve their respective oversight activities.

In addition, as part of the INROW, a focused study of Japan’s reactor oversight process (ROP) activities will be undertaken by international regulatory experts from the WGRO through a benchmarking inspection to observe formal interactions between onsite inspectors and licensee/operator staff and management. Key insights from the observations will be used to inform a workshop that will explore several areas such as inspector roles and responsibilities, organisational and cultural constraints that impede effective communication and feedback during the oversight activities through facilitated panel sessions and expert opinions.

The INROW Session 1 (Days 1-3) will consist of the following three topics* to be discussed among the WGRO members and invited participants. These topics were selected based on feedback from WGRO members and the CNRA.

1. Oversight framework regarding licensee’s cross-cutting issues
2. Inspection of licensee’s readiness for external events that could result in a station blackout
3. Innovative approaches to regulatory oversight

* For more information on each topic, please see the "INROW S1 Questionnaires”.

The INROW Session 2 (Days 4-5) will include the benchmark inspection and a workshop open to a wider audience.

• Benchmark inspection (Day 4) at Ooi Nuclear Power Station will be performed by international inspectors assigned by WGRO member countries, NRA’s inspectors and licensees’ site staff for the input to the case study of Japan’s ROP on Day 5.
• A workshop (Day 5) will be held with invited representatives from licensees, local governments and academia as well as the WGRO members.

• 11-13 November 2024: Session 1 - open to participants from regulatory bodies, research organisations, and technical support organisations (TSOs).
• 14 November 2024: The site visit to Monju - open to all the participants of the Session 1. The benchmark inspection on Day 4 will be performed by invited inspectors only.
• 15 November 2024: Session 2 - open to participants from licensees, local governments and academia as well as the Session 1 participants.
• 18 November 2024: The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station site visit - open to all WGRO members and other accepted participants.

All presentations, discussions and meeting documents will be in English.

Workshop venue

The workshop will be held at the Wakasa-wan Energy Research Center in Fukui, Japan.

Hotel reservation

The workshop registration fee does not include the accommodation. Participants are requested to make their own hotel reservations. If you have any food allergies or dietary restrictions, please inform the hotel.

Registration

Registration is required for all participants. To support effective planning, we kindly ask participants to register early, and no later than by 30 July 2024. Please register using the Registration form.

Please note that those who will attend only the Session 2 Day 5 of this event do not need to register here. Please directly contact to the NEA Secretariats (yuji.kumagai@oecd-nea.org and stephanie.ruiz@oecd-nea.org). The information will be separately distributed for those. 

Workshop fee and payment

The fee for the workshop is EUR 300 per person. Please make the payment when completing the Registration form. Please note that you can pay the fee separately after the registration, however, you are requested to complete the payment before 30 July 2024.

Other details

More information about the INROW is available in  the document "Announcement: First INROW".