Delegation led by Commissioner Francisco Castejón attends the 75th edition in Gréoux-les-Bains, Francia

These biennial meetings review the progress and planning of the activities dependent on the Committee

A delegation from the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), headed by Commissioner Francisco Castejón accompanied by technical experts from the regulator, participated this week in the working sessions of the CSNI held in Gréoux-les-Bains, near Aix-en-Provence (France) and hosted by the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) of France. The Committee is part of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCDE).

This meeting reviewed the progress and planning of the activities that depend on the committee. Proposals from the working groups such as the fourth phase of the Component Operational Experience, Degradation and Ageing Programme (CODAP) or the progress of the Halden Human Technology Organisation (HTO) programme for the period 2021-2023 were also adopted. Likewise, the high-level roadmap for prioritising nuclear safety research needs and the opportunities for CSNI to contribute to nuclear safety skills and capacity-building were also discussed. Information about the activities of another major NEA committee, the CNRA (Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities) was also provided.

Participants commented on the recent activities of the Committee in coordination with other organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the European Commission (EC) or the report of the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) on recent research activities in nuclear safety.

Commissioner Castejón highlighted the work done in these forums to maintain coordination and high levels of demands in the member countries of the Committee. During the sessions, the proposals of the representatives of the working groups were discussed, and four reports and four new activities were finally adopted. In addition, two reports concerning a joint research project and the group on key data preservation for nuclear safety research were approved.

At the strategic level, the committee continues working on defining a roadmap on nuclear safety research, which will facilitate future prioritization of activities under the work programme of this important NEA standing committee.

Working Groups

The Working Group on Integrity and Ageing of Components and Structures (WGIAGE) presented a new activity proposal with the purpose of carrying out a workshop on seismic input motion development for analysis and design. The objective of the workshop is to share the current state of practices of the member states in relation to the development of seismic input motions, to be used by the community of seismic engineers. Furthermore it would also help to raise awareness of the need to use power spectral density data for the development of acceleration time histories for seismic design. It also would be helpful in order to analyze perspectives and recommendations on how to approach the integration of the results obtained from the response spectrum and those from the power spectral density, when selecting/generating the accelerograms. This project is of the utmost importance for the development of the CSN Complementary Technical Instruction on earthquakes.

The Working Group on Electrical Systems (WGELEC) presented a new activity proposal dedicated to the intercomparison and validation of models and design assumptions related to the impact of external power supply and distribution networks on the safety of nuclear installations. It aims to address, among other issues, the new challenges from the increasing contribution of renewable energy to the electric grid.

The Working Group on External Events (WGEV) presented the report entitled “Status and Perspectives – Advances in the analysis and management of external hazards”. The intention of the report is to identify best practices for characterizing external risks and combinations of them, assessing their consequences and providing effective protection designs, as well as strategies to improve the understanding and treatment of these risks. Thus, it contributes to the continued increase in the safety of nuclear installations, as well as to the improvement of regulatory practices.

The recently established Senior Expert Group on Preservation of Key Experimental Datasets (SEGPD) reported on the completion of its first report on the matter, aimed at issuing recommendations for the improved protection of datasets.

The Working Group on Fuel Cycle Safety (WGFCS) presented a report on Graded Approach for Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities. Proposals for new activities were also presented by the Working Group on Human and Organisational Factors (WGHOF) and the Expert Group on Small Modular Reactor safety (EGSMR).

The Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations

The mission of the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Facilities (CSNI) is to assist the NEA Member States in maintaining and developing the scientific and technical knowledge base necessary to assess the safety of nuclear power plants and fuel cycle facilities on an ongoing basis. The CSNI is made up of experienced scientists and engineers with responsibilities for nuclear safety and related research programs, as well as representatives of the regulatory authorities.

The CSN participates in the main committee and its dependent the working groups, which deal, among other matters, with the analysis and management of accidents, the integrity and aging of structures and components, risk assessment, human and organizational factors or the practical application of lessons learned from the Fukushima accident.

The Spanish regulator considers it important to maintain active participation in all of them, as their results are essential for the advancement of technical knowledge that will be incorporated into the regulation.