Working Group on Risk Assessment (WGRISK)
Ongoing

The Working Group on Risk Assessment (WGRISK) addresses NEA activities related to the use of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) and its methods to assess current and future nuclear power plants and other nuclear installations. The Working Group aims to enhance the use of PSA to improve the safety of nuclear installations, from their design and operation to their end-of-life cycle. In its early years as the Principal Working Group No. 5 on Risk Assessment, established in 1982, its focus concerned fundamental risk assessment methodologies, their application in the first PSAs, and the subsequent extension of the scope of PSAs to a broader scope of hazards, set of plant operational states, and risk metrics. Today’s WGRISK was created in 1999. With the increased adoption of risk-informed decision-making in safety management and nuclear safety regulation, its programme of work has grown to include topics related to the understanding of risk assessment methods and results by these users.

The objectives of WGRISK are to

  • maintain, assess, and advance the technical and scientific knowledge base of PSA methods, tools, data, and analysis practices;
  • strengthen the interfaces between PSA and the disciplines from which PSA draws; and
  • facilitate the use of risk assessment results in decision-making and in safety management programmes.

The Working Group reports to the CSNI, assists the Committee with its work, and provides answers to questions from the CSNI and the Committee for Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA). The WGRISK programme of work is carried out by small task groups (TGs), each constituted to perform a specific activity under the WGRISK’s supervision. Furthermore, the Working Group serves as a forum for exchange of information and experience related to risk assessment in NEA member countries. This exchange encompasses technical discussions regarding risk analysis approaches, results, insights, applications and interactions with other disciplines and analysis techniques, as well as the identification and prioritisation of important issues requiring additional research.

The WGRISK co-operates with and/or assists other CSNI Working Groups, the CNRA, and other NEA bodies on request. For the WGRISK programme of work, co-ordination with the following has been and continues to be particularly vital: the Working Group on the Analysis and Management of Accidents (WGAMA), the Working Group on Integrity and Ageing of Components and Structures (WGIAGE), the Working Group on Human and Organisational Factors (WGHOF), and the Working Group on External Events (WGEV). The WGIAGE and the WGEV focus on the characterisation of the respective hazards, while the WGRISK addresses the risk impact for the installation.

Like the CSNI and its other working groups, the WGRISK produces technical reports, proceedings of seminars or workshops, state-of-the-art reports, and technical or collective opinion papers.

Publications and reports
11
results
Contact and members' area

Chair: Vinh Dang (PSI, Switzerland)

Vice Chair: Marina Röwekamp (GRS, Germany)

Vice Chair: Bareith Attila (NUBIKI, Hungary)

NEA Secretariat: Yuji Kumagai

WGRISK members' area (password protected | reminder)