Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI)
    Working Group on External Events (WGEV)

    Workshop on Severe Weather and Storm Surge

    18-20 November 2015
    Issy-les-Moulineaux, France

    Organisation and host

    The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) Working Group on External Events (WGEV) held an international workshop on Severe Weather and Storm Surge. The workshop was hosted by the Nuclear Energy Agency from 18-20 November 2015, in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. The workshop was planned for three days.

    Background

    The CSNI WGEV is composed of a forum of experts for the exchange of information and experience on external events in member countries, thereby promoting co-operation and maintenance of an effective and efficient network of experts.

    The main purposes of the WGEV and its products are to:

    • identify and prioritise current and emerging issues, or knowledge gaps requiring research related to external events;
    • identify those issues that appear most suitable to be addressed by WGEV in a co-ordinated way across the international community;
    • facilitate international convergence on safety issues related to external events, and where practical, seek to develop a shared understanding and common positions on important issues;
    • compare and, where possible, benchmark practices and methodologies currently applied by member countries in the assessment of safety-relevant external events;
    • facilitate specialist meetings, workshops and other means of fostering international collaboration with nuclear and other industries, where appropriate, to further its objectives.

    The main mission of the WGEV is to improve the understanding and treatment of external hazards that would support the continued safety performance of nuclear installations, and improve the effectiveness of regulatory practices in NEA member countries.

    At its 54th meeting, the CSNI approved the recommended task on severe weather events with a particular focus on high winds and flooding, pursued by the Task Group on Natural External Events (TGNEV), the predecessor of WGEV. It was expected that the first activity would be a survey of CSNI members to identify current regulatory practises, research activities and knowledge gaps for severe weather hazards. Then, following an initial assessment of the survey results, a workshop would be planned to involve relevant experts in identifying activities required to address the knowledge gaps. 

    In this context, WGEV organised an international workshop on Severe Weather and Storm Surge in November 2015. Workshop proceedings and recommendations for follow-up activities would be the outputs.

    Objectives

    Working under the mandate of the CSNI, the objectives of the WGEV are to improve the understanding and treatment of external hazards that would support the continued safety performance of nuclear installations, and to improve the effectiveness of regulatory practices in NEA member countries.

    The objective of the workshop was to review and discuss current national regulatory approaches for the assessment of severe weather events and protection and technical methods for assessing risk and effectiveness of preventative measures.

    Information obtained as a result of this workshop helped to provide understanding of key regulatory issues related to the characterisation and assessment of severe weather events and the determination of activities to address knowledge gaps.

    Format and outline

    The workshop included an opening session, three technical sessions devoted to presentations by participants on the topics drawn below and a closing session. The closing session summarised the discussions and developed conclusions and recommendations for possible further CSNI action.

    The workshop focused on the following technical areas:

    • regulatory objectives and approaches to accomplish objectives;
    • severe weather assessment and societal impact (protecting people and infrastructure);
    • informing the nuclear regulatory process through gap analysis.

    All participants were expected to take part in the discussion and in the formulation of conclusions in the closing session.

    Logistics and participation

    Participants

    As is customary with NEA workshops, participation was open to experts from regulatory authorities and their technical support organisations, research organisations, operating organisations, industry associations and observers from NEA member countries. The maximum number of attendees allowed was 70.

    The meeting was also open to a small number of experts from partner countries.

    Language

    All presentations and discussions were in English, and good command of the English language was necessary to fully benefit from the workshop.

    Workshop proceedings

    In addition to the full technical papers, the workshop proceedings included the conclusions and recommendations based on the workshop presentations and discussions. 

    Location and accommodation

    The workshop was organised by NEA, and was held at the NEA in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. The NEA is located close to public transportation (metro, RER, and bus lines). More information can be found on www.oecd-nea.org/general/practical/.


    Last reviewed: 21 November 2015