OECD Nuclear Energy Agency Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA)
    Working Group on Inspection Practices (WGIP)


    13th International Nuclear Regulatory Inspection Workshop

    Experience from the Inspection Activities during the Transition from an Operating Reactor to a Defueled Status with a Commitment to Permanently Cease Power Operations, Inspection of Modifications and the Inspectors' Role in the Enforcement Process

    17-21 April 2016
    Bruges, Belgium

    Hosted by the Belgian regulatory body: Federal Agency for Nuclear Control and Bel V

    General information

    The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) Working Group on Inspection Practices (WGIP) sponsored the 13th International Workshop on Nuclear Regulatory Inspection Activities on Experience from Inspection Activities during the Transition from an Operating Reactor to a Defueled Status with a Commitment to Permanently Cease Power Operations, Inspection of Modifications and the Inspector's Role in the Enforcement Process. The workshop was hosted by the Belgian Regulatory Body: FANC and Bel V in Bruges, Belgium, 17-21 April 2016.

    Objective

    The main purpose of the workshop was to provide a forum for the exchange of information on regulatory inspection activities. Participants had the opportunity to meet with their counterparts from other countries and organisations to discuss current and future issues on the selected topics. They developed conclusions and commendable practices regarding these issues and identified methods to help improve their own inspection programmes.

    Background

    The CNRA believes that safety inspections are a major element in a regulatory authority's efforts to ensure the safe operation of nuclear facilities. Considering the importance of these issues, the Committee established a special working group to address inspection practices. The purpose of WGIP is to facilitate the exchange of information and experience related to regulatory safety inspections between CNRA member countries. This workshop, along with many other activities performed by WGIP, was directed towards this goal. The consensus from participants at previous workshops, noted that the value of meeting with people from other inspection organisations was the most important achievement.

    Topics

    The workshop addressed the following three main topics concerning experience from inspection activities:

    • inspection activities during the transition from an operating reactor to a defueled status with a commitment to permanently cease power operations;
    • inspection of modifications;
    • the inspectors' role in the enforcement process.

    Overview

    A brief overview of the concepts and issues for each of the topics was provided in the following paragraphs. Actual issues discussed during the workshop was generated by the organising committee members based on the responses submitted by participants with their registration forms. This helped to ensure that issues considered most important by the workshop participants were covered during the group discussions.

    Inspection activities during the transition from an operating reactor to a defueled status with a commitment to permanently cease power operations

    When the decision to permanently cease power operations is made, new safety issues may arise. Regulatory bodies (RBs) must be aware of these issues and be prepared to respond/address them through their inspection programmes. Areas such as organisation, human, technical and financial may require different inspection approaches.

    The purpose of the task was to identify commendable practices and share information about methods, procedures and criteria used to inspect a licensee transitioning from an operating reactor to a defueled status, with a commitment to permanently cease power operations.

    It should be recognised that the end point of this workshop topic was difficult to establish. However, for the purposes of the workshop topic, it was determined to limit the scope to the transition phase, which is defined as the time frame between the licensee's commitment (announced or unannounced) to permanently cease power operations and final defueling of the reactor vessel. This workshop topic excluded physical security.

    Inspection of modifications

    The purpose of the task was to identify commendable inspection practices regarding the licensees' control of modifications, with particular attention to temporary modifications and changes to systems, structures and components (SSCs) related to obsolescence, or operational experience. The focus on temporary modifications took into account earlier workshops that had already addressed permanent modifications and identified associated commendable practices. [International WGIP Workshop Helsinki, 23-25 May 1994, NEA/CNRA/R(94)4.]

    The task also considered the regulatory approach to the use of non-identical replacement parts. These types of changes are characterised by replacement of defective or obsolete equipment or components by items which appear identical in that they fit into the existing connections or components, they have the same shape, size, colour, etc., and they deliver the same role by functioning in a similar manner. However, they are typically not a replacement part sourced from the original equipment  manufacturer (OEM), and some internal parts, material specifications and other attributes could vary. The decision to regulate them as modifications or replacements could impact on the degree of licensee and regulatory scrutiny.

    The inspectors' role in the enforcement process

    One key function of the regulatory body (RB) is inspection for monitoring compliance with the regulatory requirements and the licence conditions, and to take enforcement action in the case of non-compliance. The WGIP already dealt with this topic in 2005 and published a report called "Regulatory Inspection Practices to bring about Compliance". A main result was that in most NEA countries, a series of graded enforcement options are available for the RB depending on laws, regulations and national culture: giving advice, oral and written cautions, letters, the requirement to make improvements, prohibition on activities, directly-imposed fines, direction to shut down, refusal to approve or permit an activity, license withdrawal and prosecution in courts.

    The topic of this workshop was focused on the inspectors' role in this enforcement process and identified associated commendable inspection practices in the discussions. This included the specific role of the inspector in evaluating the findings, their role in the enforcement process itself as a key issue of the discussions and their role in the follow-up of the licensee's response.

    Format

    The formal workshop sessions was divided into an opening session, discussion sessions, open discussion session and a closing session. Additionally, informal opportunities were made available throughout the workshop for participants to exchange information and communicate on other inspection topics.

    Plenary opening session

    This included presentations by invited speakers from both regulatory and other organisations. The lead WGIP facilitator for each topic introduced the main topics addressed during the workshop based on the responses received from the participants survey and WGIP discussions.

    Workshop discussion sessions (three half-day sessions)

    Participants were divided into smaller groups to discuss one of three workshop topics. A facilitator and recorder worked with each group to stimulate and encourage discussions. Each group remained the same throughout these sessions, although facilitators might have been rotated to enhance the exchanges of information. Each group was expected to develop a list of conclusions and commendable practices for the topics being discussed.

    • Participants indicated on the registration form, the preferred topic they would have liked to discuss during these sessions. Every attempt was made to assign participants to the appropriate discussion group. Again, past experience has shown that groups having the most diverse (e.g. participants from different countries) groupings, have been the most effective.
    • Participants were also requested to list one or two specific issues that they would have liked to have addressed during the workshop discussion sessions.

    As a result of previous workshops, most participants had commented that information provided in advance was very valuable to the discussions. Therefore, it was requested (and highly recommended) that participants supplied the following information:

    Open discussion session

    Prior to the closing session an open informal discussion (morning) session was held. Participants were given the opportunity to discuss and review all of the workshop topics in an informal setting.

    Plenary closing session

    One facilitator from each topic presented the conclusions and proposed commendable practices that were developed by their respective groups. A panel discussion including all facilitators and recorders for the topic answered questions from the audience.  Following the presentations, there was an open panel discussion on the results of the workshop.

    Participants

    It was expected that participation in the workshop would mainly be from regulatory organisations familiar with inspection programmes and activities. This included inspectors, inspection managers and inspection training officers. The intrinsic value of these workshops has been to people (i.e. the inspectors) who have faced these topics in practical situations on a day-to-day basis.

    Language

    All presentations, discussions, and meeting documents were in English.

    Workshop proceedings

    Proceedings from the workshop were published and included papers from the opening session, conclusions and recommendations from the discussion groups, summary of panel discussions and information papers submitted by participants to the workshop.

    Informal sessions

    In order for participants to communicate and exchange information on other topics of interest, informal sessions were arranged during lunch periods and following the daily sessions. Additionally, a meet and greet and a dinner was arranged by Bel V. The preliminary schedule was provided below and a detailed schedule and programme was transmitted to each participant in advance of the workshop.

    Preliminary schedule of workshop activities

    The following schedule had developed for the workshop. Participants should note that this schedule was preliminary in nature and had been subject to change based on the planning and arrangements prepared by Bel V. As noted in the table, Bel V hosted a meet and greet on Sunday evening, a workshop dinner on Wednesday evening and coffee breaks during the workshop.

    Day Time Event
    Sunday 17
    April
    15:00 Workshop pre-meeting for discussion group leads
    17:00 Pre-registration meet and greet
    Monday
    18 April
    08:15 Registration and coffee
    09:00

    Plenary opening session

    Welcome by the Belgian regulatory body: Jan Bens (FANC) and Benoît De Boeck (Bel V), general directors; Olivier Veyret, WGIP Chair and Ho Nieh, NEA
      Presentations of workshop topics by WGIP topic leads
    12:30 Lunch
    13:30 Workshop discussion sessions by topic
    17:00 End
      Free evening to visit Bruges
    Tuesday 19
    April

    Topics sessions: Parts 2 and 3

    09:00 Resume workshop discussion sessions
    12:30 Lunch
    13:30 Workshop discussion sessions
    17:00 End
     
      Free evening to visit Bruges
    Wednesday
    20 April
    09:00 Host country presentation and open discussion session
    12:30 Lunch
    13:30 Topic leads discuss conclusions with their team
    14:30 Plenary closing session: workshop discussion results
    17:00 Closing
     
      Closing workshop dinner
    Thursday
    21 April
    08:30 Meet for tour of the Central Organisation for Radioactive Waste (CORVA) in the Netherlands
    16:00 End (at the latest)

    Last reviewed: 22 April 2016