Nuclear Energy Agency Online Bulletin

December 2001

Covers new material for November 2001


The monthly bulletin only lists new and updated material. It is distributed by e-mail to registered users of the Nuclear Energy Agency's Online Services and is available online at www.oecd-nea.org/general/mnb/. The bulletin is sent monthly by e-mail to subscribers. It is best received in HTML if you have a mail reader that can display mail in HTML. If you are not already a subscriber, use the registration form to subscribe. An online archive of previous editions is available.

The December bulletin covers the following items:

New publications
Nuclear development
Nuclear safety
Radiation protection
Legal affairs
Data Bank


New publications

Nuclear Fuel Safety Criteria Technical Review
ISBN 92-64-19687-0. 68 pages.

Disponible également en français :
Examen des critères techniques de sûreté du combustible nucléaire
ISBN 92-64-29687-5. 76 pages.

Free publications are available at www.oecd-nea.org/pub/.

Policy Issues in Radiological Protection Decision Making
ISBN 92-64-18474-0. 28 pages (129 kb).

Disponible également en français :
La prise de décision en radioprotection : domaines d'action des pouvoirs publics
ISBN 92-64-28474-5. 32 pages (424 kb).

Reversibility and Retrievability in Geologic Disposal of Radioactive Waste
ISBN 92-64-18471-6. 52 pages (212 kb).

Version française a paraître.

The Role of Underground Laboratories in Nuclear Waste Disposal Programmes
ISBN 92-64-18472-4. 47 pages (281 kb).

Disponible également en français :
La gestion des déchets radioactifs : le rôle des laboratoires souterrains
ISBN 92-64-28472-9. 50 pages (363 kb).


Nuclear development

The NEA and the International Energy Agency (IEA) held a joint workshop on "Energy Policy and Externalities: The Life Cycle Analysis Approach" on 15-16 November 2001. Papers presented at the workshop covered the following areas: a methodology for assessing external cost (based upon the "ExternE" project); the issues related to external cost estimates and life cycle analysis (LCA) of coal, oil, gas, nuclear and renewable energy sources; and comparisons between the technologies used in electricity generation and transportation. A round table discussion examined the uses and relevance of life cycle analysis and external costs in policy making. More information on the workshop is available here.


Nuclear safety

A new edition of the "Status Report on Inspection Philosophy, Inspection Organisation and Inspection Practices" is now available. The report brings together information from 29 countries (19 NEA Member countries and 10 non-member countries). The report was first issued in 1995 and an update released in 1997. The full text of the new edition is available at www.oecd-nea.org/nsd/docs/2001/cnra-r2001-8.pdf.

Regular features


Radiation protection

Representatives from NEA standing technical committees and sub-groups on radiation protection, radioactive waste management, nuclear safety and nuclear development met with the chair of the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP), Professor Roger Clarke, during November. The ICRP is due to release in 2005 a new set of general recommendations on radiation protection. This meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the NEA and ICRP approaches to the modifying these recommendations.

During its November meeting, the Steering Group of the Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE) decided to prepare a report summarising the experience gained during the programme's first ten years of operation. The Steering Group also decided to form a new expert group to contribute to the development of new ICRP optimisation recommendations. This expert group will concentrate on gathering operational experience of managing occupational radiation exposure at levels "as low as reasonably achievable" (ALARA). Data entry and analysis software for ISOE databases on occupational exposure and ALARA practice were approved during the meeting. More information on the ISOE is available at www.oecd-nea.org/jointproj/isoe.html.


Legal affairs

The INEX Programme addresses Member Countries' concerns to promote means of ensuring effective co-ordination between the various bodies which have a role to play in the event of a nuclear accident, in order to ensure rapid and efficient management of such a situation. The programme consists of a series of exercises simulating nuclear accidents in which interested countries may participate. As part of the INEX 2000 International Nuclear Emergency Exercise, a nuclear emergency exercise took place on 22-23 May 2001 at the Gravelines nuclear power plant in the north of France, and was followed on 26-28 November 2001 by a workshop on the Indemnification of Damage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident. This was the first time that third party liability aspects had been incorporated into the exercise. More information on the workshop is available here.


Data Bank


Computer program services

A page listing all new programs in the last 12 months can be found at www.oecd-nea.org/tools/abstract/new.

New software packages available from the Data Bank:

20-NOV-2001 NEA-1517 SINBAD-REACTOR, Shielding Benchmark Experiments (Arrived)
20-NOV-2001 CCC-0658 VIM4.0, Stead-State 3-D Neutron Transport using ENDF/B or Multigroup Cross Sections (Arrived)
20-NOV-2001 CCC-0702 ORIGEN-ARP 1.00, Isotope Generation and Depletion Code System-Matrix Exponential Method with GUI and Graphics Capability
16-NOV-2001 NEA-1210 ZZ HATCHES-14, Database for Radio Chemical Modelling (Arrived)


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