NEA Monthly News Bulletin - June 2010


New publications
OECD Nuclear Energy Agency

Free publications are available at this link.

Occupational Exposures at Nuclear Power Plants
ISBN: 978-92-64-99131-6. 132 pages (1.4 Mb).

Cost Estimation for Decommissioning
ISBN: 978-92-64-99133-0. 80 pages (1.1 Mb).

Self-sealing of Fractures in Argillaceous Formations in the Context of Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste
ISBN: 978-92-64-99095-1. 312 pages (31 Mb).


Research and Test Facilities Required in Nuclear Science and Technology (Japanese version)
原子力の科学技術で必要とされる試験研究施設

ISBN: 978-92-64-99125-5. 164 pages (2.6 Mb).

 

Nuclear safety and regulation


The NEA Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) Working Group on Inspection Practices (WGIP) held its 10th international workshop on inspection activities in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 16-19 May, attracting 60 participants from 21 countries. The workshop topics were: experience from inspecting safety culture, inspection of the licensee safety management system and effectiveness of regulator inspection processes. Feedback from the workshop demonstrated that participants were very satisfied with the level of international collaboration and discussion on these practical regulatory activities on ensuring nuclear safety. Further information on the WGIP.

The workshop entitled "Commendable Practices for the Safe, Long-term Operation of Nuclear Reactors - OECD/NEA Stress Corrosion Cracking and Cable Ageing Project (SCAP)" was held on 25-26 May in Tokyo, Japan. Some 200 participants from 16 countries attended the event which included 25 invited expert speakers from regulatory bodies, utilities, research institutions, academia and international organisations. The outcomes of the SCAP project resulting from technical interactions and the sharing of knowledge between June 2006 and June 2010 were presented by the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and cable ageing working group chairpersons. The final report on the project and the workshop proceedings will be published in due course. More information on the SCAP.


RWM publications and reports

 

Radioactive waste management


A workshop entitled "From Thermodynamics to the Safety Case" was jointly organised by the NEA Thermochemical Database (TDB) and Sorption projects on 17-19 May in Karlsruhe, Germany. It was attended by 75 delegates from 16 countries (including China), from academic institutions, technical support organisations, waste management organisations and regulatory bodies. The successful use and key challenges when applying thermodynamic models and underlying databases to problems of interest to the radioactive waste management community and the future directions of the two projects were discussed. Issues arising from the discussions included the need to identify remaining gaps in the thermochemical database and to consider options for dealing with them. Suggestions included developing a thematic document on saline systems as well as a document on temperature effects. Regarding the Sorption Project, it was suggested that a sorption database for uranium be developed. The management boards of both projects will consider the workshop outcomes later this year. The workshop proceedings will be issued.


 

Radiological protection


The NEA Working Party on Nuclear Emergency Management (WPNEM) met in Paris, France, on 4-5 May. The documents necessary for countries to participate in the International Nuclear Emergency Exercise INEX-4 were completed and approved, with each participating country organising its exercise in the period from September 2010 to March 2011. The WPNEM also approved the publication of a report summarising the experience from the 2006-2007 INEX-3 exercise and further agreed to create an expert group to study the implementation of new International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations in the area of nuclear emergency management. More on the WPNEM.

The NEA Expert Group on the Implications of ICRP Recommendations (EGIR) met on 6-7 May in Paris, France, to perform a detailed assessment of Revision 3.0 of the International Basic Safety Standards. The NEA is a co-sponsoring organisation of this International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standard, and has actively participated in its revision since this work began in January 2007. The comments and suggested changes proposed by the EGIR were forwarded for discussion at the 68th meeting of the CRPPH (see below), and for subsequent submission to the IAEA for consideration by the Basic Safety Standards (BSS) Secretariat. This particular assessment of the BSS was seen as extremely important in that it is the only "official" opportunity for national assessments of the draft text that will take place before the final draft is submitted to the IAEA Board of Governors for approval, probably in 2011. More on the EGIR.

The Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health (CRPPH) held its 68th meeting on 18-20 May in Paris, France, to discuss its accomplishments during the previous 12 months and to approve its plans for the coming year. The Committee approved an extensive programme of work, including two new workshops for late 2011 addressing the topics of effluent management and science and values. In addition, the Committee approved the publication of the INEX-3 summary report, a study of stakeholder involvement impact on emergency management organisations, a historical summary of CRPPH work on stakeholder involvement since the early 1990s, and an assessment of the philosophical and regulatory changes that have taken place in shifting from ICRP Publication 26 (1977) to 60 (1990), and subsequently from Publication 60 (1990) to 103 (2007). Finally, the Committee provisionally approved a strategic direction document to be used to guide work over the coming years, and approved its mandate for 2011 to 2016 which will be submitted to the NEA Steering Committee for approval in October 2010. More on the CRPPH.


 

Data Bank

NEA Data Bank newsletter

Computer program services

New computer programs available

03-JUN-2010 ESTS0219 TOUGH2, Unsaturated Ground Water and Heat Transfer
T2VOC, H2O, Air, VOC Flow Simulation in Porous Multidimensional Media
ITOUGH2, Inverse Modeling for TOUGH2 Multiphase Flow Simulators
TOUGHREACT, Chemically reactive non-isothermal flows of multiphase fluids in porous and fractured media
TMVOCV1.0, Multicomponent, multiphase, nonisothermal flows of water, soil gas, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs)
ECO2N, a TOUGH2 fluid property module for mixtures of water-NaCl-CO2

(Tested)
28-May-2010 NEA-1737 TALYS-1.2, computes nuclear reactions cross-sections, yields and spectra via a comprehensive set of nuclear models
(Tested)
28-May-2010 NEA-0549 STIGMA STIG STEGT STAGT STABA, Stress Analysis of Dragon HTR Graphite Structure
(Tested)
27-May-2010 NEA-1827 GANAPOL-ABNTT, Analytical Benchmarks for Nuclear Engineering Applications, Case Studies in Neutron Transport Theory
(Arrived)
19-May-2010 NEA-0914 REFIT, Multilevel Resonance Parameter Least Square Fit of Neutron Transmission, Capture, Fission & Self Indication Data
(Arrived)
04-May-2010 CSNI2007 STEX-II, International Steam Explosion Experimental Data Base
(Arrived)
   

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