Deadline for submission of abstracts        15 November 2024    

Notification of accepted contributions      20 December 2024

Deadline for attendance registration          31 January 2025      

Deadline for presentation submissions     14 March 2025

Workshop date                                               31 March – 2 April 2025

Uncertainties for probabilistic safety and risk assessments continue to be an important aspect of risk-informed decision-making. Treatment of uncertainties by PSA practitioners, researchers, and decision-makers (both utilities and regulators) may vary when considering novel aspects of risk analyses. The Working Group on Risk Assessment (WGRISK) of the NEA Committee on Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) has been tasked to assess how uncertainties of novel aspects of risk analyses are treated in risk-informed decision-making and to assess potential improvements in treatment where relative lack of operating experience exists.

With these goals, the WGRISK is organising an international workshop Treatment of Uncertainties for Novel Aspects of Risk Analyses to be hosted by the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) in Madrid, Spain, on 31 March - 2 April 2025.

The objective of the workshop is to provide a forum to discuss topics such as:

• ongoing activities (tools, research, or applications) related to the treatment of completeness, modelling, and parametric uncertainties in PSAs and risk-informed decision-making for novel aspects of risk analyses, including those related to new and advanced reactors;
• decision-making cases where the specific methods for treatment of uncertainties provided additional insights to a decision or the lack of methods posed challenges to decision-making;
• the practical challenges related to various aspects of uncertainties in decision-making for novel aspects of risk analyses, including those related to new and advanced reactors and potential means for addressing these challenges;
• experiences with the treatment of uncertainties in PSAs for novel aspects of nuclear power plant design and operation and the use of these results by decision-makers.

The scope of the risk and safety issues includes all scopes of nuclear power plant PSA, nuclear installations safety, the associated safety issues, and the diverse decisions made by stakeholders including licensees and regulatory bodies.

The workshop will consist of a combination of presentation sessions and panel/discussion sessions. To facilitate discussions, contributors will be asked to submit presentations prior to the workshop by 14 March 2025, if possible. Workshop papers from contributors are not expected.

Matthew Humberstone, USNRC, USA (Chair)

Enrique Melendez Ascensio, CSN, Spain (Co-Chair)

Marina Roewekamo, GRS, Germany (WGRISK Vice Chair)

Kwang-Il Ahn, KAERI, Republic of  Korea

Vinh Dang, PSI, Switzerland (WGRISK Chair)

Mehdi Reisi-Fard, USNRC, USA

Yuji Kumagai, OECD NEA, France

The organisers kindly invite specialists from operating organisations, regulatory authorities, vendors, design organisations, technical support organisations (TSOs), research institutes, practitioners, and consultants. The workshop is open to participants from the OECD and NEA member countries, strategic partners, and partner international organisations.

In-person workshop

The event will take place at the CSN, Madrid, Spain.

Call for contributions

Participants intending to present are asked to submit an abstract (300-500 words) 

Deadline: 15 November 2024. Checklist. Online Abstract Submission Form

Authors will be notified by 20 December 2024.

Participant registration

To support efficient planning, please register early.

Deadline: 31 January 2025. Checklist. Online Registration Form

If you require an invitation letter for a visa, you must register by 15 December 2024.

The workshop is free of charge for all participants.

Travel and accommodation are not provided and must be organised by the participants. 

Workshop language is English

All presentations and discussions will be in English.