| Chair(s): |
Ari KOSKINEN, Finland |
Secretary: |
Keiko CHITOSE (keiko.chitose@oecd-nea.org) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Member(s): | All NEA member countries* | ||
| Russia (Suspended*) | |||
| *Russian Federation suspended pursuant to a decision of the OECD Council. | |||
| Full participant(s): |
European Commission Under the NEA Statute | ||
| Participant(s): |
India | ||
| Observer(s)(International Organisation): |
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) By agreement | ||
| Date of creation: | 31 December 1999 | ||
| End of mandate: | 31 December 2026 |
Mandate (Document reference):
Mandate (Document extract):
Extract from document NEA/SEN/SIN/IAGE(2023)1
Background
The Working Group on Integrity and Ageing of Components and Structures (WGIAGE) was created in 1999 in order to collect and analyse the logical basis for the maintenance of the integrity of components, systems and structures, and to propose general principles on the optimal ways of dealing with challenges to integrity, in particular those from ageing. Since its creation, three subgroups were established to gather experts to discuss the metal components and structures, concrete structures, and seismic engineering.
Scope
The WGIAGE advances the current understanding of those aspects relevant to ensuring the integrity of structures, systems and components (SSC) under design and beyond design basis loads, to provide guidance in choosing the optimal ways of dealing with respective challenges to operating, advanced, and innovative nuclear power plants including small modular reactors (SMRs) as well as other nuclear facilities, and to make use of an integrated approach to design, safety and plant life management.
Objectives
The WGIAGE strives to understand and evaluate the technical underpinnings that support national and international codes, standards, and regulations associated with structural integrity, material performance, and material degradation of safety significant SSCs. Such activities may investigate the technical basis of codes and standards, and assess the methods for quantifying associated margins.
Specifically, the WGIAGE will:
Working methods
The WGIAGE shall report to the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) and assist that Committee with its work. With prior approval of CSNI, the WGIAGE shall collaborate with or respond to requests from the CSNI Programme Review Group (PRG) and other Working Groups and other NEA bodies or other international organisations.
The WGIAGE will co-ordinate its work with other working groups, notably with the Working Group on External Events (WGEV) and the Working Group on Risk Assessment (WGRISK) on safety evaluation of seismic hazards, with the Working Group on Electrical Power Systems (WGELEC) on the long-term safety of electrical and Instrumentation and Control (I&C) components, and with the Working Group on Analysis and Management of Accidents (WGAMA) on interdisciplinary aspects of component integrity.
The WGIAGE will have three ad-hoc subgroups dealing with a) integrity and ageing of metal structures and components, b) integrity and ageing of concrete structures and c) seismic engineering.
Membership
The WGIAGE is composed of experts from NEA member countries in the area of integrity and ageing of the components and structures, who typically come from nuclear regulatory authorities, technical support organisations (TSOs), industry or academia. Members shall have expertise in ageing of metal components, concrete and seismic engineering. Delegates from non-member partner countries (participants or invitees) may also attend WGIAGE meetings (according to the Participation Plan of the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy).
Interactions
The WGIAGE will co-ordinate its work with relevant CSNI WGs and in particular with WGEV, WGRISK, WGELEC.: Co-operation with other NEA bodies will be actively pursued, as appropriate, e.g. with subsidiary bodies of the Nuclear Science Committee (NSC) working on material’s degradation issues (i.e. Expert Group on Structural Materials or EGSM and Working Party on Materials Science Issues in Nuclear Fuels and Structural Materials).
The NEA has established Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with a number of organizations, such as the CANDU Owners Group (COG), the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) and other international organisations, to promote international collaboration, particularly in the area of nuclear safety. Accordingly, representatives from these organizations can be invited to participate in the activities of CSNI working groups, consistent with the MOUs, to coordinate their work and to avoid unnecessary duplication.
The CSNI sponsors a number of joint safety research projects and expects that the CSNI working groups will promote technical exchanges with relevant projects, and provide technical support as appropriate.
Deliverables
The WGIAGE will produce state-of-the-art reports and other technical reports, workshops (WSs) and conferences with related reports and proceedings, benchmarking exercises and joint research proposals addressing integrity and ageing of components and structures. One or more (internal) reports are usually issued for each of the activities. Final reports are issued as CSNI reports. The activity derived from tentative and long-term task groups on integrity and ageing of components and structures are mostly published as technical reports, and benchmark activities, providing status and recommendations.
