| Chair(s): |
Min-Kyu KIM, Korea (Rep. of) |
Secretary: |
Taehee KIM (taehee.kim@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: | 30 June 2013 | ||
| End of mandate: | 31 December 2026 |
Mandate (Document reference):
Mandate (Document extract):
Extract from document NEA/SEN/SIN/WGEV(2023)2
Background
The Working Group on External Events (WGEV) was established by the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) in June 2014 with the aim to improve the understanding and treatment of external hazards that would support the continued safety performance of nuclear installations and improve the effectiveness of regulatory practices in NEA member countries.
Scope
The WGEV will focus on external hazards that are of sufficient common interest to allow sharing of approaches for analysis, oversight, and facility design and operation.
WGEV’s activities will focus on natural hazards and their combinations, while some aspects of natural hazards will be dealt by other bodies. Combinations of seismic hazards with other hazards (e.g. flooding) will be part of WGEV’s scope while determination of the response of structures and components to seismic hazards is performed by the Subgroup on Seismic Engineering of the Working Group on Integrity and Ageing of Components and Structures (WGIAGE). WGEV will be focusing on phenomenological aspects of external hazards, where the Working Group on Risk Assessment (WGRISK) interfaces with WGEV by performing work related to the assessment of the plant impacts from events including external hazards.
WGEV may also address external man-made hazards upon the decision of CSNI if a need for specific activities in this direction is identified: e.g. in the context of new applications of advanced nuclear technologies in collaboration with the Expert Group on Small Modular Reactors (EGSMR).
Objectives
The WGEV aims to improve the understanding and treatment of external hazards in order to support the continued safety performance of nuclear installations, and improve the effectiveness of regulatory practices in NEA member countries. The WGEV will address the safety aspects of existing power reactors and the emerging safety challenges required to enable safety design and operation of advanced nuclear technologies.
The WGEV will:
Working methods
The WGEV shall report to the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) and assist that Committee with its work. The WGEV programme of work will be approved by the CSNI. With prior approval of CSNI, the WGEV shall collaborate with, or respond to requests from, the CSNI Programme Review Group (PRG), the Committee for Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) and other Working Groups of the CSNI.
The WGEV will collaborate with, and support cross-cutting initiatives proposed by other NEA bodies (including WGIAGE and WGRISK). CSNI, CNRA, the Committee on Radiological Protection and Public Health (CRPPH), other NEA bodies, international organisations and stakeholders shall be consulted as appropriate when potential cross-cutting work on external hazards is proposed by WGEV.
The WGEV will be led by a Chair supported by a Bureau of up to six leading members.
The WGEV will facilitate specialist meetings, workshops and other international collaboration with nuclear and other industries, where appropriate, to further its objectives.
Membership
The WGEV is comprised of representatives identified as senior experts in nuclear safety, typically from nuclear regulatory authorities, technical support organisations (TSOs), industry or academia.
Delegates from non-member partner countries (participants or invitees) may also attend WGEV meetings (according to the Participation Plan of the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy).
Interactions
The WGEV will co-ordinate its work with relevant CSNI Working Groups and in particular with WGIAGE, WGRISK, WGELEC. Co-operation with other NEA bodies will be actively pursued, as appropriate.
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 WGEV will produce state-of-the-art reports and other technical reports, workshops and conferences with related reports and proceedings, benchmarking exercises and joint research proposals addressing external hazards issues related to safety of nuclear installations. One or more (internal) reports are usually issued for each of the activities. Final reports are issued as CSNI reports.
