NEA Mandates and Structures


Working Group on Reactor Oversight (WGRO)

Chair(s): Yves GUANNEL, France
Secretary:  Yuji KUMAGAI
(yuji.kumagai@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:01 January 2023
End of mandate:31 December 2025

Mandate (Document reference):

  • Participant Status of India in the CNRA and its subsidiary bodies: 2018 Update of the NEA Participation Plan [NEA/NE(2018)8] and official letter received from India on 15 October 2018 confirming its acceptance of Participant Status in the CNRA and its subsidiary bodies
  • Summary Record of the 41st CNRA meeting held on 3-4 June 2019 [NEA/SEN/NRA(2019)1]
  • Summary Record of the 42nd CNRA meeting held on 2-3 December 2019 [NEA/SEN/NRA(2019)2]
  • Summary Record of the 43rd CNRA meeting held on 2-3 June 2020 [NEA/SEN/NRA(2020)1]
  • Summary Record of the 44th CNRA meeting held on 30 November – 1 December 2020 [NEA/SEN/NRA(2020)2]
  • Summary Record of the 47th CNRA meeting held on 2-3 June 2022 [NEA/SEN/NRA(2022)1]
  • Mandate of the Working Group on Reactor Oversight (WGRO) [NEA/SEN/NRA(2022)6]

Mandate (Document extract):

Extract of document NEA/SEN/NRA(2022)6

Background

The oversight of nuclear power plants (NPPs) is an important function for a nuclear safety regulator as it provides a valuable source of information for independently verifying the safety and reliability of NPPs. In this context, “oversight” refers to the strategic process by which regulators collect information about NPP performance; analyse the safety significance of that information; and respond accordingly.  The types of information available to the regulator will vary from country-to-country, but typical examples include inspection results, operating experience, and quantitative indicators of plant performance (e.g., number of un-planned SCRAMs in a given period of time).  It is the function of the regulator to evaluate this information in a holistic manner so as to ensure informed regulatory decisions.

Amongst all aspects of reactor oversight, inspection shall receive special attention due to its importance to regulators and because experience has shown that the exchange of commendable practices is particularly valuable in this area.  In this context, “inspection” means an examination, observation, measurement or test to assess structures, systems, components, materials, operational activities, processes, procedures, and personnel and organisational competence, while a “commendable practice” is a practice that, if adopted by a regulatory body, could improve effectiveness and/or efficiency. Commendable practices are not international standards or guidelines and their adoption is at the discretion of each regulatory body. 

An additional important area of focus is the evaluation of operating experience to identify global trends, lessons learned and to develop specific recommendations for regulators in the short to medium term.  Examples of these recommendations may include proposals for re-assessment of safety, additional research, new or revised regulatory inspection practices, improvements in managing operations and other actions to maintain and improve safety in the long term.

Mandate

The mandate of the Working Group on Reactor Oversight (WGRO) is to provide a mechanism for nuclear safety regulators and Technical Support Organizations (TSOs) to share their knowledge and experience on both the human and technical aspects of reactor oversight. 

The WGRO seeks to facilitate an active and timely exchange of commendable practices, as well as lessons learned to help regulators perform their function more effectively and efficiently. 

The WGRO and any subsidiary bodies it creates should focus on reactor oversight and analyse operating experience in order to promote consistency of regulatory practices.

Scope

The WGRO will focus on identifying and sharing relevant good practices in reactor oversight that provide the necessary assurances of day-to-day safe operation on nuclear power plants, with special attention to inspection.

The WGRO will also serve as a forum to share information on safety-relevant events and assessment of those events by the regulatory body, with the aim to evaluate operating experience to identify global trends, lessons learned and to develop specific recommendations for regulators in the short to medium term.

The primary focus of the group will be on operating power reactors, but it will also include experiences from other phases of the reactor lifecycle as well. 

Objectives

The WGRO will collect and analyse information so that it can share:

  • best practices and methods to help regulatory bodies focus on areas of great safety significance; 
  • information from important-to-safety operational events and inspection findings from all phases of the nuclear power lifecycle e.g. from the International Reporting System for Operating Experience (IRS) and other databases;
  • methods, practices, and technologies to ensure that oversight is conducted in a manner that promotes new and established good practices;
  • methods to integrate information collected from all oversight activities in order to make decisions in a technically-sound manner;
  • information and experience related to inspection practices (e.g. planning, conducting, documenting) and programmes;
  • methods to evaluate and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of inspections including the use of innovative technologies;
  • methods to assess and/or rate the safety significance of inspection findings and results;
  • improved techniques and methods to collect and evaluate national and international operational experience and use this information to provide regulators with recommendations such as re-assessment of safety, additional research, new or revised regulatory inspection practices, improvements in managing operations, and other actions to maintain and improve safety in the long term.

Working methods

The WGRO will:

  • be led by a Bureau (consisting of a Chair and at least one Vice Chair) designated and acting according to  the OECD guidelines.   
  • constitute a forum of international experts from regulatory bodies and technical support organisations;
  • charter and oversee the work of targeted, limited term subsidiary bodies (e.g., green booklet task groups, information exchange forums, expert groups) to conduct analyses and develop reports on subjects of particular interest.  Given the long term importance of operating experience, it is expected that an Expert Group on Operating Experience will be created;
  • organise, on a regular basis, meetings, workshops, on-site activities (such as observed inspections), training activities and conferences;
  • provide a forum for subject matter experts in member countries to directly observe the planning and conduct of oversight activities (e.g., inspection) in other member countries; and
  • report to the CNRA and assist the Committee with its work. The WGRO programme of work will be approved by the CNRA.

Membership

The WGRO is comprised of senior international experts from regulatory bodies and TSOs. 

Interactions

The WGRO will closely co-ordinate with and exchange input with other NEA bodies, especially other CNRA working groups. It will work closely with the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) to deeply investigate specific technical or organizational issues that are identified during its analysis.

The WGRO will also co-ordinate as appropriate with other international organisations (e.g. IAEA, the European Commission), international non-governmental organisations (e.g. WANO), and the International Reporting System for Operating Experience (IRS).

Deliverables

The WGRO will produce guidance documents for nuclear safety regulators and other stakeholders interested in commercial nuclear power.  Examples include, but are not limited to, green booklets, proceedings of seminars and workshops, collections of commendable practices implemented by regulatory bodies, case studies, and summaries of operating experience.