Publications

The world’s nuclear power reactors are ageing, with the majority approaching the end of their planned
operational lifetimes in the coming years. The adequacy of funding for decommissioning and radioactive
waste management (RMW) thus increasingly commands the attention of decision-makers.
This report by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) combines a solid conceptual framework with the
insights from twelve case studies of NEA member countries to propose a new approach to the adequacy of
funding that is both robust and flexible.
Current funding systems in NEA countries are overall adequate. The challenges ahead however are
formidable: decommissioning and RWM are moving from design to implementation, returns on assets
are low and societal preferences can evolve. The very long-term nature of the solutions, in particular
for radioactive waste disposal, is also not easily compatible with the economic lifetimes of the original
liability holders.
This requires that all elements of the system – accrued funds, expected future returns, the lifetimes of
nuclear power plants, the expected costs of politically sustainable technical solutions and the liabilities
for residual risks – are reviewed and realigned at regular intervals. Complementing existing approaches
with such a circular approach will strengthen funding arrangements and ensure their adequacy for decades
to come.

Much has been learnt in the ten years since the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and the subsequent
accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, but significant challenges still remain.
This report presents the current situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the
responses by Japanese authorities and the international community since the accident. It will assist both
policymakers and the general public to understand the multi-dimensional issues stemming from the
accident. These include disaster recovery, compensation for damages, nuclear safety, nuclear regulation,
radiation protection, plant decommissioning, radioactive waste management, psycho-social issues in the
community and societal resilience.
Building on two previous reports released by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) in 2013 and 2016,
the report examines the plant’s future, that of the affected region and population, as well as outlining
areas for further improvement and how the international community can help.

It is essential that organisations in the nuclear community maintain a healthy safety culture to achieve
common goals regarding the safe operation of nuclear facilities and the safe use of nuclear material.
Regulatory bodies are no exception, as a key element of the interconnected system which includes
licensees, research institutions, technical support organisations, as well as governmental organisations
and other stakeholders. By their very nature, regulatory bodies deeply influence the safety culture and
the safety of the organisations they regulate and oversee. Based on their regulatory strategy, the way
they carry out their daily oversight work, the type of relationship they cultivate with licensees, the values
they convey and the importance they give to safety, regulatory bodies profoundly impact the licensees’
safety culture, their sense of responsibility for safety and, by extension, the safety of their installations.
Regulatory bodies apply a number of methods, practices and approaches to foster and sustain a healthy
safety culture. This report provides an overview and practical examples to build the regulatory bodies’
safety culture competence and to perform self-reflection and self-assessment with regard to their own
safety culture and its impact on the safety culture of the organisations they oversee. Drawing directly
from the experiences from OECD Nuclear Energy Agency member countries, the report discusses effective
methods to disseminate safety culture throughout the regulatory body, to build competence in safety
culture, and to develop self-reflection and self-assessment activities. Finally, the report presents ten
conclusions based on lessons learnt and best practices to inspire managers to continuously develop their
regulatory body’s safety culture.

Les Donnees sur l?energie nucleaire, compilation annuelle de statistiques et de rapports nationaux
preparee par l?Agence de l?OCDE pour l?energie nucleaire, presentent la situation de l?energie nucleaire
dans les pays membres de l?AEN et dans la zone de l?OCDE. Les informations communiquees par les
gouvernements comprennent des statistiques sur la production d?electricite totale et nucleaire, les
capacites et les besoins du cycle du combustible et, lorsqu?elles sont disponibles, des projections jusqu?en
2040. Les rapports nationaux proposent une synthese des politiques energetiques, de la situation des
programmes electronucleaires et des evolutions du cycle du combustible.
En 2020, la pandemie de COVID-19 a mis en avant l?importance de la securite de l?approvisionnement
en electricite dans nos societes modernes. S?il est difficile d?evaluer les consequences a long terme sur
la production d?electricite, on observe que, pendant la crise, l?energie nucleaire a continue de soutenir la
securite d?approvisionnement et demeure, avec les renouvelables, l?une des sources d?electricite les plus
resilientes. En 2019, les centrales nucleaires ont continue de fournir de grandes quantites d?electricite en
base faiblement carbonee, et ce dans un contexte de forte concurrence avec les combustibles fossiles
bon marche et les energies renouvelables. Les pays decides a inclure ou conserver le nucleaire dans leur
bouquet energetique ont poursuivi leurs projets de deploiement ou d?augmentation de leur puissance
nucleaire installee. Ainsi, des projets de construction progressent en Finlande, en Hongrie,
au RoyaumeUni, en Russie et en Turquie. De plus amples informations sur ces evolutions et
d?autres developpements sont fournies dans les nombreux tableaux, graphiques et rapports nationaux
que contient cet ouvrage. Cette publication contient des < StatLinks >. Fonctionnant comme un lien internet,
un StatLink fournit l?acces a la feuille de calcul correspondante.

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are gaining recognition among policymakers and industry players
as a promising nuclear technology. SMRs can be defined as nuclear reactors with a power output
between 10 MWe and 300 MWe that incorporate by design higher modularisation, standardisation and
factory-based construction levels enabling more predictable delivery models based on the economies
of series. Today, more than 50 concepts are under development covering a wide range of technology
approaches and maturity levels. The value proposition of the SMR technology also includes potential
financing and system integration benefits. These attractive features, however, rely on a business case
that requires the development of a global SMR market to become economically viable. Large-scale
deployment of SMRs faces several technical, economic, regulatory and supply chain challenges and
will need considerable governmental efforts and efficient international collaborative frameworks to be
realised in the next decade.

The decisions made about exposure to ionising radiation tend to be driven by subjective judgements about
the health risks that radiation exposure may cause. In order to reach decisions that are effective and
sustainable, it is essential for nuclear safety regulators, governments, nuclear facility operators and other
nuclear energy decision makers to communicate scientific, technical and regulatory information regarding
radiological and other risks to all stakeholders. Communicating such information can be complex since
people judge and evaluate risks differently depending on the context and on their perceptions of risk.
In this context, the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) organised the “Stakeholder Involvement Workshop
on Risk Communication: Towards a Shared Understanding of Radiological Risks” in September 2019.
The workshop provided an opportunity for participants to share perspectives and lessons learnt in risk
communication, identifying what has been effective and what has been less effective in the various cases.
By understanding how situation-specific factors influence risk communication, a common framework
addressing such circumstances can begin to emerge.
This report attempts to capture the collective wisdom generated over the three days of interactions in the
hope that the knowledge gained from this workshop will benefit governments and citizens alike.

A wealth of technical information exists on nuclear fuel cycle options – combinations of nuclear fuel
types, reactor types, used or spent nuclear fuel (SNF) treatments, and disposal schemes – and most
countries with active nuclear power programmes conduct some level of research and development
on advanced nuclear fuel cycles. However, perhaps because of the number of options that exist, it is
often difficult for policy makers to understand the nature and magnitude of the differences between
the various options.
This report explores the fuel cycle options and the differentiating characteristics of these options. It
also describes the driving factors for decisions related to both the development of the fuel cycle and
the characteristics resulting from implementing the option. It includes information on the current
status and future plans for power reactors, reprocessing facilities, disposal facilities, and the status of
research and development activities in several countries. It is designed for policy makers to understand
the differences among the fuel cycle options in a way that is concise, understandable, and based on
the existing technologies, while keeping technical discussions to a minimum.