EU Clearinghouse on operating experience
Operating experience from more than 400 nuclear power reactors worldwide is an invaluable source of information. European nuclear safety authorities and the JRC set up a regional network to enhance cooperation in this area.
The network
The EU Clearinghouse currently gathers seventeen European safety authorities (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine) and four European technical support organisations (Belgium, France, Germany, Ukraine). The JRC is the operating agent of the network, ensuring the coordination and execution of various activities from its site at Petten (The Netherlands). The cooperation at European level facilitates the use of shared resources (experts, data) and the identification of common needs for technical work. As operating agent, the JRC represents the Clearinghouse at international organisations like the IAEA and the Nuclear Energy Agency, actively contributing to their activities.
Activities
The Clearinghouse conducts reviews of existing operating experience, delivers training on specialised topics related to nuclear operating experience feedback programs and helps European regulatory bodies to keep abreast of the latest events reported by reactor operators worldwide and to disseminate the events occurred in their own countries.
In-depth reviews of events related to specific safety topics selected by the network members are regularly published by the JRC. These reports contain the main lessons learned from the events and recommendations for regulatory bodies and for the operators on how to use these lessons to improve nuclear safety. Some of the topics recently covered have been nuclear fuel, emergency core cooling systems, external hazards, ageing, shutdown operations, safety-related valves or maintenance, among many others.
The JRC organises a yearly one-week training on root cause analysis event investigation. Internationally recognised experts discuss the existing methodologies to identify the underlying causes of past incidents and accidents, and lead the trainees on the application of these methods to practical case studies. Other training sessions cover similar topics, helping regulatory bodies to improve the skills of their staff.
The EU Clearinghouse performs also a systematic screening and assessment of publicly available worldwide operational event information and collects the results in a quarterly newsletter distributed to its members.
European Human Resources Observatory in the Nuclear Energy Sector (EHRO-N)
EHRO-N has been set-up, in order to monitor the situation of nuclear-educated human resources in Europe, assess the trends and suggest policy options for improvement, in support to DG Energy. As regards the long-term option of the nuclear contribution to Europe's low-carbon energy mix, next generation nuclear power plants are under development which will minimise the radioactive waste and use the uranium much more efficiently
Assisting the EC services
The Council Directive 2009/71/EURATOM establishing a Community framework for the nuclear safety of nuclear installations stipulates the application of international nuclear safety standards, principles regarding the independence of the regulatory authority, responsibility of the operator, ensuring sufficient financial and human resources and regular safety supervision. The JRC supports DG ENER and contributes to the implementation of the “Nuclear Safety Directive” through participation in the missions devoted to the integrated regulatory review services, and to topical periodic reports as required by the Directive. Moreover, the JRC delivers support to technical discussions occurring within the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG).
JRC provides independent and scientifically based support to DG INTPA under the European Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC). The activities focus on transferring EU experience and best practices in nuclear safety, radioactive waste management and safeguards to non- EU partners. The technical support provided by the JRC encompasses all stages of the projects life cycle including preparatory work and preparation of the Annual Action Programmes, tendering, follow-up of the on-going projects and assessment and dissemination of the results.
