Slovenian Co-operation in the Regulatory Aspect in the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency

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1 International Conference Nuccl learr Enerrgy fforr New Eurrope 2009 Bled / Slovenia / September Slovenian Co-operation in the Regulatory Aspect in the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency ABSTRACT Nuša Majhenc, Andreja Peršič Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration Železna cesta 16, P.O.Box 5759 SI-1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia nusa.majhenc@gov.si, andreja.persic@gov.si In the sphere of international co-operation, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) certainly takes special place, due to its character. OECD/NEA has basic fields of action: scientific, technical, regulatory, legal, economic, and policy. Questions addressed in these fields are specific and targeted. Membership of Slovenia in the OECD/NEA is closely linked to the accession into the OECD organisation itself, since the NEA is only one of many parts of this vast organisation. In 1996, Slovenia applied for the OECD membership and became observer. And for the membership in OECD/NEA in 2001, but the NEA Secretariat never responded to the request. Benefit of the NEA membership, as seen by the regulator, is in its unique international forum for addressing specific technical and regulatory issues that have not been answered in other relevant circles like the IAEA and the EU. There are also benefits for research institutions engaging in NEA research. The paper will outline Slovenian experiences and benefits from the membership in OECD/NEA, as well as current level of participation and especially from added value of such engagement as seen by the regulatory body. I. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The foundation for establishment of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) in 1948 was the Marshall Plan and the Conference for European Economic Cooperation. On the first meeting, that took place there were 18 participant countries (later joined by Canada and United States). This body was led by executive committee and twenty technical expert committees for the main policy areas, ranging from agriculture, iron, to trade and work force. Soon after the organisation started to function, the Marshall Plan rapidly ended (1952) subsequently transforming OEEC for a short while into an agency that would assist North-Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). It was evident that military organisation cannot take over the wheel of economic development and it was soon decided to keep OEEC as an organisation dealing with European development questions. The OEEC was in 1960 renamed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), when Paris Convention was signed, with the main objectives to achieve highest possible sustainable development, expansion of world trade and sound economic expansion of member countries. As Admiral Lewis L. Strauss, then Chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission states at that time in his famous speech in which he said that it could be imagined that as a result of nuclear power electricity would be too cheap to meter [1]. In early 1956, the OEEC set up Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy (SCNE). The basic requirement was that this

2 Committee has to cooperate with the USA to set up new European Nuclear Energy Agency (ENEA) that officially started its work in In the beginning, it had 18 members. In 1972, the ENEA received its present designation as the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) [2]. In 2007 on the level of the Steering Committee, an agreement was achieved to invite new countries for a discussion for a membership in the OECD, namely: Chile, Estonia, Israel, Russian Federation, and Slovenia. II. OECD/NEA WITHIN OECD SYSTEM Today NEA consists of 28 OECD member states. New Zealand and Poland are members of the OECD, but not of the OECD/NEA. NEA member countries today account for approximately 85% of the world's installed nuclear capacity. NEA in the system of OECD exists as a semi-autonomous body. As presented in the Figure 1 NEA is one of the Special Bodies of the OECD. It is linked to the OECD financially, but operates independently. It means that the OECD member countries wishing to participate in the activities of the NEA must make a formal request to join the NEA framework in a separate request after becoming an OECD member. DIRECTORATES Secretary General Development and Cooperation Directorate Economics Department Directorate for Education Environment Directorate Executive Directorate Statistics Directorate Centre for Tax Policy and Administration Trade and Agriculture Directorate Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs Public Affairs and Communications Directorate Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry GENERAL SECRETARIAT Deputy Secretaries-General Office of the Secretary-General Advisory Unit on Multidisciplinary Issues Centre for Cooperation with Non- Members Council and Executive Committee Committee on Radiation Protection and Internal Audit SPECIAL BODIES Africa Partnership Forum Development Centre Nuclear Energy Agency Financial Action Task Force International Transport Forum International Energy Agency Heiligendamm Dialogue Process Support Unit Global Project»Measuring the Progress of Societies«Partnership for Democratic Governance Sahel and West Africa Figure 1: OECD Organisation chart and placing of OECD/NEA

3 III. CURRENT WORK AND STRUCTURE OF THE OECD/NEA Basic organisational structure of the OECD/NEA reflects main fields. Besides the NEA Secretariat that consists of 65 staff members from 19 countries and are mostly specialists from national administrations and research institutes under the limited contracts (five year average). The NEA annual budget is approximately 14 mio EUR [3]. There are seven basic technical areas NEA is engaged in and some cross-sectorial horizontal areas (e.g. stakeholder involvement, communication, etc.) [3]. Areas of engagement correspond to NEA Standing Technical Committee (STC) structure where designated national experts are involved, although some goals are dealt with by cooperation of more committees, sub-committees, and ad hoc expert working groups. Work of Committees is guided by the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy, which reports directly to the OECD Council. Besides the existing economic and scientific function, nuclear regulatory aspects take special place in the OECD/NEA structure. Broad scope of regulatory decision making issues are interwoven with the work of committees and working groups ranging from inspection practices, radiological protection, emergency preparedness, risk assessment to licensing and new reactors, as well as the overview of circumstances the regulatory body is facing or can potentially face in every day decision making. The OECD/NEA has established 19 basic types of decision issues faced by a regulator and all of these types are represented by the work of technical committees, working groups, ad-hoc working parties, and projects. The main objective of the NEA is to assist to the member countries in development of scientific, technological, regulatory, and legal bases needed for safe and economically feasible use of nuclear energy [2]. To reach these objectives the NEA closely cooperates with other relevant international organizations in the field, especially with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Union (EU). Representatives of these organisations participate at some of the NEA meetings of the Standing Technical Committee (STCs) or other working or expert groups. In this respect, it is also important to emphasize the crosswise linkages of the STCs and other working groups on opened issues at hand to achieve the best results of analyses and other outputs. Goals and objectives of the NEA are set out in its Strategic Plan. Every STC develops the Programme of Work in the respective area, monitors the progress of the projects undertaken, and approves the final report. Designated national experts in the STCs come from different parts of the nuclear field (regulators, research institutes, universities, industry). The STCs have the capacity to set up working parties and expert groups. The duration varies, five years for the STCs, three for the working parties and two for the expert groups. These structures provide for fora of in-depth exchanges on technical and programmatic information, experience, and identify areas where further work or research is needed. IV. SLOVENIAN INVOLVEMENT IN THE OECD/NEA Yugoslavia applied for the OECD observer status in 1961; however, this status was annulled with the dissolution. Instead, the OECD established in 1991 the Centre for Cooperation with the Economies in Transition and initiated programmes of cooperation with countries in transition. In 1996, Slovenia applied for the OECD membership and became observer. At that time, first cooperation with OECD/NEA began. Since than Slovenian cooperation in the OECD specialised body for nuclear energy is far more active and significant as it is in the other areas. Slovenia gained the official observer status in the OECD/NEA in 2001 and since than the SNSA is a national contact point coordinating the accession into the NEA as well as the payer of annual fee to the NEA budget. As such, the SNSA is managing the work of nominated representatives in all the NEA STCs and working groups, not only the ones where

4 the SNSA has its nominated representatives. The SNSA started participating in the work of the NEA early on and has developed a well-harmonized and concerted system of managing and incorporating the knowledge gained in the framework of the NEA into the national regulatory framework. Being so called nuclear country and contemplating on a new nuclear energy source, the presence of Slovenian representatives in the policy debates on international level, and even more importantly in the scientific research projects, is of vital importance. Slovenian representatives have been present at the meetings of the NEA STCs over the past ten years; however, the pith of the matter is not the presence but the activity. In the areas where the long-term stakes have been identified the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) has nominated representatives to follow the work of STCs and other bodies and contribute the debate with our own experiences, as seen in the following figure (Figure 2). The number of Slovenian representatives in the NEA bodies is growing. NEA STEERING COMMITTEE Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) prof.dr. Borut Mavko, JSI Working Group on Analysis and Management of Accidents (WGAMA) - dr. Artur Muelheisen, SNSA Nuclear Development Committee (NDC) doc.dr. Tomaž Žagar,GEN Climate Change (CCBR) dr. Jure Marn, UNIMB-FME and mag. Rudi Vončina, EIMV Working Group on Risk Assessment (WGRISK) - mag. Djordje Vojnovič, SNSA Steam Explosion Resolution for Nuclear Applications (SERENA) Project - dr. Matjaž Leskovar, JSI SESAR Thermal-hydraulics (SETH-2) Project dr. Ivo Kljenak, JSI Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) dr. Andrej Stritar, SNSA Working Group on Operating Experience (WGOE) dr. Artur Muelheisen Working Group on the Regulation of New Reactors (WGRNR) dr. Andreja Peršič Working Group on Inspection Practices (WGIP) mag. Aleš Janežič Radioactive Waste Management Committe (RWMC) Maksimiljan Pečnik, SNSA Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health (CRPPH) dr. Barbara Vokal-Nemec, SNSA Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE) dr. Helena Janžekovič, SNSA Nuclear Science Committee (NSC) doc.dr. Andrej Trkov, JSI Working Party on International Nuclear Data Evaluation Co-operation (WPEC) doc.dr. Andrej Trkov, JSI International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) prof.dr. Matjaž Ravnik, dr. Igor Lengar, dr. Luka Snoj, dr. Robert Jeraj, JSI Nuclear Law Committee (NLC) Aleš Škraban, SNSA Figure 2: Slovenian representatives in the NEA bodies

5 Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) is dealing with questions concerning development an effective regulatory framework capable of responding to new challenges in the field of safety of nuclear installation. For Slovenia, it presents a possibility in international field to actively participate and share its experience regarding identification of generic issues and trends, as well as problems of potential safety significance. Certain specific regulatory issues on efficiency and effectiveness of the regulatory processes are addressed only in the framework of NEA. For those reasons CNRA in past years established four specific working groups of which Slovenia is present in three of them (as seen in the Figure 2). Working Group on Operating Experience (WGOE) was established under the auspices of the CNRA, as a venue for the exchange of foreign operating experience, into further details as discussed in the framework of Incident Reporting System (IRS). The SNSA, as a regulatory body, has an interest in foreign operating experience. To achieve the highest level of effectiveness the SNSA is frequently using these analyses as a part of regularly decisionmaking. This group therefore represents not only information on foreign operating experience, but also analyses of them. As a membership in the Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP) is limited to certain countries, the Working Group on the Regulation of New Reactors (WGRNR) was conceived as a kind of sub-mdep group, under the CNRA mandate. Within the WGRNR discussions are held concerning procedures of licensing new nuclear facilities (especially new commercial nuclear power reactors Generation III+ and IV), preparation of administrative bodies for the new challenges as well as to create a basis for exchange of experience in new construction. Most important part of nuclear safety is definitely keeping the operating reactors at the highest possible safety level. In that respect frequent, unannounced, sectorial and (if needed) in-depth inspections are necessary. The Working Group on Inspection Practices (WGIP) is covering topics ranging from training and qualification of inspectors up to dealing with specific inspections and findings. All its findings are forwarded to the CNRA as that is the responsible STC for WGIP. Task of the group is also to identify commendable inspection practices that can be used to determine whether the operator is effectively implementing a corrective action process that identifies, follows, and corrects conditions adverse to quality. Activity in this group deeply incorporates the basic work done by regulatory body and exchange of information in this field is of utmost importance regarding not only technical aspects but also soft factors of nuclear safety like safety culture. The Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health (CRPPH) is a standing technical committee made up of regulators and radiation protection experts. Its basic function is to integrate radiation protection into risk governance policy. In terms of overall performance of the SNSA on the drafting of legislation on radiation protection as well as in terms of preparedness for emergency, active involvement in the CRPPH is important. Other part of CPRRH work is dedicated to stakeholder involvement in decision-making processes addressing human health and environmental risks, as well as interpretation and application difficulties with the current system of radiation protection. The Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE) as a special sub-group of the CRPPH was created by the NEA in early nineties in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to actively involve also countries, which are not members of the NEA. Slovenia is active in the ISOE since it deals with standards of safety essential for effective inspectoral work, including evaluation and analysis of the data assembled. The cooperation is essential for further optimisation of radiation protection. The activities of the Working Group on Analysis and Management of Accidents (WGAMA), responsible to the CSNI, have primarily focused on the issues regarding severe

6 accident management. The main reason for Slovenian accession into this group was based on the fact that Slovenia stopped to cooperate in the similar NRC Cooperative Severe Accident Research Program (CSARP). Since the SNSA s function is to propose safety measures in the case of an accident, it was crucial to avoid lack of international information flow regarding topics of severe accident management. The WGAMA works on very specific technical issues such as details of the reactor coolant system, in-vessel behaviour of degraded cores and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) [3]. Due to specific issues discussed, the group partially deals also with transfer of knowledge to young engineers and scientists. Advancement of understanding and utilisation of the Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) as a decision-making tool is one of the main goals of the CSNIs Working Group on Risk Assessment (WGRISK). With its sub-groups WGRISK s tasks are to form and assess use of PSAs in different environments (PSA for external events other than earthquakes, PSA data base for the state of shut down or low power, PSA for advanced reactors). Cost-benefit, Risk Aversion, Value Impact, and similar analysis, are ever more used as a support tool in a decision-making process. SNSA frequently resorts to decisions, where during safety assessments informal consideration of other influential factors is made. The Nuclear Law Committee (NLC) is committee dealing with variety of questions closely linked to nuclear energy, from environmental protection, legal implications of multilateral projects, and liability regimes to educational programme of nuclear law developed in cooperation with the IAEA in Montpellier. Full engagement of regulatory body in this committee allows having contact and access to all the current information, since some topics can also affect Slovenia, especially issues like ratification of Protocol amending the Paris Convention, where Slovenia ratified was given full powers to ratify the Protocol in the interest of the European Community (Council Decision 2007/727/EC). Some issues are closely linked to work of other committees (like Aarhus Convention, revision of ICRP recommendations, implications of revision of IAEA Basic Safety Standards, Brussels Supplementary Convention implementation on national level) and to development of Slovenian national legal framework. During the last few years, states with active nuclear programme began an active search for permanent solutions regarding radioactive waste disposal. The overriding idea is that geological disposal project addresses the technical means to construct facility, along with the framework to allow decision makers and public to evaluate the basis for various decisions [3]. Since Slovenia is moving ahead with near surface disposal it is vital to cooperate in the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC) and to hear about, discuss, analyse, and evaluate foreign experience and possible problems. The RWMC is group dealing with wide variety of issues not only the repositories itself, but also with safety regulation for geological disposal (discussed in RWMC Regulators Forum) and stakeholder involvement (RWMC Forum on Stakeholder Confidence), all being issues Slovenia is closely following. Work in working groups, especially ones related to regulatory activities (CNRA subgroups and working parties), presents important input for the regulatory work. It is based on theoretical discussions as well as practical examples and interconnectedness of all working groups. One of such examples is the issue the analysis of fire as a potential safety hazard in a commercial nuclear power plant as it can damage or destroy safety-significant structures. The SNSA representatives were present during information gathering as well as analyses in different OECD/NEA working groups. The first step was the report of WGRisk (Working Group on Risk Assessment) on the impact of smoke and heat on control systems and vital instruments in After that, WGOE (Working Group on Operating Experience) began the task of examining operating events databases to identify any potential fire related safety issues. This task was performed in association with the WGIP (Working Group on Inspection Practices) task of developing fire inspection programmes, by using inputs from the FIRE

7 Project. WGOE then performed an analysis of the IRS (Incident Reporting System) database to determine any potential trends. Opened issues were forwarded to other working groups like WGIP, WGHOF (Working Group on Human and Organisational Factors), WGRisk, and some NEA Projects. As a result, Collective Summary Report was issued this year. This is just one of the examples of work on technical issues in the framework of the OECD/NEA and of the participation of the SNSA representatives. Accessibility to such programmes and reports represents higher level of professional and expert knowledge during regulatory procedures in the SNSA. In almost a decade of participation in the OECD/NEA committees and working groups, the SNSA cherishes the information and expertise of the intergovernmental forum established in the NEA, since it represents the bulk of today s world nuclear development and expertise. By pooling this expertise, as described above in the case of the safety analysis of operating fire, the NEA provides each member country access to the substantial experience and knowledge of others and an opportunity to substantially leverage its resources in this field. Homogeneity of NEA membership makes possible a like-minded approach to problems, a climate of mutual trust and collaboration, the full exchange of experience, and a frank assessment of issues [2]. V. CONCLUSION With continued growth of world energy demand many countries face serious concerns about the security of energy supplies, rising energy prices and climate change stemming from fossil fuel consumption. Basic work of the NEA includes identifying common technical problems, improving databases for scientific, technical, regulatory, legal, economic, and policy analyses, increasing understanding of decisions in these fields and developing common approaches where appropriate. In one NEA scenario, existing nuclear power technologies could provide almost four times the current supply of nuclear-generated electricity by Under this scenario, 1400 reactors of the size commonly in use today would be in operation by But in order to accomplish such an expansion, securing political and societal support for the choice of nuclear energy is vital. An ongoing relationship between policy makers, the nuclear industry, and society to develop knowledge building and public involvement will become increasingly important, the publication notes. Moreover, governments have a clear responsibility to maintain continued effective safety regulation, advance efforts to develop radioactive waste disposal solutions and to uphold and reinforce the international non-proliferation regime. [2] With ever more clear fact that Slovenia will become an OECD member country, which consequently means that it will be able to become a member of the NEA, it has to take stock of its work and develop engagement strategy naming clear short and long-term goals as well as identifying and mapping of stakeholders and actors. Key issues to be discussed on national level is engagement of scientific institutions in the OECD/NEA projects, due to their specific scheme of participation tied to the financial engagement of participant. For that reason, the SNSA is working on debate on how to provide easier access to NEA projects for potential participants by including other relevant state institutions. SNSA is following modern trends in nuclear regulation. In that respect, OECD/NEA certainly takes special place, due to its highly technical character and well-developed system of programmes and projects. Some of the later tend to be so specific that it is not possible to obtain technical information anywhere else but in the OECD/NEA (like for instance Fire Incidents Records Exchange (FIRE) Database Project or Working Group on Inspection Practices (WGIP), etc.).

8 Embarking on the road of design lifetime extension and possible new reactor the international experience and regulatory knowledge of other countries in the OECD circle is gaining its importance for the Slovenian regulatory body and its further inclusion into EU technical and nuclear policy dimensions. VI. LITERATURE [1] EURATOM Reform, ( ). [2] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, ( ). [3] NEA Annual Report 2008, OECD/NEA, Paris (France), [4] OECD Nuclear Energy Agency ( ). [5] OECD Annual Report 2009, OECD, Paris (France), 2009, org/dataoecd/38/39/ pdf ( ). [6] OECD brochure, OECD, Paris (France), 2008, ( ). [7] A General Procedure for Future Accessions, OECD Document C(2007)31/FINAL, [8] Reports on the work of Slovenian representatives in the OECD/NEA bodies for the Interministerial working group for the OECD membership, SNSA documents. [9] SNSA Working reports of the meetings of the OECD/NEA bodies, SNSA documents.