Following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, many countries began funding research and development on nuclear fuel designs with enhanced accident tolerance (ATFs). ATFs have improved designs, materials and performance features...

Seismic probabilistic safety assessment (SPSA) is a systematic method for examining and evaluating the risk from earthquake-initiated accidents. The significant advances in the area of SPSA since the initial publication in 2002 of Technical Opinion...

CSNI Technical Opinion Paper No. 17: Fire Probabilistic Safety Assessments for Nuclear Power Plants: 2019 Update provides an authoritative review of the current status and use of the fire PSA in nuclear power plants. The report demonstrates that...

As all safety systems in the majority of existing nuclear power plants use the preferred power supply, any voltage surges in these systems could lead to common-cause failures. In the event of an unusual electrical system transient, it is essential...

Managing the ageing of fuel cycle facilities (FCFs) means, as for other nuclear installations, ensuring the availability of required safety functions throughout their service life while taking into account the changes that occur with time and use....

The way in which nuclear licensees’ organisations are structured and resourced clearly has a potential impact on nuclear safety. As experience has continually demonstrated, operating organisations with a strong training programme for personnel,...

Acceptance criteria for emergency core cooling systems (ECCS) define the maximum temperature and degree of oxidation in order to avoid excessive embrittlement and hence failure of the fuel cladding, which would affect core cooling in the case of a...

It is a dynamic time for the nuclear power sector. Existing reactor control rooms are undergoing various forms of modernisation. New reactors are being built in many countries and advanced reactors are being designed through international...

Errors during maintenance and periodic testing are significant contributors to plant events. These errors may not always be revealed by post-maintenance tests and may remain undetected for extended periods until the affected system is called upon to...

Nuclear power plant modifications may be needed for a number of different reasons. These include physical ageing of plant systems, structures and components; obsolescence in hardware and software; feedback from operating experience; and opportunities...

This technical opinion paper represents the consensus of risk analysts in NEA member countries on the current state of the art of level-2 probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) and its applications in accident management of nuclear power plants....

Probabilistic safety analyses (PSAs) for many of the nuclear power plants throughout the world are being maintained as "living PSAs" (LPSAs), being updated to take account of changes to the design and operation of the plant, improvements in the...

This technical opinion paper provides the reader with a concise description of both the benefits and disadvantages of using probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) to analyse operational events in nuclear power plants in order to facilitate better...

Nuclear licensees are increasingly required to adapt to a more challenging commercial environment as electricity markets are liberalised. One of the costs that is often perceived as being amenable to control is staffing, and hence there is...

This technical opinion paper represents the consensus of risk analysts in NEA member countries on the current state of the art of human reliability analysis (HRA) in probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) for nuclear power plants. The paper's...

Feedback on operating experience from nuclear power plants is intended to help avoid occurrence or recurrence of safety-significant events. Well-established feedback systems exist on the national and international levels. One such example is the...

These technical opinion papers represent the consensus of risk analysts and experts in NEA Member countries on the current state of the art in Fire Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) for nuclear power plant design and operation and Seismic PSA for...