R&D of new nuclear power plants is the critical part of sustainable development of nuclear power. The Gen III reactor AP1000, the large-scale advanced pressurized water reactor CAP1400, the development of SMRs, all bring new challenges to nuclear regulatory.

Under this circumstance, the 25th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE25) held a forum on Nuclear regulatory framework for the development of NPP. The panel was chaired by Mr. Guohan Chai from National Nuclear Security Administration of the People’s Republic of China, and co-chaired by Mr. Leon Cizelj from Jozef Stefan Institute and Mr. Kazuyuki Tsukimori from University of Fukui.

Nuclear Safety should be as high as reasonable achievable

Mr. Guohan Chai proposed the “AHARA” concept, which is known as “As High As Reasonable Achievable”. He suggested that promoting nuclear safety AHARA, will contribute to:

-   {C}Improvement of nuclear safety continually with the up-to-date technology and research achievements

-   {C}The nuclear safety supervision department and technical support organization can promote nuclear safety more actively

-   {C}Update nuclear safety requirements through the summary of nuclear safety improvement practice and experience

Talents are the foundation for nuclear safety

Mr. Leon Cizelj from Jozef Stefan Institute shared the experiences of ETSON on knowledge management, technical cooperation and talents cultivation. He pointed out that talents are the foundation for nuclear safety. ESTON has provided platform for young engineers to communicate and cooperation in the nuclear industry.

Effective regulation benefits nuclear power development

Mr. Stewart Magruder from IAEA and Mr. Ho Nieh from OECD-NEA introduced the regulatory framework for SMRs and the “Green Book” on Effective Regulation respectively.

Mr. Stewart Magruder outlined that IAEA accepted the suggestion from P.R.C on kicking off the Coordinated Research Project on SMR Emergency Planning Zone to provide suggestions in the application of the design safety requirements for nuclear power plants to small and medium sized reactors.

Mr. Ho Nieh emphasized that effectiveness and efficiency of regulatory benefits the nuclear power development. The enhancement of nuclear safety, the independency of nuclear security, the open and transparent of design reviews are crucial to realize the effective regulatory.

AP1000 satisfied international safety requirements

Mr. Yandong Xin from Westinghouse introduced the development and U.K. Generic Design Assessment (GDA) of AP1000. He pointed out that the approval of AP1000 could trace back to the review of AP600 involving over 200 experts. The National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) issued over 5,000 question sheets in total to confirm the safety of AP1000. The approval of GDA is a significant milestone and it demonstrated that AP1000 design previously licensed by the N.S. NRC and China NNSA is robust and safe, and it further confirmed that the design could meet international licensing standards.

Dr. Shengke Zhi from Amec Foster Wheeler proposed that financial security also occupies the important part of nuclear safety. He also introduced the differences between UK and China on safety review. He pointed out that GDA has no approved codes or standards and the regulator does not approve supply chain. Therefore, appliers should focus more on reducing the risk inherent in the licensing process and giving more certainty to utilities that designs are licensable.

This forum is an important component of ICONE25, which provides beneficial construction ideas for the licensing application and safety reviews.