IAEAInternational Atomic Energy Agency

Methodology and Responsibilities forPeriodic Safety Review for

Research Reactors

William Kennedy

Research Reactor Safety SectionDivision of Nuclear Installation Safety

Lisbon, Portugal

05/11/2015

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Contents

• Phases of periodic safety review (PSR)• PSR Process• Methodology for periodic safety review (PSR) for research

reactors (RRs)• Safety factor report• Global assessment• Final PSR Report• Responsibilities of the operating organization• Responsibilities of the regulatory body

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Phases of PSR

The PSR should be carried out in four phases:• Preparation of the PSR project: This should include an

agreement with the regulatory body with regard to the scope and timing of the review and the codes and standards that will be used.

• Conduct of the PSR: In this phase, the operating organization should conduct the review in accordance with an agreed ‘basis document’ for the PSR. The review should identify findings that lead to proposals for safety improvements and an integrated implementation plan.

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Phases of PSR

The PSR should be carried out in four phases:• Regulatory review: The regulatory body should review the

PSR report and the proposed safety improvements, should identify any issues it wishes to raise, should review the proposed integrated implementation plan and should determine whether the licensing basis for the facility remains valid.

• Finalization of the integrated implementation plan: The integrated implementation plan, comprising reasonable and practicable safety improvements to be carried out in accordance with a time schedule agreed with the regulatory body, should be finalized in this phase.

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Overall PSR Process

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Overall PSR Process

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Overall PSR Process

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PSR Process - Preparation of the PSR project

• Establishment of a project management team;• Development of a guidance document setting out:

• The detailed scope of the PSR, including the relevant standards and criteria;

• The methodology.

• Specification of arrangements for developing PSR documentation and preparation of the quality assurance plan;

• Preparation of the review plan and budget, including human resources;

• Approval of the project by senior management.

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PSR Process - Review of each Safety Factor

• Review of documentation, facility walkdowns and review of operating experience;

• Assessment and analysis of results, deterministic safety analysis (complemented by probabilistic safety analysis);

• Identification of findings;• Evaluation of the safety significance of findings;• Proposals for safety improvements;• Preparation of review report and submission with the global

assessment report to the regulatory body.

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PSR Process - Global Assessment and Implementation Plan

• Global assessment;• Detailed specification and prioritization of safety

improvements;• Preparation of integrated implementation plan of safety

improvements;• Preparation of the summary report;• Submission of the integrated implementation plan and

summary report to senior management of the operating organization for approval;

• Submission of the integrated implementation plan and summary report to the regulatory body.

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PSR Process - Activities of the Regulatory Body

• Appointment of the PSR project manager and identification of technical support resources;

• Preparation of assessment plan/resources;• Preparation of PSR basis document;• Assessment of PSR reports submitted by the operating

organization and preparation of assessment reports;• Preparation of the PSR integrated project report:

• Adequacy of the PSR;• Adequacy of the safety improvements;• Evaluation of the time schedule for safety improvements.

• Discussion of integrated programme of safety improvements.

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Methodology for PSR

• Scope of the PSR should include all safety aspects of the research reactor facility; the structures, systems and components (SSCs) and their operation; and the operating organization and its staff:• List of safety factors can be reduced;• Safety factors can be grouped;• List of safety factors can be extended (e.g. radiation protection).

• The precise approach and review process should be guided by the national legal context and relevant regulatory processes.

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Methodology for PSR

• All relevant national safety regulations and standards should be applied, with additional consideration of:• International safety standards and operating practices, as

practicable;• Safety standards of the country of origin of the technology;• Practices of international organizations.

• International codes and standards should be used if no suitable national standards exist.

• Scope, objectives and applicable national and international standards should be agreed with the regulatory body.

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Methodology for PSR

• Review of safety factors is an iterative process and interfaces between safety factors need to be taken into account.

• The teams reviewing each safety factor should communicate with each other during the review process, starting from the preparation phase of the PSR. Communication between review teams should be well organized, because findings (or outputs) identified in the review of one safety factor could be an important input to the review of other safety factors.

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Methodology for PSR

• Some technical areas are subject to continuous processes and may be easier to review during PSR.

• Some technical areas remain fairly constant over the facility lifetime and the review effort will heavily depend on the quality of the documentation.

• Some technical change frequently over the facility lifetime and the review effort will depend heavily on the quality of configuration management processes.

• All documentation should be checked for completeness and a strategy determined for dealing with incomplete or out-of-date documentation.

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Methodology for PSR

• The following documents should be produced during the conduct of the PSR to provide the information required by different stages of the process:

• The basis document for the PSR;• Safety factor report(s);• The global assessment report;• The final PSR report, including the integrated

implementation plan.

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Safety Factor Report

The following is the structure of a typical safety factor report:• Title (name of the safety factor);• Introduction;• Scope of the review, including documents and aspects of safety;• Review criteria (regulations, standards, operating practices, etc.);• Review methodologies applied;• Review of performance since the previous PSR;• Comparison with review criteria and discussion of the results;• Evaluation of the safety significance of negative findings, together with

proposed safety improvements and their prioritization;• Review of future safety for the period addressed in the PSR;• Conclusions;• References and appendices.

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Global Assessment

• Performed by an interdisciplinary team.• A judgment of the facility’s suitability for continued operation

on the basis of a balanced review of the findings from the reviews of the separate safety factors.

• Analyze interfaces, highlight interface issues and identify overlapping issues between safety factors.

• Examine supporting information, such as feedback from the regulatory body.

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Global Assessment – Findings and Safety Improvements

• Overall conclusions and safety improvements considered to be reasonable and practicable

• Consider all findings from separate safety factor reviews to determine whether safety improvements are reasonable and practicable and whether additional or grouped improvements are needed.

• All safety improvements should be categorized, ranked and prioritized and included in the implementation plan.

• Time needed for implementing safety improvements.

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Global Assessment – Findings and Safety Improvements

• Total effect of negative findings, positive findings and safety improvements.

• Consider cumulative effects of negative findings and compensation by positive findings.

• Overall review of defense in depth and the fundamental safety functions.

• Risks associated with negative findings should be assessed and justified.

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Global Assessment – Findings and Safety Improvements

• Total effect of negative findings, positive findings and safety improvements.

• Consider cumulative effects of negative findings and compensation by positive findings.

• Overall review of defense in depth and the fundamental safety functions.

• Risks associated with negative findings should be assessed and justified.

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Final PSR Report

The final PSR report should provide an overview of the PSR and should include the following topics:• Summary of the outcomes of the safety factor reports;• Summary of the outcomes of the global assessment report, including:

• Identification of negative findings arising from deviations between the present state of the plant and current safety standards and operational practices;

• An evaluation of the safety significance of these negative findings;• An overall judgment on the acceptability of continued plant operation;

• The integrated implementation plan, including proposals for resolving negative findings by safety improvements or corrective actions, and their safety significance and priority;

• An assessment of the safety of future operation over the period addressed in the PSR.

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Responsibilities of the operating organization

The operating organization is responsible for:• Performing the PSR and reporting its findings;• Having sufficient technical competence to perform the PSR,

and where gaps in technical competence exist, have sufficient competence to effectively manage any contracted work and assess the outputs;

• Identifying areas that could be better performed by external consultants.

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Responsibilities of the regulatory body

The regulatory body has the responsibility for:• Specifying or approving the requirements to perform the PSR;• Approving the documentation to be provided by the operating

organization prior to the PSR (i.e. the PSR basis document including the project plan);

• Reviewing the actual scope, conduct and findings of the PSR and the resulting safety improvements;

• Assessing the prospects for safe operation for the period until the next PSR;

• Taking appropriate licensing actions;• Informing the government and the general public about the

results of the PSR and resulting safety improvements.

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Thank you for your attention.