Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HARMONISE (Towards harmonisation in licensing of future nuclear power technologies in Europe)
Período documentado: 2022-06-01 hasta 2023-11-30
HARMONISE VISION
HARMONISE puts forward a holistic approach for studying the body of knowledge required to accomplish harmonisation and standardisation of methodologies, codes and standards as well as the assessment of nuclear reactor components. Departure from a prescriptive-based to a performance-based approach in nuclear regulatory regimes is to be examined under the prism of conformity with the safety objectives of innovative fission and fusion facilities. To this end, data related to fusion installations is expected to stem from the ITER safety demonstrations, whereas data pertinent to advanced fission designs – such as fast breeder reactors and SMRs – will be extracted from relevant EC-funded projects.
The basis for HARMONISE activities will be the outcomes of relevant research and cooperation activities in standardisation and nuclear safety considering also the lessons learned from the stress tests performed in the EU. HARMONISE will examine issues related to qualification, standardisation, verification & validation and licensing of fission and fusion installations, while considering stakeholder involvement. The benefits of adopting digital twins of nuclear installations during the design phase will be reviewed, while also identifying the cross-cutting activities that contribute to collaborative research efforts between fission and fusion. HARMONISE will address issues related to the preliminary safety assessments and licensing needs of innovative fission and fusion installations; risk-informed, performance-based approaches in licensing reviews and regulatory decision-making; harmonisation and standardisation on component assessments, methodologies, codes and standards and draw lessons from earlier experience in harmonisation efforts. HARMONISE findings will be disseminated to the nuclear safety regulators of EU Member States along with the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine as material to be considered during safety verification and licensing of future fission and fusion installations.
HARMONISE OBJECTIVES
Objective 1: To analyse preliminary safety assessments of innovative fission and fusion installations
Objective 2: To peruse the licensing needs for innovative nuclear installations
Objective 3: To examine risk-informed, performance-based (RIPB) approaches in licensing reviews and regulatory decision-making
Objective 4: To delimit harmonisation and standardisation on component assessments, methodologies, codes and standards
Objective 5: To learn from earlier experience in harmonisation efforts
HARMONISE puts forward a holistic approach for studying the body of knowledge required to accomplish harmonisation and standardisation of methodologies, codes and standards as well as the assessment of nuclear reactor components. Departure from a prescriptive-based to a performance-based approach in nuclear regulatory regimes is to be examined under the prism of conformity with the safety objectives of innovative fission and fusion facilities. To this end, data related to fusion installations is expected to stem from the ITER safety demonstrations, whereas data pertinent to advanced fission designs – such as fast breeder reactors and SMRs – will be extracted from relevant EC-funded projects.
The basis for HARMONISE activities will be the outcomes of relevant research and cooperation activities in standardisation and nuclear safety considering also the lessons learned from the stress tests performed in the EU. HARMONISE will examine issues related to qualification, standardisation, verification & validation and licensing of fission and fusion installations, while considering stakeholder involvement. The benefits of adopting digital twins of nuclear installations during the design phase will be reviewed, while also identifying the cross-cutting activities that contribute to collaborative research efforts between fission and fusion. HARMONISE will address issues related to the preliminary safety assessments and licensing needs of innovative fission and fusion installations; risk-informed, performance-based approaches in licensing reviews and regulatory decision-making; harmonisation and standardisation on component assessments, methodologies, codes and standards and draw lessons from earlier experience in harmonisation efforts. HARMONISE findings will be disseminated to the nuclear safety regulators of EU Member States along with the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine as material to be considered during safety verification and licensing of future fission and fusion installations.
HARMONISE OBJECTIVES
Objective 1: To analyse preliminary safety assessments of innovative fission and fusion installations
Objective 2: To peruse the licensing needs for innovative nuclear installations
Objective 3: To examine risk-informed, performance-based (RIPB) approaches in licensing reviews and regulatory decision-making
Objective 4: To delimit harmonisation and standardisation on component assessments, methodologies, codes and standards
Objective 5: To learn from earlier experience in harmonisation efforts
Stakeholders that represent safety authorities, international organisations, research organisations, industry and non-nuclear communities were identified and invited to project meetings. In these meetings the stakeholders were informed regarding the HARMONISE objectives and progress while they provided their feedback. The interaction with the group of stakeholders assisted the project evolution and collected additional input to be considered. Input of particular interest regarding the harmonisation efforts was obtained from the civil aviation experience.
The preliminary safety assessments of innovative fission and fusion installations were analysed. The ALFRED, SMR, ITER, DEMO and W7-X cases, employing a graded approach to ascertain the safety assessment scope, were taken under consideration. In addition, the top-level safety objectives of the DEMO and ITER fusion facilities were reviewed. The review outcomes have been documented in D1.5 “Assessment of the IAEA safety objectives in advanced fission reactors” and D1.6 “Assessment of the safety cases of large fusion facilities”.
The need to consider the innovations in advanced reactor concepts along with the will to preserve the founding philosophy and intent of the current safety and licensing framework steered the applicability review of ALFRED and DEMO. The main challenges stemmed from the lack of experience in implementing the existing safety framework to different designs, while also maintaining the safety standard level. The analysis outcome is discussed in D2.1 “Licensing needs due to the specificities of innovative technologies”.
A prescriptive-based regulatory approach establishes detailed requirements with acceptance criteria and prescriptive regulations that define clear expectations for the regulatory body and the operating organisations. Risk-Informed Performance-Based (RIPB) approaches, methods and tools applied in the nuclear industry for the assessment of nuclear safety were reviewed to further investigate the transition path from a prescriptive-based approach to a performance-based approach. Details may be found in D3.1 “Report on the application of risk insights and performance-based requirements”.
Following a survey, feedback was collected regarding component assessments, methodologies, codes, and standards pertinent to the safety of nuclear installations representing various technologies under development (i.e. water cooled SMRs, lead and lead-bismuth cooled SMRs, MSRs, HTGRs and fusion plants). The findings revealed specific needs that could be used to delimit the boundaries of harmonisation and standardisation on component assessments, methodologies, codes, and standards pertinent to the safety of existing nuclear installations.
The preliminary safety assessments of innovative fission and fusion installations were analysed. The ALFRED, SMR, ITER, DEMO and W7-X cases, employing a graded approach to ascertain the safety assessment scope, were taken under consideration. In addition, the top-level safety objectives of the DEMO and ITER fusion facilities were reviewed. The review outcomes have been documented in D1.5 “Assessment of the IAEA safety objectives in advanced fission reactors” and D1.6 “Assessment of the safety cases of large fusion facilities”.
The need to consider the innovations in advanced reactor concepts along with the will to preserve the founding philosophy and intent of the current safety and licensing framework steered the applicability review of ALFRED and DEMO. The main challenges stemmed from the lack of experience in implementing the existing safety framework to different designs, while also maintaining the safety standard level. The analysis outcome is discussed in D2.1 “Licensing needs due to the specificities of innovative technologies”.
A prescriptive-based regulatory approach establishes detailed requirements with acceptance criteria and prescriptive regulations that define clear expectations for the regulatory body and the operating organisations. Risk-Informed Performance-Based (RIPB) approaches, methods and tools applied in the nuclear industry for the assessment of nuclear safety were reviewed to further investigate the transition path from a prescriptive-based approach to a performance-based approach. Details may be found in D3.1 “Report on the application of risk insights and performance-based requirements”.
Following a survey, feedback was collected regarding component assessments, methodologies, codes, and standards pertinent to the safety of nuclear installations representing various technologies under development (i.e. water cooled SMRs, lead and lead-bismuth cooled SMRs, MSRs, HTGRs and fusion plants). The findings revealed specific needs that could be used to delimit the boundaries of harmonisation and standardisation on component assessments, methodologies, codes, and standards pertinent to the safety of existing nuclear installations.
During the first reporting period the preparatory work was done to establish the basis for development of suggestions how to overcome the identified issues in licensing and regulation of the innovative fission nuclear power plants and fusion power plants. At present there are no results achieved to be considered beyond the state of the art.