Summary Report on Nuclear Power Plants Construction, Commissioning and Manufacturing Events

Interest in constructing new nuclear power plants is increasing worldwide. Some countries are embarking on a nuclear programme for the first time, while others have decided to re-start construction of nuclear power plants after a hiatus of decades. Starting new build is very demanding, as much of the earlier experience and resources have progressively been lost from the nuclear industry. Circumstances are quite different from 1970s when most of the plants currently operating were constructed. Vendors had large experienced organisations ready to go ahead, and had less need to rely on subcontractors. In addition, there was no shortage of skilled manufacturing capacity in the market, and designs were often based on work done in similar ongoing or completed projects. The aim of this study is to collect lessons learned form past and current construction projects and to raise recommendations for the regulators and the licensees. The present document summarises the main trends and the main recommendations concerning construction, commissioning and manufacturing. This work is part of the European Clearinghouse on Nuclear Power Plant Operational Feedback (NPP-OEF) activity carried out at the Joint Research Centre/Institute for Energy (JRC/IE). It describes the results of the analysis of the events related to the construction of new NPP and reported to the IAEA International Reporting System (IRS) database, to the Licensee Events Report (LER) database of the US NRC and collected by the Working Group on the Regulation of the New Reactors (WGRNR) of the NEA.JRC.DDG.F.5-Safety of present nuclear reactor

European Clearinghouse: Report on Events of the Cooling Chain of Nuclear Power Plants

This summary report presents the main results of an extensive review of operating experience related to deficiencies of the reactor cooling chain. The cooling systems included in the review are the Essential Service Water System (ESWS); the Component Cooling Water System (CCWS) and the Residual Heat Removal System (RHRS). More than 1000 events from the International Reporting System (IRS) database, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) licensee event report database and the French and German national databases were analyzed. Root cause analyses carried out allowed identifying Human and Organizational Factors (HOF) to represent a significant share in the spectrum of root causes. This finding is reflected in the long list of lessons learned from the events. Recommendations how to avoid or mitigate similar events in future are included in the report. The lessons learned are presented apart, in the Annex to this Summary Report. All recommendations focus on enhancing nuclear safety whenever it might be affected.JRC.F.5-Nuclear Reactor Safety Assessmen

Overview of PHARE Projects Implemented in Romania Between 1997 – 2008, for Enhancing the Nuclear Safety Level

Through the Poland Hungary Aid for Reconstruction of the Economy (PHARE) programme, the European Commission (EC) supported the transition of the Eastern European states to the European market economy. PHARE was a pre-accession financial assistance programme which involved countries from Central and Eastern Europe that applied to become members of the European Union. The paper presents a synthesis of the projects carried out in Romania for enhancing nuclear safety by consolidating key areas such as Regulatory Activities, Radioactive Waste Management and On-Site assistance, in order to fulfil the requirements for accession to the European Union. Statistical considerations on the impact of the projects are also proposed and an analysis of the methodology of intervention is made.JRC.F.5-Nuclear Reactor Safety Assessmen

European Clearinghouse: Report on External Hazard related events at NPPs

External phenomena are a significant source of hazards to nuclear power plant operation, and thus it is important to investigate the existing operational experience in this kind of events. The objective is to determine the adequacy of protection of nuclear power plants against external hazards and the effectiveness of corrective actions, as well as to provide recommendations on how to prevent or mitigate the impact of external phenomena on NPP operation. IAEA Safety Guide NS-G-1.5 defines external events as "events that originate either off the site or within the boundaries of the site but from sources that are not directly involved in the operational states of the nuclear power plant units, such as fuel depots or areas for the storage of hazardous materials handled during the construction, operation and decommissioning of units located at the same site". This Summary Report presents the results of a comprehensive study performed by the European Clearinghouse on Operating Experience Feedback of NPP with the support of IRSN and GRS. It addresses both natural origin and man-induced external events, with the exception of the earthquake hazard.JRC.F.5-Nuclear Reactor Safety Assessmen

Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for Waste treatment Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control)

The Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for Waste Treatment is the result of the information exchange since the kick-off meeting which was held from 25 to 28 November 2013. The information collection took place in 2014 and 2015 and the final meeting took place in March 2017. The document includes information on the following waste treatment processes: - Mechanical treatment in shredders of metal waste - Mechanical treatment of VFCs and VHCs containing equipment - Mechanical treatment of waste with calorific value - Aerobic treatment of waste - Anaerobic treatment of waste - Mechanical-Biological treatment of waste (MBT) - Physico-chemical treatment of solid and pasty waste - Re-refining of waste oil - Physico-chemical treatment of waste with calorific value - Regeneration of spent solvents - Physico-chemical and/or biological treatment of water-based liquid waste - Regeneration / recovery of pollution abatement components / Flue-Gas Treatment (FGT) of waste - Recovery of components from spent catalysts - Treatment of excavated contaminated soil - Treatment of POPs-containing waste - Treatment of mercury-containing wasteJRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for the Production of Large Volume Organic Chemicals. Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control)

The Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document (BREF) for the Production of Large Volume Organic Chemicals is part of series of documents presenting the results of an exchange of information between EU Member States, the industries concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection, and the Commission, to draw up, review and – where necessary – update BAT reference documents as required by Article 13(1) of Directive 2010/78/EU on Industrial Emissions (the Directive). This document is published by the European Commission pursuant to Article 13(6) of the Directive. The BREF for the production of Large Volume Organic Chemicals concerns the production of the following organic chemicals, as specified in Section 4.1 of Annex I to Directive 2010/75/EU: a. simple hydrocarbons (linear or cyclic, saturated or unsaturated, aliphatic or aromatic); b. oxygen-containing hydrocarbons such as alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, esters and mixtures of esters, acetates, ethers, peroxides and epoxy resins; c. sulphurous hydrocarbons; d. nitrogenous hydrocarbons such as amines, amides, nitrous compounds, nitro compounds or nitrate compounds, nitriles, cyanates, isocyanates; e. phosphorus-containing hydrocarbons; f. halogenic hydrocarbons; g. organometallic compounds; k. surface-active agents and surfactants. This document also covers the production of hydrogen peroxide as specified in Section 4.2 (e) of Annex I to Directive 2010/75/EU; and the combustion of fuels in process furnaces/heaters, where this is part of the abovementioned activities. The production of the aforementioned chemicals is covered by this document when it is done in continuous processes where the total production capacity of those chemicals exceeds 20 kt/yr. While the main aim of the LVOC BREF is to facilitate reduction of emissions from chemical processes, other environmental issues - like energy efficiency, resource efficiency, wastes and residues - are also covered. This BREF contains 14 Chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide general information on the Large Volume Organics industrial sector and on generic industrial production processes used in this sector. Chapters 3 to 12 provide general information , applied processes and techniques, current emission and consumption levels, techniques to consider in determination of BAT and emerging techniques for various illustrative processes: lower olefins, aromatics, ethylbenzene and styrene, formaldehyde, ethylene oxide and ethylene glycols, phenol, ethanolamines, toluene diisocyanate and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomer and hydrogen peroxide. Chapter 13 presents BAT conclusions as defined in Article 3(12) of the Directive. Concluding remarks and recommendations for future work are presented in Chapter 14.JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Best available techniques (BAT) reference document on surface treatment using organic solvents including preservation of wood and wood products with chemicals: Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control)

The Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document (BREF) on Surface Treatment using Organic Solvents including Preservation of Wood and Wood Products with Chemicals is part of a series of documents presenting the results of an exchange of information between EU Member States, the industries concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection, and the Commission, to draw up, review and – where necessary – update BAT reference documents as required by Article 13(1) of Directive 2010/75/EU on Industrial Emissions (the Directive). This document is published by the European Commission pursuant to Article 13(6) of the Directive. The BREF on Surface Treatment Using Organic Solvents including Preservation of Wood and Wood Products with Chemicals covers the surface treatment of substances, objects or products using organic solvents as well as the preservation of wood and wood products using chemicals as specified in Sections 6.7 and 6.10 of Annex I to Directive 2010/75/EU respectively. Important issues for the implementation of Directive 2010/75/EU in the surface treatment using organic solvents (STS) and the wood preservation with chemicals (WPC) sectors are emissions to air and water as well as energy and water consumption. Chapter 1 provides general information on the STS sector and on the main environmental issues associated with their use. Chapters 2 to 14 give the applied processes, current emission and consumption levels, techniques to consider in the determination of BAT for the STS sectors that are covered by these chapters. Chapter 15 provides general information, applied processes, current emission and consumption levels, techniques to consider in the determination of BAT for the wood preservation sector. Chapter 16 provides thumbnail descriptions of additional STS sectors, for which a data collection via questionnaires has not been carried out. General techniques to consider in the determination of BAT (i.e. those techniques to consider that are widely applied in the STS sector) are reported in Chapter 17. Chapter 18 presents the BAT conclusions as defined in Article 3(12) of the Directive, both general and sector-specific. Chapter 19 provides the emerging techniques for the STS and WPC sectors. Concluding remarks and recommendations for future work are presented in Chapter 20.JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

European Clearinghouse: Analysis of events related to modifications of nuclear power plants - Summary report of an European Clearinghouse topical study

Modifications are implemented in Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) for many different reasons: for safety reasons (for instance, following a Periodic Safety Review), for economic motivations (power uprate or optimization of maintenance activities), to correct existing failures or deficiencies or to cope with the plant ageing. It can be expected that the number of modifications will increase over the coming years, for the operating NPPs but also for the NPPs under construction, considering the life time of the NPPs and the continuous upgrading of safety, security and environmental requirements. It must be ensured that all modifications are designed, implemented and tested in such a manner that the safety of the plant as well as the safety of workers and environment is not degraded. This Summary Report presents the results of a study performed by the European Clearinghouse on Operating Experience Feedback of NPP with the support of IRSN (Institut de Sûreté Nucléaire et de Radioprotection) and GRS (Gesellschaft für Anlagen und Reaktorsicherheit mbH). This study covers NPP events related to modifications to Structures, Systems and Components, to process software, to operational limits and conditions, to operating procedures and to management systems, considering both permanent and temporary modifications.JRC.F.5-Nuclear Reactor Safety Assessmen

Three decades of NPP construction lessons

A survey of three databases of nuclear industry event reports has shown, with real examples, how the management of a complex project can strongly influence the safety of installations, sometimes long after the completion of the initial project. It concludes that special attention should be given to management and organizational factors.JRC.F.5-Nuclear Reactor Safety Assessmen

Nuclear Power Plant Commissioning Experience

In this paper, we present the results of the analysis of the events related to the commissioning of new nuclear power plants and reported to the IAEA International Reporting System database. These results are extracted from a study performed by the European Clearinghouse on Nuclear Power Plant Operational Feedback about the events related to the construction, the manufacturing and the commissioning of new nuclear power plants. After the initial screening of the database, we have analysed in detail 34 events in order to highlight the lessons learned specific to different components and to raise the general recommendations related to the commissioning. This paper summarizes the main lessons learned and the main recommendations concerning the commissioning-related events. These recommendations concern mainly the time of the testing, the scope of the tests, the documentation of the tests, the test acceptance criteria, the systems reconfiguration after commissioning tests and the management of the temporary devices.JRC.DDG.F.5-Safety of present nuclear reactor