NEA/OECD

The Joint Declaration on Cooperation between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in the Field of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy was signed on March 21, 2007 with the purpose to render assistance in conduct of scientific researches, assessment of innovation technologies development, enhancement of national and international legal framework and preparation of economic analyses required for safe, eco-friendly and cost efficient peaceful use of atomic energy. Commenting this worth attention event Mr. Luis E. Echávarri, Director-General of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, said: “This Joint Declaration is highly significant and an important step towards strengthening ties between the Russian Federation and the NEA. Russian participation in all of the NEA standing technical committees will enhance the work of the NEA pool of over 3 000 international nuclear experts.”

By the order of the Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service of Russia (Rostechnadzor) SEC NRS, as the scientific and technical support organization of Rostechnadzor, takes part in the scheduled meetings of the NEA/OECD Committees, in particular:

• Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI),
• Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA),
  and their working groups:
• Working Group on Operating Experience (WGOE),
• Senior-Level Task Group on Defence-in-Depth (STG-DiD),
• Working Group on the Regulation of New Reactors (WGRNR).

Besides, SEC NRS takes active part in the events in frames of the Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP). The stated goal of MDEP is the analysis of approaches applied by regulatory bodies to review of documents substantiating nuclear and radiation safety, identification of a mutually accepted regulatory practice for further use at the review of new reactor designs, including the designs developed in frames of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF). Today, the activity of MDEP is bidirectional:

• in frames of design-specific working groups;
• in frames of issue-specific working groups.

SEC NRS specialists participate in the activities of:

• Steering Technical Committee (STC),
• VVER Working Group (VVERWG),
• Digital Instrumentation and Control Working Group (DICWG).

The VVER Working Group (VVERWG) was established in January 2014. The Chairman of the VVERWG was appointed Mr. S. Bogdan, SEC NRS Deputy Director.

Three meetings of VVERWG took place in 2014 to identify the key directions of activity and a short-term perspective work plan.

Moreover, in frames of VVERWG there were established three subgroups of technical experts in the following fields:

• Severe Accidents (SEC NRS representative was elected to be the Chairman of the subgroup),
• Accounting of Fukushima-Daiichi NPP Lessons in New NPP Designs,
• Reactor Vessel and Primary Circuit Equipment.

In December 2014 the initial meetings of the Severe Accidents Subgroup and Subgroup for Accounting of Fukushima-Daiichi NPP Lessons in New NPP Designs took place in Moscow (SEC NRS) and Paris (NEA/OECD), respectively.

The kick-off meeting of the third subgroup was held in March 2015 in Helsinki (STUK).