Nuclear operators' group WANO says plant safety 'has no borders'

Tuesday, 1 October 2024

The resolution, which came at WANO's 17th Biennial General Meeting in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, also says: "We declare our firm intention to provide a focused support to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Kursk nuclear power plant and other nuclear power facilities located close to areas of military operations, to the extent necessary for maintaining their safe operation, within WANO competence and mandate."

It adds: "We reaffirm that every effort must be taken to ensure no interference in the nuclear operators’ ability to safely perform their work at any nuclear power plant in the world; and ... we are dedicated to maintaining WANO unity in supporting all nuclear power plants in the world, ensuring that no member nuclear power station becomes isolated either from the industry or from industry interaction needed to support the highest levels of nuclear safety."

The resolution concludes: "We urge all members to promptly and thoroughly review key SOER (Significant Operating Experience Reports) recommendations ... to help ensure readiness to maintain nuclear safety in the face of military conflict, severe weather events or other disruptive situations ... we restate our position that nuclear operators cannot be hindered in their ability to safely operate nuclear power plants, and we urge all parties to respect the IAEA's seven indispensable pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security and the five concrete principles and restrain from actions that can initiate or prevent mitigation of a safety event."

The gathering, held every other year, brought together more than 400 delegates from 35 countries. WANO CEO, Naoki Chigusa, said it reinforced "our collective commitment to work as one team in supporting each other on the ongoing journey to achieve higher levels of performance. With around 60 nuclear units under construction worldwide, this year's event included special emphasis on supporting new entrants and emerging technologies".

The assocation also launched its revised strategy Unity Towards Nuclear Excellence with a "renewed focus to support new nuclear units start up safely and reliably over the next decade".

WANO Chairman Tom Mitchell, said: "The great engagement and participation of delegates at this conference underlines the unity of this unique association. It is the key principle that underpins the success of WANO since its establishment."

Outgoing WANO President Mohamed Al Hammadi said: "With renewed momentum in the nuclear sector to deliver new units to generate clean, baseload power, WANO will fulfil an important role in supporting these new units and the wider global fleet. Together, we will continue to build on our successes and remain dedicated to our mission of collaboration knowledge-sharing for nuclear safety and reliability."

WANO is a not-for-profit international organisation established in 1989 by the world's nuclear power operators to exchange safety knowledge and operating experience among organisations operating commercial nuclear power reactors. It currently has 460 nuclear units as members, with 60 under construction.

The organisation is well known for the on-going support operating nuclear power units provide and receive from each other, and it has created an earlier stage category of membership for an organisation during the tendering, licensing, construction and commissioning phase of a new nuclear power plant, with the intention that they will transfer to a full voting member at the time of pouring of first nuclear concrete on the nuclear island.