A review of EU Clearinghouse topical studies
The European Clearinghouse on Operating Experience Feedback for Nuclear Power Plants has been established in 2008 to enhance the exchange of lessons learned from operating experience among members. The network of nuclear safety Regulatory Authorities and their Technical Support Organizations, within the EU region, hosted and operated by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, has issued, during the first ten years of its activities, twenty-three Topical Studies reports, on topics defined and selected by the EU Clearinghouse members: each report is the outcome of an in depth analysis of selected international operating experience, with particular attention to the reportable events.
The Joint Research Centre has carried out a retrospective and comparative analysis of the whole knowledge system made of the outcomes of all these reports. The methodology developed by the JRC over this period is outlined. The results of a statistical study of the twenty-three reports are presented, showing that the most recurring contributing factors are related to design, maintenance and management. Moreover, the most common findings across the studies are related to Analysis, OE feedback and to Organisational aspects. The results of a comparative analysis, having the purpose of extracting new insights, are reported. This transversal reading has highlighted four horizontal issues (i.e.: common to all or many of the Topical Studies): (1) the need for a further enhancement of the sharing of the international operating experience; (2) the need to anticipate and mitigate issues which tend to originate in the pre-operational phases, in particular during the design phase, remaining latent and undetected for many years; (3) the importance of the organisational and human factors as contributors to events; and (4) the safety culture.
This ten-year EU Clearinghouse report provides the network members, and the nuclear community, with key findings and observations. It is also enriched by a comparison of the Topical Studies findings with the Western European Nuclear Regulatory Association (WENRA) Safety Reference Levels, confirming the safety relevance of topics raised by operating experience, and suggesting that the EU Clearinghouse products can have a stronger impact in future reviews of the Reference Levels.
Orientations for future EU Clearinghouse works are, finally, proposed. These orientations can benefit from synergies with other nuclear activities carried out at the Joint Research Centre.
MANNA Giustino;
PEINADOR VEIRA Miguel;
SIMIC Zdenko;
2021-03-15
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC124235
978-92-76-31376-2 (online),
1831-9424 (online),
EUR 30624 EN,
OP KJ-NA-30624-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC124235,
10.2760/37155 (online),
