- Status
- Closed
Objectives
In 1991, the European Commission established an international 'RBMK consortium' to review the "Safety of Design Solutions and Operation of Nuclear Power Plants with RBMK Reactors" ("RBMK Safety Review", see contract 21720). Eight Western countries (Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom) and the three countries operating RBMKs (Lithuania, the Russian Federation and Ukraine) participated in the consortium. The following topical areas were studied:
- systems engineering and accident progression,
- control and protection systems,
- core physics,
- external events,
- engineering quality,
- operating experience,
- human factors,
- regulatory interface,
- probabilistic safety assessment (PSA).
The review was based on the latest generation of RBMKs at Smolensk (Unit 3) and Ignalina (Unit 2) and concluded in March 1994 with its final report, which provided more than 300 recommendations for safety improvements. Many of these had been previously recognized by designers and operators and already acted upon while others were important new recommendations.
Following the conclusion of the RBMK Safety Review in March 1994, the European Commission contracted two EU Regulatory Authority/TSO (the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate [NII], UK and the Institut de Protection et de Sûreté Nucléaire [IPSN], France) to review the findings of the review and followed up with a Workshop in June 1994 to discuss and disseminate the results.
Results
The Commission placed four small contracts, two for the independent review of the final report of the RBMK Safety Review:
- Contract 22631, Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, signed May 1994, closed June 1994
- Contract 22632, Institut de Protection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, signed May 1994, closed July 1994
And two for the logistical support for organisation of the Workshop and travel expenses of expert participants:
- Contract 22633, CIT Congress and Conference, signed June 1994, closed August 1994
- Contract 22654, Business Travel, signed June 1994, closed July 1994.