'Experiences from the incorporation of international rules and guidelines on the safety of nuclear power plants into the German nuclear rules and regulations'

摘要

According to the German Atomic Energy Act, a licence for operating a nuclear power plant (NPP) may only be granted if it has been proven by the licensee that the necessary precautions as required by the state-of-the-art against damage that may occur as a result of the plant operation have been taken. In Germany, the safety related requirements governed by this mandatory precaution are laid down in a detailed set of nuclear regulations. Clearly defined review processes ensure that the nuclear regulations are continuously being compared to the developments of the state-of-the-art and are adapted to it, if necessary. The state-of-the-art to be applied in the frame of reviewing the nuclear regulations is determined by: 1. the results evaluating the operating experience world-wide, 2. the results of nuclear safety research and safety assessment, 3. lessons learnt from the licensing and supervision of nuclear power plants, 4. the development of international safety standards for nuclear power plants. International nuclear standards are in particular the Guides of the IAEA published in the IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS SERIES - REQUIREMENTS and the recommendations of the Western European Nuclear Regulators' Association (WENRA). The defence-in-depth concept, embedded in a comprehensive Man-Technology-Organisation (MTO) structure, represents the central technical approach for the review and modernisation of nuclear regulations. The work for enhancing the nuclear regulations has involved wide circles of experts as well as interested members of the general public, especially through the use of the possibilities offered by the Internet, and has taken approx. 5 years. The paper outlines the process of reviewing the existing nuclear regulations and presents the main technical aspects of the actual enhanced safety related rules that will replace the existing ones in the future. It also describes the work in connection with the integration of international safety standards for nuclear power plants as well as the corresponding assessment results. Standardized and universally acceptable nuclear regulations and standards are a key issue to strong regulatory bodies and harmonized regulatory strategies.