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The Doicești site, once a former coal-fired power plant, has been selected in Romania as the site for its first small modular reactor. (Photo: E-INFRA)
According to an IAEA mission, the procedure followed at the site of Romania’s first small modular reactor complies with foreign protection standards.
The DoiceștiArray, about 90 km northwest of the capital Bucharest, has been selected through the state-owned energy company Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica SA (SNN) as the preferred candidate for Romania’s first small modular reactor (SMR) project. Recently, an IAEA SEED follow-up project examined the IAEA’s procedure for variety and compliance with protection standards. This project assessed the progress of moves made through SNN and its subsidiary RoPower to respond to the recommendations of the 2022 SEED review project.
“The advice to choose the Doicesti site was based on the new knowledge gathered about the site to meet the criteria set out in the IAEA-35 Specific Safety Guide: Investigation and Site Selection for a Nuclear Facility. Based on the available knowledge, we can say with moderate certainty that all potential site-like protection issues have been addressed from the early stages of the project,” said Paolo Contri, IAEA review team leader and head of the External Event Safety Section.
In August 2022, a team of IAEA experts reviewed the NSS’s site-variety procedure at the request of the NSS. This is the IAEA’s first SEED project to revise the SMR site variety procedure. SNN presented the general site variety procedure carried out at 27 sites in Romania, identifying nine candidate sites and summarizing the reasons for deciding on the site they like: Doicesti.
The SEED mission review of the SNN’s efforts to implement an SMR assignment included a thorough assessment, in accordance with IAEA protection standards, of the technological aspects and site selection criteria considered through the NSS, resulting in the final number of the Doicesti site, Contri said.
This follow-up review project was organized and conducted in much the same way as the major SEED review projects, drawing on new site studies conducted through RoPower, newly collected hazard insights, and a review of the site variety process. The IAEA team concluded that all recommendations made for the 2022 major project have been addressed.
SNN’s efforts to carry out a targeted, achievable and safety-oriented site-wide procedure in Romania were commended throughout the IAEA team. “Our technique reflects SNN’s commitment to ty and their company’s resolve to minimize threats by addressing ty considerations at an early level. to enable an elegant implementation of the project,” said Cosmin Ghita, CEO of SNN.
About the SEED:
Site Design and External Event Review (SEED) missions are conducted to provide protection reviews to IAEA member countries through the various stages of site assessment, design, and evaluation of the protection of nuclear facilities in relation to site-specific external risks. They provide an objective assessment of the nuclear project’s compliance with IAEA protection criteria and guidelines, as well as the effectiveness of the organizations performing the work. The scope of a review assignment typically includes a wide variety of security issues similar to site design and external occasions. Also included in the review are radiological effects on the environment and the application of control systems for site assessment, design and evaluation of nuclear facilities in relation to external events.
Follow-up review commitments are strongly encouraged, and the counterparty is encouraged to request follow-up commitments from SEEDs not only to assess the progress of moves similar to past commitments, but also to address emerging issues that would possibly have an effect on security. of the site design and external events.