Review of the Guidelines on the Safe Design and Operation of Nuclear Reactors: next steps after online consultation
In 2024, the ANVS went through an online consultation process to guide our review of the Guidelines on the Safe Design and Operation of Nuclear Reactors (‘Guidelines’). The responses confirmed the usefulness of the intended review.
Summary report of substantive feedback
Stakeholders were invited to provide substantive technical feedback. This focused primarily on the following questions:
- Do the Guidelines include topics that no longer correspond to the current state of the art? If so, which ones?
- Are there any areas in which the Guidelines could align more closely with how licence applications are assessed by the authorities in other countries? If so, which ones?
- Are there any areas in which the application of the risk-oriented approach to alternative reactors could be explained more clearly? If so, how?
The summary report (in Dutch) provides a general outline of the responses received. Additionally, it sets out which items we will be incorporating into our review of the Guidelines.
Better correspondence with current technological and scientific state of the art
Armed with this input, we can move on with our review of the Guidelines. This review aims to ensure that the Guidelines once again correspond to the current technological and scientific state of the art for nuclear safety and align more closely with international standards. This should make them easier to use for organisations wishing to apply for a licence to build a nuclear reactor as well as for licensees of nuclear facilities. The Guidelines make it clear to such organisations which items our assessments evaluate.
Evaluation and IRRS recommendations
We want to use this review as an opportunity to incorporate the recommendations from the structural evaluation of the Nuclear Energy Act (in Dutch). Additionally, we want to include the recommendations from the IRRS mission for nuclear safety in the Netherlands. See also:
- Alignment with international standards on Defence-in-Depth concept
- Clarification of requirements dependent on the specific technology used
- Clarification on how to apply a graded approach
Next steps
We will continue with our review of the Guidelines, taking the results of the consultation process into account. Once the review is complete, we will supplement this report with a list of all the changes we have made to the Guidelines. We will also indicate which responses relate to which changes.