The IAEA Technical Meeting on Next Generation of Reactors and Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) was held at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna from 13 to 17 February. 57 participants from 36 Member States discussed design concepts and safety features of these new reactors related to off-site emergency response as well as lessons learned from past emergencies.
The meeting highlighted the need for consistency in the terminology used by technology developers and that of the EPR community while describing various EPR concepts. Participants also agreed that communication with the public about EPR arrangements for next generation reactors is essential to increase trust and acceptance of new developments in safety design.
Amongst the conclusions, the meeting participants highlighted the need for the IAEA to develop additional technical guidance. This guidance needs to elaborate the methodology to be used for defining EPR arrangements for next generation reactors based on ‘Preparedness and Response for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency’ (IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSR Part 7).
Ramon De La Vega, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator in the IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre, and one of three Scientific Secretaries for the technical meeting, said “the meeting was a milestone in the process to build a technically sound and fair consensus on offsite EPR arrangements for next generation reactors. We now have a solid foundation to base our future work on defining off-site EPR arrangements based on a graded approach”.
As a next step, the IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre will develop this guidance in a publication for the EPR Series which will be discussed during a second technical meeting.
