Regulatory oversight of nuclear safety in Finland : Annual report 2013

Abstract

This report constitutes the report on regulatory control in the field of nuclear energy which the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) is required to submit once a year to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy pursuant to section 121 of the Nuclear Energy Decree. The report is also delivered to the Ministry of Environment, the Finnish Environment Institute and the regional environmental authorities of the localities in which a nuclear facility is located.

The regulatory control of nuclear safety in 2013 included the engineering, construction and operation of nuclear facilities, as well as nuclear waste management and nuclear materials. The control of nuclear facilities and nuclear waste management, as well as nuclear non-proliferation, concern two STUK departments: nuclear reactor regulation and nuclear waste and material regulation.

The first parts of the report explain the fundamentals of nuclear safety regulation as part of STUK’s duties, as well as the objectives of the operations, and briefly introduce the objects of regulation. The chapter concerning the development and implementation of legislation and regulations describes changes in nuclear legislation, as well as the progress of STUK’s YVL Guide reform work.

The section concerning the regulation of nuclear facilities contains an overall safety assessment of the nuclear facilities currently in operation or under construction. For the nuclear facilities currently in operation, the section describes plant operation, events during operation, annual maintenance and observations made during regulatory activities. Data and observations gained during regulatory activities are reviewed with a focus on ensuring the safety functions of nuclear facilities and the integrity of structures and components. The chapters describing the development of the plants and their safety also include summaries of the development targets established after the Fukushima accident. For the existing NPPs, the report describes the regulation and inspections of the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel, management of operating waste, and the provisions for the costs of nuclear waste management. The report also includes a description of the oversight of the operations and quality management of organisations, oversight of operational experience feedback activities, and the results of these oversight activities. The radiation safety of nuclear facilities is examined on the basis of employees’ individual doses, collective doses, radioactive releases and the results of environmental radiation monitoring. The report also includes summaries on STUK’s regulatory oversight concerning physical protection, emergency preparedness and safeguards of nuclear materials at the nuclear power plants. For the Olkiluoto 3 plant unit currently under construction, the report includes descriptions of the regulation of design, construction, manufacturing, installation, and commissioning preparations, as well as regulation of the operations of the licensee and the organisations participating in the construction project. At the end of the chapter on the regulation of nuclear facilities there is a summary of new plant projects and the regulation of the research reactor.

The chapter concerning the regulation of the final disposal project for spent nuclear fuel describes the preparations for the final disposal project and the related regulatory activities. In addition, the oversight of the design and construction of the research facilities (Onkalo) currently under construction in Olkiluoto, as well as the assessment and oversight of the research, development and design work being carried out to specify further the safety case for final disposal are included in the report.

In addition to actual safety regulation, the report describes safety research, regulatory indicators and the development of regulatory operations, as well as emergency preparedness, communication and STUK’s participation in international nuclear safety cooperation.

Appendix 1 presents a detailed study of the safety performance of the nuclear power plants by means of an indicator system. Appendix 2 includes a summary of employees’ doses at the nuclear power plants. Appendix 3 describes exceptional operational events at the nuclear power plants. Appendix 4 lists the licenses granted by STUK pursuant to the Nuclear Energy Act in 2013. Summaries of inspections included in the periodic inspection programme of nuclear power plants are presented in Appendix 5, and the Olkiluoto 3 construction inspection programme is in Appendix 6. Inspections included in the construction period inspection programme for Onkalo are listed in a table in Appendix 7 and the inspection programme for the processing stage of Posiva’s construction licence application are listed in Appendix 8. A table in Appendix 9 lists the amount of nuclear materials in Finland. Appendix 10 lists the most important assignments funded by STUK concerning the safety of nuclear power plants and final disposal of nuclear waste in 2013. Appendix 11 contains definitions of terms and abbreviations used in the report.