Our inspectors recently undertook a visit to the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant in Finland to meet with the resident site inspector from the Finnish nuclear safety authority (STUK).
The Olkiluoto site is home to one of Europe’s EPR operating reactors (OL3). With the construction of an EPR in the UK at the Hinkley Point C (HPC) site in Somerset, there are clear benefits and opportunities to draw on learnings from recent international regulatory experience.
During the visit, ONR and STUK inspectors shared knowledge and learning on regulatory approaches and shared specific experience and technical information in relation to EPR reactor design and operation. Our inspectors also undertook a comprehensive walkdown of the OL3 reactor which is now in full commercial operation. We now plan to build on this working relationship, ensuring learning between ONR and STUK is effective and our international collaboration is further strengthened.
Dave Hackney, our Delivery Management Group Lead for Commissioning and Safety Case at HPC said: “Our engagement with STUK, and recent visit to OL3, provides ONR with invaluable learning from their experiences regulating OL3 during the commissioning phase.
“This knowledge will now feed into our planning and the targeting of regulatory activities at HPC through the same phase of activity. There was also key learning shared in relation to both regulatory practices and regulatory tools around knowledge management.”
Alun Griffiths, Nominated Site Inspector for HPC, said: “This was an incredibly valuable regulatory exchange, comparing and contrasting approaches to regulation within different regulatory regimes. This will stand us in good stead as we continue to regulate HPC efficiently and effectively."
Our close working relationship with international regulators operating EPR reactors is crucial in ensuring that our regulation is appropriately informed to support our enabling and targeted approach to regulating Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C in the UK. This bilateral information sharing opportunity stemmed from our work with STUK through the Information Exchange Forum set up under the Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activity (CNRA) Working Group on Reactor Oversight at the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA).