Design Considerations for Nuclear Power Plants Against Tsunamis
Safety Reports Series No. 128 ¦ English STI/PUB/2103 ¦ 64 pages ¦ Date published: 2025

This Safety Report illustrates the diversity of impacts caused by tsunamis and provides an overview of design considerations for nuclear power plants regarding tsunami specific elements. The publication aims to contribute to the enhancement of safety measures for nuclear installations in accordance with IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSG-68, Design of Nuclear Installations Against External Events Excluding Earthquakes.

This Safety Report addresses the elements of design against the design basis tsunami, including design concept, preliminary design and final design, and verification of the design against the beyond design basis tsunami. The intended audience for this publication includes regulators, operators, technical and scientific support organizations, and manufacturers of nuclear installations.

Good Practices in the Maintenance of Operating Nuclear Power Plants
IAEA-TECDOC-2094 ¦ English ¦ 64 pages ¦ Date published: 2025

Maintenance is a core activity that ensures the safe, reliable, and cost-effective operation of nuclear power plants throughout their expected lifetimes. This publication collates knowledge and insights from experts from various Member States and identifies general good practices — rather than specific examples — that maintenance managers and personnel can adopt to promote consistently high performance in maintenance.

It provides guidance to help navigate some common challenges, such as retaining a highly skilled and committed workforce, optimizing maintenance programmes and efficiently overseeing suppliers and additional staff. It also examines the fundamental aspects of maintenance, such as managerial approach to conducting maintenance activities; the planning and control of maintenance activities with a focus on contractor oversight; the management of documentation and personnel skills; the use of key performance indicators; and the conduct of benchmarks.

Regulatory Perspectives on Analytical Codes and Methods for Advanced Reactor
Nuclear Energy Agency, OCDE. ¦ NEA No. 7617 ¦ 100 pages ¦ Date published: 2025

Analytical codes and methods play a critical role in the design and safety analysis of nuclear reactors, helping to evaluate complex systems against potential severe events. This NEA report addresses the regulatory requirements for these tools and their application in reactor design and safety analysis. Informed by a comprehensive survey of experts drawn from the NEA Working Group on the Safety of Advanced Reactors (WGSAR), the report highlights key areas such as verification, validation, and uncertainty estimation.

It discusses differences in regulatory approaches, particularly in code certification and user qualifications, and the necessity for simulation tools to address Generation IV reactor-specific phenomena. For more detailed insights, the report covers common positions on confirmatory analysis, providing guidance on code requirements for Generation IV reactors. It also outlines safety-relevant phenomena across various reactor concepts and emphasises the importance of simulation codes in future reactor development projects.

Nuclear Decommissioning: Addressing the Past and Ensuring the Future
STI/PUB/2113 ¦ English ¦ 117 pages ¦ Date published: 2025

This proceedings publication comprises key outcomes and proposed recommendations from the conference held to discuss the achievements, challenges, and lessons learned in the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. Important information was shared at the conference on current priority needs, strategies and approaches to support the safe, secure, and cost-effective implementation of decommissioning programmes.

In addition, this publication features the President’s and Vice-President’s reports, with insights drawn from speaker presentations, panel discussions, side events and Q&A sessions with contributions from participants.

Initiatives of Low-Dose Research Co-ordination: Summary Report of a Joint Workshop Organised by the Nuclear Energy Agency in Co-operation with the Electric Power Research Institute
NEA/CRPPH/R(2024)4 ¦ English ¦ 117 pages ¦ Date published: June 2025

This joint workshop on low-dose research co-ordination was co-organised by the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) High-Level Group on Low-Dose Research (HLG-LDR) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) with its International Dose Effect Alliance (IDEA) network.

The event was the culmination of ongoing collaboration between both organisations, fostered through a series of workshops and webinars focused on low-dose research. The HLG-LDR aims to enhance radiological protection policy, regulation and implementation by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of research through global co-ordination of current and future low-dose research projects. The health effects of low-dose radiation and their biological mechanisms in humans and non-human species are not yet fully understood. While cancer remains the most studied disease linked to ionising radiation, there is increasing evidence that low-dose (rate) radiation exposure may also be associated with non-cancer health outcomes, such as cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, immune dysfunction and cataracts. Questions also persist on potential transgenerational effects. Advancements in research methods and technology have made it possible to expand the understanding of these radiation-related health effects. This progress underscores the importance and feasibility of improving our comprehension of the health risks associated with low-dose radiation exposure.

Recommendations on Fuel Properties for Fuel Performance Codes
NEA/NSC/R(2024)1 ¦ English ¦ 291 pages ¦ Date published: July 2025

Under the guidance of the Nuclear Energy Agency's Nuclear Science Committee (NSC) and the mandate of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle (WPFC), the Expert Group on Innovative Fuels Elements (EGIFE) has been established with the objective of conducting joint and comparative studies to support the development of innovative fuels such as homogeneous and heterogeneous fuels, accelerator-driven systems (ADS) fuels, and oxide, metal, nitride and carbide fuels, all of which can be implemented in advanced nuclear fuel cycles with fast reactors.

The scope of the expert group covers innovative fuel fabrication techniques, irradiation performance of innovative fuels, characterisation and post-irradiation examination methods and predictive codes for innovative fuel fabrication and performance. This report presents recommendations on oxide and metal fuel properties for fuel performance codes that have been established by the experts in this field and based on selected data.

Development and Application of Level 2 Probabilistic Safety Assessment for Nuclear Power Plants
IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSG-4 (Rev. 1) ¦ English ¦ STI/PUB/2105 ¦ 172 pages ¦ Date published: 2025

Probabilistic safety assessments (PSAs) are recognized as an important tool for assessing the level of safety for nuclear power plants (NPPs). In particular, the Level 2 PSA for NPPs provides key insights about the potential radioactive releases that could affect the workers, the public and the environment following a severe accident.

The purpose of this Specific Safety Guide is to provide an updated internationally accepted methodology for the development of a high-quality Level 2 PSA for NPPs. The revised Specific Safety Guide is intended for use by designers, operating organizations, technical support organizations and regulatory bodies in the development, application and independent review of Level 2 PSAs. The revised Safety Guide is also intended for use in connection with both the review for authorization (licensing) of the construction and the operation of new NPPs and the safety re-evaluation of existing NPPs during periodic safety reviews and modifications.

Thermal-hydraulic Code Validation Benchmark Specifications for High -temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGR) using High-temperature Test Facility (HTTF) data
NEA/WKP(2024)3 ¦ English ¦ 80 pages ¦ Date published: April 2025

In 2022, the WPRS Expert Group on Thermal Hydraulics and Mechanics (EGTHM) mandated a new benchmark on high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR) using high-temperature test facility (HTTF) data and the benchmark activity held its kick-off meeting in June 2023 at Oregon State University in the United States.

This document sets out the benchmark specifications as the foundation for the benchmark execution phase. The benchmark activity is scheduled for completion by the end of 2025.

Survey of the Regulatory Approach on the Oversight of New Nuclear Power Plant Construction
NEA/CNRA/R(2022)1 ¦ English ¦ 73 pages ¦ Date published: 2025

The construction of nuclear power plants has always been challenging. This seems to have become more significant in recent decades (circa 2000 and later) as nuclear power plant projects in many NEA countries have experienced significant delays in construction caused, in part, by fabrication and construction errors, control of contracted work activities, engineering errors created by translation and unit conversion issues, a globalised supply chain, and access to qualified and skilled craft experienced in nuclear power construction and fabrication processes and procedures.

In response, industry is turning to innovations such as factory or modular construction and the use of new construction methods in order to improve performance. As these innovations are introduced into construction, regulatory bodies will be challenged to oversee construction activities. Many of the organisations that plan to build new nuclear power plants are organisations that already operate existing nuclear power plants. An operational organisation typically has a highly stable workforce that is skilled and knowledgeable in the operation, maintenance, and testing of the facility. Such an operational organisation faces unique challenges as it embarks on construction projects that rely on external construction organisations that are typically contracted to build the plant. Similar challenges will be faced by organisations that are planning to build their first nuclear power plant. Construction organisations often rely on transient workforces that come and go to the site as needed based on the phase of construction. The differences between an operational (or new owner) organisation and a construction organisation can create management and co-ordination issues that affect the execution of construction activities.