Probabilistic Safety Assessment Benchmarks of Multi-unit, Multi-reactor Sites Final Report of a Coordinated Research Project
OCDE. Nuclear Energy Agency ¦ NEA No. 7671¦ 188 pages ¦ Date published: 2024

The Coordinated Research Project on Probabilistic Safety Assessment Benchmarks for Multiunit Multi Reactor Sites (2018-2022) brought together the experts from the IAEA Member States with mainly water-cooled reactor technologies to utilize, test and further develop their current or planned probabilistic safety assessments methods and assumptions by conducting and comparing results of meaningful multiunit multi reactor type probabilistic safety assessment (MUPSA) benchmark exercises.

The objective was to share national expertise and participate in shared benchmark calculations. These calculations involved the development of MUPSA, based on single unit probabilistic safety assessments available in Member States. This publication is intended for nuclear engineers, researchers, code developers, experimentalists in nuclear energy fields, reactor vendors and developers, university professors and students, regulatory experts, and nuclear power plant planners.

Evaluation of Seismic Safety for Nuclear Installations
IAEA-TECDOC-2044 ¦ English ¦ 144 pages ¦ Date published: 2024

This Safety Guide provides recommendations on the seismic safety evaluation of nuclear installations. It addresses all types of new and existing nuclear installations. This Safety Guide presents three assessment methodologies: the deterministic approach, generally known as seismic margin assessment (SMA), seismic probabilistic safety assessment (SPSA), and a combination of SMA and SPSA known as ‘probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) based SMA.

This Safety Guide provides specific recommendations on applying a performance-based graded approach to the seismic safety evaluation of nuclear installations other than nuclear power plants. It also covers the relation between seismic safety margins and defense-in-depth (DiD) level 3 and level 4. For new nuclear installations, this Safety Guide provides recommendations to assess adequacy of seismic margin to avoid cliff edge effects considering DiD level 3 and level 4. This publication is intended for use by regulatory bodies, operating organisations, and designers of nuclear installations.

Radiation Safety in the Use of Radiation Sources in Research and Education
IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSG-87 ¦ English ¦ STI/PUB/2059 ¦ 111 pages ¦ Date published: 2024

Radiation sources used in research and education include particle accelerators, sealed radioactive sources, such as low activity check sources and high activity sealed radioactive sources in irradiators; unsealed radioactive sources that are used as tracers in field work and in laboratory work; naturally occurring radioactive material and X ray generators such as diffraction apparatus and fluorescence analysers.

This Safety Guide provides recommendations on how to meet the relevant requirements of IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSR Part 3 in the use of radiation sources in research and education. It provides guidance on the control of occupational exposure and of public exposure, for planned exposure situations and, where appropriate, emergency exposure situations and on the safety measures specific to this practice. The recommendations in this publication are aimed primarily at operating organizations such as educational and research establishments including schools, colleges, universities and technical institutes that are authorized to use radiation sources in academic programmes, as well as their employees, students, teachers and radiation protection officers. The guidance will also be of interest to individuals working for regulatory bodies and other relevant organizations involved in design, manufacture, supply and service of radiation sources and associated equipment for research and education.

Absorbed Dose Determination in External Beam Radiotherapy
An International Code of Practice for Dosimetry Based on Standards of Absorbed Dose To Water Technical Reports Series No. 398 (Rev. 1) ¦ English ¦ STI/DOC/010/398 (Rev. 1) ¦ 286 pages ¦ Date published: 2024

This revised edition of the IAEA TRS-398 Code of Practice fulfils the need for a systematic and internationally unified approach to the calibration of ionization chambers in terms of absorbed dose to water and to the use of these detectors in determining the absorbed dose to water for the radiation beams used in radiotherapy.

It is based on new key data for radiation dosimetry published by the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU). It contains updated information on new commercially available ionization chambers and addresses the needs of professionals working with newer radiotherapy technologies.

NEA System Cost Analysis for Integrated Low-Carbon Electricity Systems: A Guide for Stakeholders and Policymakers
Nuclear Energy Agency / OCDE ¦ NEA No. 7668 ¦ English ¦ Published: 2024 ¦ 35 p.

The imperative to reduce carbon emissions is profoundly transforming the electricity and energy systems of OECD and NEA countries. This sets in motion a number of interrelated developments that challenge traditional understandings of the way energy systems work. These changes also require a reappraisal of established notions of costs at the level of the integrated electricity system.

Different technologies with comparable costs at the level of the individual plant can thus have very different effects on the total costs of a system. This impacts the strategic decision-making of energy policymakers with regard to the energy mix. It relates, in particular, to optimising the trade-offs between dispatchable low carbon sources of electricity, such as nuclear energy or hydroelectricity, and variable sources, such as wind and solar photovoltaic (PV), that will be the backbone of future low-carbon electricity systems. The present guide aims at providing a succinct synthesis of what is NEA system cost analysis and how it can help energy experts and policymakers to gain additional insights about the cost implications of different strategic choices when designing future electricity and energy systems operating under stringent carbon constraints. The purpose of this guide is to provide a first overview of what kind of results system cost analysis can provide and which questions may be asked in order to develop or test certain policy proposal of relevance.

Sodium Coolant Handbook: Thermal Hydraulic Correlations
CIAEA Project on Sodium Properties and Safe Operation of Experimental Facilities in Support of the Development and Deployment of Sodium Cooled Fast Reactors (NAPRO) English ¦ CRCP/SOD/003 ¦ 286 pages ¦ Date published: 2024

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) established a Coordinated Research Project (CRP) in 2013 on “Sodium properties and safe operation of experimental facilities in support of the development and deployment of sodium cooled fast reactors” (NAPRO) in order to promote an efficient collaboration between organizations involved in sodium cooled fast reactor (SFR) programmes at the national and international levels.

This research programme was carried out from 2013 to 2018. Eleven organizations representing ten IAEA Member States participated in the NAPRO CRP while eight organizations contributed to the drafting of this handbook. The present publication is the technical report of the NAPRO project focusing on the collection of heat transfer and pressure drop (friction factor) correlations for sodium cooled systems.

Uranium Raw Material for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Innovation for Sustaining Future Resources and Production (URAM-2023)
Proceedings of an International Symposium Held in Vienna, Austria, 8–12 May 2023 English ¦ STI/PUB/2082 ¦ 41 pages ¦Date published: 2024

The URAM-2023 Proceedings cover a range of relevant topics in the uranium production cycle from uranium exploration, through mining, milling, processing, and decommissioning and remediation of uranium production cycle facilities. This publication provides a summary of the symposium including: the opening addresses; the essay contest for students and early career professionals; 10 tracks from the technical sessions; 2 panel sessions; the closing addresses; conference secretariat and programme committee, and a list of the papers and posters.

The intended audience includes exploration and mining geologists, engineers, operators, regulators, fuel cycle specialists, government officials, researchers and students.

Advancing the State of the Practice in Uncertainty and Sensitivity Methodologies for Severe Accident Analysis in Water Cooled Reactors in the QUENCH-06 Experiment
Final Report of a Coordinated Research Project IAEA-TECDOC-2045 ¦ English ¦ 144 pages ¦ Date published: 2024

The IAEA facilitated the co-operation on research and development among its Member States on the development and validation of computer codes for the design and safety analysis of nuclear power plants. The main objective of this effort was to bring together the current state-of­knowledge on uncertainty propagation in severe accident analyses that has been accumulated by experienced analysts with the aim of increasing the sophistication and competency of the practitioners in this field.

This publication provides the contributions from four individual organizations from four Member States describing their employed uncertainty and sensitivity assessment methods applied in simulating the QUENCH-06 experiment performed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) in December 2000. The QUENCH-06 experiment was designed to explore the behavior of nuclear fuel under oxidizing and quenching conditions during severe accident scenarios in light water nuclear reactors. Due to its comprehensive nature, this experiment was chosen as the benchmark for evaluating the performance of severe accident codes employed by participants in this coordinated research project. This publication is intended for nuclear engineers, researchers, code developers, experimentalists in nuclear energy fields, reactor vendors and developers, university professors and students, regulatory experts, and nuclear power plant planners.

Development and Strengthening of Radioanalytical and Complementary Techniques to Control Residues of Veterinary Drugs and Related Chemicals in Aquaculture Products
IAEA-TECDOC-2046 ¦ English ¦ 220 pages ¦ Date published: 2024

The IAEA recognizes the importance of food safety to Member States and that laboratories are the fulcrum of a reliable food safety control system, without which, routine testing and monitoring of chemical and related hazards would remain a challenge. The IAEA and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, help scientists to enhance the performance of laboratories and contribute to safeguarding consumer health as well as promoting the market competitiveness of foodstuff such as aquaculture products.

Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food-production sectors in the world and requires urgent attention. This publication presents several analytical methods including an annex of standard operating procedures, for testing residues of chemicals including veterinary drugs and selected contaminants in aquaculture products and production environments. This publication is intended for regulatory as well as research and academic food safety and control institutions.

Evaluation of Design Robustness of Nuclear Installations Against External Hazards
IAEA-TECDOC-2043 ¦ English ¦ 148 pages ¦ Date published: 2024

This publication complements existing IAEA publications and provides a methodology for evaluating the adequacy of design safety margins against external events based on the performance goals applicable to a nuclear installation. The aim is to provide procedures which can be used to assess if protection against external hazards achieved by the design corresponds to the design safety requirements established after the Fukushima Daiichi accident.

It is intended for use by regulatory bodies, designers, operating organizations, vendors, research institutes, and technical support organizations working in the area of nuclear safety.