Over the past two decades, the benefits - in overall cost and safety - of reactor design standardization have been the subject of several initiatives on the part of nuclear regulators, vendors and utilities. Today's context - of expanding nuclear new build worldwide - gives fresh urgency to creating wider understanding of the benefits to be attained and the issues at stake in attaining them.

This WNU forum, with support from the European Utilities Requirement (EUR) organization and WNA's Cooperation in Reactor Design Evaluation and Licensing (CORDEL) group, will review and analyse past initiatives, and seek to assess where further efforts should be focused in the future. The forum will cover ongoing efforts of the European Nuclear Installations Safety Standards (ENISS) initiative, the Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP) and the Western European Regulators' Association (WENRA).

Other design requirements harmonization forums should follow, in Asia and America, each focusing on specific regional issues.Who should attend

This forum will bring together nuclear professionals from all sectors relevant to the harmonization of reactor design requirements - utilities, regulators, reactor vendors, R&D and Technical Support organizations. About 70 attendees are expected, all of whom will be engaged in some aspect of nuclear new build.


Programme design

This WNU programme will build on the 2005 EUR training course and will expand to cover international safety standards and international initiatives on harmonization of regulatory requirements. Each day will focus on a specific aspect of reactor design requirements, eliciting the points of view of government agencies, regulators, utilities and primary vendors on the European scene.

The forum format is based on morning (and some afternoon) "lectures", early afternoon group working sessions (of about 10 participants each), and late afternoon plenary panel / discussion sessions.

How to apply

The application form is available on the WNU web site. The fee for this four-day residential forum will be GBP 1200 excluding VAT. This fee will cover all hotel, meals, and organization costs, but not travel expenses to and from Manchester, UK. Early registration (before May 15th) will receive a discounted rate of GBP1000 excluding VAT.