Regulatory Assessment of Integrated Safety Reviews for Nuclear Plants Refurbishment

Abstract

An Integrated Safety Review (ISR) is initiated when a licensee intends to refurbish a nuclear installation for the purpose of extending its life beyond that originally anticipated by its design. The ISR is a systematic and comprehensive approach to determine the actual plant state; the quality of plant documentation; and reasonable and practical modifications to improve or maintain plant safety in line with current national or international codes, standards and practices. This paper presents ISR main regulatory expectations as well as the approach to perform regulatory assessments. Areas of challenge are discussed along with lessons learned from recent refurbishment projects in Canada.