Safety Case Process
The Safety Case Process Diagram identifies the key building blocks and activities required to construct a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) safety case.
Before presenting any guidance, tools or techniques that aid the development of good, high quality nuclear safety cases, it is necessary to have a common understanding of what this constitutes
It is common practice among UK licensees to produce a set of Nuclear Safety Principles (NSPs) for application in the assessment of the safety of their installations. While the specific content varies from one licensee to the next, the general intent is the same: to provide a high-level set of principles for reviewing the adequacy of their nuclear safety cases, taking due consideration of available international and regulatory guidance, such as the IAEA Fundamental Safety Principles and the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) Safety Assessment Principles (SAPs).
A key part of the Safety Case process is being able to demonstrate that the organisation has an appropriate leadership and management structure that is focused on safety, as detailed in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) leadership and management guidance (IAEA Safety Standards GSR Part 2). This is commonly referred to within the UK civil nuclear industry as ‘developing a strong nuclear safety culture’.
In order to ensure that Operating Experience (OPEX) and best practices are shared across the nuclear industry, the World Association for Nuclear Operators(WANO) publishes Significant Operating Experience Reports (SOERs).