Workshop AEN FRAME: Future Research for Accident Management Enhancement in operating and future reactors, informed by Fukushima Daiichi insights – Argonne, September 26-27, 2024

On September 26-27, 2024, IRSN’s Director General Jean-Christophe Niel participated in Argonne (Illinois - USA) in the NEA’s workshop dedicated to the “Future Research for Accident Management Enhancement in operating and future reactors, informed by Fukushima Daiichi insights”.

This workshop provided nuclear safety regulators, industry and research organizations with the opportunity to share their views on how the Fukushima-Daiichi accident has been used to inform accident management approaches for operating and future reactors, and on remaining potentials for their enhancement.

It will be also a forum where regulators, industry and research operating agents will share views on potentials for future collaborative research.

Jean-Christophe Niel underlined the large efforts which have been done since the Fukushima-Daichii accident to consolidate severe accident management and mitigation for French NPPs. He mentioned the strong involvement of IRSN in OECD/ NEA’s research projects, which constitute a unique platform for safety research experimentations.

He brought out also the necessity to maintain, replace or evolve existing experimental facilities, and certainly build new ones.

Finally, he mentioned that all new challenges won’t be addressed without involving the international community and all stakeholders, from regulators to operators and designers. Especially maybe the biggest one: in the coming decades, to develop skills and competencies, and train many young professionals to the nuclear field, taking into account innovative and disruptive technologies.”