Add new comment

        The siting and licensing of a nuclear power plant is a lengthy, complicated and expensive process. In the U.S. it can take up to ten years to make all the preparations necessary for the construction of a nuclear power plant. Each nation that utilizes nuclear power has its own licensing process although there has been work on standardizing the process across the globe.
        Nuclear power reactors around the world are being modernized and having their licenses lifetimes extended. Now, more than ever, it is critical than ever for the nuclear industry to be able to utilize and rely on standard high-quality components being used in other industries that required a high level of safety and reliability. Finland has a well-deserved reputation for high safety standards and continuous improvement in nuclear power plant safety and efficiency. Currently, Finland is trying to streamline the process of nuclear licensing.
       Finland’s nuclear industry as well as other related companies in European countries are intent on creating an efficient and reliable supply chain of structures, systems and components that can be used to maintain and modernize their nuclear reactor fleets. They also believe that the long and difficult licensing process for nuclear power reactors and their components needs to be made more efficient. They want to retain their current high level of safety and efficiency in the nuclear industry while making the licensing process more efficient, shorter and less expensive. A three-stage solution has been proposed with the name KELPO.
       The first phase would involve a change to the scope of supervision. Authority supervision will be concentrated on higher safety classes and on plant and system levels. The license holder’s responsibility would focus more on the equipment level in the lower safety classes.
       The second phase would reduce the overlap between the work done by separate license holders while cooperation between license holders would be supported. National approvals would be introduced in the Finnish nuclear industry.
       The third phase would introduce new methods to change practices in the nuclear industry so that they would be closer to practices on other industries. The requirements for equipment suppliers and manufactures would be clarified. Methods and standards similar to those in other industries would be utilized.
       Pilot projects are being planned to test out the new methods which will be developed and placed in practices with cooperation between the license holders and the Finnish regulatory agency STUK. A pilot project for dealing with the licensing and qualification of mechanical equipment is already in operation. Similar projects involving electrical and information and control equipment are scheduled to begin soon. These pilot projects will help identify needed changes to the methods, legislation, regulation and existing practices.
       The Finns also intend to share the results of their program with other European nations. Initiatives similar to the KELPO project are being developed in other European countries. FORATOM, the European nuclear trade association in assisting in these projects. These new programs to streamline the nuclear licensing process are also aimed at making it easier to license and construct the new small modular reactors (SMR) that are under development. One important goal is to standardize licensing across multiple nations to enable components for the new SMRs to be licensed and built in several different countries before final assembly.