Zdenka Palajova
A.8 Nuclear Safety and Security Coordination Unit zdenka.palajova@ec.europa.eu
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

• Mission of the JRC
• Structure of the JRC
• JRC activities
• Nuclear activities at the JRC
• Synergies between Safety and Security
• Generation IV nuclear energy systems
• Emergency preparedness
• Measurement systems and particle analysis techniques
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

… is to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies.
As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Union.
Close to the policy-making process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being independent of special interests, whether private or national.
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

IET – Petten Netherlands
- Institute for Energy and Transport t
IRMM - Geel Belgium
- Institute for Reference Materials and
Measurements t t
ITU Karlsruhe Germany and Ispra Italy
- Institute for Transuranium elements
IPSC - IES - IHCP - Ispra Italy
- Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen
- Institute for Environment and Sustainability
- Institute for Health and Consumer Protection
-
IPTS - Seville Spain
Institute for Prospective Technological Studies
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power
Staff: 3000 (about 25% nuclear)
12 June 2013, Preston

• Helping to fix pollution emission standards
• Harmonising measurements of GMOs
• Validating new methods alternative to animal testing
• Preventing nuclear trafficking
• Developing safe, secure and ecofriendly building standards
• Improving testing for safer food and feed
• Testing the safety of nano-materials
• Responding to crises and natural disasters
• Ensuring the safety and security of the nuclear fuel cycle
• Providing econometric indicators
• Monitoring business R&D spending
• Supporting enlargement
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

The nuclear activities of the JRC aim at reflecting the R&D obligations of the
Euratom Treaty and supporting both
Commission and Member States in the fields of:
• safeguards and non-proliferation
• safety of nuclear installations
• safety of fuel cycle
• radioactivity in the environment
• waste management
• radiation protection
The JRC has a role as a European reference for dissemination of information, training and education http://www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

Nuclear Safety: The achievement of proper operating conditions, prevention of accidents or mitigation of accident consequences, resulting in protection of workers, the public and the environment from undue radiation hazards.
Nuclear Security: The prevention and detection of, and response to, theft, sabotage, unauthorized access, illegal transfer or other malicious acts involving nuclear material, other radioactive substances or their associated facilities.
Synergies between Safety and Security at technical level:
Technologies and design architecture (GIF)
Emergency preparedness
Measurement systems and particle analysis
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

New Design Concepts-GIF
- Collaborative efforts to develop next generation of nuclear energy systems (NES)
- Advanced and new reactor systems (2030 and beyond)
- JRC coordinates EURATOM contribution to GIF
4 Goal areas for Generation IV NES:
- Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection (PR&PP)
- Safety and Reliability
- Sustainability
- Economics
Proliferation Resistance is that characteristic of an NES that impedes the diversion or undeclared production of nuclear material or misuse of technology by the Host State seeking to acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
Physical Protection (robustness) is that characteristic of an NES that impedes the theft of materials suitable for nuclear explosives or radiation dispersal devices (RDDs) and the sabotage of facilities and transportation by sub-national entities and other non-Host State adversaries.
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

New Design Concepts-GIF
Safety and Reliability -1
Generation IV nuclear energy systems operations will excel in safety and reliability.
Safety and Reliability -2
Generation IV nuclear energy systems will have a very low likelihood and degree of reactor core damage.
Safety and Reliability -3
Generation IV nuclear energy systems will eliminate the need for offsite emergency response.
PR&PP
Generation IV nuclear energy systems will increase the assurance that they are a very unattractive and the least desirable route for diversion or theft of weapons-usable materials, and provide increased physical protection against acts of terrorism.
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

New Design Concepts-GIF
Coupling between PR&PP and safety goals:
-Passive systems and structures
-Protection of nuclear material
-Human performance programs
Potential conflicts:
-Emergency response (multiple access)
-Dissemination of knowledge on protection system operation
Need for integrated consideration of safety, reliability, PR and PP
PR&PP and safety evaluation methodologies share a common paradigm.
PR&PP evaluation approach:
THREATS SYSTEM RESPONSE OUTCOMES
The safety and reliability assessment paradigm can be defined in a similar way:
ACCIDENT SYSTEM INITIATORS RESPONSE CONSEQUENCES
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

Information exchange for emergency purposes
European Community Urgent Radiological Information
Exchange
Technical implementation of the Council
Decision 87/600/Euratom on early notification and exchange of information in event of a radiological or nuclear emergency
MS promptly notify the EC and all the MS potentially affected when they intend to take counter measures in order to protect their population against the effects of a radiological or nuclear accident
ECURIE agreement - EU27 + HR and CH
Data-formats of WebECURIE and ENATOM
(IAEA's notification system) harmonized and automatic exchange of relevant notifications
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

Information exchange for emergency purposes
European Radiological Data Exchange Platform
-Internationally recognized standard format for radiological data
-Network (33 European countries with > 4400 stations participating)
-Daily and hourly transmissions/ routine and emergency operation
-Currently mostly γ-dose rates
-Web-site to view and download data
-IAEA is implementing the EURDEP for its purposes at world-wide level
(IRMIS) http://eurdep.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

Synergies between
Safety and Security
JRC activities in data and information exchange for emergency purposes
WebECURIE, EURDEP
- exchange of information to facilitate decision making process
- originally designed and developed for major accidents
- also for smaller scale events (accidental or malevolent) – depends on sensitivity of the device, sampling density
Atmospheric dispersion modelling tools
JRC project for EU CBRN Action Plan
- assessment and validation of existing modelling tools that are or can be used in decision support systems following RN incidents
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

Synergies between
Safety and Security
ITRAP+10 (Illicit Trafficking Radiation Assessment
Program+10)
- JRC, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS –DNDO), IAEA
- evaluation of available radiation detection equipment relevant to nuclear security - 8 different families of equipment tested (RPM, SRPM, PRD, SPRD,
RID, GSD, NSD, PRS)
– approx. 100 instruments in total
- reference for regulatory and other MS authorities
Radiation Portal Monitors
– for trucks, containers, wagons
- operated by EU Customs in mega ports
- security (to prevent import of radioactive material by terrorist)
- safety (to detect contaminated containers from Japan after Fukushima event)
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

Synergies between
Safety and Security
Dounreay particles
– radioactive particles about 1 mm in size
- Al/U matrix fuel + K, Ca, Fe, Mg, Nd, Si, P, S, Cl (EDX)
- Isotopic composition of U, Pu
- Particles discharged 40-50 years ago
SEM picture of the U/Al particle
•
Contaminated material
- 2011 scrap metal contaminated with enriched U
(the Netherlands)
- SIMS of powdered material – mixture of particles of LEU and HEU (up to 96 mass%) (used e.g. TOPAZ) + 2 Russian fission chambers
- results communicated to MS authority and IAEA
0,4
0,3
0,2
0,6
0,5
0,1
0,0
80
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power
85 95 100 90
235 atom %
236 U vs. 235 U isotope abundances in single particles
12 June 2013, Preston

Synergies between
Safety and Security
•
 - Generation IV nuclear energy systems
 - Emergency preparedness
 - Measurement systems and particle analysis techniques
Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston

Ensuring Safety, Security and Safeguards in Nuclear Power 12 June 2013, Preston