Nuclear executives meet in London with WANO leaders

Over the past two weeks, nuclear utility CEOs and senior executives met with WANO leaders for high-level meetings in London.

The main purpose was to consider how WANO should change to meet the growing demands of an expanding nuclear utility industry. New plants are being built, and the useful lives of existing plants are being extended. A new generation of reactor technology is being developed, and a new generation of nuclear workforce is assuming leadership positions.

'WANO must be ready to meet the challenges posed by the changing nuclear landscape,' said George Felgate, WANO Managing Director. 'For nuclear to fulfil its promise, safety must remain the overriding priority for new and existing nuclear units across the world.'

Laurent Stricker, WANO Chairman told the meetings: 'WANO must keep pace with the many industry changes that are occurring. I am absolutely convinced that a strong WANO is vital to preserve the nuclear option for the future.'

'Bringing together small groups of utility CEOs is similar to the process used 20 years ago to create WANO,' explained George Felgate. 'The current round of meetings will lead to changes we plan to announce at WANO's Biennial General Meeting to be held in India in early 2010.'

For more information, contact George Felgate, Managing Director at the WANO Coordinating Centre in London. Telephone +44 (0) 20 7478 9200.
 

Note for Editors

About WANO

The World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) was formed in 1989, in response to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, to improve safety at every nuclear power plant in the world.

WANO's mission is to maximise the safety and reliability of the operation of nuclear power plants by exchanging information and encouraging communication, comparison and emulation amongst its members.

WANO unites all the companies in the world that operate a commercial nuclear power plant. Membership includes the operating companies of 447 nuclear plants in over 30 countries. It is a truly international organisation, cutting across political barriers and interests.

WANO is an association set up purely to help its members achieve the highest practicable levels of operational safety, by giving them access to the wealth of operating experience from the worldwide nuclear community. WANO is non-profit making and has no commercial ties. It is not a regulatory body and has no direct association with governments. WANO has no interests other than nuclear safety.

WANO’s work is achieved through four complementary programmes:

• peer reviews – in addition to each plant’s ongoing critical self-assessments, WANO provides an independent team of professionals to examine plant safety. WANO now performs more than 30 peer reviews each year.

• operating experience – event reports from nuclear power plants worldwide are collected by WANO. The lessons learned are passed on to every nuclear plant in a series of reports and an on-line operating experience database.

• professional and technical development – an information exchange forum is provided through workshops, seminars, expert meetings and training courses. WANO conducts approximately 20 such courses and workshops each year.

• technical support and exchange – WANO now conducts over 200 technical support missions each year, where a group of highly qualified peers visits a plant to solve a specific issue.