Trends and Performance Monitoring

Preventing events by learning from others

The Trends and Performance Monitoring service collects, screens and analyses operating experience and performance data, providing members with lessons learnt and industry performance insight reports.

Fundamental to its success is the willingness of WANO members to openly share their operating experience and performance data for the benefit of other nuclear operators throughout the world.

An event is defined as any significant deviation from the normal expected functioning of a plant. When an event occurs, the affected plant management and staff analyse it and complete a WANO Event Report (WER), which is then sent to their WANO regional centre and posted on the members’ website. Recognition of the importance of this activity is growing and, as a result, the total number of events reported by WANO members continues to increase.

Operating Experience Reports

Significant Operating Experience Reports (SOERs)
SOERs identify the principal contributors to significant events or trends in types of events and provide recommendations that members are expected to implement to prevent similar events at their plants. WANO peer review teams evaluate the effectiveness of stations’ actions to implement these recommendations.

Significant Event Reports (SERs)
SERs are advisory documents containing in-depth analyses of significant events in order to identify the lessons learned for the benefit of other stations. Member stations are expected to review the lessons learned and take action, as applicable, to reduce the likelihood of similar incidents. Training presentations are developed to help members communicate the content of SOERs and SERs to their plant staff. Reports are available in several languages on the members’ website.

Just-in-Time Reports
These are specially formatted briefing sheets for use in pre-job briefings to prepare personnel for specific tasks. The reports highlight relevant industry operating experience, key lessons learned and questions to encourage a detailed discussion of the planned task to ensure thorough work preparation.

Hot Topics
Hot Topic reports provide summaries and highlights of adverse performance trends or specific events. These concise reports provide tools such as assessment guides for members’ use.

Performance Indicators

The WANO performance indicators collect, compare, trend and disseminate nuclear plant performance data, and support the analysis of operating experience information and emulation of best practices.

Performance Analysis: Industry Trends

Based on a thorough analysis of the WERS that have been submitted to WANO as well as other sources of information, analyses are performed to identify industry trends and to guide WANO’s supporting activities.

Member Support Missions

Member support missions provide a means for WANO members to assist each other in improving safety or reliability at an individual member’s plant. A team of peers is selected for a member support mission from WANO’s membership on the basis of their expertise in the applicable area. The team then visits the member plant to review issues either identified during the peer review, or by the plant itself, and then works closely with the member to close the gap to excellent performance.

Recent missions have covered areas as diverse as stream analysis, work management, human performance, equipment reliability, radiation protection, operations, outage management and organisational effectiveness.