ASME Presents at World Nuclear Association's 4th CORDEL Regional Workshop

From May 18-19, 2022, the World Nuclear Association held its 4th CORDEL Regional Workshop in Lyon, France. This workshop was the 4th in a series launched in 2016 by the World Nuclear Association’s CORDEL (Cooperation in Reactor Design Evaluation and Licensing) Working Group. May’s workshop focused on harmonization to support the operation and new build of nuclear power plants, including small modular reactors (SMRs).
 
The two-day workshop was followed by a technical tour on May 20 of two Framatome factories. Over 100 participants and representatives from industry and regulatory agencies attended, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), Nuclear Europe (formerly known as FORATOM), the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), NuScale, et. al. 
 
The workshop provided a platform for discussions revolving around the common global goal of reducing greenhouse emissions while still providing for the increasing need of power. The nuclear community has committed to the collaboration for harmonization and standardization among regulators, standards development organizations, the supply chain, and designers to achieve this goal. Many of the various ongoing efforts were reported on during this workshop.
 
The two-day workshop consisted of six topic specific sessions: International Standards & Joint Design Assessment; Safety Standards Implementation; Risk Informed Decision Making; Supply Chain; Codes and Standards; and Long-Term Operation. The overall theme was how standardization and harmonization will ultimately support the deployment of reactors, reduce overall cost, and maintain safety.
 
Key topics of discussion:

• Need for harmonization, specifically regarding terminology
• Aligning views across national regulators
• Ability to take a standard design or a reference plant and use it in your respective country to greatly increase the deployment of reactors
• Issues with supply chain

Kathryn Hyam, Director of ASME’s Nuclear Codes and Standards Department, and Kimberly Verderber, Standards & Certification Project Engineer, attended the workshop. On May 19, during the second panel session dedicated to codes and standards, Ms. Verderber gave a presentation on ASME’s standards development activities in support of SMRs and other advanced nuclear reactor designs. ASME continues to work closely with the U.S. and international nuclear energy community to serve their needs in this rapidly-emerging technology area.
 
For more information, please contact Kimberly Verderber, S&C Project Engineer, at verderberk@asme.org