News & Events

May 10, 2011—Events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility “have changed the industry landscape,” said Laurent Stricker, chairman of the World Association of Nuclear Operators.

And, Stricker said, WANO is changing to respond to a post-Fukushima world. For example, he anticipates a better WANO strategy for sharing operational experience and safety information among members and with such organizations as the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, Japan Nuclear Technology Institute, World Nuclear Association and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Speaking at NEI’s 2011 Nuclear Energy Assembly, Stricker said that the events in Japan have had a “profound effect” on the global nuclear landscape.

He outlined some of the actions WANO took immediately after the events in Japan, including transmitting daily situation updates to members and press releases to the public and providing Tokyo Electric Power Co., the owner of the troubled facility, with information on available member resources, equipment and supplies.

Stricker also said that WANO, as it further defines its roles and responsibilities, might add emergency preparedness as one of its core review areas and take a closer look at the safety of used fuel storage in pools or dry casks.

He listed the three core safety functions central to WANO’s information-sharing and technical support missions that are unique to nuclear energy technology: the need to manage stored energy by control of reactivity; to manage decay heat by maintaining core cooling; and to manage radiation and radioactive byproducts by containment. Failure to accomplish these missions risks the loss of public trust, he said.

—Nuclear Energy Overview