This publication outlines the expectations to be met in the various areas of nuclear power at different stages of implementation. The intended audience are Member States and other users who have an interest in the objective of the peaceful use of nuclear power.

This publication addresses aspects of managing human resources in the nuclear field. These aspects include ensuring that individuals have the competence needed to perform their assigned tasks; organizing work effectively; anticipating human resource needs; and monitoring and continually improving performance for the entire lifecycle of nuclear facilities. The aim is to increase understanding of these aspects in IAEA Member States, including those countries embarking on a new nuclear power programme.The publication provides guidance to decision makers and senior managers responsible for the reliable supply of a competent workforce for the nuclear field, and to line managers at nuclear facilities who are responsible for the training, qualification, and performance of their personnel, as well as to human resource specialists in the nuclear field.

This publication presents the state of the art in the design approaches used to achieve defence in depth in pressurized water reactors, pressurized light water reactors, cooled heavy water moderated reactors, high temperature gas cooled reactors, sodium cooled and lead cooled fast reactors, and non-conventional designs within the small and medium sized reactors (SMRs) range. Particular attention is given to those approaches that eliminate accident initiators or prevent accident consequences by incorporating inherent and passive safety features and passive systems into the safety design concepts of such reactors. The information presented in this publication could be used for assessment studies of innovative nuclear energy systems involving SMRs, as well as in evaluating the overall technical potential of innovative SMRs in Member States.

To assure the safe, technically optimal and cost effective management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, appropriate policies and strategies are required. This publication clarifies the differences between a policy and a strategy, and provides principal advice to Member States on the typical composition, mutual links and the process of compilation of such documents. It also offers options for and indicates approaches to the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, thus enabling an effective spent fuel and radioactive waste management infrastructure to be developed.

This publication investigates the potential synergies between decommissioning and site remediation in order to allow for the implementation of both processes in an integrated and cost effective way. The publication reviews the planning procedures for, and operational constraints on, partial remediation of sites, and examines, with the aid of case studies, the advantages of integrating it with decommissioning. With a discussion of issues relevant to tackling the conceptual, management and technical problems of such a transition, this report constitutes an important resource for engineers and regulatory authorities involved in the remediation of contaminated sites.

The way in which local communities and other interested parties are engaged in dialogue about the decommissioning of nuclear facilities is likely to become an increasingly important issue as the number of decommissioning projects increases. This report identifies the broad range of stakeholders, their interests and interactions, and how these have affected actual decommissioning projects. The report takes into due account the environmental, sociopolitical, economic and cultural diversity among IAEA Member States, as well as the work of other organizations, in particular the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD/NEA). As a result, this publication presents a thorough analysis of concerns typical for stakeholders and the approaches that have been adopted to reconcile them.

This publication is intended to assist nuclear utilities in optimizing the service life of nuclear power plants. It reviews the latest research on the effects of neutron irradiation on the steels and welds of reactor pressure vessels within light water cooled and moderated reactors.

This publication will assist Member States with the formation and implementation of efficient strategies for safe and cost effective classification and disposal of nuclear wastes. By exploiting the benefits of the scaling factor (SF) method of waste characterization, waste management professionals can facilitate the processing of larger quantities of heterogeneous radioactive waste. Whereas before, the complexity of quantifying difficult-to-measure (DTM) nuclides within sealed waste packages frustrated the efficient management of their disposal, the new SF methodology exploits known quantifiable ratios of DTM to easy-to-measure (ETM) nuclides so as to facilitate radioactive waste processing. This publication contains guidance and case studies from Member States where the technique has been successfully deployed, and provides an essential and effective complement to the recently published ISO standard 21238:2007 on the same topic.

This publication describes a process for planning and conducting a project to implement digital instrumentation and control (I&C) systems in the modernization of a nuclear power plant (NPP). Many of the existing NPPs in the world are approaching, or have reached, the midpoint of their design life. At the same time, there have been tremendous advances in electronics, computers and networks. These new technologies have been incorporated into the digital I&C hardware and software currently available. Even though advanced digital I&C systems have been used extensively in many other industries, their use in the nuclear industry is still very limited. The complexity of digital I&C systems requires a comprehensive implementation plan to ensure that plant safety is maintained, and this publication presents the experience gained to date. It is intended to be of use to those involved in the design or implementation of such modernization projects.

This publication presents conclusions drawn by experts from developing countries that are considering deployment of nuclear power plants in the near term or are making projections up to 2050. It is intended to promote an early and frequent dialogue between technology users and technology holders. The timing and availability of innovative technology is an important part of future dialogues and activities that might enable user consideration of small and medium sized reactors, in addition to the larger reactors that are widely deployed today. The information presented in this publication will be useful to a number of stakeholders and decision makers as they consider the development of nuclear power plants and associated fuel cycle facilities for domestic deployment or export.

Supporting earlier IAEA publications on knowledge management, this publication proposes guidelines for the development of a knowledge portal for nuclear power plants (NPPs), and covers the main design principles and the typical content of such a knowledge portal. The information provided is based upon actual experiences of NPP operating organizations in Member States as well as of other related industries.

This publication examines the possible technological implications of retrievability when developing designs for geological nuclear waste repositories. Disposal strategies including scenarios for retrieving disposed nuclear waste have been driven by a desire to cope with or benefit from new technical advances in waste management and materials technologies, as well as changing social, economic and political conditions. In this respect, the publication analyses the concepts currently being developed by some countries for the retrieval of emplaced waste packages and any technological provisions that should be incorporated into the design, construction, operational and closure stages of the repository. It is targeted at those responsible for deep geological disposal programmes, including repository designers and decision makers.