SUMMARYWater Cooled Reactors have been the keystone of the nuclear industry in the 20th century. Many projections forecast significant growth in the use of nuclear energy both in countries currently taking advantage of it and in countries considering its use for the first time. As we look into the future with the development of advanced and innovative reactor designs and fuel cycles, it seems clear that Water Cooled Reactors will also play an important role in this future. These interests have motivated both countries with existing nuclear programmes and newcomer countries to consider the construction of new nuclear power plants, taking into account the desire to build capacity in terms of human resources, energy planning, regulatory capabilities and other infrastructure. Many of these new nuclear power plants will be Water Cooled Reactors. Great attention is also directed toward making new plants simpler to operate, inspect, and maintain, thus increasing their safety and overall cost effectiveness. To support the future role of Water Cooled Reactors, substantial design and development programmes are underway in a number of Member States to incorporate additional technology improvements into advanced nuclear power plant concepts. A systematic approach and the experience of many years of successful operation have allowed designers to focus their efforts on developing more efficient, more reliable and safer designs, and to optimize plant availability and reduce cost through simpler operation and improved maintenance programs. This approach has also been successfully used for the optimization of all aspects of operation in currently operating plants, as their efficient and safe operation is a key factor in assuring that nuclear power will meet both the current and the future energy needs. The most recent IAEA International Conference on Water Cooled Reactors related issues took place in 1998, and given the new trends and forecasts, it seemed appropriate to organize a new one to compile a more accurate picture of the current worldwide situation and prospects. In response to this request, the IAEA International Conference on Opportunities and Challenges for Water Cooled Reactors in the 21st Century was organized from 27 to 30 October 2009 at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. This international conference sought to be all-inclusive, bringing together the policy, economic and technical decision-makers and the stakeholders in the nuclear industry such as operators, suppliers, engineers, researchers, educators, managers, government officials and regulators. A total of 132 papers were presented during this conference, including eighteen keynote lectures. Sixty six papers were presented orally, and the remaining papers were displayed during the conference as poster presentations. The eighteen high level keynote speakers covered a broad range of topics from current nuclear power outlook to advanced applications of Water Cooled Reactors. More than 260 participants were registered, representing 54 Member States and 4 international organizations. This conference is significantly larger than previous conferences in this area, a clear indication of the growing importance of this topic. This conference has considerably exceeded the initial expectations with regards to not only the number of participants, but most importantly the broad range of topics and contributors. The conference included six plenary sessions where the eighteen keynote speakers delivered invited lectures on various aspects related to the followings topics:
Panel discussions on two different topics were also held during the conference. The topics discussed were:
The 66 oral papers were presented in fifteen parallel technical sessions categorized into the following seven topics:
In addition, 15 companies participated in the technical exhibitions. As main suppliers, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) from Canada, Areva-NP from France, Hitachi-General Electric (H/GE), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Toshiba from Japan, Gidropress from the Russian Federation, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corporation (KHNP) from the Republic of Korea, and Westinghouse from the United States America (USA) displayed their advanced nuclear reactor design concepts. Similarly, the design and engineering support companies Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation (AMS) and NUScale Power from the United States America (USA), the Center of Material Science and Lifetime Management Limited (CMSLM) from the Russian Federation, the Institute for Nuclear Technology (INETEC) from Croatia, and FBNR from Brazil also showcased their technologies. Two international organizations, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP) from EC also introduced their activities. The conference demonstrated the value of an open exchange of information between experts from different countries and different organizations. The presentations covered a wide range of subjects including the challenges and opportunities encountered when starting or expanding a nuclear power programme, very specific solutions applicable to existing nuclear plants for rector pressure vessel integrity, material degradation, ageing management, non destructive examination methods and tools used in various stages of plant life management programmes, as well as advanced Water Cooled Reactor concepts and associated technologies and innovative applications of Water Cooled Reactors. The conference contributed to the worldwide exchange of lessons learned from our operational and regulatory experiences, and this sharing is expected to play a critical role in ensuring the success of future nuclear power development and deployment around the world. Also, some of the discussions had during the conference provided guidance for Water Cooled Reactors to evolve and adapt to meet the needs of the future, and to become the bridge towards promising future nuclear technologies that are not commercially feasible quite yet, such as Fast Breeder Reactors. The following summary of presentations is drawn from an analysis of the presentations and discussions during above sessions:
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