rom November 14 to 17, 2016, IRDP staff conducted a workshop on power uprates at the Offices of the State Scientific Technical Center (SSTC) in Kiev, Ukraine. The National Nuclear Safety Regulator (SNRIU), the Ukrainian nuclear regulator, requested assistance from the IRDP program on power uprate training. SNRIU was the first regulator to receive this new training course, which was developed to respond to member’s interest in power uprates. The workshop brought together participants from several sectors of the Ukrainian nuclear program: the SNRIU, the regulator’s technical support organization (SSTC), plant operators, the technical institute Energoproect and commercial entities such as Westinghouse Electric.
The workshop covered a variety of important topics including the NRC’s licensing process, U.S. experience with power uprates, and planning within Ukraine for future uprate projects. A highlight of the workshop was a set of case studies showing how specific U.S. nuclear power plants implemented each of the three types of power uprates; the challenges that were encountered by NRC and industry; and how the NRC and industry resolved these challenges.