Nuclear Power Plant Exporter's Principles of Conduct

MHI and other reactor vendors and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace have concluded a seventh meeting to review the implementation of the Nuclear Power Plant and Reactor Exporters' Principles of Conduct (POC). The meeting was convened in London, U.K., in May 2015.

Participants welcomed the attendance of the Argentine research-reactor company, INVAP, as a new adherent to the POC and appreciated its representatives detailed briefing on how INVAP is implementing the POC. INVAP also presented an in-depth case study on the challenges encountered and lessons learned in applying POC in its work with a customer state.

Prominent experts joined vendors to discuss key developments in nuclear safety and security, and international efforts in preparing nuclear entrant countries in establishing the necessary infrastructure and safety culture, and lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear accident. Guests included:

Ken Ellis, CEO of the World Association of Nuclear Operators;
Roger Howsley, executive director of the World Institute for Nuclear Security;
Andre-Claude Lacoste, expert for NuPoC, former chairman of the French Nuclear Safety Authority, and president of the sixth review meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS); and Jukka Laaksonen, vice chairman of INSAG, former director general of STUK.
Participants concluded the meeting affirming that extensive efforts will be made to reinvigorate NuPoC together with all the adopting vendors, and with the support of experts and Carnegie. Vendors once more underlined the value of the POC and will finalize a meaningful way forward for NuPoC at the next meeting in January 2016.

NuPoC official press release :
http://nuclearprinciples.org/pressrelease/

SEOUL--The participating nuclear exporting companies and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (customarily chairing the meeting) have concluded a sixth meeting to review the implementation of NuPoC. These unprecedented Principles establish clear voluntary guidelines for negotiating export contracts, designing facilities and engaging customers. NuPoC creates common high standards of practice in the areas of safety, security, nonproliferation, environmental protection, ethics, and liability insurance. Together, they represent a voluntary industry code of conduct that complements and often exceeds national laws and regulations, thus raising the bar globally on the standards of responsible nuclear conduct.

NuPoC's secretariat, with the local support of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), convened the meeting in Seoul on October 21 and 22, 2014. Participants were welcomed by Hee-Yong Lee, executive vice president and chief nuclear officer of KEPCO, who gave a presentation on the second day of the meeting on lessons learned and best practices from KEPCO's general experiences in an overseas project.

In keeping with the spirit of having an open process that welcomes the participation of all relevant designers and exporters of nuclear facilities, participants welcomed the adoption by INVAP, a leading vendor of nuclear facilities, based in Argentina. Vendors changed the initiative's name to "The Nuclear Power Plant and Reactor Exporters' Principles of Conduct" to reflect its broadening scope. Vendors reported on activities undertaken to educate their customers about NuPoC and took additional steps to ease further entry of new adopting companies in NuPoC.

As a reflection of Vendors' common interest in promoting safety and security within the nuclear industry, active and retired regulators are customarily invited to participate in NuPoC's meetings. In this meeting, André-Claude Lacoste, chairman of the sixth review meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS) and expert for the Principles of Conduct process, discussed the recommendations from the CNS sixth review meeting. Vendors also welcomed Yoon-Won Park, former president of the Korean Institute for Nuclear Safety and professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Together, and in the spirit of continuous improvement, they underscored the importance of identifying and implementing appropriate safety improvements at existing nuclear power plants.

Vendors acknowledged that the prime responsibility for safe operation rests with operators. Updating Principle 1, they expressed their eagerness to learn from operating experience and seek continuous safety improvements to the existing nuclear power plants they have supplied. Vendors committed to integrating essential safety enhancements in their future nuclear power plant designs. Vendors look forward to discussing these important matters with the World Association of Nuclear Operators and leading regulators at their next meeting.

Welcoming continuing dialogue with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and in response to its suggestion, Vendors updated Principle 2 to better reflect the application of the Principles to cyber-security matters. To facilitate implementation, Vendors agreed that from now on updates of the Principles will routinely go into effect every January first of the new year. Vendors discussed ways in which they could take the lead to cooperate with other nuclear stakeholders, in particular operators and regulators, to advance NuPoC's spirit of nuclear responsibility culture worldwide. In addition, Vendors agreed to step up their outreach to nuclear engineering schools and other post-graduate level institutions of higher education, to encourage them to expand their curriculum to include NuPoC as an example of an industry led corporate social responsibility initiative and best practice.

Meeting participants updated each other on their implementation activities and shared best practices in the areas of employee education, management engagement, and sustaining continuous support for NuPoC at all levels within companies. Vendors underscored the importance of the integrity of the supply chain to the safety of the nuclear power plants they export. To that effect Vendors discussed the importance of deeper engagement with suppliers, in particular in their quality assurance programs.

Vendors continue to strengthen NuPoC as an important forum where vendors can share experiences and insights in addressing challenges in implementing the Principles, to benefit the public interest. A digest of these insights will be made publicly available in coming weeks on the initiative's website (www.nuclearprinciples.org). Several Vendors individually presented generic case studies reflecting on the kind of challenges they experience in the implementation of the Principles, including in nuclear newcomer countries, and ways in which these challenges could be overcome in different settings. In the context of Principle 5, Professor ManSung Yim, head of the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at KAIST, discussed his research regarding the relationship between nonproliferation and nuclear energy.

The participating companies are scheduled to meet again in May 2015.

BRUSSELS--The participating nuclear exporting companies and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace have concluded a fifth meeting to review the implementation of the Nuclear Power Plant Exporters' Principles of Conduct. The Principles of Conduct constitute an industry code of conduct articulating and consolidating recommended best practices in the export of nuclear power plants. The Principles of Conduct secretariat, in cooperation with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, convened the meeting in Brussels on March 5 and 6.

Meeting participants updated each other on their implementation activities and shared best practices. The Principles of Conduct were updated to include a reference to cybersecurity concerns as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Nuclear Security Recommendations on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Nuclear Facilities. Participants agreed to establish a compendium of useful resources that touches upon the issues raised in the Principles.

To enhance the credibility and value proposition of the Principles of Conduct, the companies identified steps their senior management teams could take to strengthen the effectiveness of outreach and engagement with key stakeholders. They affirmed the importance of the Principles of Conduct as a critical element in their interaction with potential customers and customer states, as well as with other nuclear stakeholders.

Andre Claude Lacoste, chairman of the upcoming review meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS), briefed participants on issues related to that meeting. Participants underscored the importance they attach to active participation in the convention. The secretariat will communicate to the chairman of the 2014 CNS review meeting and the IAEA director general the participants' support for recommendations to further enhance the safety objectives for nuclear power plants.

As part of the companies' review of the principles and ground rules they adopted the motto of "Doing it right!" to capture the spirit of the Principles of Conduct.

The participating companies are scheduled to meet again in October.

TORONTO-The participating industry civilian nuclear power plant vendors and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace have concluded a fourth meeting to review the implementation of the Nuclear Power Plant Exporters' Principles of Conduct (POC). The POC constitute an industry code of conduct articulating and consolidating recommended best practices in the export of nuclear power plants. The meeting was convened in Toronto, Canada, on September 25 and 26, 2013, by the POC secretariat with the gracious local support of Candu Energy and Bruce Power. It was chaired by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Meeting participants updated each other on their implementation activities and shared best practices. Companies noted the high quality of the presentations and the benefits of building on each other's most innovative internal implementation experiences. They welcomed the steady progress made by all vendors, including those that have either recently joined the process or gone through a corporate transition.

Participants confirmed the value of the POC and discussed a number of ideas for advancing their objectives and strengthening the mechanisms through which those objectives can be achieved. They exchanged views on existing efforts to implement the POC and discussed guidelines and procedures for enhancing their effective implementation.

In recognition of vendors' commitment to upholding the highest standards of nuclear safety, Principle 1 was modified to include a reference to the World Association for Nuclear Operators (WANO) principles "Healthy Traits of a Nuclear Safety Culture." This document was shared with vendors by WANO as part of its long-standing dialogue with the POC.

Companies discussed key developments in nuclear regulation and best practices with internationally recognized experts in the fields of nuclear industry and nuclear energy regulation. Guests included:

• Michael Binder, president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
• André-Claude Lacoste, expert on the POC process, former chairman of the French Nuclear Safety Authority, and chairman of the sixth review meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety
• Richard Meserve, expert on the POC process, chairman of the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group, and former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

These experts lauded the POC's role in reinforcing high standards in the development of nuclear power. They offered concrete suggestions for advancing the POC process and broadening its scope in support of public safety. These suggestions were extensively discussed by participants and will be considered again at the next review meeting.

Participants were also joined by Duncan Hawthorne, CEO of Bruce Power and president of WANO, to reflect on some of the challenges currently facing the nuclear industry and ways in which these can be addressed. Frank Saunders, an expert on the POC process and vice president of Bruce Power, also joined. Roger Howsley, executive director of the World Institute for Nuclear Security, briefed companies on the institute's key projects.

The world's leading civilian nuclear power plant vendors have successfully concluded a third meeting to review the implementation of the Nuclear Power Plant Exporters' Principles of Conduct. Participants also met with the managing director of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), George Felgate, to discuss possible synergies between WANO and the participating vendors in the promotion of nuclear safety.

The meeting was convened in Tokyo, Japan, January 15-16, 2013 by the Principles of Conduct Secretariat in cooperation with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and with local assistance from Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Toshiba. The participating companies will meet again in Toronto, Canada in September 2013.

The world's leading civilian nuclear power plant vendors have concluded a second meeting to review implementation of the Nuclear Power Plant Exporters' Principles of Conduct. Participants in the meeting underscored the importance of encouraging the global nuclear industry to embrace the Principles of Conduct and their effective implementation.

The participating companies welcomed Rusatom Overseas' announcement that it has adopted the Principles of Conduct as the successor company to Atomstroyexport. They also welcomed Babcock & Wilcox as the first new adopter of the Principles since their public announcement in September 2011. The participants approved a set of updated ground rules for the Principles of Conduct. The Secretariat will release a summary report summarizing implementation experiences in the coming weeks.

In recognition of the ongoing international effort to assess the causes and consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident, companies updated the Principles of Conduct text to reflect the importance of severe accident management and emergency response requirements. The companies also modified Principle 2.6 to reference the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (a vital instrument for global nuclear security) and updated Principle 6: Ethics - to discourage conflicts of interest.

Reflecting their commitment to implementation of the Principles of Conduct most of the companies expanded the practice of presenting their internal programs, discussed their outreach efforts, shared best practices, and considered other ways to enhance their effectiveness. Participants discussed engaging emerging players in the nuclear industry, in particular vendors of small and non-power-generating reactors. They have engaged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) and welcome their possible attendance at future meetings.

The meeting was convened in Pittsburgh in the United States by the Principles of Conduct secretariat in cooperation with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The secretariat, the Carnegie Endowment, and all participants expressed their deep appreciation to the Westinghouse Electric Company for its role in supporting the Secretariat in organizing the meeting. The participating companies will meet again in January 2013.

December 13, 2011-MOSCOW-The world's leading civilian nuclear power plant vendors and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace have successfully concluded the first implementation review of the Nuclear Power Plant Exporters' Principles of Conduct initiative, just three months after its launch.

In the meeting, the companies agreed to create a secretariat to facilitate regular communication among the participating vendors between review meetings, facilitate communication with the general public, plan review meetings, collect updates on implementation issues, and operate as a depository and clearinghouse of information for the process. Participants at the two-day meeting also reflected on the initial implementation of the Principles, including reactions to the public announcement, the companies' individual implementation experiences thus far, and the future course of this process.

Developed over three years, the Principles reflect a truly global initiative to promote best practices in the exportation of nuclear power plants, including to those countries with an emerging interest in developing civilian nuclear energy. The Carnegie Endowment, in collaboration with participating company Atomstroyexport, hosted the first review meeting December 7 and 8 at the Carnegie Moscow Center.

The companies agreed to hold periodic review meetings during which they would update each other and the secretariat on their progress in implementing the Principles, share and consider existing and evolving industry best practices, and review and modify the Principles as appropriate. In addition to periodically reviewing the document and its implementation, the companies have also undertaken to expand their outreach efforts to other stakeholders in the nuclear energy sector with the aim of promoting similar norms of responsible conduct across the industry.

The secretariat will gradually assume responsibilities for the day-to-day coordination of the initiative from the Carnegie Endowment, which facilitated the development of the initiative.

The Carnegie Endowment and all of the participating vendors expressed their deep appreciation for Atomstroyexport's role in hosting the first review meeting.

"I am delighted that the vendors have begun the implementation process and have created a secretariat that will work under the auspices of the Carnegie Endowment to coordinate this process. We have facilitated the growth of this process from its infancy and it gives me great pleasure to see it evolving," said George Perkovich, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment. At the request of the companies, the Carnegie Endowment will remain as an advisor to the process moving forward.

The participants will conduct follow-up review meetings periodically and will meet again in six months, at which time more information on the structure and functions of the secretariat will be released.

Participating companies include:

AREVA
Atomstroyexport
Candu Energy
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy
Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy
Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO)
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (including Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems, a subsidiary)
Toshiba
Westinghouse Electric Company
ATMEA (an AREVA-Mitsubishi joint venture)