Eastern European nuclear power plant standards

The nuclear power plants designed and constructed under the regime of the former Soviet Union are an essential source of power within both the Russian Federation and the emergent democratic countries of central and eastern Europe. The beginning of ´glasnost´ opened up pathways to allow practical measures to be taken to enhance the safety standards of Soviet designed reactors. Ensuring that these reactors are operated or dismantled to meet accepted safety standards for nuclear technology is both a challenging task for these countries and for the expert assistance being made available from western countries. In this context the author discusses the work of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) is a utility organisation solely concerned with the operational safety of nuclear power plants (NPP) throughout the world. WANOs sole aim is to bring about technical assistance to allow the enhancement of an NPP by providing a mechanism for the comprehensive exchange of information and ´knowhow´, a vital commodity for many power suppliers in the East.