Development of Russian Regulatory Basis for License Renewal/Life Extension of Nuclear Power Plants

By 2010, fifteen Russian nuclear power plant (NPP) units will reach the end of their scheduled service life of 30 years. An extension of NPP operation beyond the scheduled service life, which is provided for by the Russian safety standard OPB-88/97, requires a renewal of the plant operating license by the regulatory organization Gosatomnadzor (GAN). This paper presents an overview of an IAEA project aimed at assisting GAN in the development of a set of regulatory guidelines for NPP license renewal/life extension. The overview includes a description of the Russian regulatory strategy for life extension of NPPs and IAEA activities to facilitate drafting and application of the regulatory guidelines using international experience.