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What is WANO?
The World Association of Nuclear
Operators (WANO) is an organisation created to improve safety at every nuclear
power plant in the world.
Why did WANO begin?
After the accident at the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant in 1986, nuclear operators world-wide realised that the
consequences had an effect on every nuclear power plant and international
cooperation was needed to ensure that such an accident can never happen again.
WANO was formed in May 1989 by nuclear
operators world-wide uniting to exchange operating experience in a culture of
openness, so members can work together to achieve the highest possible standards
of nuclear safety.
The culture of openness allows each
operator to benefit and learn from others’ experiences, challenges and best
practice, with the ultimate goal of improving nuclear plant safety, reliability
and performance levels for the benefit of their customers throughout the world.
WANO Membership
As every organisation in the world that
operates a nuclear electricity generating plant is a member of WANO, it is a
truly international organisation, cutting across political barriers and
interests. WANO is an association set up purely to help its members achieve the
highest practicable levels of operational safety, by giving them access to the
wealth of operating experience from the world-wide nuclear community. WANO is
non profit making and has no commercial ties. It is not a regulatory body and
has no direct association with governments. WANO has no interests other than
nuclear safety.
What does WANO do?
WANO seeks to assist members through its
programmes of work;
When a WANO member participates in a
WANO activity, they know that they will have highly experienced teams of experts
from other nuclear power plants to help them improve safety and reliability at
their own power plant.
Where are we now?
Since the inaugural meeting in May 1989, WANO has worked to support each
member in their quest for ‘operational excellence’ by helping to prevent events;
minimising downturns in performance and improving overall plant operations –
thereby fulfilling the WANO mission of ‘maximising safety and reliability’. It
is recognised that safe, reliable operation will increase productivity.
How does WANO keep in touch?
WANO reports are available in printed
form and via the comprehensive secure Web site that is restricted to its
members. The Web site also allows sharing of information
WANO members report events via the secure Web site to share
experience and lessons learned. The WANO Operating Experience Central Team
reviews all member reports and prepares Significant Operating Experience Reports (SOERs) or Significant Event
Reports (SERs) and Just-in-Time briefings to address important topics.
Peer Review pages describe how peer
reviews are conducted and contain the Performance Objectives and Criteria used for peer reviews.
There are summary reports from
previously held workshops and seminars, such as ‘Conservative Decision Making’,
‘Materials’ and ‘Outage Management’.
Good Practices identify techniques,
programmes or processes that have been proven particularly effective at
improving safety and reliability and cover all the key nuclear disciplines,
including operations, maintenance, radiological protection and training. There
are also comprehensive Guidelines to help members to achieve excellent
performance across a range of activities.
Performance Indicator data for any unit
or group of units is measured by the on-line PI
reports on the Web site. The Performance Indicator programme provides a
quantitative indication of nuclear plant performance in the areas of nuclear
plant safety, reliability and personnel safety. A printed report is published
annually to show safety trends and available on this Web site.
The WANO Network Forum enables members to pose
questions via the Web site to receive responses from members at nuclear power
plants anywhere in the world.
A magazine ‘Inside WANO’ is
printed three times a year and is available on both the secure and public Web
sites.
The WANO Review is printed biennially and distributed to
members. It can be downloaded from both Web sites.
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What is
WANO?
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