The IAEA is launching a new Coordinated Research Project (CRP) to focus on how climate change and severe weather could impact the safety of nuclear installations.
"Climate change has an important impact on the increased risk associated with weather-related hazards such as droughts, wildfires, heat waves, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes, and storm surges," said Paolo Contri, Head of the IAEA External Events Safety Section, adding that "the severity and frequency of weather-related hazards due to climate change may pose unanticipated challenges to nuclear installations."
"In relation to hazard evaluation, design, and operation at nuclear installations, it is important to focus on the most relevant safety issues affected by such hazards and corresponding protective measures at nuclear installations," he further highlighted.
In response to this issue, the new CRP that covers a period from 2024 to 2026 will focus on research on calculating hazards and the factors to ensure safety at nuclear facilities in the face of these challenges. The CRP will also investigate the resilience of new and existing nuclear infrastructures to climate-related extreme scenarios.
"The impact of climate change on relevant weather-related hazards will be analysed as part of the research effort through collection and comparison of national practices and assessment of available simulation tools," Contri said.
In the case of flooding vulnerability at river and coastal sites, this CRP will include a benchmark study to analyse selected cases for hazard assessment and adaptation/resilience to extreme weather conditions. Mitigation measures deployable by plant operating organisations will be carefully analysed to provide guidance to countries on the best provisions for continuous control of the safety margin of their installations through improved monitoring, alert control, reinforced protection, and suitable operator action.
The overall CRP objective is to enhance the capability and expertise of countries in evaluating the potential impact of climate change on weather-related hazard analysis for nuclear installations and developing suitable preparedness for pre and post event actions aimed at controlling the relevant risk.
The specific research objectives are:
- to identify the methodical differences in the current countries practices for including climate projections in hazard estimates;
- to perform a benchmarking hazard analysis on the case studies, considering the uncertainty in climate change projections and comparison of the results to understand the differences;
- to develop high level recommendations on the impact of climate change on the meteorological and hydrological hazards, with the intent of capturing best practices and lessons learned from the benchmark analysis;
- to harmonize the guidance given on on-site monitoring and warning systems, pre- and post-event actions, and adaptation measures;
- to train early-career engineers and scientists and establish opportunities for PhD dissertations from embarking countries.
How to join this CRP:
