A licence is a legal document issued by the regulatory body granting authorization to perform specified activities related to a nuclear power plant to a licensee who has the responsibility for safety. Chapter 20 develops nuclear power plant licensing and regulatory body and licensee related activities.

4.1.6 Development of the licensing process

The licensing process involves the granting of authorizations during all stages of the lifetime of the nuclear power plant: siting, design, construction, commissioning, operation, decommissioning and, finally, release of the site from regulatory control. This step-wise process needs to be transparent, predictable and clear, and should be in accordance with the national legal and governmental framework.

The regulator specifies the regulations, requirements and conditions for safety that are necessary during each step of the process. Compliance with these regulations, requirements and conditions is demonstrated by the licensee to the regulator, who reviews and assesses safety using clearly defined procedures. Detailed information (format and content) is specified in a time frame by the regulator in order to evaluate safety at each stage of the licensing process. The information also has to be updated regularly by the licensee, as indicated in licence conditions or regulations. The regula­tory body may also need to repeat or reaffirm its assessment in order to support its decisions. The regulatory body makes decisions on the amend­ment, renewal, suspension or revocation of a licence based on actions such as inspections, reviews and assessments, and feedback from operational performance.

There are several types of licences: for specific time periods, for specific stages in the lifetime of the plant or for an unlimited time period. In order to grant a licence, it is necessary for a regulatory decision-making process to be in place. Political decisions are completely separate from technical decisions. These decisions are considered in a logical order, particularly when several governmental bodies are involved in the process; in this case, a licensing committee is recommended in order to integrate each govern­mental body into the licensing process in a timely manner. Separate hold points are specified for certain steps in the design, manufacturing, construc­tion and commissioning processes, in order to allow verification of the results of work and to assess the preparedness to carry out the subsequent activities. The competence of licensee individuals having responsibilities for safety is verified by the regulatory body.

The early involvement of the public, in order to get public input regarding safety concerns, needs to be considered in good time by the regulator, in particular with regard to safety issues that relate to design safety require­ments and the specified site conditions. Licence conditions are additional specific obligations for safety that the regulatory body considers it is neces­sary for the licensee to meet. In general, the conditions are incorporated into a general licence, to supplement general requirements or to make them more precise. They may include safety-related aspects affecting any stage of the plant’s lifecycle: site evaluation, design, construction, commissioning,

operation and decommissioning of the nuclear installation and its subse­quent release from regulatory control. In general the licence conditions concern the establishment of technical limits and thresholds, specifying procedures and modes of operation, administrative matters, inspection and enforcement, and plant response to abnormal circumstances.

The licensing process should be transparent to the public, and a licence is published and made available to the public — taking into account security — sensitive and commercial proprietary information. Public participation in the licensing process gives interested parties an opportunity to present their views during certain steps of the licensing process.

There are two aspects that the regulatory body considers early in the licensing process: (a) approval of sites, and (b) certification of standardized plant designs. International cooperation also helps to facilitate the licensing process. Initially a pre-licensing stage could be adopted for an early regula­tory review and approval of the proposed design safety requirements for the nuclear power plant as well as the review of the key features of the new design, to identify safety issues that would require modifications, develop­ment, or additional analysis to achieve regulatory approval of the design. During the pre-licensing process and when a particular plant design is being considered, it is necessary to provide regulatory approval of the licensee organization and site-specific aspects that may have an impact on safety in the design stage; issues that need to be adequately addressed in order to achieve regulatory approval of the site and organization should be identified.

In the combined licensing process an applicant can apply for a single licence to construct, commission and operate a nuclear installation and allow the plant to begin operation. The combined licence model requires a significant amount of regulatory resources and has only a small number of hold points, e. g. fuel loading, power increase or other technical issues.

A safety analysis report (SAR) is included in each application for a licence for a nuclear power plant. The SAR is intended to describe the facility, present the design bases and the limits on plant operation, and provide a safety analysis of the plant’s structures, systems and components and of the plant as a whole. The licensing process for nuclear installations is described in an IAEA specific safety guide (IAEA, 2010b).