A general understanding of the various designs of NPPs available like the boiling water reactor, the pressurized water reactor and the pressurized heavy water reactor needs to be obtained by national experts initially. This would help them appreciate the characteristics of each design in respect of capital cost, construction time, operability, safety, integration of the NPP in the electricity grid, requirement of manpower for operation, fuel require­ments and management of spent fuel and radioactive waste arising from operation. This understanding will enable them to have a proper interaction with prospective reactor vendors and help in the selection of the first NPP to be installed. It will also help them in explaining the justification for start­ing the nuclear power programme in the country to the public and the media.

After the decision on the NPP to be installed is made, a detailed study of the design must be done by the personnel in the operating organization, the regulatory body and the technical support organizations. It is extremely important to obtain a sound understanding of the design, not only for the operation of the NPP but also for the safety reviews to be conducted by the regulatory body before the various licensing stages of the NPP, viz. construction, commissioning and operation. Subsequently this understand­ing will be of great help in the effective and efficient regulation of the NPP during its operational lifetime. The construction group personnel should also learn the basic design of the NPP so as to be able to clearly understand and appreciate the need for maintaining high quality standards during construction.

During the review of the preliminary safety analysis report of the NPP design by the regulatory body, a number of questions will be raised and several clarifications will have to be obtained. In order to ensure that the queries are pertinent and focused, the regulatory body must have a good understanding of the design. In the absence of such understanding many trivial issues may get overemphasized that will result in loss of valuable time and the real issues getting eclipsed. It may also create a strained rela­tionship between the regulatory body and the operating organization, leading to generation of a tendency in the operating organization to hide information or to submit only the minimum required information. Such tendencies may undermine the very purpose of conducting the safety reviews. Mutual trust and professional respect between the operating organization and the regulatory body are essential for the proper and smooth conduct of the licensing process.

On the part of the operating organization it is essential that they ‘own’ the design such that the need for referring questions to the reactor designer is minimized. This is possible only when the design and the design basis are well understood and well appreciated by the operating organization. Such understanding of the design is possible only through an elaborate training of the operating organization as well as the regulatory body personnel that needs to be arranged by the NPP vendor. The training should also include hands-on operation training in a NPP of a similar design and the operating experience feedback from NPPs of similar design as also the applicable experience from NPPs of other designs.

The understanding of the design should be further improved during the commissioning of the NPP as this stage provides a unique opportunity for obtaining deeper insights of the design during testing of individual compo­nents and the integrated testing of systems. A sound understanding of the NPP design so developed will not only make the safety review process more effective and efficient but also be invaluable during the longer-term opera­tion of the NPP.