WANO looks to build on achievements as nuclear capacity grows
As José Gago succeeds Tom Mitchell after a six-year term as chairman, the two talk to World Nuclear News about the role of the World Association of Nuclear Operators, its achievements and its future role with numbers of nuclear energy plants set to rise sharply in the years ahead.
The association, best known as WANO, is a not-for-profit international organisation established in 1989 by the world's nuclear power operators to exchange safety knowledge and operating experience among organisations operating commercial nuclear power reactors. Its primary mission is to "maximise the safety and reliability of nuclear power plants worldwide, independent of geopolitical and national boundaries". It currently has 460 nuclear units as members, with 60 under construction.
The out-going chairman Mitchell, whose previous roles included six years as CEO at Ontario Power Generation and who was on the WANO governing board before taking up the chairman role in 2019, said that he was proud of the way the organisation, and the industry as a whole, had "remained united, remained focused on our nuclear safety mission" during his years in the role. Those years, of course, saw the massive global disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and also a war in Ukraine which included the military occupation of a nuclear power plant.
He says that even during the enforced restrictions of the pandemic there was the opportunity and time for WANO to work on a new strategic plan - "I wouldn't want to go through that period again, but I would also say I think as an organisation we effectively used the time to get ready to move on to a new operational model."
That new model has seen the "evolutionary change" to more regular interactions with members rather than mainly focusing on a full WANO peer review mission every few years. New processes are being introduced and it is planned to be totally in place by the end of the year, says Mitchell. Work is also progressing on establishing a fifth regional centre in Shanghai - to go alongside those in Atlanta, Moscow, Paris and Tokyo.
WANO's new chairman Gago, who spent 10 years as director general of Spain's Asociacion Nuclear Asco-Vandellos (ANAV), has been ANAV's governor at the WANO Paris centre since 2012. He has also been president of the Spanish Nuclear Society and a member of the Foro Nuclear board of directors.
He paid tribute to the work of his predecessor in developing the new strategy which he will be overseeing in the coming years with CEO Naoki Chigusa (who was travelling on WANO work on the day of our interview). Gago says that he would continue Mitchell's emphasis on ensuring there is no complacency among existing operators, while also increasing focus on new entrants to the nuclear sector.
The large numbers of small modular reactors being proposed suggests an obvious growth area for WANO, with the promise of novel challenges in terms of new technology or new nations entering the nuclear energy 'club'. The organisation has developed new membership categories and outreach programmes - and worked with a variety of other organisations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency - and combined with a growing programme of pre-start-up peer reviews, it aims to help ensure that any new entrants will make the switch from construction to operation of nuclear units as smoothly and safely as possible.
They both also highlight the workforce requirements of new nuclear projects, as well as the benefits of leadership programmes such as World Nuclear University, which has WANO as one of the founding partners. The WANO process of peer review visits to share good practice and advice is seen by many members as a crucial staff development opportunity, alongside secondments to WANO, Mitchell says.
The way that WANO operates - with peers from different nuclear power plants visiting other companies' plants and sharing experience and knowledge - means that discretion and trust is vital, and it tends not to have a high profile outside the industry. Mitchell says there are other organisations that advocate on behalf of the industry - who WANO has worked with on subjects like safety culture - but "we've learned that we are best if the operators have the ability to have really open, direct, conversations with each other". The question of whether to have a higher profile is one that has been had a few times during its 30-plus year history and Gago says that although he does not see a change in the future, he is sure that it is a debate which will be raised again.
Another growth area has been that relating to life extension programmes which are rolling out at a growing number of existing plants. Mitchell gives the example of there being "a huge amount of information available these days about steam generator replacements ... so some plants that have started up later are now getting to that point where it's time to do that as well" and that is where members could get in touch with their WANO regional centre who can "put you in contact with someone else who's done it to see what were the lessons learned, what worked and maybe what could have been done better".
After six years as chairman, and an involvement with WANO going back a lot further, what are Mitchell's reflections as he leaves the London-headquartered organisation? "There will always be challenges, and I don't have a crystal ball so I don't know what the next one will be, but what I can tell you is that my view is that when we have a challenge as an industry we pull together. We stay focused on nuclear safety. I think if the founders came back today they would be very proud that we have stayed focused on that and helped us deal with whatever the issue is, and quite frankly we emerge as a stronger and more united and resilient industry."
Gago also makes a point of talking about the need to focus on the safety mission and ensuring that workers in the industry do not find their crucial work being affected by what is happening outside the plant. "One of the key messages is, for the sake of nuclear safety, to protect people from the political noise so they can focus on safely and reliably operating the plants," he says.
When a nuclear power plant is scheduled to be shut down there is, unlike some industries, no room to lower safety standards, and yet there will be the same challenges of retaining crucial staff. This challenge is not helped when, as seen in some countries recently, politicians announce a plant closure and then U-turn on that decision later. Mitchell, agreeing with Gago's point, says "it's actually essential that you don't get distracted, from a human behaviour point of view, and stay focused on the fundamentals - when I was a senior executive I saw it as my job to manage the external issues" so that people operating the plant could concentrate on their jobs.
After the last six years, who knows what the next six might bring, but, as Gago puts it: "This is an amazing association, unique in the world, based on the confidentiality and self-confidence of its members, which is needed to create the openness and transparency to help each other. WANO’s mission - to maximise the safety and reliability of nuclear power plants worldwide - is as relevant today as ever."
