ENIQ European Framework on Risk Informed In-Service-Inspection

Abstract

The European Network for Inspection and Qualification (ENIQ) is a utility driven network working towards a harmonised European approach on reliable and effective in-service inspection (ISI). Its Steering Committee (SC) has one voting member for each EU member country with nuclear plants and for Switzerland. More specifically ENIQ works on qualification of ISI systems an on risk-informed in-service inspection (RI-ISI) within a European context. To reflect the latter, the SC set up a specific Task Group on Risk (TGR). The primary task for TGR was to produce a European framework document on RI-ISI, following the format of the well-established ENIQ document for qualification of NDT systems “European Methodology for Qualification, EUR 17299 EN”. The framework document for RI-ISI is a high-level document aimed at supporting utilities to implement RI-ISI and to interface with the nuclear regulators. Aim of this paper is to present the work of TGR so far and in particular the contents of the European framework document on RI-ISI, which has been recently approved for publication by ENIQ SC. It gives an overview of the philosophy behind a risk informed approach towards in service inspection and the principles of a risk informed in service inspection. It also defines how roles, responsibilities and interfaces between the different parties involved in a RI-ISI programme should be organised.