Reliability requirements and use of risk applications for the reliability program in Canadian nuclear power plants

Reliable systems and components are essential for the safe operation of a nuclear power plant. In the regulatory framework, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has set out the requirements and guidance for the implementation of a reliability program for a nuclear power plant in Canada. The reliability program is part of "Fitness for Service" which is one of fourteen Safety and Control Areas (SCAs) used by CNSC for setting out requirements and compliance verification. This paper covers the CNSC requirements and guidance for the reliability program for nuclear power plants. It also outlines the risk informed approach which is recommended by the CNSC, such as identification of systems which are subject to the reliability program and in setting reliability targets for the identified systems. In addition to the reporting requirements, the CNSC verification process including regulatory review and inspection, and some examples of the risk applications that the Canadian licensees perform using Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) for the reliability program will be discussed in the paper.