Risk management at the stages of the life cycle of NPP projects

Abstract

The article discusses the issues of risk management at all stages of the life cycle of nuclear power plants. The definition and classification by types of risks that arise during the stages of the life cycle and operation of difficult objects such as nuclear power plants. Risk is anything that has the potential to affect each stage of a facility’s life cycle, performance, longevity, safety, or project budget. Thus, risk management is the process of identifying, classifying, prioritizing and planning risks. This article not only discusses the identification and classification by types of risks that arise during the construction and operation of such complex facilities as nuclear power plants, but also describes the methods for assessing and managing risks, taking into account the specifics of the construction of nuclear power facilities. There are two methods of risk assessment: quantitative and qualitative. The article describes such Quantitative methods as “Scenario Technology”, “Method - Sensitivity Analysis”, “Diagramming Technique - Tree Analysis”, as well as such Qualitative risk assessment methods as “Assessment of the probability of risk and its impact”, “Evaluation Matrix probability/risk of impact”, “Probability and impact”, “Risk classification and assessment of risk urgency. As a result of the analysis of existing risk management methods at all stages of the life cycle, the following conclusions were drawn: Risk identification can occur at any stage of the life cycle of a nuclear power plant, even after completion of construction work and delivery of the project. The maximum number of risks for all stages of the NPP life cycle should be identified at the stage of Sitting and design. The article proposes the format of the risk register table, provides a risk classification scheme, and develops a risk management flow chart at the stages of the NPP life cycle.