Long term operation of nuclear power plants – IAEA SALTO peer review service and its results

•SALTO peer review service is designed for reviewing of ageing management and NPPs’ preparedness LTO.•It has been established as an effective tool to review the compliance with IAEA safety standards.•The important issues for safe LTO are being identified by SALTO missions.•Analysis of those issues is provided in the paper.•This peer review service is strongly recommended for NPPs prior to entering LTO period.

This paper presents main IAEA activities for safe long term operation (LTO) which includes establishment of IAEA Safety Standards and other LTO related documents, fostering information exchange and establishing databases and provision of SALTO (Safety Aspects of Long Term Operation) peer review service. This paper provides insights into IAEA SALTO peer review service objectives, scope and methodology. The SALTO peer review service was designed to assist nuclear power plant (NPP) operators in adopting a proper approach to LTO of their plants and in implementing complete and appropriate activities to ensure that plant safety will be maintained during the LTO period. The SALTO peer review service can also support regulators in establishing or improving regulatory and licensing strategies for LTO of NPPs. Issues derived from 19 SALTO missions and 2 LTO modules of OSART (Operational Safety Review Team) missions conducted during the period of 2005 to March 2014 are also analyzed in this paper.