Comment & People

Supply Chain / ‘We Need Consistent And Understandable Expectations, Webinar Told

By David Dalton
8 September 2021

Industry becoming more dependent on ‘new actors’
‘We Need Consistent And Understandable Expectations, Webinar Told
Peter Tuominen, chair of Foratom’s supply chain optimisation working group and vice-president of nuclear safety assurance at Finnish utility Fortum. Image courtesy Foratom.
The supply chain for the commercial nuclear power industry is facing a challenging environment with suppliers needed for new build projects and new countries, but with nuclear phaseouts affecting the sector, an online seminar was told.

Peter Tuominen told a management systems and supply chain conference organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency and Brussels-based nuclear industry group Foratom that what is common is that “we are very much dependent on a strong and robust supply chain that provides us with the technical services and solutions we need”.

Mr Tuominen, who is chair of Foratom’s supply chain optimisation working group and vice-president of nuclear safety assurance at Finnish utility Fortum, said there is an established supply chain in Europe, but the industry is becoming more and more dependent on “other actors” who are not so familiar with nuclear expectations and requirements.

“One of most important issues for industry – and it doesn’t matter if it is new build or old infrastructure – is that we need consistent and understandable expectations.”

Mr Tuominen said the industry is harmonising its approach to high quality and reliability. “We need to keep new actors on board. We also need to look at our own internal approaches and how we can fit into new business environment,” he said.

A report published by Foratom in June 2020 said the European commission should acknowledge the importance of harmonising the European nuclear supply chain and support member states in reviewing their regulatory framework to enable the use of high-quality components manufactured for other industries.

It said the industry should develop a European guideline which includes a common methodology for the acceptance of components in certain safety classified applications. Collaboration is needed between bodies such as the European Nuclear Installations Safety Standards Initiative, the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association and the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group.

The report called on EU member states and other European countries to develop national guidance for the use of high-quality industrial grade items based on common European guidelines.

In a June 2020 blog post for Foratom, Mr Tuominen said the nuclear industry’s internal processes and regulatory requirements have in some cases hindered the sector from using widely accepted and proven modern technology. This has led some suppliers to end their support for the industry, for example by abandoning their nuclear certification programmes or the supply of certain product lines.

“I am convinced that we need to further develop our industry’s internal qualification processes as well as the regulatory framework to better support the use of high-quality industrial grade items in safety classified applications,” he wrote. “Equally, we need to carefully study how we as an industry can support our supply chain and resolve obsolescence issues.”

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