In 2014, the Council of the European Union adopted Directive 2014/87/EURATOM amending the 2009 Nuclear Safety Directive to incorporate lessons learned following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011. Recognising the importance of cooperation between regulatory authorities and the value of peer review mechanisms in delivering continuous improvement to nuclear safety, the revised Nuclear Safety Directive introduced a European system of topical peer reviews which began in 2017 and take place at least every six years thereafter.
The introduction of topical peer reviews was largely inspired by the peer review process used during the nuclear stress tests undertaken after the Fukushima accident in 2011. Unlike the stress tests, national assessments, which are subject to topical peer reviews, focus each time on different specific technical safety aspects. The first review took place from 2017 to 2018 and its topic was 'ageing management of nuclear power plants and research reactors'. The topic of the second review from 2021 to 2025 was 'fire protection at nuclear installations'.
Further information about the different aspects of topical peer reviews can be found by following the links on the left.
Factsheets on topical peer reviews (you can consult or download them):
1. Factsheet on TPRs
2. Factsheet on TPR 1
3. Factsheet on TPR II
