Sponsored by:

Institute of Physics and Power Engineering, International Atomic Energy Agency, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Swedish International Project on Nuclear Safety, OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, Riskaudit

The Fifth International Information Exchange Forum on Safety Analysis for Nuclear Power Plants (Forum-2000), was held 16 - 20 October 1999 in Obninsk, Kaluga Region, Russia. It, was sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and was organized and conducted in cooperation with the Russian Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Swedish International Project on Nuclear Safety (SIP) and the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA-OECD).

These Transactions comprise a full set of the papers presented during Forum-2000. The papers are being made available in the form in which they were received; no attempt was made at editing or formatting. This publication is not intended to be a polished one but rather constitutes a working tool for the use of specialists in the field.

It has been particularly gratifying to note the increased interest shown by participants from operating nuclear power plants in Central and East European Countries (CEECs), in particular from Russia and Ukraine; this is demonstrated by the increased number of their presentations and by their active participation in the panel discussions. It is hoped that this interest will lead to greater technical interaction between the research/design institutes and the nuclear power plants and thereby to enhanced operational safety.

In total about 95 papers were presented. Because of this relatively large number and in view of the limited time available, part of the papers had to be presented in poster sessions. Also, a number of the papers were presented in two days of parallel sessions conducted by the International RELAP Users Group (IRUG).

It is a great pleasure to acknowledge the valuable contributions of the organizations listed above; their positive response and enthusiastic support is greatly appreciated. In this connection, a special note of appreciation for their personal involvement is due to James Reed and Jozef Misak, Project Officer and Technical Officer for IAEA, respectively and to Per Bystedt of SIP. Special thanks are also due to the staff of IPPE, in particular to Lev A. Kochetkov, Yuriy Baranayev and Boris Solovyov. Last but not least, the dedicated effort of the staffs of Argonne National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Idaho Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in preparing and conducting Forum-2000 is gratefully acknowledged.

These Forums have contributed to an improved exchange of information between organizations and individuals working in the field of nuclear safety. It is only through such personal interaction that a uniform level of nuclear safety can be attained, leading to enhanced operational safety at nuclear power plants worldwide. It is hoped that future Forums will be received with the same interest and support and will continue to contribute towards the enhancement of safety in all its aspects.

Walter F. Pasedag,
US Department of Energy,
Washington, DC, USA