WANO conducts Peer Review of annual outages
WANO promotes the safety and reliability of nuclear power plants. It operates within the nuclear power industry and primarily among its members.
The abbreviation stands for World Association of Nuclear Operators. Although membership is voluntary, all the electricity-producing nuclear power companies of the world have joined WANO.
International Peer Reviews
WANO's operation is completely based on the voluntary participation of the members. Accordingly, also Peer Reviews are conducted at the invitation of the plants. 
– The Peer Reviews conducted by WANO teams are not regulatory inspections, emphasises Saku Latokartano, who acted as a coordinator between WANO and TVO during the Review. – The purpose of the Review is to observe whether safety and quality are given priority in the operation of the organisation under review. The Review focuses specifically on the organisation, not individuals. Attention is paid to the maintenance of the condition of the plant rather than to its technical features. The findings of the Peer Review team are recorded in a report, which gives the plant management a description of potential improvement areas. The Review produces an assessment of the good practices followed at the plant as well as of any development needs. – I believe that the observations made by outside reviewers opened up the eyes of also TVO's own staff and they now recognise that there is always room for improvement in all activities.
Saku Latokartano
The last Peer Review conducted in Olkiluoto before this one took place in 2006, and the follow-up meeting of the Review was organised in 2009. – There is still a lot to be learned from the development ideas listed in the Peer Review team's report, but a lot has also already been implemented in terms of development actions, practices and plant modifications, Mr. Latokartano sums up.
Attention on smooth running of annual outages
The team that conducted the Peer Review this year consisted of 13 members from several different European countries, South Korea and China. The team made observations at the plant units, conducted interviews and produced a report of their findings, identified development areas and good practices. 
TVO's own experts in various fields accompanied WANO's Peer Review team in large numbers.
This year the team focused attention particularly on annual outages. Documentation related to the outages had been sent to the team members in advance for familiarisation. – The Peer Review team considered the implementation of the annual outages to proceed smoothly, Latokartano is pleased to say. – We were glad of the opportunity to show to the Review team that we can react quickly also to changing circumstances.
Team reports findings to power plant owners
– WANO's team of experts will not give advice on how to solve any problems detected at the plant. The team members are all experts in their own fields and can make recommendations based on their experience, but due to the differences between the countries with respect to operating cultures and also regulatory provisions, practices cannot always be copied from one country to another.
Once the report is ready, it is sent to the reviewed plant, where the actions recommended in the report are utilised in the development of operations. A small review team will revisit the plant after an agreed period of time for a kind of a follow-up review of the action taken in the proposed development areas.
– Detailed review findings are confidential – they are only disclosed to the plant and WANO, Mr. Latokartano points out.
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