Czech Republic Leads EU Project to Assess Application of Commercial-Grade Items in VVER Nuclear Power Plants

The Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB) has launched a two-year EU project focused on assessment methodologies for the application of high-quality commercial-grade items in nuclear power plants equipped with VVER reactors. The project aims to establish a unified, expert-judgment-based evaluation process that provides methodological support for nuclear facilities when introducing relevant items, while ensuring that nuclear safety requirements are not compromised.

As the nuclear power supply chain landscape evolves, certain plant-specific components may face the need to be replaced by commercial-grade products. In response, regulatory authorities need to establish clear rules to review the suitability, quality assurance, and safety implications of substitute items. The project will focus on evaluating the processes and procedures adopted by nuclear facilities when introducing commercial-grade items, rather than individual products themselves.

The project is coordinated by the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety, with participants including the Slovak Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ÚJD), the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA), the National Radiation Protection Institute (SÚRO vvi), and the Slovak company VUJE a.s.

The project is titled "Acceptance Methodology for Commercial-Grade Items," with project number 4500174634 and a total budget of EUR 345,363. Of this amount, 90% is funded by the European Union, with resources drawn from the program "Supporting the Coordinated Response of National Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authorities to New Challenges in the Nuclear Energy Sector — Diversification of Critical Technologies and Spare Parts Supply." The project will be implemented starting in July 2026, with a duration of two years.