Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP)

International Organizations

Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP) was established in 2006 under the OECD/NEA for national regulatory authorities to cooperate and share information on safety design reviews of new reactors with the participation of ten countries (USA, United Kingdom, China, Finland, France, South Africa, South Korea, Japan, Russian Federation, Canada). In 2014, Türkiye became a member of the MDEP and joined the design-specific "VVER working group (VVERWG)" established in 2015.

MDEP carries out its work through working groups. Working groups are established for each new reactor design to share information and collaborate on specific reactor design evaluations, construction, commissioning and early-stage operation. Working Groups are divided into two as “Design Specific (DSWG)” and “Issue Specific (ISWG)” working groups. The current groups under the title of Design-Specific reviews and evaluations, and limited to selected countries were formed as follows;

  • VVER Working Group - VVERWG (Türkiye, China, Hungary, Russian Federation)
  • Hualong Working Group - HPR1000 (Argentina, China, South Africa)

Issue-specific working groups worked on Pressure Vessel, Instrumentation and Control, and Vendor Inspection Co-operation.

EPR, AP1000, APR1400, ABWR design-specific working groups and CSWG, DICWG, VICWG issue-specific working groups within MDEP completed their work by the end of 2021, or MDEP has gone through a restructuring as it has been separated to take part in new structures within the OECD/NEA due to the fact that their work exceeds the scope of MDEP. In the new structure, Policy Group (PG) and Steering Technical Committee (STC) groups completed their work and transferred their powers to the Management Board (MB). Türkiye is represented on the MDEP MB through the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NDK) and continues to actively participate in the activities of the VVERWG.


Current Member States:

  • Argentina                                : Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN)
  • People's Republic of China: National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA)
  • Hungary                                  : Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (OAH)
  • Russian Federation              : (Rostechnadzor)
  • South Africa                           : National Nuclear Regulator (NNR)
  • Türkiye                                     : Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NDK)


For detailed information; https://www.oecd-nea.org/mdep/