The World Association of Nuclear Operators (Wano) has granted equivalency to the US-based Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (Inpo) in the performance of corporate peer reviews.

The Wano governing board, meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, decided Inpo had met and, in some cases, exceeded the standards required for its reviews to be considered equivalent to those carried out by Wano, a statement said on 29 January. The two organisations have been working together since 2015 to ensure Inpo's processes for carrying out corporate reviews align with the principles followed by Wano.

The decision follows a series of observations of reviews carried out by Inpo during 2015 and 2016. As a result, it was considered that there was sufficient alignment between the two organisations for Wano to grant equivalency and to allow equivalency of Inpo reports to be backdated to 2012. Wano embarked upon the assessment of other organisations' reviews following the recommendations of the Wano Post-Fukushima Commission of 2011.

The commission recommended the frequency of peer reviews to be increased, from six to four years, and with a follow-up review after two years. It also required Wano to carry out a corporate peer review of all its member companies within six years, by the end of 2017.