Safety Research Needs for Russian Designed Reactors The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency co operates with both the central and eastern European countries and the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union in planning and executing safety research programmes. The purpose is to build up know how and capabilities in safety technology pertaining to their nuclear power plants. In this report senior safety experts from Russia and Western countries review the nuclear safety research needed to improve the safety of Russian designed nuclear power reactors. They have selected a number of important research topics to which priority should be given. They have also identified nuclear safety research topics that would benefit from a collaborative effort between eastern and western nuclear safety researchers.