Licensing Basis And The Regulatory Process: A Study On International Nuclear Organizations

Briefly compare and contrast the nuclear organizations discussed in the International Organizations Presentation. Discuss items such as:

• Separation between civil and military jurisdiction

• What was the drive force behind the development of nuclear technology in each respective country?
• Reporting structure
• Non-proliferation
• Advancements in nuclear technology
• Interfacing with the IAEA

From the perspective of the Japan Nuclear Regulatory Authority, answer the following:

• What impacts, and changes of the Japan Nuclear Regulatory Authority have occurred from the Fukushima nuclear accident? What oversight/inspection programs have been implemented? What is the current outlook for the nuclear industry in Japan?

After reading the summary of current events published by the IAEA (referenced in the Current Events Presentation), answer the following questions:

What types of events have been reported?

Do the accidents involve protection barriers or procedure violations?

Do any of the incidents present a risk to the public?

Is there a common thread among the accidents presented?

What are some of the recent contributions of the Chinese Atomic Energy Authority to the IAEA mission?

Using the US and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission as examples, how do the international communities comply with the IAEA safeguards and security policies?

What is the purpose and objectives of the IAEA’s IPPAS. How many missions has the IPPAS conducted and how many countries have hosted the IPPAS missions?

Investigate the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Comparison of Nuclear Organizations

The International Atomic Energy Agency is the international body of scientific and technical operations in the field of nuclear energy. It is the independent monitoring agency that regulates international nuclear regulations and laws and assists the member states for peaceful nuclear research in the context of social and economic goals.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is Canada’s nuclear regulatory body which operates the nuclear research in Canada (cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca, 2018). Its mission is to ensure non-proliferation peaceful research and abide by the IAEA standards. It ensures that its research does not contribute to nuclear armaments.

The United Kingdom’s Atomic Energy Research Establishment started in 1946 to develop defence related research in the post second world war era. However, in 1953 the British government decided to focus civil nuclear program and in 1954, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority was formed as the chief nuclear energy regulatory body of Britain (gov.uk, 2018). The prime focus of this body is to develop defence related nuclear technology and also civil nuclear research according to the IAEA standards.

The Nuclear Energy Agency is a European Nuclear body which focuses on nuclear co-operation and R&D undertakings in European countries and other backward countries beyond the European boundaries. It focuses on the enhancement of environment friendly nuclear research and reports to the IAEA.

The Commissariat of Atomic Energy is the French body which has made a significant development in the nuclear research of the country. 75% of the country’s electricity is generated from nuclear reactors which is a part of the civil nuclear research. It pursues significant scientific research in nuclear sector and utilizes it for industrial and defence purposes. The French body maintains a sustainable nuclear arsenal in accordance with the IAEA standards.

ROSTOM, the Russian body of nuclear research is one of the largest nuclear research organisations in the world. It comprises of significant nuclear armament research and civil nuclear facilities. The body consists of over 360 enterprises, which contributes to industrial and medicinal development and reports to the IAEA to maintain its standards.

The Fukushima Accident in 2011, exposed several loopholes in the Japan Nuclear Regulatory Authority. The Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) has changed and developed many of its regulations to safeguard its nuclear power and to prevent further disasters in the future. The new regulations focus on the enhancement of the preventive measures, to protect the nuclear facilities against the external hazards, by reinforcing their strengths. It focuses on the enhancement of the prevention of the damage of the nuclear core by implementing alternate measures to stabilize the core reaction. Moreover, implementation of new measures to handle severe accidents and control exposure of radiation. The alternative methods aim at reducing the radioactive exposure and reduce the mass consequences.

The NRA has developed new ‘Reactor Regulation Act’ to enhance and monitor the nuclear reactors. The new safety measures and continuous assessment for safety are primarily required for the maintenance of the safety in the reactors. The bodies running the reactors are required to maintain periodic safety review to continuously monitor the new infrastructures installed after the Fukushima Accident. 

Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Authority's Perspective

The new designs of the nuclear reactors strengthen the preventive measures and in case reduce the potential for future failures. Installation of new equipment such as generators, turbines, and pumps are the key machines which can reduce the cause of failures in the reactors. Rescue operations should be always present at different locations ensuring safe evacuation and safety shut down of the reactors from different parts to ensure minimum exposure of radioactive materials in case of future accidents. Moreover, venting systems for automatic cooling of the reactors in case of power failures to keep the core stabilized is one of the key preventive measure that has been made mandatory in the reactors. These infrastructures are the key requirements for the reactors to obtain license for their operations.

The incidents reported in the International Current Events by the IAEA are cases of recent exposures of radiation to different individuals in different nuclear facilities around the world. Most of the events are basic exposure cases in which a certain individual or a group of individuals have been exposed to certain isotopes or radiation. However, these cases do not pose any threat to the public in general.

The first incident is of March 14, 2018 where an animal keeper in Finland was exposed to radiation and was contaminated with I-131 (iaea.org, 2018). The radiation level was level 2 with no exposure to the public. No injury was reported and the incident was reported to be an isolated one. 

Similar incidents were reported on an over exposure to a radiologist in France in October 20, 2017 (iaea.org, 2018). The exposure was an isolated event. The public were not exposed to the radiation and it was not a case of procedure violation. There was no exposure beyond the facility and was reported as a minor event.

 A radiographer and an assistant were exposed to radiation in California on March 14, 2018 and a similar incident took place in Texas on April 6, 2018 (iaea.org, 2018). A few workers in Pakistan were exposed to radiation due to leakage in drain valve. All these accidents were isolated events where no IAEA rules were broken and no severe threat issues were published. The similarity in these events is that these were just minor accidents that might have occurred in any facility. They do breach any nuclear rule violation or barriers.

However, there were two incidents which though were reported to have the rating of 1 and 2 were results of not abiding by the IAEA rules. The Seismic Evaluation of Surge Tanks in France and the theft of Density Gauge in Mexico were such events (iaea.org, 2018). These cases did not pose any threat of exposure to public and no contamination had spread beyond the facilities. However, these accidents highlighted the breach of security and the degradation of the defence facilities. These incidents were the results of carelessness and unawareness.

The Chinese Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) is the prime regulatory authority of China’s nuclear research. It is responsible for upholding IAEA’s regulations in the Chinese nuclear research. It regularly monitors and reports to the IAEA about China’s standpoint on nuclear development (iaea.org, 2018). It promotes the development of the civil nuclear facilities in China. It trains and educates the local workers about nuclear facilities. It controls the nuclear exports, formulates nuclear development programs, isotope production and promotes peaceful nuclear research in China along the guidelines of the IAEA.

IAEA's Current Events Report

The National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) was formed to safeguard national safety of Chinese civilians from nuclear emergencies. It certifies the quality of imported nuclear equipment and looks over the inspection of the manufacture of nuclear facilities and equipment in China. NNSA performs these actions on the safety guidelines of the IAEA. Moreover, NNSA co-operates with foreign countries such as Japan and South Korea to develop nuclear safety and exchange information in times of nuclear emergencies. These co-ordinated safety plans makes NNSA run on the guidelines of IAEA, to promote worldwide safe nuclear research.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is one of largest bodies of nuclear research in the world. It abide by the rules of the IAEA and promotes nuclear safety not only in Canada but all over the world. The CNSC follows a nuclear non-proliferation policy which ensures the Canadian citizens that the government will enhance nuclear research only for scientific and peaceful purposes and not for building nuclear arsenal. Similarly it also takes part in the international promotion of the non-proliferation agenda.

The CNSC non-proliferation objectives assure its participation in the IAEA policies and maintaining a strict code regarding the nuclear safety in the country. It also maintains a policy of not endorsing import or manufacture of nuclear weapons using its research and development. It also monitors its nuclear exports and ensures that they maintain the IAEA standards. Canada is the second country to oblige to the comprehensive safeguards agreement of the IAEA which enables the IAEA to monitor CNSC’s policies and actions in Canada, and what type of research is being carried out. The IAEA also ensures that the nuclear facilities are used only for peaceful purposes and not for nuclear armaments. The CNSC hence co-operates with IAEA on every part to maintain nuclear safeguards.

The purpose and objective of the IAEA’s IPPAS mission is to develop the international protection system. It provides assistance to the different nations and their nuclear authorities for the better understanding of the INFCIRC/225 recommendations of the IAEA guidelines for the specific requirements of the country’s nuclear system (iaea.org, 2018). It guides on how the maintenance of the nuclear facilities should be carried out and how the nuclear equipment are to be stored and maintained. It provides technical assistance to the operators of the nuclear facilities according to the guidelines of the IAEA.

The IPPAS mission allows the staffs and operators of nuclear facilities to interact with other experienced personals so they can share knowledge about development and the safety regulations so that expert opinions can be put to good use. The objective of the IPPAS is to identify prospective features in nuclear research and development and put them to sustainable use (iaea.org, 2018). It provides opportunities to the experienced scientists of the member states to broaden their knowledge and expertise in the field by more research and development. It also has the responsibility to review the national physical protection system by the analysis of a group of experts who uses their experience for the suggestion of better development of the system.

Recent Contributions of the Chinese Atomic Energy Authority

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international body operating under the United Nations. This body acts as the international regulatory body of nuclear laws and regulations. The main purpose of the IAEA is to promote research and development for the peaceful use of the nuclear energy and discourage any use of nuclear energy for military or defence purposes (iaea.org, 2018). It regulates the manufacture of nuclear weapons and monitors the possession of nuclear weapons by any country. The IAEA was formed on 29^th July, 1957 as an independent body by an international nuclear treaty. However, it reports to the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council, regarding its actions and operations. IAEA has its headquarters located in Vienna, while it has several regional offices in other parts of the world such as New York City, Geneva, Toronto and Tokyo. Additional to the regional offices, IAEA also has its own laboratories for nuclear research in three places, Vienna, Seibersdof, and Monaco.

The IAEA operates as the international forum for the co-operation of different countries for the development of the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The IAEA operates with the Security Council unlike the other UN organisations which work with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The main propaganda of the IAEA can be stated by the IAEA Statute, which is the founding document of the body. The functioning body of the IAEA can be divided into three parts, Board of Governors, General conference, and Secretariat. The IAEA issues guidelines for the member countries to follow for its peaceful nuclear research. The guideline also focuses on the various safeguard rules that are to be maintained by the member states for avoiding any nuclear accident. The IAEA guidelines also protect the nuclear equipment, materials, science and technology from potential misuse. The main objective of the IAEA is to maintain the nuclear security standards and implement them.

The IAEA follows certain steps to standardize its monitoring of its member states for the proper use of nuclear materials. The first step used by the IAEA is the inspection of the nuclear facilities which are already existing and ensure that the research and development being carried out there are for peaceful purposes. The second step that IAEA uses is to provide information and develop the modern safety standards to ensure safety in the nuclear facilities in order to safeguard the safety of the people working there and also the people living outside as a major accident can result in thousands of casualties and millions to be exposed to harmful nuclear radiation. The third step that is used by the IAEA is to act as the hub of knowledge to be shared among the different member states for a co-ordinated development of the nuclear research. Peaceful applications of nuclear research among the countries all over the world is the prime motive of the IAEA.

The Jurisdictions of the IAEA is limited to the interests and needs of the members of the body. The IAEA operates on three levels that are safety and security, safeguards and verification, and science and technology. In the 2002 General Conference of the IAEA, it recognised nuclear energy as the most valuable source of energy without whose help there can be no significant development in the industrial sector more sustainably and economically. In this regard, the Nuclear Knowledge Management was established as a programme to convey the new regulations and priorities of the IAEA in the 21^st century (iaea.org, 2018).  

Compliance with IAEA Safeguards and Security Policies

Another significant event for the IAEA was the Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT) which was formed to address the needs of the newer developing countries. It addressed significant development in the cancer therapy with the use of nuclear technology (iaea.org, 2018). Radiotherapy is one such procedure. This was a very efficient programme as focused on the saving of millions of lives all around the world. In 2008, the International Seismic Centre was formed by the IAEA, to enhance the seismic safety of the nuclear facilities. Significant studies and sharing of expert advice between different countries helped IAEA develop guideline for site evaluation, site selection and seismic analysis before the idea of operating a nuclear facility in the area. This program is a part of the programs that have been adopted by the IAEA to assist the developing countries to systematically evolve the capacity to maintain nuclear facilities. Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure review is one such programs. The IAEA reviews the developing countries and their potentials for new nuclear research for peaceful purposes such as including nuclear energy as the source of the countries’ power needs.

The nuclear research and development for peaceful purposes are carried out by three departments of the IAEA. The Department of Nuclear Energy carries out the role of an advisory body to assist the member states on the latest developments of nuclear power and its application in the nuclear fuel cycle. The Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications plays the prime role in helping the member states with the application of non-power nuclear sources and the isotopes for the use in different sectors such as agriculture, water, health, energy and biodiversity. The Department of Technical Co-operation is the body which directly provides the member states with the technical assistance for nuclear research and development by providing the member states technical training, sharing expert knowledge and also providing equipment for development of facilities.

The IAEA Statute maintains a strict policy regarding the safeguard of nuclear facilities limiting them to be used only for peaceful purposes. This gives the IAEA special powers to make the member states aware of the IAEA’s policy of maintaining an infrastructure under its supervision. This helps the IAEA monitor the member states and regulate their nuclear policies to limit them to peaceful purposes drawing their attentions away from military interests or military armaments.

The US nuclear bodies maintain a very close relation with the IAEA. The agreement between the two bodies ensures the safety of the non-proliferation method. US plays a very important to help IAEA with the latest research and development in the field of nuclear science. Some of the examples are, USA shares satellite images for the digital surveillance of nuclear facilities and monitor them. This type of commitment ensures the USA’s belief in the non-proliferation and control of the nuclear arms which safeguards the nuclear research all over the world.

In the present day IAEA, focuses of the maintenance of safeguard guidelines for the member states to avoid events like Fukushima in Japan. Moreover, it promotes the peaceful research and development of nuclear energy. Lastly, it monitors the nuclear facilities of the member states to constantly update of the modern safety rules and also keep an eye on the research and development so that no nuclear weapons are developed in the countries.

References:

cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca/eng/the-commission/index.cfm

gov.uk. (2018). UK Atomic Energy Authority - GOV.UK. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-atomic-energy-authority

iaea.org. (2018). About us | IAEA. Retrieved from https://www.iaea.org/about

iaea.org. (2018). China Signs Agreement to Provide Training in Nuclear Technology. Retrieved from https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/china-signs-agreement-to-provide-training-in-nuclear-technology

iaea.org. (2018). Guidelines for IAEA International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS). Retrieved from https://www.iaea.org/OurWork/SS/Protection/parte1.html

iaea.org. (2018). Nuclear knowledge management | IAEA. Retrieved from https://www.iaea.org/topics/nuclear-knowledge-management

iaea.org. (2018). Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT) | IAEA. Retrieved from https://www.iaea.org/services/key-programmes/programme-of-action-for-cancer-therapy-pact