21 May (NucNet): Requests by International Atomic Energy Agency member states for Operational Safety Review (Osart) missions “do not appear to have increased” since Fukushima-Daiichi and several countries have still not requested an Osart missions, the agency’s director-general has said.
Yukiya Amano told the World Association of Nuclear Operators’ (Wano) biennial meeting in Moscow that the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety, which was endorsed by the agency’s general conference in September 2011, called on all IAEA member states with nuclear power plants to host at least one Osart mission within three years.
Mr Amano said he encouraged all countries to make full use of “the whole range of IAEA peer reviews”.
He also called on all nuclear power plant operators to undergo international review of their severe accident management programmes and make the results public.
He said severe accident management has been a stand-alone review area within the Osart peer review service since 2011. It has been evaluated in eight Osart missions so far and “some good practices” have been identified.
Since the March 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident, the IAEA has expanded its programme of peer reviews of operational safety, emergency preparedness, and regulatory effectiveness to meet “growing demand” from member states, both with and without nuclear power plants, Mr Amano said.
He said countries embarking on new nuclear power programmes are “especially interested” in the IAEA’s Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review Missions (INIR), which review a country’s preparations for constructing nuclear plants.
Referring to a memorandum of understanding signed between the IAEA and Wano in September 2012, Mr Amano said it has enabled the two organisations to work more closely together to support the safe and reliable operation of nuclear power plants and to improve information exchange.
Wano and the IAEA are adopting “a more coordinated approach” to their work in order to help prevent further accidents and to mitigate the consequences if an accident should occur. Wano has established a point of contact for communication with the IAEA’s incident and emergency centre, Mr Amano said.
Wano has also provided the IAEA with the recommendations from all of its “Significant Operating Experience Reports” as of 5 April 2013.
Mr Amano said: “We, for our part, have given Wano broader access to our web-based International Reporting System database, and to International Reporting System highlights.
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