IAEA lauds India’s nuclear plant safety plans

The audience for India’s presentation was much more than expected by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s secretariat at the convention, he said.

India presented its 206-page report for the first time that included the effective regulatory mechanism for its 17 operating nuclear plants and six plants under construction.

The convention also appreciated India’s work on probabilistic safety assessment which demonstrates that the probability of any untoward incident is extremely small (less than 0.000001 per year).

It also lauded the fact that Nuclear Power Corporation and Indian regulatory body have mechanisms in place that use operating experience feedback both Indian and global, to improve safety effectively.

“Our Human resource quality was very well acknowledged as operators in Indian power plants are graduate engineers with extensive training, which is not the case in most countries,” Sharma who led some of the top officials of BARC and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd to CNS, said.

The environmental surveillance labs which are established by the government at every nuclear site study the baseline environmental data and the impact of reactor operation in the area, prior to NPCIL begins construction of the reactor, Sharma said.

India’s very sound emergency preparedness by way of conducting onsite and offsite exercises regularly, was also lauded by the participants of the 4th Review Meeting of the CNS, he added.

Some of the challenges faced by the Indian nuclear community and regulators were also highlighted like licensing of new types of reactors, assessment of reliability and safety of digital instrumentation and control used in the reactors apart from passive safety features used in reactors like advanced heavy water reactor (AHWR), Sharma said.

AERB is developing safety standards for such systems to ensure their reliability. CNS was informed that AERB is also developing seismic qualification programme for nuclear plants based on experience data base, he said.

Noting substantial progress made regarding safety management and safety culture worldwide, members of the 4th Review Meeting discussed a myriad of issues concerning safety, the Chief Executive Officer of National Nuclear regulator of South Africa , Maurice T Magugumela said.

“The Review Meeting took place at a very opportune time, because there is a great deal of interest in terms of new nuclear power plant development. This includes countries that already have nuclear power plants, but it also includes countries that do not yet have nuclear power plants, Magugumela said.

With widespread expansion expected for nuclear power in the coming years, members of the CNS looked at the issue of safety regarding plans for new build reactors.

The Review Meeting emphasised that the necessary safety infrastructure must be established well in advance before the construction of a nuclear power plant is authorised, since the development of safety culture is a long process, according to an IAEA release.

The Review Meeting also considered the benefits of joining the Convention for countries intending to start a nuclear power programme, and welcomed them to join the Convention.

Some of the additional highlights of the convention included importance placed on technical cooperation and knowledge sharing regarding life extension of existing nuclear power plants, significant challenges reported in maintaining adequate staffing and competence levels for nuclear safety, extending both to operators and regulatory bodies, IAEA said.

There was also recognition of the importance and value of IAEA missions to Member States, highlighted in programmes such as the Integrated Regulatory Review service (IRRS) and Operational Safety Review Team (OSART).

Over 500 delegates from 55 contracting parties participated in the Review Meeting which concluded last week.