ML20151Y963
| ML20151Y963 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 09/11/1998 |
| From: | Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Bhadrakom K THAILAND, GOVT. OF |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20151Y966 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9809210086 | |
| Download: ML20151Y963 (1) | |
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[(f UNITED STATES t
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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WASHINGTON, D.C. 2055!H)001 k.....
September 11, 1998 CHAIRMAN Mr. Kriengsak Bhadrakom, Secretary General Office of Atomic Energy for Peace Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment Thanon Vibhavadi Rangsit, Chatuchak
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Bangkok-10900, Thailand j
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Dear Mr. Bhadrakom:
Thank you for your letter of August 14,1998, seeking my advice on the applicability in the U.S.
of a draft Thai guideline requiring that the safety of proposed research reactors be " reviewed and evaluated by the regulatory body in the vendor's country." I draw on the response forwarded last year to a similar question, raised by the TRIGA Group of General Atomics, about the limits of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) participation in foreign research reactor safety reviews.
The NRC does not perform safety reviews of either power or research reactors to be sited outside the United States. This is a NRC policy of long standing. We consider a country's decision to commit to a nuclear program, including the choice of the technology to be used and the infrastructure to both support and regulate it, to be a sovereign responsibility of that country.
Technical assistance is available through the International Atomic Energy Agency, and j
elsewhere, to countries inexperienced in performing reactor safety reviews. The NRC has only
. very limited resources to provide training and assistance to countries carrying out their first reactor safety reviews or enhancing their research reactor safety and regulatory skills, but in any case cannot itself perform the licensing reviews and evaluations. The draft Thai
" requirement" exceeds our capacity and authority to be helpful in this work.
The NRC has no jurisdiction over licensees or operators in other countries. Our mandate is a domestic one. A NRC export license is issued to a U.S. reactor supplier after appropriate findings are made in regard to U.S. nonproliferation requirements. The Commission is also required to conger the environmentalimpact of nuclear exports upon the United States and, as a matter of discretion, it considers environmental impacts upon the "g!obal commons."
I am aware that General Atomics has supplied 65 research reactors around the world (over 30 of these in the U.S.) and has most recently been awarded the contract for Thailand's new 10 MW research reactor. The NRC reviewed the Safety Analysis Reports for the 30 General Atomics research reactors located in the U.S., all of which have achieved successful safety records.
I hope the above information adequately addresses your inquiry. Please feel free to contact me again if you have any further questions.
Sincerely,
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