Press Release-10-180, NRC Welcomes Team of International Regulators for 2-Week Visit
| ML102810184 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 10/08/2010 |
| From: | Office of Public Affairs |
| To: | |
| Category:Press Release | |
| References | |
| Press Release-10-180 | |
| Download: ML102810184 (2) | |
Text
NRC WELCOMES TEAM OF INTERNATIONAL REGULATORS FOR 2-WEEK VISIT The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is hosting an international group of 19 senior nuclear regulators as part of the Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS), an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) program that assesses a countrys regulatory infrastructure against international safety standards and good practices. The NRCs IRRS mission will focus on technical and policy issues regarding the agencys oversight of operating U.S. nuclear power plants.
We look forward to demonstrating the NRCs strong commitment to nuclear safety and sharing our approach with our international counterparts, said NRC Chairman Gregory B.
Jaczko. We asked the IAEA for this IRRS mission. When the teams report is complete our senior managers will review the teams conclusions and determine what actions the NRC should take.
Jukka Laaksonen, Director General of Finlands Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, will lead the IRRS team during its visit from Oct. 18-29; his deputy is Kunihisa Soda, Senior Advisor at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The remainder of the team is comprised of senior members of nuclear safety agencies in North America, Europe and Asia. The team will be accompanied by three observers.
As the host regulator, the NRC has spent approximately two years preparing for the IRRS visit, including assembling a detailed self-assessment of 12 subject areas covering U.S. nuclear reactor safety regulations and their relationship to IAEA safety standards. The IRRS mission team will provide an independent peer review of the self-assessment by interviewing NRC staff, examining documents and observing inspection activities. The team will draft a report outlining its observations and recommendations at the conclusion of the visit, and the reports final version will be made public in a few months.
The IAEA has conducted IRRS missions in several countries, including Romania, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Japan, Mexico and Canada. The NRCs IRRS efforts are outlined on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/conference-symposia/irrs-NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov Site: http://www.nrc.gov No.10-180 October 8, 2010
mission-review.html. More information on the IRRS program is available on the IAEA web site at: http://www-ns.iaea.org/reviews/rs-reviews.htm.
News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.