IAEA 52 nd General Conference Senior Regulators’ Meeting 3 October, 2008 HISTORY AND CURRENT STATUS OF THE IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS K. Mrabit Head, Safety and Security Coordination Section Department of Nuclear Safety and Security

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct  History of IAEA Safety Standards  Current status of IAEA Safety Standards  Vision and strategies for IAEA Safety Standards Contents

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct History of IAEA Safety Standards

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Safety Functions IAEA Safety Functions (Article III.A.6) “To establish or adopt… [in consultation …] standards of safety for protection of health & minimization of danger to life and property” “…and to provide for the application of these standards…” Facilitate and service international conventions and other undertakings

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Safe Handling of Radioisotopes 1961 Safe Transport of Radioactive Material 1962 BSS for Radiation Protection SS No. 15 Radioactive Waste Disposal into the Ground 1965 History

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct History (cont’d) Bottom-up approach Collection of experience in safety practices and guides Collection of experience in safety practices and guides Identification of the requirements Identification of the requirements

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Basic Safety Standards 1996 NUSS Programme 1974 SS No RADWASS Programme History (cont’d)

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct History (cont’d) Four structured programmes Four structured programmes Bottom-up approach Bottom-up approach Issuance of three Safety Fundamentals Issuance of three Safety Fundamentals

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct CSS COMMISSION ON SAFETY STANDARDS NUSSCRASSCWASSCTRANSSC 1996 Commission and Committees 2006 Unified Safety Fundamentals History (cont’d) 1996 Nuclear Safety Department

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct History (cont’d) ● Establishment of the Department of NS: Harmonized processes involving the Commission and the four Committees; and Preparation of an overall structure of Safety Standards. ● Unified Safety Fundamentals: beginning of a top-down approach Roadmap on the long term structure and format of SR approved by CSS

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Current Status of IAEA Safety Standards

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Status of the IAEA Safety Standards Safety Standards are: Non binding on Member States but may be adopted by them Binding for IAEA’s own activities Binding on States in relation to operations assisted by the IAEA or States wishing to enter into project agreements with IAEA

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Safety Standards Categories Safety Guides Safety Requirements Safety Fundamentals

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Safety Standards Categories (Cont’d) Fundamental safety objective and principles for protecting people and environment Requirements that must met to ensure protection of people and environment – ’shall’ Recommended ways of meeting the requirements

Commission on Safety Standards (CSS) Nuclear Safety Standards Committee (NUSSC) Radiation Safety Standards Committee (RASSC ) Waste Safety Standards Committee (WASSC ) Transport Safety Standards Committee (TRANSSC) Commission & Committees 12

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Commission on Safety Standards Standing body of senior government officials holding national responsibilities for establishing standards and other regulatory documents relevant to nuclear, radiation, transport and waste safety Overview role with regard to the Agency’s safety standards and provides advice to the Director General on the overall programme on regulatory aspects of safety

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Terms of Reference of the Commission on Safety Standards The functions of the CSS are: To provide guidance on the approach and strategy for establishing the Agency’s SSs, particularly in order to ensure coherence and consistency between them; To resolve issues referred to it by the committees;

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Terms of Reference of the Commission on Safety Standards (Cont’d) The functions of the CSS are (Cont’d) : To endorse the texts of the SF & SRs for the BoG approval and SGs to be issued under the authority of the DG; and To provide general advice and guidance on SSs issues, relevant regulatory issues and SSs and related programmes, including those for promoting the worldwide application of the standards.

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Safety Standards Committees Standing bodies of senior experts, established by the DDG-NS They advise the DDG-NS on the overall programme for the development, review and revision of standards

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct To advise on the approach to the development of SSs, and to advise on priorities; To review proposals and to approve the DPPs prior to their submission to the CSS; To review draft SSs, considering the value of each draft standard and the needs of users of the standards; To approve the text of draft SSs prior to their submission to Member States for comments and again prior to their submission to the CSS; Terms of Reference of the Safety Standards Committees

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Process Flow for the Development of IAEA Safety Standards Outline and work plan Prepared by the Secretariat Review by the committees and Commission on Safety Standards Drafting or revising of safety standard by the Secretariat and consultants Review by the safety standards committee(s) Endorsement by Commission on Safety Standards Member States Approval by the IAEA’s Director General or BoG SF and SRs approved by BoG SGs approved by DG

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Current Status of the Safety Standards Since the establishment of the Safety Standards Series Safety Fundamentals issued in 2006 Safety Requirements issued from 1996 to 2008 (the last two still to be issued) In total 86 safety standards published Updated “Status of Safety Standards” on the web site Includes hyperlinks to the published safety standards in official languages Includes general information and a link to the IAEA Safety Glossary

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct The Global Nuclear Safety Regime International Legal Instruments Conventions and Codes of Conduct IAEA Safety Standar ds IAEA Safety Reviews and Services Global Knowledge Network Global Experts’ Community National and Regional Safety Infrastructure Regulation Operation Research and Education

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Provisions for the application of standards International Mechanisms for Promoting Capacity Building Providing TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Rendering SAFETY SERVICES Promoting Networking, KM and R&D Promoting EDUCATION & TRAINING Fostering INFORMATION EXCHANGE

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Application of Safety Standards (Cont’d) A crucial element now is to enhance the effectiveness & efficiency of the feedback mechanisms in place to collect and use feedback from the application of the SSs

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Application of Safety Standards (Cont’d) Experience in the use by Member States Of the IAEA Safety Standards Will be presented by Mr. Lacoste Chairman of The Commission on Safety Standards

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Vision and Strategies for IAEA SSs

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Vision for the IAEA Safety Standards Vision Complete, consistent, coherent, integrated and user- friendly safety series with a manageable number of publications Sustainable continuous improvement system through effective feedback from application of SSs Global Reference used worldwide by Member States to deliver a harmonized high level of safety for protecting people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Commission of Eminent Persons National regulators should continue to strengthen and harmonize their safety standards … in parallel, and in close consultation with national regulators, the IAEA should continue to consolidate and promote global nuclear safety standards

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Commission of Eminent Persons (Cont’d) The IAEA should expand its highly successful programme of international safety reviews and encourage peer reviews of national regulators These safety reviews should also be an integral feature of the national reports of the parties to the nuclear safety conventions

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Commission of Eminent Persons (Cont’d) …over time, states should enter into binding agreements to adhere to effective safety standards & to be subject to international peer reviews…

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Strategies Clear categories of safety standards consistent with Member States’ needs and use Clear, logical and integrated structure based on a unified philosophy of safety Clear scope in terms of areas covered and level of detail in each category

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Strategies (Cont’d) Consensus at the highest level on what constitutes a high level of safety and the related best international practices User - friendliness Manageable number of safety standards

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct Strategies (Cont’d) Transparency and rigour of the process Effective feedback mechanisms Harmonized terminology Effective knowledge management Promotion of the safety standards

Vol.1 Governmental and Regulatory Framework Vol.2 Leadership and Management for Safety Vol.4 Safety Assessment Vol.5 Predisposal Management of Radioactive Waste Vol.6 Decommissioning and Termination of Activities Vol.7 Emergency Preparedness and Response B. Design of Nuclear Power Plants Specific Safety RequirementsGeneral Safety Requirements Vol.3 Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources 1. Site Evaluation for Nuclear Installations 3. Safety of Research Reactors 4. Safety of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities 5. Safety of Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities Structure of the Long Term Set of Safety Requirements 6. Safe Transport of Radioactive Material 2. Safety of Nuclear Power Plants 2.1 Design and Construction 2.2 Commissioning and Operation

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct What’s next? Are these strategies and conditions sufficient to envisage the worldwide de facto acceptance and application of the IAEA Safety Standards ? Suggestions for further improvement will be highly appreciated

SRM-K.Mrabit Oct …Thank you for your attention