3 questions to Alexander Khamaza on common procedures to exchange information

23.07.2013 As the Director of SEC NRS, the Russian TSO, Alexander Khamaza provides the perspective of an ETSON associate member on the new challenges of nuclear safety and the mutual benefit a membership in ETSON can provide in taking them up.

What do you consider as the key advances to be performed in order to better prevent a nuclear accident in the future and to better mitigate its consequences in case it nevertheless happens?

I think it necessary to consider prevention and mitigation in a holistic manner and to work subsequently in five simultaneous directions: firstly, the harmonisation of national legislations, based on norms and recommendations developed by international organisations; secondly, the enhancement of legal and regulatory practice by analysing effective rules and regulations as well as legislative and regulatory compliance practices; thirdly, the analysis of events that occur in operation at nuclear facilities; fourthly, the availability of emergency preparedness and response planning integrated at national level for utilities, regulatory authorities and emergency agencies. And, last but not least, international co-operation.
Although the analysis of the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident has not changed our fundamental assumptions on safety, that extraordinary event has made us reconsider the approaches used from a new perspective. This is the case for defence-in-depth, where the levels aimed at mitigating accident consequences are now paid equal attention as the ones aimed at preventing accidents. This impacts several aspects of nuclear safety, starting with the site selection for new NPPs, the robustness analysis of plants - notably multi-unit sites -, the protection of accident management means or the provision of on-site and off-site arrangements and preparedness to manage an accident.

In which ways can ETSON contribute to enhancing nuclear safety in the respective countries of its member TSOs and beyond?

As an organisation aimed at fostering scientific and technical co-operation among TSOs, ETSON is competent to support the enhancement of nuclear safety through a wide array of activities, in accordance with the association's statutes. ETSON was created as an EU association, but organisations such as SEC NRS, JNES and SSTC NRS are now associate members. Thus, its reach goes beyond the EU and it is generally assumed that its scope of activity will also extend to e.g. research projects carried out in non-EU countries. In bringing together, experts in nuclear safety and radiation protection analysis from different countries and continents, ETSON creates an extra-mechanism to support and enhance safety in the association's member countries and beyond.

What can SEC NRS bring ETSON in terms of knowledge and experience, and conversely, what does SEC NRS expect from its ETSON fellow TSOs in this area?

As the TSO of Rostechnadzor, SEC NRS pro vides comprehensive scientific and technical support to the Russian regulatory authority. Over 25 years, we have accumulated wide-ranging experience and knowledge in the field of nuclear and radiation safety regulation. Such kind of 'intellectual databank' can benefit ETSON working group activities as well as the new projects on safety review for foreign nuclear power plants. Conversely, our involvement in ETSON at different levels - Research Group, Technical Board on Reactor, Safety, Project Initiative Croup... - will help) us capitalise on, and take advantage of, the experience gained in NPP safety reviews, including assessments of new power unit designs, NPP life cycle extensions and other aspects.

© The EUROSAFE Tribune, №23