When the OSART members arrive at a plant site, they are already familiar with the plant's main features, operating characteristics, history, regulatory provisions, technical specifications, procedures, organization and key personnel as a consequence of their study of the advance information package. The first day is used for plant entrance formalities, and to brief the team members on applicable security, radiation protection and industrial safety requirements. The experts also meet their plant counterparts, who are the designated plant experts in the area being reviewed. Together they carry out an initial plant tour and make final arrangements for their review. (Click here to view photo).
The standard OSART schedule (Tables 3 and 4) shows the activities of the team during the three weeks of the mission. Deviations from the schedule are possible, to take account of local conditions and the availability of plant counterparts, so long as the overall coverage of each topic is not compromised. The review of each topic often starts with a brief presentation outlining the power plants' programmes and performance in the subject area. This is followed by a question and answer period and observations in the field to determine whether operational safety performance is consistent with good international practice. It is the intention that most experts will spend the majority of their time in field observations. The OSART team meets each day to review the results of its activities and, by discussion, develops a team consensus on emerging issues. These meetings are also an opportunity for the team leader to reinforce the review methodology and to provide additional training as required.
Throughout the mission, there are detailed discussions with the plant counterparts to verify that the OSART team has a correct understanding of the plant's strengths and opportunities for improvement. The contribution of the plant counterparts is essential to verify that the experts' observations are correct which would ensure that they understand the written material, that they are not misled by any shortcomings in translation or interpretation, and that the practices observed are representative. This plant counterpart is a member of the plant staff, who has current responsibility for the area being reviewed. In parallel, the experts present their observations and conclusions to their fellow team members at the team's daily meetings. The team's discussions help ensure that all team members are well informed on the progress of the review and allow team members to benefit from other experts' observations. Ultimately, the team's recommendations, suggestions and good practices are arrived at by the consensus of the team rather than as a consequence of an individual's opinion. They must be significant to improving safety performance and must be based on facts. (Click here to view photo).
As the review proceeds, the team leader informs the plant management (and the regulatory authority if requested) on the progress made. Opportunities for improvement and areas of uniquely outstanding performance are discussed as the issues emerge. The last days of the mission are reserved for rechecking any open topics, for completing the Technical Notes and discussing them in their entirety with the counterparts. Additionally, each team member drafts a summary of his/her area for the Technical Notes and his/her oral presentation at the exit meeting.
Evaluation criteria
Experts are selected to ensure that a variety of national approaches to operational safety are represented. Each expert has knowledge of his/her particular area, as well as other review areas, so that the relevance of issues identified by individual team members can be discussed by the whole team. These discussions are supplemented by four publications: IAEA Nuclear Safety Standards (IAEA Safety Series No. 50), International Basic Safety Standard for protection against ionizing radiation and for the safety of radiation sources (IAEA Safety Series No. 115-I), OSART guidelines (IAEA-TECDOC-744) and OSART Supplementary Guidance and Reference Material. Some related IAEA publications are listed in (Table 5).
The OSART review compares plant programmes and performance with successful safety practices found at other nuclear power plants. If the experts feel that safety performance might be strengthened or that a safety relevant practice is superior elsewhere, then they will bring it to the attention of the plant management and make a recommendation or a suggestion. The experts may also propose improvements in plant reliability and cost-effectiveness. Similarly, if a safety practice is observed which is markedly superior to those available elsewhere, the expert will take note of it to ensure that it is included in the mission report so that it can be made known to other nuclear power plants. The team's recommendations and suggestions for improvement are focussed on what improvements should be achieved, but leave decisions on how to achieve them to the host plant. (Click here to view photo.)