New Training on the IAEA Safety Standards Concludes

Experts in countries with a long history of nuclear technologies have been active contributors to the development of the IAEA safety standards. However, over the decades, younger specialists and practitioners who are familiar with the IAEA safety standards, but may be less familiar with their context and their global standing, have entered the nuclear field. At the same time, increasing non power applications of nuclear technology in medicine, industry, agriculture and research mean that more and more countries are in need of enhancement of their national nuclear regulations.

“The course is intended to contribute to a continuous pipeline of nuclear professional expertise, where the IAEA safety standards are known, understood and applied effectively,” said Dominique Delattre, Section Head of the Safety Standards and Security Guidance Development Section (SSDS), which is responsible for developing the course.

The training course forms part of a comprehensive learning initiative that includes e-learning modules launched in 2020. The course provides participants with an overview of the safety objectives and the 10 fundamental safety principles that form the basis for the IAEA safety standards. “The participants are also familiarised with the scope of safety requirements and are trained to navigate the structure of the Safety Standards Series, find recommendations and guidance relevant to particular facilities and activities, and locate additional technical documents, safety reports and other publications relevant to a particular area or topic,” said Delattre.

The course trains participants on the process of developing and revising IAEA safety standards, and on how countries can contribute to their development.

IAEA safety standards are developed and revised through a rigorous process of international consensus building and represent the international consensus on what constitutes a high level of safety for protecting people and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation.

Each safety standard takes between three to five years to publish, and incorporates feedback, review and expertise from hundreds of experts from IAEA Member States in the specific technical area.

“We hope that people who complete the course will, at some point, be involved in the drafting and review process on behalf of their countries. This intensive engagement with experts is crucial to promoting the role of the IAEA safety standards as the global reference,” said Tatiana Karseka-Yanev, IAEA Safety Officer and Scientific Secretary of the course.  

In addition to talks and presentations by IAEA staff and senior nuclear experts who have been involved in the drafting and development of the safety standards, the course includes practical sessions, where participants work in groups to examine the applicability of the safety standards in a given context.