Washington, D.C. -- An international team of senior nuclear safety experts have completed a two-week review of the nuclear safety regulatory framework in the United States. The Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and concluded on 29 October 2010, identified good practices within the U.S. system and offered suggestions to improve U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission´s (NRC) efforts.
IRRS missions are peer reviews, not inspections or audits. The reviews are conducted when requested by the host nations. For the U.S. review, the IAEA assembled a team of 20 international experts from 14 different countries. The team delivered a preliminary report to the NRC, and will submit a final report in about two months.
Team leader Jukka Laaksonen of Finland said: "We found a comprehensive, consistent, and mature regulatory system run by the NRC, which has a strong drive for continuous improvement."
Past IRRS missions have been conducted in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Iran, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Romania, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.
The U.S. mission was particularly significant, said IAEA IRRS coordinator Gustavo Caruso: "This mission represents a milestone for the IRRS program because the U.S. regulatory system is the largest in the world and many nations look to it."