IAEA reviews Bangladesh’s regulatory framework

An International Atomic Power Agency (IAEA) Built-in Regulatory Review Company (IRRS) mission explained Bangladesh is fully commited to continual advancement of nuclear and radiation basic safety. The mission also pointed out regions exactly where improvements could be produced to greatly enhance the national nuclear and radiation protection regulatory infrastructure, as the region constructs its very first nuclear energy plant (NPP).

The group concluded a 13-day mission to Bangladesh on 8 December, the to start with IRRS mission to the country. It was performed at the request of the Bangladesh govt and hosted by the Bangladesh Atomic Electrical power Regulatory Authority (BAERA) in the money Dhaka, to evaluate Bangladesh’s regulatory framework for security in opposition to IAEA safety requirements.

The team, comprising 15 senior regulatory industry experts from Canada, Egypt, France, India, Japan, Malta, Pakistan, South Africa, the British isles and Usa, as properly as 6 IAEA staff members associates, reviewed the tasks and features of the federal government and the administration and activities of the regulatory overall body which includes authorisation, critique and assessment, inspection and enforcement, improvement of rules and guides, and crisis preparedness and response.

“The self-assessment and preliminary action strategy furnished by Bangladesh to the IAEA group in progress of the mission gave us the reference product required for a in depth evaluate of the country’s regulatory infrastructure, across all nuclear and radiation facilities,” claimed IAEA Director of the Division of Nuclear Set up Basic safety Anna Hajduk Bradford. 

The mission provided interviews and discussions with associates from BAERA and the Ministry of Sciences and Engineering. The team frequented the Bangladesh Atomic Strength Commission’s TRIGA Analysis Reactor, the central radioactive squander processing and storage facility at BAERA, the Institute of Nuclear Drugs and Allied Science, the Square Medical center of radiotherapy and Bangladesh Industrial X-Ray, as perfectly as the design web-site of the country’s 1st nuclear energy plant, Rooppur NPP in Pabna, about 200 km west of Dhaka. When accomplished, Rooppur NPP will add a overall of 2400 MWe to Bangladesh’s vitality grid. 

“As a nation with ambitions for a sizeable nuclear electricity programme, it is important that the govt of Bangladesh and BAERA perform with each other to deliver the advancements expected,” stated Mark Foy, CEO and Chief Nuclear Inspector at the British isles Workplace for Nuclear Regulation and workforce leader of the mission. “We had the whole support and cooperation of BAERA and all other events in Bangladesh, and the assessments of regulatory, technological and policy issues were being conducted in a constructive and open up way.”

The IRRS group identified a quantity of locations of fantastic effectiveness of BAERA. These involve:

• Seeking technical information from expert committees to tell regulatory selection generating connected with the NPP.
• Efficient setting up and use of assets to perform a number of inspections of health care services throughout regional visits.
• Creating the BAERA Code of Ethics, which offers a clear motivation to an ethical strategy in its regulatory things to do.

The IRRS crew supplied various tips to additional greatly enhance the regulatory framework for the efficient oversight of services and pursuits. These include things like:

• Setting up the countrywide coverage and tactic for safety in accordance with the IAEA fundamental protection goal and rules.
• Updating the lawful framework for nuclear and radiation security by commencing revision of the Nuclear Protection and Radiation Control (NSRC) Procedures, which define the elementary principles and rules for the protection of employees, the general public and the atmosphere.
• Producing BAERA’s human methods strategy to guarantee that a sufficient selection of experienced, experienced, skilled and licensed employees are obtainable to complete all its features successfully.

“We are happy to find that our self-evaluation properly pre-empted some of the conclusions of the mission, which we had incorporated into our motion plan,” mentioned Chairman of BAERA Muzammel Haque. “Now we will target on additional enhancing BAERA’s regulatory performance by which include the more IRRS report findings to reinforce our regulatory infrastructure in line with intercontinental criteria.”

Impression: Aerial check out of Rooppur nuclear electricity plant, Bangaldesh (courtesy of IAEA)