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News & Events   17th Steering Committee (SC) meeting of the TSO Forum (TSOF) IAEA Headquarter, Vienna, Austria 25-27 January 2023 ITER Consult, as member of the TSO Forum, participated to the 17th meeting of the Steering Committee (SC) of the Technical and Scientific Organizations’ Forum (TSOF) was held in the IAEA from 25-27 January 2023 and gathered 18 (4 virtual) participants from 16 Member States (MS). In addition, 9 experts from the IAEA attended and provided presentations to the Steering Committee Members. Key aspects of discussion referred to: ·        the importance of the TSOF, which can be seen from the latest resolutions of the IAEA General Conference of 2022, ·        the TSO self-assessment methodology (TOSCA). ·        the membership of TSOF should be further expanded. ·        the role of the Global Nuclear Safety and Security Network (GNSSN) that would focus on further coordination and collaboration among the regional and thematic networks. ·        the support of ETSON and GRS contributing to the significant progress, which has been made in the development of the TSO self-assessment methodology and corresponding web-based TOSCA tool. ·        the future TSOF conferences 2024, 2028 ·        the proisal fir new organisation structure for TSOF, which includes the core groups and a strategic board. ·        revision of the TecDOC 1835.     1ST STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING MC3.01/20  - INSC/2021/428-417 Training and tutoring for experts of the Nuclear Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and their Technical Support Organisations (TSOs) for developing or strengthening their regulatory and technical capabilities – 19 December 2022     Mr A. Madonna has participated,  as Member of the Steering Committee, to  the first SC Meeting of the  EC T&T project    MC3/01/20  Led by EK Hungarian organization The meeting,  held in virtual say, had the objective to discuss the approach followed for the organization of the T&T activity, selection of trainees and trainers, proposed Training Plan.   Link with the presentation made by  Mr Madonna     Call for tenders JRC/PTT/2022/OP/2085   ‘’Training courses of the European Clearinghouse on Operating Experience Feedback for the period 2023-2027’’ October 2022     Leading the consortium made by ITER, VTT and Fortum , the offer has been submitted to the EC JRC Petten. The objective of the training is to ensure that learners acquire or strengthen their theoretical knowledge, develop or improve their practical skills, capabilities and competences in operating experience of nuclear installations and related fields. Improving the qualification of learners allows them to use the obtained knowledge in the context of their professional activity related with nuclear events’ investigation and operational experience feedback process. The target audience would be the relevant staff of regulatory bodies, and/or technical support organizations of countries – members of the European Clearinghouse on NPP OEF. ‘’to support  the development of the necessary regulation and of the Regulatory Authority staff capacity building in the field of nuclear and radiation safety, nuclear safeguards as well as radioactive waste management in Morocco’’.     Newcleo Webinar on    "Newcleo’s LFRs for a clean,  safe and sustainable energy"   July  2022     Luciano Cinotti – Newcleo Chief Scientific Officer and Elisabeth Rizzotti Chief Operating Officer will hold, on Friday July 15, 2022 at 15:00, in cooperation with Pisa University  a webinar showing the major design and technological aspects of the LFR (Lead Fast Reactors) fueled with MOX under development at Newcleo. The company Newcleo launched in September 2021, headquartered in Turin (Italy) and London (United Kingdom) is working in the nuclear energy field with the objective to move towards generating safe, clean and sustainable nuclear energy, combining existing accessible technologies at competitive costs.     IAEA TSO International Conference on ‘’Challenges Faced by Technical and Scientific Support Organizations (TSO) in Enhancing Nuclear Safety and Security’’ April 2022 This international conference, having the objective to enhance Nuclear Safety and Security considering the needs of  a changing world and creating perspective for a young generation, was planned to be held in Saint Petersburg Russian Federation,   from 10-13 October 2022 in continuity with  the four preceding conferences on this subject, which were held, respectively in Brussels, Belgium (2018), Beijing, China (2014), in Tokyo, Japan (2010) and in Aix-en-Provence, France (2007) is postponed. The TSO Forum whose steering committee meeting  at IAEA in Vienna has been postponed to the second part of the year 2022 (ITER Consul is member of the TSO Forum) will discuss the issue and make decision about the TSO Conference organization.     EC PROJECT INSC A3.01/16 A EUROPEAID/ 137935/DH/SER/AM   “Enhancing the Capabilities of the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority and its Technical Support Organization in Reviewing Documents Demonstrating the Long-Term Safety of Unit 2 of Metsamor Npp ”   Final Meeting and Dissemination Workshop   December 2-3, 2021 The activity of the project has been closed with the Final Meeting carried out by video Conference. The participation of ITER Consult in supporting ANRA and NRSC for the licensing review of documentation submitted for life extension of the NPP, has been focused on several tasks covering the review of the following subjects: ·        Analysis of stress-strain condition of reactor vessel during recovery annealing regarding its factual condition ·        Severe Accident Management Guideline ·        Safety justification on ECCS modernization ·        External and internal hazards analysis for CSS and ECCS   ·        Analysis of radiological consequences in case of DBA and BDBA taking into account modernized ECCS and sprinkler system   Important findings and recommendations have been provided by ITER experts in relation to: ·        Updating and substantiation of SAMG with the performed NPP modernization and equipment qualification ·        Resolution of weaknesses related to requirement for functional and physical independence of redundant trains of ECCS ·        Substantiation of adopted radiological acceptance criteria for public exposure in accident conditions ·        Completion of vessels annealing report with missing information ·        Completion of analysis of external hazards with attention to flooding event   The review findings were openly discussed during the Final Meeting with participation of EC, ANRA, NRSC and ANPP.     EC PROJECT INSC/20171385-967 (UKTS51-57)   Strengthening of state Nuclear Regulatory lnspectorate of Ukraine (SNRlU) capabìtities relevant for regulation of nuclear activities and in licensing and severe accident management of Nuclear lnstallations December, 2021   The ITER activities in the implementation of the project have been completed at the end of 2021 with conclusion of Component D related to Strengthening of Ukrainian nuclear safety regulatory capabilities in the external hazard assessment area which has been led by ITER. This component has supported SNRIU to issue two specific guidelines resodvtively for:   ·        External natural hazards  including seismic event. ·        External man-made hazards Previously was completed, according to the planned task actions, the activity of Task C1 to  led by ITER and related to: “Improvement of the national regulations on radiation protection according to provisions of the Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom”. This Tasks ended with the review and final recommendations on draft regulations elaborated by SNRIU.     EC Financial audit for INSC Project MC3.01/13 (T&T)   July - October 2020   In the period from spring up to the October 2020 a Finacuial audit took place at ITER Consult premised in Vicovaro to verify the expenditures made during the implementation of the project and related techjucal and administrative management. The work’s verification was performed, under contract of EC, by the French company Mazars At this aim three meetings took place on: 31/07/2020, 27/08/2020 and 9/10/2020 in order to collect information and discuss the observation raised by the auditors on the received documentation and the results of their testing. The conclusion was that no compliance issues were found. In particular the following summary       EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 “Training and Tutoring for experts of the National Regulatory Authorities and their Technical Support Organizations for developing or strengthening their regulatory and technical capabilities” Final Meeting May 15th, 2020 (by video conference) The Final Meeting of the Training & Tutoring project managed by ITER-Consult leading a consortium of 10 EU  Regulators  and TSOs (ISIN/ISPRA, BNRA, SNSA, HAEA, JSI, NRG, TUEV SUD, TUEV ,WP) were conducted on May 15th, 2020 in video conference with the participation of the EC Representative and EU Team. The objective of the meeting was to discuss about the achievements, results and lessons learned during the 5-year implementation of the activities carried out in the period 2015-2020. The project performed  activity aimed at strengthen the regulatory capacity in nuclear and radiation safety, was implemented in  accordance  with  the  plans. The  results  achieved  can  be summarized as follows: -       Sixty three training courses on nuclear and radiation safety topics have been implemented during the project implementation, most of them developed as “dedicated” one week courses for a total of 68 weeks (including EU training courses, RTC and Existing courses) with participation of the 852 trainees from NRA/TSO of 21 partner countries (PC’s) outside the EU and 40 Non Partner Countries from the specific regions. -       Twenty tutoring courses for a total of 68 man-months duration have been carried out at NRAs/ TSOs headquarters in EU (Italy, Slovenia, Belgium, Bulgaria and Germany) for 38 tutees  coming from NRA of 17 partner countries (PCs). The EC Project Manager expressed high satisfaction for the T&T activity performed by ITER-Consult consortium recognizing the effective implementation, the best results achieved and the attention paid to optimize the use of available budget. ITER stated that it has been a pleasure for ITER experts and partners’ experts, to give the best in this important T&T activity. In performing the T&T activity the promotion of the EU best practices and the applicable  requirements of the IAEA Safety Standards and Security Guidelines has been pursued systematically.   ITER-Consult expresses the most heartfelt thanks to the project partners                                                 and all experts, and administrative personnel, for their constant cooperation and commitment to ensure the highest quality of provided services.     CANCELLED DUE TO FORCE MAJOUR EC - INSCProject MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE on “Requirements and Safety Evaluation for RW Management”  Rome (Italy), March 16-20, 2020 The training course on “Requirements and safety evaluation for RW Management”  of a duration of one week will be implemented on March 16-.20, 2020 in Rome. It intends to provide a comprehensive presentation and discussion of the safety approach (basis, requirements, EU and international references) for radioactive waste management (RWM) giving evidence of the need to develop in each country a policy (and strategy) for RWM. It particular it covers: The relevant regulatory requirements for activities related to RW classification, treatment, conditioning, storage and disposal. Particular attention will be given to RW storage facilities and disposal facilities for low, intermediate and high level waste. Licensing process, content of safety analysis and safety justification to be submitted for regulatory licensing review. The content of SAR for RW management facilities with related licensing review and approval, including objective and scope of onsite regulatory inspections. The approved trainees are 11 and are coming from Nuclear Regulators and TSOs of 9 partner countries: Brazil, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE on “Radioactive sources in medical, industrial and research related applications”  Rome (Italy), February 24-28, 2020 The third session of the training Course on “Radioactive sources in medical, industrial and research related applications” has been scheduled on February 24-28, 2020 in Rome. The course will be carried out by ITER with contribution of the lecturers from other consortium members. The objective of the training provides a complete overview of the application of radioactive sources (RS) in medical, industrial and research activities and related legal-regulatory requirements with focus on the role of the regulatory body. Content of safety documentation for authorization on the use of RS in various fields will be presented and discussed including requirements for management of disused RS. The outcome of the training is the understanding and familiarization with: key aspects related to application of RS, related safety issues  and relevant aspects of the role of the NRA for  authorization and inspection functions. Technical visits to radiation facilities will be arranged in accordance with availability of hosting institutes. The 14 approved participants are coming from 11 NRAs and TSOs of the partner countries: Belarus, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Serbia, South Africa, Tajikistan, Thailand and Vietnam.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13  TRAINING COURSE and TUTORING MODULE "Requirements and Safety evaluation of NPP SAR”   Ljubljana (Slovenia), January 20-24, 2020   The EU Dedicated Training Course on "Requirements and Safety evaluation of NPP SAR” has been scheduled on January 20-24, 2020 in Ljubljana at the premises of Josef Stefan Institute (JSI). The approved participants are 12 and are coming from NRAs and TSO of 7 different Partner Countries, namely: Armenia, Indonesia, Jordan, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa and Ukraine. The programme will present and discuss the main safety objectives, safety functions, principles and requirements affecting the safety conception of current NPP technology. Particular attention will be given to the structure and content requirements of the SAR at different stages of the licensing process. One on-site visit to Krsko NPP will be included. More details about the implementation of the training will be published on the T&T dedicated website     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE on   “Leadership on Nuclear and Radiological Safety : Basic Concepts, Regulatory Function, Licensing Management”   Organized by ITER in cooperation with ANNuR  Hammamet (Tunisia) October 14-18, 2019   The 5th Regional Training Course organized by ITER in cooperation with Arab Network of Nuclear Regulators (ANNuR) on “Leadership on Nuclear and Radiological Safety: Basic Concepts, Regulatory Function, Licensing Management” has been scheduled on October 14-18, 2019 in Hammamet. The participants are coming from the Nuclear Regulators and TSOs of 9 neighbour countries in the region, namely from: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia. The objective of the course provides an overview of the basic concepts of nuclear and radiation safety, with focus on the regulatory review and evaluation function related to the licensing process. The program includes the presentations given by the EU experts and also local trainers from the NRAs and other organisations of Jordan, Libya and Tunisia. The level of comprehension of the transferred knowledge will be verified by a detailed technical questionnaire which will be distributed at the last day of the course. More information will be available on the dedicated website.     EC -  INSC Project MC3.01/13  “Training and Tutoring for experts of the National Regulatory Authorities (NRA) and their Technical Support Organizations (TSO) for developing or strengthening their regulatory and technical capabilities”   The European Commission has recently approved an additional Addendum to the Contract Nº 2014/343-969 - "Training and Tutoring for experts of the National Regulatory Authorities and their Technical Support Organisations for developing or strengthening their regulatory and technical capabilities". The new Addendum extends the duration of the project of 12 more months. The new deadline is 25/05/2020. The additional activity to be implemented by the Addendum consists of 5 Training Courses including one Regional Training in North Africa.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13  “Training and Tutoring for experts of the National Regulatory Authorities   and their Technical Support Organizations for developing or strengthening   their regulatory and technical capabilities”   4th Progress Meeting April 17th, 2019 in Brussels at EC DEVCO   The 4th  Progress Meeting of the Training & Tutoring project managed by ITER-Consult leading a consortium of 10 EU  Regulators  and TSOs  had place on April 17th, 2019 in Brussels at the EC premises with the participation of the EC Representative and EU Team. The objective of the meeting was to discuss about the progress of implementation of the activities  performed till now and the remaining  activity. The  performed  activity is in  accordance  with  the  plans  and  the  results  achieved  up  to April 2019  can  be summarized as follows: Fifty-nine training courses on nuclear and radiation safety topics have been implemented during the project implementation, ,most of them developed as “dedicated” one week courses for a total of 59 weeks (including EU training courses, RTC and Existing courses) with participation of the 803 trainees from NRA/TSO of 21 partner countries (PC’s) outside the EU and 39 Non Partner Countries from the specific regions. Twenty tutoring courses for a total of 68 man-months duration have been carried out at NRAs/ TSOs headquarters in EU (Italy, Slovenia, Belgium, Bulgaria and Germany) for 38 tutees  coming from NRA of 17 partner countries (PCs). A possible extension of the duration of the project with addition of more training courses  has been also discussed during the meeting. In performing the T&T activity the promotion of the EU best practices and the applicable  requirements of the IAEA Safety Standards and Security Guidelines has been pursued systematically.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE “Radiation Protection System at Radiation & Nuclear Facilities” organized by ITER Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), March 18 - 22, 2019   The last Regional Training Course in the region of Central-Latin America on “Radiation Protection System at Radiation & Nuclear Facilities” has been scheduled on March 18-22, 2019 to be held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The nineteen countries in the region have been invited to participate. The training course will provide an overview of the radiation protection principles requirements and practices to be applied in nuclear installations from the point of view of the radiation safety of workers, public and environment. About 22 lectures will be provided and two practical application during the one week training. More information will be provided further.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 EU DEDICATED TRAINING COURSE   “PSAR Review for Near Surface Disposal Facility and Performance Assessment” organized by ITER Rome (Italy), December 17 - 21, 2018 A dedicated one week Training Course on “PSAR Review for Near Surface Disposal Facility and Performance Assessment” has been scheduled on December 17-21, 2018 to be held at ITER premises in Italy with practical application on  working stations using appropriate computational software. The training course will initially introduce the conception and key safety aspects of a Near Surface Disposal Facility, the content of PSAR for construction license,  the approach for regulatory review. After that the training course will focus on the use of a software program to model a disposal system and perform calculations of radiological impact according to defined scenarios  using consistent input data. In particular the participants will familiarize with the methodology to perform long term safety assessment and the use of computer code to perform independent assessment of post-closure long term safety. Key aspects related to uncertainty and sensitivity analyses will be presented and  discussed.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE “Radiation Protection, Emergency Preparedness and Regulatory Response” organized by ITER   Bangkok (Thailand), November 19 - 23, 2018 On November 19-23, 2018 has been scheduled the Regional Training Course on “Radiation Protection, Emergency Preparedness and Regulatory Response” to be held in Bangkok (Thailand). Thirteen trainees from six Partner Countries, namely from: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam will attend the training. This is the second RTC in Bangkok on this topic and it is still of interests of the PCs. The training course  will present and discuss the  objective, content and responsibilities for the emergency preparedness and response (EPR) with focus on NRA function and responsibility. It will treat the key aspects of EPR, definition of roles and identification of responsibilities of Government, Operator, Regulator and their interfaces including lessons learned from past nuclear and radiological accidents and public communication in normal operation, during and after emergencies. One practical application is foreseen. The program, pictures and minutes of the RTC will be available after the course on the dedicated website.     IAEA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE   on “Challenges Faced by Technical and Scientific SupportOrganization (TSOs) in Enhancing Nuclear Safety and Security” October 15 - 18, 2018, Brussels, Belgium This Conference is following the three preceding conferences on this subject, which were held, in EU, Japan and China since 2007. Like the earlier ones the Conference will focus on the technical and scientific support provided by TSO to ensure an effective nuclear and radiation safety and security regulatory systems. ITER Consult will be represented during the conference by its Technical Director and by providing two papers and two posters on the following topics: 1. “EC cooperation to enhance regulatory and TSO capabilities for regulation and safety review of radioactive waste management facilities and activities at Armenian NPP” – Mr A. Madonna and  co-authors are: M. Dionisi (ISPRA), K. Rasilainen (VTT) and K. Haroyan (NRSC). Click here for the poster 2. “Training and tutoring for experts of Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) and their TSOs to strengthen regulatory and technical capabilities” – Mr A. Madonna with co-authors: M. Dionisi (ISPRA), M. Gasparini (ITER-Consult), K. Slavcheva (ITER-Consult) Click here for the poster In more detail the conference will highlight the importance of scientific and technical capabilities to support regulatory decision-making for enhanced nuclear and radiation safety and security. While addressing challenges to the development, maintenance and enhancement of such capacities, the conference will: · Evaluate actions undertaken to address the recommendations from previous TSO conferences; · Promote understanding of the roles, functions and value of TSOs in enhancing nuclear and radiation safety and security and, in particular, addressing challenges related to embarking, existing or expanding nuclear power programmes, with a particular focus on capacity building; · Discuss the role and achievements of the Technical and Scientific Support Organization Forum (TSO Forum) and address the key components of a draft IAEA Technical Document (TECDOC) provisionally entitled Technical and Scientific Support Organizations (TSOs) and Their Services Provided in Support of Regulatory Functions; · Present the need for, and benefits of, self-assessment for TSOs to maintain and enhance their technical and scientific capabilities to support regulatory bodies’ decision-making process; · Discuss the significant contribution of the TSOs’ safety assessment work to the continuous updating and revision of the IAEA safety standards; · Address the role of TSOs in enhancing nuclear and radiation safety in applications other than nuclear power; · Highlight the main methods for supporting the development of scientific and technical expertise, including research and development; · Facilitate the exchange of experience and good practices in capacity building activities, and in the recipient countries’ arrangements for identifying areas in which they require assistance; · Discuss ways to enhance international cooperation through IAEA safety and security networks, bilateral cooperation, and Nuclear Security Training and Support Centres (NSSCs) or centres of excellence.     EC - INSCProject MC3.01/13 TUTORING COURSE “Safety evaluation, licensing and oversight of Research Reactors (RR)” organized by ITER in cooperation with JSI and SNSA Ljubljana (Slovenia), October 8th – November 30th, 2018 The two months Tutoring Course on “Safety evaluation, licensing and oversight of Research Reactors (RR)” will be implemented back to back to the Training Course on the same topic during 8 weeks in the period October 8th – November 30th, 2018 in Ljubljana at  the NRA - Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) and it’s TSO Jozef Stefan Institute (JSI).  The two tutees who will participate in this “On the Job activity” are coming from Nuclear Regulators of Ukraine (SNRIU) and Tajikistan NRSA. Having attended the training course implemented before the tutoring module it is a good preparatory step, which allows them to familiarize already with the main topics and issues related to the Research Reactors. At the end of the module the tutees will prepare a common Tutoring Report describing the main activities carried out, results and benefits obtained.     EC - INSCProject MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “Requirements and safety evaluation of Research Reactors” organized by ITER in cooperation with JSI and SNSA Ljubljana (Slovenia), October 1- 5, 2018 The forthcoming Training Course on “Requirements and safety evaluation of Research Reactors” is going to be implemented starting on Monday October 1st and will finish on October 5th, 2018 in Ljubljana (Slovenia) with the kind support of Jozef Stefan Institute (JSI) and Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA). 12 participants who are coming from Nuclear Regulators and their TSOs of 10 different countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam will attend the Training. The one week training programme will present and discuss the safety aspects and requirements for Research Reactors (RR) and related licensing steps from siting to construction and operation to in order to present the technical and regulatory aspects. The programme includes 22 lectures, one Practical Application and walk-down at the Triga Mark II Research Reactor facility in Ljubljana including a demonstration of one operational exercise. More details about the course will be available on the EU site after the end of the training.     EC - INSCProject MC3.01/13 TUTORING COURSE  on “Radioactive Waste Management, related safety requirements and regulatory licensing issues’’ c/o ITER - Rome (Italy), September 24th – November 16th, 2018   The Tutoring module on ”Radioactive Waste Management, related safety requirements and regulatory licensing issues’’ has been organized by ITER and will be implemented in our premises on September 24th – November 16th, 2018. The tutees who will attend the tutoring activity conceived as “on the job” training will be attended by two participants: an expert from Mexican NRA (CNSNS) and second expert from Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology (TINT). The objective of the tutoring is to transfer know-how, practice and EU approach in the safe management of RW from the perspective of the nuclear regulatory  authority and considering the TSO technical support functions. The tutoring activity will be ensured by ITER senior experts with contribution from the Italian Nuclear Regulatory Authority ISPRA .     EC - INSCProject MC3.01/13 REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE “EU- Acquis, legal and regulatory framework, regulatory role and responsibilities for nuclear and radiation safety” Organized by ITER in cooperation with ANNuR Hammamet (Tunisia) September 10-14, 2018 The Regional Training Course on “EU- Acquis, legal and regulatory framework, regulatory role and responsibilities for nuclear and radiation safety” has been scheduled and will be implemented on September 10th - 14th , 2018 in Hammamet with kind cooperation of Arab  Network of Nuclear Regulators (ANNuR). This is the fourth RTC organized in the region of nord Africa in the framework of this project. The participants are 22 and they are coming from the Nuclear Regulators and TSOs of 12 neighbor countries from the region, namely from: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tunisia. The objective of the course is to: ·       provide a comprehensive overview and discussion of the requirements associated to the process, ·       establish the legal and regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety; ·       define the roles of stakeholders in the nuclear infrastructure; ·       cover the establishment of appropriate nuclear regulatory responsibilities and functions including elements of the nuclear regulator’s independence; ·       transfer EU and international approaches and know how in legal and regulatory framework and regulatory role; More information will be available on the dedicated website.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TUTORING COURSE  “Tutoring in the area of regulatory licensing and oversight of decommissioning activities of NPP or other NF’’ c/o ISPRA - Rome (Italy) The tutoring of the two staff members respectively  from VARANS (Vietnam) Ms. Nguyen Thi Cam Nhung and from SNRIU (Ukraine) Ms. Tetiana Zakrevska has been successfully completed with the preparation of Tutoring Report on August 17th 2018, which has been reviewed and approved by Mr.  M. Dionisi (ISPRA)  and Mr. A. Madonna (ITER).     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 Training and Tutoring for Experts of Nuclear Regulatory Authorities and their TSOs   for developing or strengthening their regulatory and technical capabilities" PROGRESS MEETING N.3 Rome - July 20, 2018 The 3 rd  Progress Meeting of the Training & Tutoring project managed by ITER-Consult leading a consortium of 10 EU  Regulators  and TSOs  had place in Rome on July 20th, 2018 with the participation of EC, ITER, ISPRA. The objective of the meeting were dedicated to the implementation status of the Project  T&T Phase III, the achievements  and  feedback  from  the  activity  performed  and  the  remaining  activity  (duration  01/2015  - 03/2019). The  performed  activity is in  accordance  with  the  plans  and  the  results  achieved  up  to July  2018  can  be summarized as follows: 6 out of 20 Regional Training Courses (RTC)   28 out of 29 EU Dedicated training courses   31 tutoring months out of 37 months    36  out  of  54  registrations  to  existing  training courses Since the start of the project, under the management,  coordination  and implementation of  ITER  -  Consult, 722 trainees  and  tutees  have  been  trained  from  58 beneficiary  countries  outside  EU,  transferring    EU  approach  and  best  practice  for  nuclear  and  radiation safety and promoting EC visibility.     IAEA 12° PLENARY MEETING OF EESS EBP (2nd Phase) Participation of ITER-Consult to Technical Meeting on “Design and Reassessment of Nuclear Installations for Protection against External Hazards” IAEA - Vienna -  June 13, 2018 On June 13, 2018 had place the Technical Meeting on “Design and Reassessment of Nuclear Installations for Protection against External Hazards” which is an annual plenary meeting of the Extrabudgetary Programme of the External Events Safety Section (EESS-EBP). The objective of the meeting were: (a) to share information on the progress of existing activities and the plans for future activities conducted under Phase 2 of the EESS-EBP, as well as on national experiences, good practices and necessary support in Member States with regard to the protection of nuclear installations against extreme external events; and (b) to invite Member States toparticipate in the IAEA’s work aimed at assisting Member States, upon request, in protecting their nuclear installations against external hazards. The items agreed at the meeting will be reflected in the future work plan for Phase 2 of the EESS-EBP. ITER in collaboration with ISPRA (Italian NRA) had contributed to the technical meeting presenting the situation of current activities in the areas of External Hazards and Capacity Building. The Italian donor activities  with the  IAEA EBP program  (past and current)refer to the following working areas: WA1:  Seismic Hazards (ISPRA) WA2:  Seismic Design and Qualification (ITER) WA3:   Seismic safety evaluation (KARISMA project) (ITER) WA5:   Tsunami hazard (ISPRA) WA7:  Engineering Aspects of Protection against Sabotage (ITER) WA8:  Site Evaluation and External Events Safety Assessment (ITER) WA10: Public Communication and Capacity Building (ITER)     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE on “Regulatory inspection (oversight) during NPP operation” Sofia (Bulgaria) - July 9 – 13, 2018 The  Training  Course  on  “Regulatory  inspection  (oversight)  during  NPP  operation”  has  been implemented  on  July  9-13,  2018  in  Sofia  (Bulgaria)  at  the  premises  of  Bulgarian  Nuclear  Regulatory  Agency (BNRA).   Nine trainees have attended the course and were coming from Nuclear Regulators and TSOs of 6  Partner Countries (Brazil,  Indonesia, Jordan, Mongolia, Thailand and  Vietnam). The  specific aspects of NRA inspection were  presented  and  discussed  during  the  week  including  21  lectures  given  by  the  experts  mostly  from  BNRA, ITER, and HAEA (Hungarian NRA). The trainees at the end of the course had to the submit the answers on the technical questionnaire to verify the comprehension of the information received during the training. Two trainees (one from Jordan and one from Vietnam) will follow  eight weeks Tutoring on the same topic devoted to studying the practice of the regulatory inspection activities (preparation, conduct and reporting)  with focus on  ‘’on-site’’ inspections during operation. More details on the training are described in the Minutes of the course (put on the EC website dedicated to the project).     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE on “Requirements and Safety Evaluation for RW Management” Rome, June 25 – 29, 2018 The forthcoming Training Course on “Requirements and safety evaluation for RW Management” will be implemented on June 25 th – 29 th , 2018 in Rome. The trainees (n°17) are coming from Nuclear Regulators and TSOs of 12 Partner Countries (Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Philippines, Serbia, South Africa, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam) will attend the course. The very rich program (24 lectures and two practical applications) covers the different phases of the RW management focusing on the NRA function and regulatory review. At the end of the course the technical multiply answer questionnaire is foreseen to verify the comprehension of the presentations given. More details will be given on the dedicated website of the project.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TUTORING COURSE  “Tutoring in the area of regulatory licensing and oversight of decommissioning activities of NPP or other NF’’ c/o ISPRA - Rome (Italy), June 25 – August 17, 2018 Back to back to the Training Course on Decommissioning the Tutoring Course on “Safety evaluation, licensing  and oversight for decommissioning of nuclear facilities” has been organized by ITER and ISPRA in the period  June 25 – August 17, 2018 to be carried out in Rome at the premises of ISPRA, the Italian Nuclear Regulatory Authority. The Tutoring has the duration of 8 weeks and will be attended by two tutees respectively from the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of Ukraine – SNRIU and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of Vietnam – VARANS. Both will first take part the Training on “Requirements and Safety evaluation for Decommissioning of NF’’. The tutoring activity has been conceived as ‘’on the job training’’ and it will contribute to a real and practical “build-up” of knowledge allowing a sustainable transfer of approaches and methods and develop capability to use it in the context of NRAs and TSOs functions. The tutors taking care of the program are from ISPRA and ITER.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “Requirements and Safety Evaluation for Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities” Rome, June 18 – 22, 2018 The dedicated Training Course in EU on “Requirements and safety evaluation for Decommissioning” has been scheduled during the week from June 18 th  to June 22 nd , 2018 in Rome, Italy.   The  12  participants  coming  from  Nuclear  Regulators  and  TSOs  of  10  Partner  Countries  (Brazil,  Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam) will attend the course. The detailed program includes 19 lectures, one practical application and one day visit to the Italian NPP as evidence of the implementation of decommissioning activity, operation of decontamination of material and conditioning of RW. A  technical  questionnaire  at  the  end  of  the  week  will  be  carried  out  to  check  the  level  of  the  knowledge acquired. The details of the Training Course will be described in the Minutes of the Course.     IAEA TSO Forum TEC DOC n. 1835  “Technical and Scientific Support Organizations (TSOs) providing support to regulatory functions'' -  January 2018   On January 2018 the TEC DOC n 1835 on “Technical and Scientific Support Organizations (TSOs) providing support to regulatory functions'' has been issued by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). It has been elaborate by IAEA with experts  from different Member States to make available a common understanding of the roles and challenges of the organizations (TSOs) providing technical and scientific support to regulatory bodies. ITER has contributed to this activity in the frame of cooperation with IAEA and as member of the TSO Forum since 2010.   Link to download the TEC DOC     INSC Project U3.01/14 & U3.01/15 (UK/TS/51-52 and UK/TS/53 to 57) “Strengthening of State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) capabilities relevant for the regulation of nuclear activities and in licensing and severe accident management of Nuclear Installations”   TASK C1 –  Improvement of the national regulations on radiation protection according to provisions of the Council directive 2013/59/Euratom   “Workshop on implementation of Directive 2013/59/Euratom in national legislation and practice (EU)”April 16-17, 2018 Rome   ITER is leading the Task C1 related to the improvement of the Ukrainian legal and regulatory framework. In the frame of this Task C1  a two days Workshop on “Implementation of Directive 2013/59/Euratom in national legislation and practice (EU)” has been held  at ITER premises in Italy on April 16-17, 2018. The EU experts coming from Nuclear Regulatory Authority  (NRA) and Technical Support Organisation (TSO) of Italy, Germany and Norway have discussed actively with the Beneficiary experts from the Ukrainian Regulatory Body (SNRIU) and its  TSO (SSTC NRS) with representative from the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice about the experience gained  (and issues) during the transposition process of the Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM. The discussion has allowed to focus some problematics existing in Ukraine to achieve the objective to be conform to the EU Directive and how to address them. Pictures     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE on   “Radioactive sources in medical, industrial and research related applications”  Rome (Italy), March 19 - 23, 2018   The Training Course on “Radioactive sources in medical, industrial and research related applications” will start on March 19th till 23rd, 2018 and will be carried out in Rome by ITER-Consult.   The objective of the course is to provide a complete overview of the application of radioactive sources (RS) in medical, industrial and research activities and related legal-regulatory requirements with focus on the role of the regulatory body. Particular attention is given on medical application introducing and clarifying the role of RPO, RPE and MPE with a visit to the Italian National Institute for Cancer Treatment (IFO) in Rome. A second technical visit is envisaged to the characterisation laboratory (ENEA)  and the facility for treatment of used radioactive sources (Nucleco). 14 participants coming from 14 countries outside the EC are very eager to attend the training and they are from: Armenia, Belarus, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE on   “Basic nuclear safety concepts, regulatory function, licensing management  and decision making”  Mexico City (Mexico), February 12 - 16, 2018   The second Regional Training Course in the region of Latin America will be implemented on February 12th -  16th in Mexico City with the support of the local partner CNSNS (Comisión Nacional de Seguridad Nuclear y Salvaguardias). The objective of the course is to provide an overview of the basic concepts of nuclear safety, with focus on the regulatory review and evaluation function related to the licensing process. The program includes the presentations given by the EU experts and also local trainers from the CNSNS. The team of experts attending the course is composed of 19 participants from 8 countries in the region namely: Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. The level of comprehension of the transferred knowledge will be verified by a detailed technical questionnaire which will be distributed at the last day of the course.     EC - INSC Project A3.01/13 “Enhancement of ANRA and NRSC capabilities for safety review and assessment of radioactive waste management facilities and activities” Final Meeting Yerevan (Armenia), January 25 th , 2018   The Final Meeting of the INSC Project " Enhancement of ANRA and NRSC capabilities for safety review and assessment  of  radioactive  waste  management  facilities  and  activities  " with  the  duration  of  24  months (extended of two more months), was held in Yerevan (Armenia) on January 25 th , 2018 at the offices of ANRA (Armenian  Nuclear  Regulatory  Authority)  with  the  participation  of  the  EC  Representative,  EU  Team  and Beneficiary. The good cooperation with ANRA and NRSC and the frequent, cooperative and effective technical meetings were recognized as a strength of the project favoring its successful implementation.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE on   “Nuclear material protection, control and accounting, security” Budapest (Hungary), January 15 - 19, 2018   The Training Course on “Nuclear material protection, control and accounting, security” has been carried out according  to the  schedule  on  January  15-19,  2018  with  support  of  one  of  the  consortium  partners  HAEA (Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority) in Budapest. The experts coming from the following 9 Partner Countries (total n° 11 persons): Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico,  Mongolia,  Nigeria,  Philippines,  Thailand  and  Vietnam  were  very  satisfied  having  attended  the training.   The  one  week  program  has  been  elaborated  keeping  in mind  the  key  aspects  of  nuclear  security  and  of protection of nuclear material taking into consideration the level of knowledge of the trainees summarised in their CV profiles and the international and national good practices to be transferred to the participants. At the end of the course the trainees have expressed their positive opinion on the rich content of the program and appreciation and satisfaction for the organization of the course.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 Regional Training Course on “EU acquis, legal and regulatory framework, regulatory role & responsibilities” Bangkok (Thailand), November 27 - December 1, 2017   The forthcoming Regional Training Course (RTC) on “EU acquis, legal and regulatory framework, regulatory role & responsibilities” will be implemented as scheduled on November 27th – December 1, 2017 in Bangkok with the support of the local NRA Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP). The team of 19 participants coming from 8 countries of the region, namely from: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are very interested to attend the training. The training course will cover the requirements associated to the process to establish the legal and regulatory framework, to define the roles of stakeholders in the nuclear infrastructure and to establish appropriate nuclear regulatory responsibilities and functions including elements of the nuclear regulator’s independence. It will include the practical examples and applications.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13  TUTORING MODULE on “Radioactive sources in medical, industrial and research related applications” Rome (Italy), November 13, 2017 – January 5, 2018   In the framework of the above mentioned project the eight weeks Tutoring Module on “Radioactive sources in medical, industrial and research related applications” is being implemented since November 13th, 2017 till January 5th, 2018 at the premises of ITER-Consult. The tutoring programme will cover aspects related to management of the RSs, regulatory requirements, security aspects, authorization process, content of safety assessment and oversight, role and responsibilities of the operators and of the regulatory body. The participant coming from the Mexican  NRA will familiarize with EU Directive and the IAEA code of conduct on RSs which will be ensured with the issues related to implementation of the EU Directive for BSS (59/2013) and related impact on RSs application in medical field will be described. The tutoring will include also onsite visits to medical facilities and research/industrial facilities.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13  TRAINING COURSE and TUTORING MODULE "Requirements and Safety evaluation of NPP SAR” Ljubljana (Slovenia), November 13-17, 2017   The EU Dedicated Training Course on "Requirements and Safety evaluation of NPP SAR” has been successfully implemented last week in Ljubljana on November 13th – 18th, 2017 at the premises of Josef Stefan Institute (JSI). The 13 trainees who attended the training were coming from 7 different Partner Countries, namely: Armenia, Belarus, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Thailand and South Africa. The programme included 16 different lecturers given mainly by the lecturers from ITER; JSI and Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) for a total of 26 presentations, 1 practical application and 1 Technical Visit to Krsko NPP, which was particularly appreciated by the trainees. The details of the training are reported in the Minutes of the course. Back to back to the Training Course, two months Tutoring Module on the same subject has started on November 20th and will last till January 12th, 2018. The objective of the tutoring is to ensure an optimum  transfer of know-how  in the context of NRAs functions to define objectives, content and requirements for SAR and perform the review of the content, complementing the acquisition gained in the previous training course on “Requirements and Safety evaluation of NPP SAR”. The programme will include onsite visits, practical applications and exercises and will be carried out at the premises of SNSA and JSI. Pictures     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13  TRAINING COURSE "I&C systems, including digital systems, electrical and communication systems" Germany (Mannheim), November 6 th  – 10 th , 2017   The training course on "I&C systems, including digital systems, electrical and communication systems" is going to be implemented on November 6th -10th, 2017 in Germany (Mannheim) at the premises of TUEV SUD (partner of ITER consortium). This is the second course on this subject organized by ITER in the framework of the above mentioned project. The main topic of this training is the information on the different technologies, and their evolution,  adopted for the Instrumentation and Control (I&C) Systems in Nuclear Facilities (in particular in NPP). The trainees approved to attend the training are 12 and they are coming from eight different Partner Countries (PCs): Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam. The detailed training program and content of the course are uploaded on the dedicated website. After the course the minutes and pictures will be also available.       INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP SUSTAINING CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR NUCLEAR SAFETY AND SECURITY   Organized by the G7 Nuclear Safety and Security Group (G7 NSSG)    Under Italian Presidency   11 October 2017, Rome     On October 11th, 2017 ITER has participated in the international Workshop on “Sustaining Capacity-Building For Nuclear Safety And Security” was organized by the G7 Nuclear Safety and Security Group (G7 NSSG) in cooperation with the EC, IAEA, ENEA, ISPRA and SOGIN. The Workshop is the most high-profile event of the work programme of the G7-NSSG for the 2017 and was intended to devote specific attention to existing initiatives  to support capacity building in new embarking countries and develop and maintain nuclear competences in all countries. Key elements  and panel discussion are envisaged in the agenda. ITER in the field of capacity building in countries outside EU has provided T&T activity since 2011 in the frame of EC finance projects. Up to now ITER in cooperation with ISPRA and other EU partners has provided: ·         33EU Dedicated training courses (1 week each) to 387 trainees from 19 countries outside EU ·         14 Regional Training Courses to313 trainees from 29 countries outside EU ·         20 Tutoring modules (two montheach) to 42 tutees from 15 countries outside EU In total 47 Training Courses and 20 Tutoring for a total of 739 trainees coming from 48 countries outside EU.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13  TRAINING COURSE "NPP siting requirements and safety review " Rome (Italy), October 2 – 6, 2017   According to the Addendum n° 1 to the Contract Nº 2014/343-969, ITER starts the implementation of the 14 trainings with the one week Training Course on NPP siting requirements and safety review " has started today with the participation of nine diverse experts from eight Partner Countries, namely: Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam. This is the second course on this subject organized by ITER in the framework of the above mentioned project. The course treats various topics related to the siting and safety review following the fitted program. More details including Minutes of the training will be uploaded soon to the dedicated website.     EC - INSC Project A3.01/13 “Enhancement of ANRA and NRSC capabilities for safety review and assessment of radioactive waste management facilities and activities” Task 1 Workshop Yerevan, September 7th – 8th, 2017   The workshop of the Task 1 (“Review of the safety documentation for the proposed processing and storage of LILW of ANPP”) has been successful carried out on September 7-8, 2017 in Yerevan with the participation of many stakeholders: ANRA, NRSC, MENR, ANPP, “ARMATOM” CJSC. It was an important event with the objective to present and discuss the main results of project activities supporting ANRA for RW management issues on ANPP and share with the Licensee and other stakeholders the understanding of current situation. The key aspects of safety issues linked with the improvements to be implemented at ANPP, for treatment and storage of RW, were covered and discussed. The discussion addressed also considerations of current Armenian legal and regulatory framework.     EC -  INSC Project MC3.01/13  “Training and Tutoring for experts of the National Regulatory Authorities (NRA) and their Technical Support Organizations (TSO) for developing or strengthening their regulatory and technical capabilities”   The implementation of the activities for the project “Training and Tutoringfor experts of the National Regulatory Authorities (NRA) and their Technical Support Organizations (TSO) for developing or strengthening their regulatory and technical capabilities” has started in January 2015 with the duration of 36 months. ITER-Consult has recently received and signed in July 2017 the Addendum to the Contract Nº 2014/343-969 for the above mentioned project which extended the duration of 14 more months and foreseen implementation of additional Training Courses and Tutoring sessions. The planning of the next Training and Tutoring Courses has been published on the related ITER Training and Tutoring website     EC - INSC Project A3.01/13 “Enhancement of ANRA and NRSC capabilities for safety review and assessment of radioactive waste management facilities and activities” Second Progress Meeting Yerevan, July 13-14, 2017   In the frame of the INSC Project A3.01/13 and according to the schedule indicated in the Inception Report the second Progress Meeting had place at the premises of ANRA (Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority) in Yerevan on July 13-14, 2017. The meeting gave an opportunity to the Contractor and ANRA to present and discuss with the representative of the EC the progress of the activities, relevant outputs and activity envisaged for the remaining period of the project. In the meeting participated also the Armenian TSO - NRSC who has also contributed to the meeting with the apposite presentation. The conclusion of the project is foreseen in January 2018 and for this purpose it was agreed to hold the Final Meeting of the project in the second half of November 2017.     EC - INSCProject MC3.01/13 REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE “Basic Nuclear Safety Concepts, Regulatory Function, Licensing Management and Decision Making” Organized by ITER Yerevan (Armenia) April 24 - 28, 2017   The one week Regional Training Course on “Basic Nuclear Safety Concepts, Regulatory Function, Licensing Management and Decision Making” is scheduled on April 24-28, 2017 in the region of East Europe – Central Asia, precisely in Yerevan (Armenia). This is the third and last RTC organized by ITER in this region in the framework of the above mentioned project. The participation of n°16 experts coming from 9 countries in the region (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Iran, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Ukraine) has been confirmed. The program is very rich of the topics and includes also one practical application. At the end of the training the technical questionnaire will be submitted to the participants in order to check their acquired knowledge. More details about the course are available on the EU site.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “T/H analyses  from regulatory perspective for NPP accident analysis” Organized by ITER in cooperation with JSI and SNSA Ljubljana (Slovenia), April 10 – 14, 2017   The Training Course on “T/H analyses  from regulatory perspective for NPP accident analysis” is the last EU dedicated training of the project and will start  on Monday 10th April and finish on April 14th 2017 in Ljubljana with kind support of  the Slovenian organisations JSI (Jozef Stefan Institute) and SNSA (Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration. The participants are thirteen and are coming from NRAs and TSO of 9 countries in the region, namely: Belarus, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam. The training will cover present the accident analysis to be performed and related available computer codes for T/H and fluid dynamics analyses in light water reactors technology with reference to PWR, BWR, AP600. WWER designs. It will be also discussed the Key aspects of T/H analyses in DBA and DEC scenarios together with assumptions, margins and approach. More details after the course on the EC dedicated page. Back to back to the Training mentioned above the Tutoring course on the same subject will follow with the participation of two experts from: Indonesia and South Africa with the duration of two month at the premises of JSI and SNSA.     INSC Project A3.01/13 Technical Meetings Task 1, Task 3 and Task 4 April 3-7, 2017 Yerevan (Armenia)   In the framework of the EC financed project A3.01/13 on “Enhancement of ANRA and NRSC capabilities for safety review and assessment of radioactive waste management facilities and activities” managed by ITER (as leader of the consortium composed by ITER (IT), ISPRA (IT), SOGIN (IT) and VTT (FI)) three technical meetings back to back have been performed in the first week of April from 3rd to 7th, 2017. The project is proceeding according to the schedule defined in the Inception Report and about 40% of the activities has been already implemented. The cooperation between beneficiary (ANRA) and contractor (ITER) is proceeding well and without problems. Picture       International Conference organized by SSTC in occasion of its 25th anniversary Kiev, March 22-23, 2017   “Novel Vision of Scientific & Technical Support for Regulation of Nuclear Energy Safety: Competence, Transparency, Responsibility”       Presentation given by Mr. A. Madonna: “Objectives and challenges of scientific and technical support to nuclear regulators’’ Summary - Managing a nuclear power program is a major commitment requiring, among others, to address the nuclear Safety, Security and Safeguards (3Ss) which are prerequisite for a high level of nuclear safety. High levels of nuclear and radiation safety need to be applied, maintained, evaluated and further improved in the time in order to ensure a global nuclear safety regime. For this objective competences, resources and capacity are necessary. Part of this capacity is the availability of technical support organizations (TSO) in regulatory and research activities related to nuclear and radiation safety. This support has shown to become more and more essential and significant initiatives exist to promote the TSO function, networking and cooperation (e.g. TSO Forum and IAEA Safety standards and TECDOC). Different approaches to technical support exist: in some countries dedicated expert organization are supporting regulatory authority by statutory established functions, elsewhere the support is identified on a case by case basis and it is provided by external organization (in some cases foreign organizations) on the basis of specific contractual agreement or framework contracts. Retaining the NRA the full responsibility for the final decision. In providing technical support to NRA, the experience shows, from one side, the importance to have technical support organizations (TSO) with recognized requirements: competence, independence and appropriate regulatory view, and from the other side, the importance to have within the NRAs well developed management and technical capability to address, coordinate and use the results of the external technical support. The independence of TSO supporting a NRA from activity in support of the Licensee is crucial to ensure continuous improvement and avoid complacency. Responsibility, effectiveness and challenges of TSO support are underlined with reference to needs and different activities and capacity of regulatory authorities.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “Lessons learned from the Fukushima Dai–Ichi incident and EU stress tests” organized by ITER in cooperation with JSI and SNSA Ljubljana (Slovenia), March 13 – 17, 2016   The Training Course on “Lessons learned from the Fukushima Dai–Ichi incident and EU stress tests” is beeing implemented during the week march 13-17, 2017 in Ljubljana (Slovenia) with the kind support of Jozef Stefan Institute (JSI) and Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA). The n°12 participants are coming from Nuclear Regulators of 10 countries from the region, namely: Armenia, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Ukraine and Vietnam. The training course will present and discuss the Fukushima Daichi accident, its evolution and management highlighting the relevant aspects related to topics like: conception and implementation of protection against external events, defence in depth, cliff edge effects, accident management, periodic safety review, accident management, management of severe accidents and lessons learned on design and operational aspects. One practical application is included in the training programme.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE “Radiation Protection and EmergencyPreparedness” Organized by ITER in cooperation with CNSNS Mexico City (Mexico) March 6 - 10, 2017   The Regional Training Course on “Radiation Protection and Regulatory Emergency Preparedness” is the first RTC . in the region of Latin America organized by ITER with kind cooperation of Comision Nacional De Seguridad Nuclear Y Salvaguardias (CNSNS) and hosted at their premises It is scheduled on March 6-10, 2017 in Mexico City. The participants are coming from NRAs and TSO of 8 countries in the region, namely: Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Peru. The training will cover among others the following topics: The role of the regulator in supporting the government in decision making during an emergency, the structure and content of a typical emergency plan and emergency zoning, the emergency response, the definition of roles and identification of responsibilities of government, operator and regulator. Practical application is foreseen during the course. Photos     EC - INSCProject MC3.01/13 REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE “Basic Nuclear Safety Concepts, Regulatory Function, Licensing Management and Decision Making” Organized by ITER in cooperation with ANNuR Hammamet (Tunisia) February 20 - 24, 2017   The Regional Training Course on “Basic Nuclear Safety Concepts, Regulatory Function, Licensing Management and Decision Making” is going to be implemented starting from February 20th till February 24th, 2017 in Hammamet with kind cooperation of Arab  Network of Nuclear Regulators (ANNuR). This is the third and last RTC organized in the region of nord Africa in the framework of this project. 29 participants coming from Nuclear Regulators of 13 countries from the region, namely: Mauritania, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sultanate of Oman are very interested to attend. The course will present and discuss the safety requirements for: independence among levels of the DiD, redundancy, independence, diversification, equipment qualification, use of probabilistic safety analysis, RW management activities and many other topics. One practical application is foreseen during the course. More details about the course are available on the EU site.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TUTORING COURSE “Safety evaluation, licensing and oversight of Research Reactors (RR)” organized by ITER in cooperation with JSI and SNSA Ljubljana (Slovenia), February 6th  – March 31st , 2017   The two months Tutoring Course on “Safety evaluation, licensing and oversight of Research Reactors (RR)” will be implemented, in the period February 6th – March 31st, 2017 in Ljubljana at  the Slovenian Regulatory Authority – Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) and it’s TSO Jozef Stefan Institute (JSI). Two tutees are coming from Nuclear Regulators of South Africa  - NNR and Philippines - PNRI. The trainees, as preparatory step, have attended the one week Training Course on “Requirements and safety evaluation of Research Reactors” organized in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on last December 5 - 9, 2016.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “Public Information and Communication” organized by ITER in Rome January 30th – February 3rd, 2017 The Training Course on “Public Information and Communication” is in the phase of the implementation during the week January 30th – February 3rd, 2017 in Rome. 12 participants coming from Nuclear Regulators of 7 countries from the region, namely: Brazil, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Malaysia, Thailand and Ukraine are attending the Training. The one week training programme will present and discuss the legal basis, the objective, content and responsibility for public information and communication with focus on the role of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority as well as the Importance of Regulator’s communication, involvement of stakeholders, communication requirements, key aspects of communication during siting, operation and decommissioning of a nuclear facility, crisis communication and public information management, while developing a nuclear program  with experience from EU countries. The programme includes also two Practical Applications. More details about the course will be available on the EU site after the end of the training.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE “Regulation of Uranium Mining” Organized by ITER Bangkok (Thailand), December 13 – 17, 2016   The Regional Training Course on “Regulation of Uranium Mining” is being implemented during the week December 13-17, 2016 in Bangkok (Thailand) . This is the third Regional Training Course in the region of South East Asia. 13 participants coming from Nuclear Regulators of 6 countries from the region, namely: Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam are attending the Regional Training. The one week training includes the presentations on diverse topics: uranium natural resources, different kinds of mines, technological processes for mining, milling and management of mining waste and tailings are presented. Uranium mining legislation and international safety requirements. One practical application is included during the course. At the end of the Training the detailed questionnaire will be submitted to the experts to confirm the knowledge they acquired. Photos     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TUTORING COURSE “Radioactive sources management and requirements” Organized by ITER in Rome Rome, November 21, 2016  – January 13, 2017   At the premises of ITER in Rome the Tutoring Course on “Radioactive sources in medical, industrial and research related applications” is in progress since November 21st, back to back to the training course on the same subject. The two experts – one from Malaysia and one from Nigeria are participating, following the reach program which is addressing topics such: management of RSs in the medical field related requirements and in particular correspondent regulatory control and oversight activity. Application in industrial field, regulatory requirements, security aspects... There are technical visits included to the Italian sites, laboratories and hospital. The detailed program can be consulted at the ITER T&T website. photos     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “Requirements and safety evaluation of ResearchReactors” organized by ITER in cooperation with JSI and SNSA Ljubljana (Slovenia), December 5 – 9, 2016   The Training Course on “Requirements and safety evaluation of Research Reactors” will be implemented during the week December 5-9, 2016 in Ljubljana (Slovenia) with the kind support of Jozef Stefan Institute (JSI) and Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA). 11 participants coming from Nuclear Regulators of 8 countries from the region, namely: Brazil, Iraq, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam will attend the Training. The one week training programme will present and discuss the safety aspects and requirements for Research Reactors (RR) and related licensing steps from siting to construction and operation to in order to present the technical and regulatory aspects. The programme include also one Practical Application and walk-down at the Triga Mark II Research Reactor facility in Ljubljana including a demonstration of one operational exercise. More details about the course will be available on the EU site after the end of the training.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “Radioactive sources in medical, industrial and research related applications” Organized by ITER Rome (Italy), November 14 – 18, 2016   The EU Dedicated Training Course on “Radioactive sources in medical, industrial and research related applications” has been scheduled on November 14th – 18th, 2016 in Rome, Italy. The one week training provides a complete overview of the application of radioactive sources (RS) and related legal-regulatory requirements with focus on the role of the regulatory body. Two technical visits to the Italian National Institute for Cancer Treatment (IFO) and to Laboratory of characterisation of nuclear materials (ENEA Casaccia Centre are included. 14 participants coming from Nuclear Regulators of 11 countries from the region, namely: Belarus, Brazil, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Tajikistan, South Africa, Ukraine and Vietnam will attend the training course. More details about the course will be available on the EU site after the end of the training.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13   REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE “Regulation of Uranium Mining” Organized by ITER in cooperation with General Agency for Specialized Inspection (GASI) Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), November 1 – 5, 2016   The Regional Training Course on “Regulation of Uranium Mining” is being implemented during the week November 1-5, 2016 in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) with the kind support of General Agency for Specialized Inspection (GASI). This is the first RTC organized by ITER in Mongolia. 16 participants coming from Nuclear Regulators of 3 countries from the region, namely: Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Tajikistan are attending the Regional Training. The one week training programme is very reach of topics in order to present the technical and regulatory aspects concerning the regulation of the uranium mining. During the RTC the visit to the U mining Site is scheduled. More details about the course will be available on the EU site after theend of the training. Photos     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13   DEDICATED TRAINING COURSE On “I&C systems, including digital systems, electrical and communication systems” Mannheim (Germany), October 24 – 28, 2016   The EU Dedicated Training on “I&C systems, including digital systems, electrical and communication systems” will be carried out during the week October  24 - 28, 2016 in Mannheim (Germany). The 15 trainees coming from 5 Partner Countries will attend the training following the program that includes lectures, two practical application and one technical visit to a NPP. Further information on the Training can be found on the dedicated website of EC after the completion of the activity.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13   DEDICATED TRAINING COURSE On “Security, Nuclear Materials Protection, Control and Accounting” Budapest (Hungary), October 3 – 7, 2016   The EU Dedicated Training Course on “Security, Nuclear Materials Protection, Control and Accounting” is on-going during this week October 3 - 7, 2016 in Budapest (Hungary). 15 participants coming from Nuclear Regulators of 10 Partner Countries, namely Brazil, Malaysia, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam are attending the training. The training course aims at providing the description of objective and key aspects of nuclear security with regard to the nuclear material and radioactive substances.  There are foreseen 22 lectures and one Practical Application. The Training Course will be followed by one month Tutoring Course on “Nuclear security, physical protection of nuclear material and accountability controls” to be held at the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA). The tutees are experts from the Nuclear Regulatory Authorities of Mongolia and Thailand.       EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE “Radiation Protection and Regulatory Emergency Preparedness” Organized by ITER in cooperation with ANNuR Bizerte (Tunisia), September 19 – 23, 2016   The Regional Training Course on “Radiation Protection and Regulatory Emergency Preparedness” is implemented during the week September 19-23, 2016 in Bizerte (Tunisia) with the kind support of the Arab Network of Nuclear Regulators (ANNuR). 24 participants coming from Nuclear Regulators of 13 countries from the region, namely: Iraq, Libya, Mauritania, Palestine, Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Yemen and Qatar are attending the Regional Training. The one week training programme was tailored according to the needs of the region with an accent on transfer of knowledge, good practices and practical group exercises. Among the objectives of the Regional Training implementation there are the continuous interaction with the trainees, the knowledge transfer evaluation by a technical questionnaire completed by the trainees and the collection of the feedback and suggestions for improvement of the trainees. Photos     INSC Project PH3.01/09 - PH/RA/01 Task 3 - “Strengtheningthe capabilities of the nuclear regulator in deterministic and probabilistic safety assessment”On the Job Training ITER, September 19 – October 14, 2016   In the frame of the INSC Project PH/RA/01 – Task 3 on September 19th, 2016  started the implementation of the one month  On the Job Training (OJT) at ITER premises.  Its objective is to transfer of knowledge for the achievement of an acceptable level of expertise for independent safety assessment and verification of NPPs and the technical support for assessment and review of the site licensing support documentation of the NPP, including an environmental impact assessment report. Two experts from the Philippines Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) – NuclearRegulatory Division (NRD) take part in the OJT at ITER-Consult. The detailed program includes the topics: Site evaluation; Radioactive releases and dispersion of radioactive material in soil, air and water; Safety assessment conducted by EU TSOs; Emergency preparedness and emergency plan at the EU regulator level. The tutees will elaborate a detailed Common Report describing their experience and knowledge acquired during the OJT.     INSC Project A3.01/13 “Enhancement of ANRA and NRSC capabilities for safety review and assessment of radioactive waste management facilities and activities” Inception Meeting Yerevan, February 25 – 26, 2016   The INSC Project A3.01/13 contract between EC and ITER has been signed on 08.01.2016. The Inception Meeting has been organized and held in Yerevan on February 25 - 26, 2016. It had the objective to present, discuss and clarify all project organizational issues, interfaces and lines of communication, project management, task activity and coordination, task implementation, schedule and required input. The implementation of the project is carried out by the consortium led by ITER including ISPRA, VTT and SOGIN with the support of Armenian TSO – NRSC.     INSC Project A3.01/13 “Enhancement of ANRA and NRSC capabilities for safety review and assessment of radioactive waste management facilities and activities”   On December 7, 2015 ITER-Consult has received the Notification Letter from the EC DEVCO stating the successful outcome of the offer ref. EUROPEAID/136862/C/SER/AM submitted by ITER-Consult leading the consortium  ITER-Consult, ISPRA, VTT, SOGIN. The contract awarding procedure is in progress.     INSC Project A4.01/09 ‘’Development of Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management Strategy for Armenia’’ MENR, Yerevan, (Armenia) September 25, 2015   The Final Meeting of the INSC Project "Development of Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management Strategy for Armenia", was successfully held in Yerevan, on September 25th, 2015, at MENR premises, with the participation of the Project Leaders and Task Leaders from the Contractor side, EC Project Manager and Beneficiary/Enduser (B/E). The objective of the meeting was: ·         Presenting and discussing the progress of the project activities during the last 4th semester ·         To overview the overall results of each task of the project ·         Disseminate the results to all Armenia stakeholders The EC expressed satisfaction for the achieved results of the project and recognized the efforts and cooperation established between the Contractor and the B/E during the project implementation.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TUTORING COURSE “Regulatory requirements and Safety Evaluation for NPP SAR” SNSA - Ljubljana, July 13 – September 04, 2015   The Tutoring Course on “Regulatory Requirements and  safety evaluation for NPP SAR” is going to be implemented, back to back to the training on the same topic, in Ljubljana at SNSA, the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration. The Tutoring has the duration of two months, from July 13th to September 04th, 2015, and will be attended by two tutees, coming from Nuclear Regulators of Brasil – CNEN and Ukraine – SNRIU. The trainees, as preparatory step, will attend the one week Training Course on the same topic organized in Ljubljana (Slovenia) scheduled on July 6 - 11, 2015.     IPA Project 2013 Kosovo “Support to Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety in Kosovo” Final Meeting and Project Completion Event Pristina, July 7-8, 2015   The Final Meeting of the 18 months IPA Project "Support to Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety" that has approached to its end, was held in Pristina on July 7th, 2015 at the EU Office in Kosovo with the participation of the EU Task Leader, Beneficiary and PSC members. On July 8th, 2015 was foreseen the Project Completion Event which objective is to inform on the results obtained during the implementation of the project. This was the first EU funded project in this field managed by the European Office in Kosovo directly. Press Release 08.07.15 Photos     EC - INSCProject MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “Severe Accident Phenomenology” Stockholm, July 6-10, 2015   In the framework of the project MC3.01/13 is also foreseen the participation of the trainees from the Partner Countries in some of the available existing courses. The first Existing Training Course on “Severe Accident Phenomenology”, has been carried out during the week from July 6th to July 10th in Stockholm, Sweden.The 4 participants coming from Nuclear Regulators of Brazil (CNEN) and Vietnam (VARANS) have actively attended the course, appreciated very much the lectures. Moreover, at the end of the course the trainees were invited to draw up a Report, describing the main topics covered and the lessons learned during the training.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “Requirements and  Safety Evaluation for NPP SAR” Ljubljana (Slovenia), July 6 - 11, 2015   The dedicated Training Course in EU on “Requirements and  safety evaluation for NPP SAR” is going to be implemented during the week from July 6th to July 11th in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Trainees, coming from Nuclear Regulators of 7 Partner Countries (Armenia, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Ukraine, Vietnam) are going to attend the course. The program will cover all key aspects of SAR structure and content, organization and conduct of the regulatory assessment of the SAR, identification of main priorities in the evaluation of the SAR with respect to different phases of licensing process A technical visit to Krško NPP is scheduled on the last day of the course. Further information and training results will be announced by the end of the ongoing event     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 PROGRESS MEETING N.1 Brussels - June 26, 2015   The first Progress meeting with the EC,  in the frame of the INSC Project MC3.01/13  has taken place in Brussels, hosted by EC DEVCO,  on June  26, 2015 with the objective to present and discuss : §  the status of implementation of the project T&T Phase III, in the period January – June 2015 §  the activity envisaged in the next reporting period §  aspects related to the administrative management  §  achievements and feedback from the activity performed §  Interface with the EC The implementation of the project activity proceed according to the planned schedule and included the performance of 3 EU dedicated training courses, 2 Regional training courses and 2 tutoring, which are now in progress.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TUTORING COURSE  “Tutoring in the area of regulatory licensing and oversight of decommissioning activities of NPP or other NF’’ c/o ISPRA - Rome (Italy), June 22 – August 14, 2015   The Tutoring Course on “Safety evaluation, licensing  and oversight for decommissioning of nuclear facilities” organized back to back to the Training on the same topic at ISPRA, the Italian Nuclear Regulatory Agency, is in progress. The Tutoring has the duration of two months from June 22th – August 14th, 2015 and it is attended by two tutees respectively from the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of Malaysia – AELB and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of Vietnam – VARANS. Both trainees took part in the Training on “Requirements and Safety evaluation for Decommissioning’’ organised beforehand (Rome, 15 - 19 June, 2015).     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “Requirements and Safety Evaluation for Decommissioning” Rome, June 15 – 19, 2015   The dedicated Training Course in EU on “Requirements and  safety evaluation for Decommissioning” has been implemented during the week from June 15th to June 19th in Rome, Italy. The 13 participants coming from Nuclear Regulators of 9 Partner Countries (Armenia, Belarus, Brazil, Iraq, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Africa, Ukraine, Vietnam) have actively attended the course. 21 specific lectures have been presented according to the program ( see the section “EU training courses”), and one practical application on “Safety requirements during Decommissioning”. One day visit at the site of Latina NPP gave the evidence of the implementation of decommissioning activity, operation of decontamination of material and conditioning of RW and was particularly appreciated by the trainees. A technical questionnaire at the end of the week permitted to the trainees to check their degree of their level of learning.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “Requirements and Safety Evaluation for RW Management” Rome, June 8 – 12, 2015   The dedicated Training Course in EU on “Requirements and  safety evaluation for RW Management” has been successfully carried out during the week from June 8th to June 12th in Rome, Italy. 9 trainees, coming from Nuclear Regulators of 7 Partner Countries (Armenia, Brazil, Iraq, Malaysia, South Africa, Ukraine, Vietnam) have attended the course. The program covered the different phases of the RW management focusing on the NRA function and regulatory review.   During the course two practical application have been conducted regarding the aspects of regulatory review and processes of RW Management. At the end of the course the technical multiply answer questionnaire have been submitted to the trainees to verify their acquired knowledge. The trainees have expressed their appreciation and satisfaction for the organisation and the content of the program.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE  “Radiation protection system at Nuclear Facilities’’ organized by  ITER-Consult in East Europe-Central Asia region Yerevan (Armenia), June 1-5, 2015   The second dedicated Regional Training Course on “Radiation Protection System at Nuclear Facilities” has been successfully implemented during the week from June 1st to June 5th in Yerevan, Armenia. It was the first time in the frame of T&T projects, that a Regional Training Course is organized in the East Europe-Central Asia region. About 20 trainees, coming from Nuclear Regulators of 4 Partner Countries (Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Ukraine)  and 5 East Europe-Central Asia region countries (Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkey, Uzbekistan), attended the course. The specific lectures, according to the program, were mainly prepared and given by experts from ITER consortium and local selected experts involving 9 lecturers for a total of 21 lectures and two practical applications have been carried out in two full afternoons, which were extremely appreciated and considered very useful by the trainees.      EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13 TRAINING COURSE “NPP siting regulatory requirements and licensing” Rome (Italy), May 11-15, 2015   The dedicated Training Course in EU on “NPP Siting regulatory requirements and licensing” has been held during the week from May 11th to May 15th in Rome. The 12 trainees coming from Nuclear Regulators and TSOs of 9 Partner Countries that were actively participating. For the first time there was a participant from Tajikistan and two participants from Nigeria – Partner Countries who have just joined the project. The course  included two practical applications, which were appreciated from the trainees because of the opportunity to put into practice the knowledge gained during the course, the team work and the exchange of their national experience. The training was concluded with a technical questionnaire, filled out by the trainees, to evaluate the effectiveness of the know-how transfer. Moreover, they have been interviewed to get their feedback and comments on the effectiveness of the performed training.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13  REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE  “Radiation Protection system at Nuclear Facilities’’ organized  by  ITER-Consult in cooperation with ANNuR Hammamet (Tunisia), April 20-24, 2015   In the framework of the new project INSC MC3.01/13 the first dedicated Regional Training Course on “Radiation Protection System at Nuclear Facilities”  has been successfully implemented with the cooperation between ITER and ANNuR, during the week from April 20 – 24, 2015 in Hammamet, Tunisia. About 26 trainees coming from Nuclear Regulators of 9Arab countries were attending the training showing their great interest for the ‘’training cooperation’’ from EC. The course  included two practical applications carried out in two full afternoons. The training was concluded with a technicalquestionnaire, submitted to the trainees to evaluate the effectiveness of the know-how transfer, and with an interview to get feedback and comments from the participants.     EC - INSC Project MC3.01/13  “Training and Tutoring for experts of the National Regulatory Authorities (NRA) and their Technical Support Organizations (TSO) for developing or strengthening their regulatory and technical capabilities” Inception Meeting Brussels, February 12, 2015 The contract for the Project above has been signed on 29.12.2014 and the Inception Meeting has been held in  Brussels on February 12, 2015 with the objective to discuss the project implementation and content, the National Training Plan (NTP) and the interface with the previous phases of INSC T&T project. The objective of the project is to provide training and tutoring to  staff of NRA and TSO of countries outside the EU. In this activity ITER is leading the consortium made of the following EU organizations: BNRA, HAEA, ISPRA, JSI, NRG, SNSA, TÜV SÜD Energietechnik, TÜV SÜD Industrie Service, Worley Parsons.     EC - INSC Project MC.03/10 “Training and Tutoring for experts of the NRAs and their TSOs for developing  or strengthening their regulatory and technical capabilities” - LOT 1 Final  Meeting Brussels, November 4, 2014 The final meeting of the project MC.03/10-LOT 1 was held in Brussels on 4-5/11/2015, at EC DEVCO premises, with the objective to: ·        evaluate the work performed (training and tutoring of staff of NRA and TSO), in terms of its main outcomes and their sustainability, ·        disseminate its outcomes and identify possible improvements to be applied to future cooperation, ·        clarify administrative and financial aspects. The EC Project Manager expressed high satisfaction for the T&T activity performed in the frame of LOT1 phase 1 and recognized the efforts, the methods and the very good results achieved by LOT 1 team led by ITER-Consult (BNRA, STUK, NRG, SCK-CEN, JSI, SNSA, ISPRA).      IPA Project 2013 Kosovo “Support to Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety in Kosovo” On September 26, 2013 ITER-Consult has received the Notification  Letter from the European Union Office in Kosovo, stating the successful outcome of the offer submitted by ITER-Consult (EUROPEAID/133749/C/SER/XK) leading the consortium  ITER-Consult, ISPRA, STUK, NUCLECO,  REC Office. The contract awarding  procedure is in progress.       INSC Project A4.01/09 ‘’Development of Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management Strategy for Armenia’’   On July 17, 2013 ITER-Consult has received the Notification  Letter fromthe EC DEVCO stating the successful outcome of the offer submitted by ITER-Consult (EUROPEAID/134040/C/SER/AM) leading the consortium  ITER-Consult, STUK, ARAO, SOGIN, IBERDROLA, ATOM Service. The contract awarding  procedure is in progress.       EC - INSC Project MC.03/10 Training and Tutoring for experts of the NRAs and their TSOs for developing  or strengthening their regulatory and technical capabilities - LOT 1 EC Contract  N° 2011/261-585   The PROGRESS MEETING N. 3 took place on July 17 in Brussels presenting  to the EC DEVCO the  status of implementation of the project, the planned activity for the next semester, the achievements and the feedback from the performed T&T courses. Eight training courses have been implemented since the beginning for an overall duration of 9 weeks. Six of them developed as ‘’dedicated’’ and only two adopted as ‘’existing’’. The training courses included the first “regional” course of the EC Project, organized in cooperation with ANNuR and carried out in Hammamet (Tunisia) in April 2013 with the participation of 26 trainees. Up to July 2013 a total number of 98  trainees have been involved in the training activity coming from NRA/TSO of the following Partner Countries:   1.       Armenia 2.       Belarus 3.       Brazil   4.       Egypt 5.       Indonesia 6.       Jordan 7.       Malaysia 8.       Mexico 9.       Morocco 10.   Nigeria 11.   Philippines 12.   Ukraine In the regional course in Hammamet ‘’non-partner countries’’ members of ANNuR network were included: Libya (3 trainees), Mauritania (3 trainees), Sudan (4 trainees), Tunisia (3 trainees), Yemen (4 trainees). Six tutoring courses were carried out at NRAs/ TSOs headquarters in EU (ISPRA/ITER, SNSA/JSI, STUK, SCK-CEN) for an overall duration of 11 months. Two selected staff from the PCs participated in each tutoring course for a total of 12 persons coming from NRA of Ukraine, Brazil, Vietnam, Mexico, Armenia, Belorussia, Jordan and Malaysia. A total of 22 man-month of tutoring activity has been implemented up to now. From the Consultant side  about 80 senior experts belonging to the organization of our project team (NRAs, TSOs and research institutes) have contributed to the activity performed.   T&T LOT 1 Information Notice July 2013                            INTERNATIONAL SEISMIC SAFETY CENTRE (ISSC) DIVISION OF NUCLEAR INSTALLATION SAFETY (NSNI) DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND SECURITY (NS)   EXTRABUDGETARY PROJECT ON SEISMIC SAFETY OF EXISTING NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS   KAshiwazaki-Kariwa Research Initiative for Seismic Margin Assessment KARISMA BENCHMARK ITER-Consult REPORT After the Niigataken-chuetsu-oki earthquake (NCOE), on 16 July 2007 that affected the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station (NPS) with a magnitude of 6.6, a benchmark on the seismic behaviour of NPP has been organized by IAEA, in the framework of the Working Area 2 (WA2) of the International Atomic Energy Agency – Extra Budgetary Programme (IAEA-EBO) on Seismic Safety of Existing Nuclear Power Plants. The final report here available contains the contribution of ITER-Consult to the benchmark, with specific reference to the activities requested in Task 1- Structural benchmark. It summarizes the work performed  since 2009. In subtask 1.1 analyses have been developed to study the soil response, using ground motion records provided by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). Response spectra have been evaluated at free surface and at specific depths using aftershock and main shock data. Maximum spectral accelerations of about 4.8 g have been calculated during the main shock. A 3D finite element model has been developed and used to evaluate the displacements and forces at specific points of the reactor building (RB) structure. In Subtask 1.2 of the benchmark, the main shock response of the structure has been evaluated, with the two hypotheses of fixed base and with soil structure interaction, taking into account the nonlinear behaviour of the structure. The obtained results have been compared to the recorded data during the NCOE earthquake. The last subtask 1.3 of the benchmark is devoted to margin assessment.  This objective has been seen from two perspectives: A.     Assess margin with respect to ultimate status of RB structure. That is the increase in the seismic demand causing the ultimate status of the RB structure, either collapse or extensive cracking with loss of containment. B.      Assess margin with respect to the loss of the ‘’NPP capacity to bring and maintain the NPP (reactor core and spent fuel)  in a safe status". This loss is logically linked with the systems and equipment needed to ensure the three main safety functions caused by interaction of the RB structure with systems and equipment. The first perspective has been covered by the analysis performed. The second approach, linked to the Task 2 of the benchmark, needs to investigate the interfaces between structures and systems/equipment to identify the margins with respect to loss of NPP system capacity to ‘’ bring and maintain the NPP in a safe status’’.           The ITER report refers only  to the assessment of the structural behaviour of the Reactor Building and related margins: for that purpose it was identified the “ultimate” earthquake that the structure can sustain and compared with the NCOE earthquake that effectively hit the NPP. DOC. ITC TD IAEA-KK 04 R1 issued on October 31, 2012                   EU STRESS TESTS                                                                                             September 2012   The EU “stress tests” requested by the European Council of 24/25 March 2011 have been performed, as specific assessment, in each of the EU MS operating NPP, according to the ENSREG scope and modalities (ENSREG Declaration of May 13, 2011).   The safety assessment performed by each operator, under request of the national nuclear regulators, have been focusing on:      * Natural hazards      * Loss of safety systems      * Severe accident management   On the basis of the assessment performed by the operators and related results, 17 Country Reports have been elaborated by the National Regulators and submitted for peer review to ENSREG team of experts. The results of the peer review are in the content of the Peer Review Reports approved by ENSREG on April 26, 2012.   The findings and recommendations of the peer review have been addressed in ‘’Follow-up Action Plan’’ defined by national regulators and approved by ENSREG on August 1, 2012. The Follow-up Action Plans in each MS are now under implementations and are made public.       EU STRESS TESTS EU PEER REVIEW OF NATIONAL REPORTS  January 20, 2012 The EU “stress tests” on the operating Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) in 16 EU Member States are defined as a ‘’targeted reassessment’’ of the safety margins of the EU NPP in the light of the events which occurred at Fukushima: extreme natural events challenging the plant safety functions and leading to a severe accident. This reassessment consists: ·         In an evaluation of the response of a NPP when facing a set of extreme situations , and ·         In a verification of the preventive and mitigative measures chosen following a defense in depth logic: initiating events, consequential loss of safety      functions, severe accident management. The activity and reporting of Stress Tests are carried out in accordance with the specifications and the principles for ‘’openness and transparency" as adopted by ENSREG in May 2011. The national regulatory bodies of 16 EU Member States plus Switzerland and Ukraine have independently reviewed the stress tests report elaborated by the operators  and prepared the National Reports for the EU Peer Review. These reports have been made publicly available on the ENSREG website (www.ensreg.com)  by very beginning of 2012. Three main TOPICS are identified  as deserving the focus of the re-assessment, in the light of the events that occurred at Fukushima, including combination of initiating events and failures:   Topic 1 - Initiating Events (earthquakes, flooding and weather conditions) Topic 2 -Loss of Safety Function (Loss of electrical power or heat sink and combination of both) Topic 3 -Severe Accident Management (organization and arrangements to manage SA scenarios)   The EU  Peer Review of National Reports is in progress and the EU Peer Review Report will be issued at the end of April 2012.   ITER-Consult preliminary considerations on the content of the National Reports   A first insight into the National Reports has given evidence of the following general considerations:     The content of the National Reports, commonly  based on the ENSREG Technical Specifications, shows differences from one country to another in         terms of: -          NPP basic design provisions, level of implementation of  defense in depth and capacity of  implemented safety measures; -          Approach to perform the  required  re-assessment; -          Ways to report about the results of re-assessments; -        Evidence of interface between operator (performing the re-assessment) and the regulator (evaluating the results)  with indication  of      Regulator positions;        These differences give space to comparisons,  transfer of  approaches and insights into  proposed  technical , organizational and management          solutions;     The results of the assessment and the role performed by the Regulators in monitoring, requesting and evaluating the methods, requirements and        results confirm, once more, the importance of the ‘’active’’ role, of  the ‘’independence’’ and capacity of the Regulator - and its technical support          organizations - to ensure effective and ‘’continuous’’ improvement of safety of nuclear facilities.             Specifically on the status and robustness of operating  NPPs - as shown  by the National Reports -  it appears that: ·     extreme accident scenarios are taken into consideration on a deterministic basis and NPP response assessed and margins estimated;   ·     a consistent number of issues of the EU operating NPPs with respect to the considered extreme scenarios  have been identified and actions are needed, and planned, to resolve them;   ·     an  improved  view of the NPP capacity to respond  to extreme external accident scenarios has been investigated and studied;   ·     an advanced insight into the needed ultimate hardware and organization to manage extreme scenarios has been achieved;   ·     concepts of ultimate ‘’material’’ (resisting to common mode failure risk for flooding and earthquake) have been elaborated (or going to be) and adopted to increase NPP robustness;   ·     additional analysis and investigation have been identified as necessary to complete the assessment (and the related improvement measures) also based on issues raised by the national regulators; Finally it has to be noticed that the process of the ‘’EU stress Tests’’ with the established requirements from ENSREG , represents  a substantial step forward on the way of the transparency, which is a significant promoter of the continuous improvement principle.       TSO Forum Meeting at IAEA Headquarters in Vienna 18–20 January 2012                                                                                              ITER-Consult as member of the TSO Forum has participated in the Meeting held at IAEA in Vienna on January 18-20, 2012. The TSO Forum was established in July 2011 with the objective to: ·         encourage open dialogue and sharing of scientific and technical information among TSOs worldwide ·         promote coordination and collaboration among the TSOs and contribute to the worldwide harmonization of practices. ·         strengthen the role of TSOs and their global coordination and collaboration, including countries in the process of expanding or embarking on a     nuclear programme; ·         promote coordination and collaboration among the TSOF Member States to foster scientific and technical capacity building including education     and training; ·         share and mutually learn safety and security experience and communicate lessons learned including feedback on the use of IAEA Safety     Standards and security publications. The elected Chairperson of the TSOF Steering Committee is Mr. Jacques Repussard (Director of IRSN). ITER-Consult will contribute to the activity of the TSOF by: -          participation in the elaboration of IAEA Safety Guides for TSO activity and requirements -          ensuring coordination with the RCF (Regulator Cooperation Forum) -          promoting capacity building and training and tutoring activity -          collecting  lessons learned from Fukushima accident -          contributing to the organization of  the TSO conference in China in 2013 The IAEA, as Secretariat of this forum, will facilitate and promote coordination and collaboration of TSOF and Steering Committee activities. The Secretariat will also host and maintain the website (http://gnssn.iaea.org). The members of the TSO Forum from Italy are: ENEA and ITER-Consult.      ITER-Consult  Annual Meeting 2011                December 16, 2011              The ITER-Consult yearly meeting reporting on activities and achievements in 2011 with an indication of future expectations, has taken place on December 16, 2011  in Rome at VILLA EUR - Parco dei Pini -  P.le M. Champagnat, 2.   Program & Presentations                 ISSC EBP – WA3: Seismic safety Evaluation   Third Review Meeting of the KARISMA Benchmark                     December 6-8, 2011 - IAEA Vienna The third review meeting of the KARISMA Benchmark has taken place in Vienna on December 6 – 8, 2011. The main objective of the 3rd Review Meeting (RM) is to share the results obtained by different team during the phase III of the benchmark exercise, to discuss general lessons learned from benchmark exercise and suggestion for content of TECDOC. ITER-Consult has presented the results of study for the  Phase III of Structural Task related to ‘’Margin Assessment’’, the main difficulties and suggestion for a TECDOC. Attached the Poster summarizing the major aspects of the study during phase III consisting in: a)     Push-over analyses of the general 3D Finite Element Model, applying a uniform distribution of horizontal accelerations. Two boundary conditions have been considered. In the first series of the analysis a fixed base structure model has been used. In the second analysis soil structure interaction effects have been taken into account. b)    Non linear dynamic analysis using a simplified model obtained from the 3D general Finite Element Model through push-over analyses conducted using the first and the second eigenvectors. c)     Consideration on a comprehensive  approach to assess margins with respect to ultimate status of Reactor Building (RB) structure and with respect to the loss of the ‘’NPP capacity to bring and maintain the NPP (reactor  core and spent fuel)  in a safe status". The last being  linked with the systems and equipment needed to ensure the main safety functions (criticalities of interfaces between RB structures and systems/components) ITER Poster Phase III                 IAEA – ISSC - EBP Working Group 10.1 “Workshop on Public Communication on Nuclear Safety against External Events”                                           Kashiwazaki 3rd – 4th December, 2011   A Workshop on ‘’Public Communication on Nuclear Safety against External Events’’ has taken place in Japan - Kashiwazaki on December 3-4, 2011 organized by IAEA and hosted by JNES and the cooperative partner NIIT at the JNES Kashiwazaki Seismic Safety Centre in Japan. The workshop under the co-chairmanship of JNES (Prof. Takada) and ITER-Consult (Mr. Madonna) has seen the participation of IAEA (Mr. Morita), JNES, ITER-Consult, local authorities, representatives from the public and  experts from other institutions and Universities. The objective was to collect the experience of the public communication during the 2007 emergency in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa (Chuetsu-oki Earthquake of July 2007 10.13 am), to present the major issues for public communication both during the overall lifetime of a NF and during the emergency, to discuss the roles and responsibilities of regulators, operators, government and local authorities and transparency requirements. A preliminary discussion was held on structure and content of a TECDOC to be developed by IAEA with guidelines for the communication to the public. At the beginning of September 2012 a Workshop on Public Communication, with the participation of representatives of relevant EU stakeholders, highlighting the EU experience and initiatives in progress for effective public communication will be organized in Rome hosted by ITER-Consult.   ISSC EBP Agenda Workshop Kashiwazaki 3-4 Dic.'11                                                                                   Memorandum of Understanding ITER-Consult of Italy - NRSC of Armenia                         November 7,  2011   A Memorandum of Understanding  has been signed on November 7, 2011  between ITER-Consult of Italy and NRSC (Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center) of Armenia for cooperation in the field of nuclear and radiation safety. The cooperation agreement has the objective to promote co-operation and reciprocal support in national and international activities related to nuclear safety, security and radiation safety of nuclear facilities and related activities.                                      Draft IAEA Safety Guide DS 429 October 2011   The IAEA Draft Safety Guide DS 429 on ‘’ External Expert Support for the Regulatory Body’’ is in the final phase of the elaboration process. ITER-Consult is contributing to the development in cooperation with the IAEA: the formal issue is expected in 2012. The objective of this Safety Guide is to provide guidance and recommendations on both: how the nuclear regulatory body should identify and obtain external  technical support  and how to use it in the internal  evaluation and decision making process.     IAEA Draft Safety Guide DS 429                                     IAEA TSO Forum Membership October 2011   The IAEA General Conference in September 2011 in Vienna has formally established the TSO Forum dedicated to scientific and technical support for nuclear safety infrastructure development issues. This initiative was fostered since the second IAEA International Conference on TSO  which was held in Tokyo from 25 to 29 October 2010. The recent event at the Fukushima NPP and the subsequent Ministerial Conference at the IAEA in June 2011 further highlighted the need of a TSO Forum. The IAEA, as Secretariat of this forum, will facilitate and promote coordination and collaboration of Member State activities. The objective of the TSO Forum (TSOF) is to encourage open dialogue, to share scientific and technical information among TSOs worldwide contributing to the harmonization of practices. In particular the TSOF activities will aim at:        Strengthening the role of TSOs and their global coordination and collaboration, including countries in the process of expanding or embarking on a         nuclear program;      Enhancing the nuclear and radiation safety and security of nuclear facilities and activities by providing technical and scientific support to regulatory         bodies, institutions and governments in order to achieve the highest possible level of safety and security.   ITER-Consult has joined the TSO Forum in October 2011..       SNETP membership October 5, 2011   The Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform brings together some 100 members from 19 European countries, including all the major nuclear industrial, technical and research players. Formally launched in September 2007, SNE-TP represents a major effort to better coordinate research activities in the area of nuclear fission safety and systems, and to collaborate more effectively in implementing research of strategic importance for Europe. The 100 European stakeholders belong to: industry, research, academia, technical safety organisations, non-governmental organisations and national representatives. Four working groups report to the executive committee of the SNETP:       strategic research agenda,       deployment strategy,       education, training and knowledge management and       task force of the European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative.   ITER-Consult has joined the SNETP  in October 2011.   http://www.snetp.eu/                                                                                    Memorandum of Understanding ITER-Consult of Italy - SSTC-NRS of Ukraine July  27, 2011   A Memorandum of Understanding  has been signed in July 2011 between ITER-Consult of Italy and SSTC – NRS (State Scientific-Technical Center on Nuclear and Radiation Safety) of Ukraine for cooperation in the field of nuclear and radiation safety. It has the objective to establish effective cooperation and promote reciprocal support in national and international activities related to nuclear safety, security and radiation safety of nuclear facilities and related activities.            Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom of 19 July 2011   The Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom establishing a Community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste has been formally issued on July 19, 2011. This Directive sets out a European Community framework for ensuring responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste with a view to preventing both workers and the general public from dangers arising from ionizing radiation. It lays down specific provisions concerning the management of radioactive waste, from generation to disposal. The Directive requires Member States to establish a national legislative, regulatory and organizational framework in this field. This EU Council Directive follows the previous Council Directive 2009/71/Euratom of June 25,  2009 establishing a Community framework for the nuclear safety of nuclear installations. Both Directives belong to the process to grant to the EU more responsibility for nuclear safety.     Council Directive 2009/71/Euratom (waste and spent fuel)                                                                  Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom (nuclear safety)       ENSREG 1st Conference June 2011   The first European Regulatory  Conference has been held on 28 and 29 June 2011 in Brussels. It has been  organized by the group of the  European nuclear safety regulators  (ENSREG) with the aim to describe the achievements made during the last ten years in the process to improving nuclear safety in Europe. In that period extensive cooperation between the regulators from the 27 Member States has produced substantial development of common ground and practices to improve nuclear safety. The  conference has presented  the substantial technical work undertaken by WENRA on: safety reference levels for existing nuclear power plants, safe management of radioactive waste and spent fuel and, more recently, on the crucial topic of the safety objectives for new nuclear power plants. The conference has  also provided an opportunity to present the activity of ENSREG: an independent, authoritative expert body created in 2007 following a decision of the EC having with a consultative  of the Commission on nuclear safety and radioactive waste management. ENSREG has established three working groups to undertake its work program:       WG1 on Nuclear Safety       WG2 on Waste Management       WG3 on Transparency   During the Conference  the  European regulators have provided  an overview of the challenges they will have to face in the years ahead, notably on the safety of new reactors, extending the service life of existing reactors and safe decommissioning of nuclear installations. Finally, stakeholders, NGOs, non-European regulators and international organizations dealing with nuclear safety have been given the floor to comment on how nuclear safety is organized in Europe and on recent developments in this part of the world.   http://www.ensreg.eu/                      ENSREG Declaration for EU Stress Test June  2011  After the accident that occurred on March 11th at Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, the European Council, in its meeting of March 24th 2011, agreed on a plan to subject all the European nuclear power plants to a homogeneous set of “stress tests” making it possible to assess their capacity to withstand situations beyond their respective Design Bases and identify the safety margins existing with respect to these bases, and the potential measures that might be implemented to improve their safety. During a meeting held in Brussels on April 15th, with the participation of the EU, the regulatory bodies of the EU countries and industry representatives agreed that ENSREG, with technical support provided by WENRA, should draw up a proposal developing the technical content of the stress tests and define a method for their performance. Based on the proposal drawn up by WENRA, ENSREG issued a declaration on May 14, 2011 defining the technical specifications for the ‘’stress tests’’ subsequently submitted to the European Council during its meeting of June 10th. The main milestones of the ‘’Stress Tests’’ are the following:   Main milestones and schedule of  ‘’Stress Tests’’:   Stress Tests scope and modalities                                                   May 2011 Requirements by national regulators to Operators                              June 01. 2011 Licensee progress reports to regulators                                             August 15, 2011 Licensee final reports to national regulators                                       October 31, 2011 National Regulators review                                                               December. 2011 EU Peer Review of national reports                                                   April 2012 EC and ENSREG report to the EU Council                                       June 2012   ENSREG Declaration Stress Tests       Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident   ITER-Consult - Preliminary Report May 2011   ITER-Consult has issued in May a Preliminary Report on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. The report provides background information on Fukushima Daiichi NPP and tries to collect the available information, with elements of discussion, on the main aspects of the accident: the initiator seismic event and consequent tsunami, the evolution of the accident, its management and the radiological impact. A number of preliminary emerging considerations are elaborated to contribute to the process to learn from the accident. ITER-Consult - Preliminary Report   INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON  NUCLEAR SAFETY AND SECURITY CHALLENGHES OF THE 21st CENTURY 21-23 April 2011 Islamabad - Pakistan ITER-Consult will take part in the International Seminar organized by the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) in cooperation with IAEA. The Seminar will  face many themes as: current nuclear regulatory challenges, regulatory assessment of NPPs, long term/beyond designe life operation of NPPs, regulatory aspects of innovative/modern designe of NPPs, physical protection practices in regulating NPPs and sealed radioactive sources. More details   Recent decisions about italian nuclear program  31 March 2011 Rome - Italy With the Decreto Legge n. 34 of 31 march 2011, the italian Government has declared the effectiveness suspension of the regulation n.31 of 15 february 2010, in particular the art. 5 states: "1. Allo scopo di acquisire ulteriori evidenze scientifiche sui parametri di sicurezza, anche in ambito comunitario, in relazione alla localizzazione, realizzazione ed esercizio nel territorio nazionale di impianti di produzione di energia elettrica nucleare, per un anno dalla data di entrata in vigore del presente decreto resta sospesa l'efficacia delle disposizioni degli articoli da 3 a 24, 30, comma 2, 31 e 32 del decreto legislativo 15 febbraio 2010, n. 31. 2. In deroga a quanto disposto dal comma 1, la sospensione dell'efficacia non si applica alle disposizioni individuate nel medesimo comma nelle parti in cui si riferiscono alla localizzazione, costruzione ed esercizio del Parco tecnologico e del deposito nazionale."   WENRA first proposal about European “stress tests” on nuclear power plants Published on 23.03.11     Definition and objective We define a “stress test” as a targeted reassessment of the safety margins of NPPs in the light of the events which occurred in Fukushima. This reassessment will be based on the existing safety studies and engineering judgment to evaluate the behavior of a nuclear power plant when facing a set of challenging situations (those envisaged under the following section “technical scope”). For a given plant, the reassessment will report on the behavior of the plant (most probable behavior, with mention of potential cliff-edge effect) for each of the considered situations. The results of the reassessment may indicate a need for additional safety provisions being technical or organizational (such as procedures, human resources, emergency response organization, use of external resources). It remains a national responsibility to take any appropriate measures resulting from the reassessment.   Technical scope The scope takes into account the issues that have been directly highlighted by the events that occurred in Fukushima and the possibility for combination of initiating events. The following situations will be envisaged Initiating events 1. Earthquake exceeding the design basis 2. Flooding exceeding the design basis 3. Other extreme external conditions challenging the specific site Consequential loss of safety functions 4. Prolonged total loss of electrical power 5. Prolonged loss of the ultimate heat sink Accident management issues 6. Core melt accident, including consequential effects such as hydrogen accumulation 7. Degraded conditions in the spent fuel storage, including consequential effects such as the loss of shielding of radiation Consideration should be given to: - automatic actions, - operators actions specified in emergency operating procedures, - any other planned measures of prevention, recovery and mitigation of accidents, - the situation outside the plant - the possibility of several units being affected at the same time. Given the tight timeframe of the exercise, very clear guidance for each selected scenario will be developed by WENRA.   Methodology and timeframe The licensee has the prime responsibility for safety. Hence, it is up to the licensees to perform the reassessments, and to the regulatory bodies to independently review them. A task force of WENRA should conduct discussions with the European nuclear industry and bring its proposal to the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) meeting scheduled on the 12th of May. This proposal will then be presented and further discussed at the European level. Timeframe needs further consideration, taking into account the available resources for daily focus on safety. The following figures are just indications. The licensees could be given 6 months to perform the reassessments as described above and to send the results and related documentation to their national regulator. The regulator then would perform a review of the licensees’ submissions. Interactions between European regulators will be necessary and could be managed through WENRA or ENSREG. Regulators will perform, within 3 months, the review and produce a report which should be published. Results of the reviews could be discussed in a public seminar, to which other experts (from non nuclear field, from NGOs, etc) should be invited.   EUROPEAN COUNCIL  Brussels, 24/25 March 2011 Conclusions. Extract for Nuclear Safety III. JAPAN The European Union will support Japan as it strives to overcome the challenges it faces after the earthquake and the tsunami that struck it with such tragic consequences……..   In this connection, the European Council stresses the need to fully draw the lessons from these events, and to provide all necessary information to the public. Recalling that the energy mix is the competence of Member States, it calls for work to be taken forward as a matter of priority on the following aspects:   ·         - the safety of all EU nuclear plants should be reviewed, on the basis of a comprehensive and transparent risk and safety assessment ("stress tests"); the European Nuclear Safety Regulatory Group (ENSREG) and the Commission are invited to develop as soon as possible the scope and modalities of these tests in a coordinated framework in the light of lessons learned from the accident in Japan and with the full involvement of Member States, making full use of available expertise (notably from the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association); the assessments will be conducted by independent national authorities and through peer review; their outcome and any necessary subsequent measures that will be taken should be shared with the Commission and within the ENSREG and should be made public; the European Council will assess initial findings by the end of 2011, on the basis of a report from the Commission;   ·         - the priority of ensuring the safety of nuclear plants obviously cannot stop at our borders; the EU will request that similar "stress tests" be carried out in the neighboring countries and worldwide, regarding both existing and planned plants; in this regard full use should be made of relevant international organizations;   ·         - the highest standards for nuclear safety should be implemented and continuously improved in the EU and promoted internationally;   ·         - the Commission will review the existing legal and regulatory framework for the safety of nuclear installations and will propose by the end of 2011 any improvements that may be necessary. Member States should ensure the full implementation of the Directive on the safety of nuclear installations. The proposed Directive on the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste should be adopted as soon as possible. The Commission is invited to reflect on how to promote nuclear safety in neighboring countries;   ·         - consequences for the world and for the EU need to be closely monitored, paying particular attention to the volatility of energy and commodity prices, in particular in the context of the G20.   1st Meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee  April 15, 2011 Rome - Italy   The Committee made up of national and international eminent experts is convened at request of ITER-Consult management to evaluate and provide advices on relevant technical and strategic topics. The outcomes of the meeting will be published on the ITER-Consult website.   ITER-Consult cooperation with IAEA International Seismic Safety Center Extra Budgetary Program February 2011, Italy    ITER-Consult, as donor, is contributing to the following Working Areas (WA) and Working Groups (WG): WA WG Subject WA1 : Seismic Hazard   WG1-1 Development of supporting document for new Safety Guide DS422/SSG-9 with emphasis on coherency with historical  damage data, reduction of epistemic uncertainties and choice  of seismic design level (or performance goal). WG1-5 Slope stability and soil liquefaction. WA2 : Seismic design and qualification WG 2-1 Development of detailed guidance on seismic design and qualification of SSCs for nuclear installations,  appraisal of state-of-practice on structural dynamic analysis methods. WA3  : Seismic safety evaluation   WG 3-2  Development of detailed guidance for seismic safety evaluation,   KARISMA Benchmark project, development of detailed guidance on probabilistic safety assessment for seismic events, Real-time safety assessment system (RTSS) to evaluate NPP’s response when subjected to external events (seismic and others) WA7 : Engineering aspects of protection against sabotage WG 7-1  Response/performance of SSC ,  vital area identification , Sabotage Margin Assessment (SMA). WA8 :  Site evaluation and external events and safety assessment WG 8-1  Identification of external events and screening , hazard assessment of external events, safety assessment. WA10  : Public communication WG10-1 (leadership with JNES)   Public Communication, findings and lessons from the communication to the public in the aftermath of Niigataken Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake 2007,  development of detailed guidance on evaluating public perception to external hazards and preparing communicational procedures.   Agency for Nuclear Safety in Italy February 2011 Italy The President of the Italian Republic , Giorgio Napolitano, has signed on February 11, the presidential decree ratifying the nomination of 5 members of the ‘’Consiglio Direttivo’’ of the  Agency for Nuclear Safety in Italy: Chairman Prof. Umberto Veronesi Members Prof. Maurizio Cumo Prof. Marco Ricotti Dr. Stefano Dambruoso Dr. Stefano Laporta To follow the publication in the Official Gazette.   Course on "Severe Accident Phenomenology" January 10 - 14, 2011 Pisa - Italy The Severe Accident (SA) Research Network of excellence SARNET-2 is sponsoring a new one-week Course entitled "Severe Accident Phenomenology". This course is a part of the Excellence Spreading activities of SARNET-2 and it will focus on disseminating the knowledge gained on SA in the last two decades to Master-PhD students, young engineers and researchers. The SARNET-2 project is co-funded by the EURATM research program in the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission. More details   THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM  ON NUCLEAR ENERGY ISNE-10 isne@bau.edu.jo http://isne.bau.edu.jo   Organized by   AL-BALQA APPLIED UNIVERSITY (BAU) and JORDAN NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (JNRC)   Agenda ISNE 10 ITER Presentation ITER Abstract   Regulatory Cooperation Forum   September 24, 2010 IAEA - Vienna On 24th of September,  on the side of the IAEA General Conference, the first plenary meeting of the  Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF) took place after the inception meeting on 21st of June 2010. The initiative to establish a forum  providing effective coordination and collaboration among requesting Member States and those asked to provide regulatory support, was agreed during the 2009 IAEA Conference on Effective Nuclear Regulatory Systems held in Cape Town, South Africa.   Members of the Forum met under the IAEA´s aegis to discuss strategies and plans for the coming months. Coordination and information sharing is seen as a crucial tool to address the needs of nuclear newcomers and to guarantee that effective regulations are in place across the world´s nuclear sector.   Khammar Mrabit, Head of the IAEA Safety and Security Coordination Section, described in detail the aims and the scope of the IAEA-supported Regulatory Cooperation Forum. Jordan was selected as recipient country to receive the first JRC mission whose results were reported during the meeting by RCF Chairman Mike Weightman and the JNRC Chairman Jamal Sharaf.     ITER Participation in IAEA ISSC Extra-Budgetary  Programs activities   August 25 – 27,  2010  Vienna Considering the international cooperation and networking as a fundamental way to maintain competence, capability and knowledge, ITER-Consult is significantly committed, with its senior experts, in cooperation with IAEA in EBP programs. In particular for:   ·     Karisma benchmark to study the effects of July 2007 severe earthquake  in Japan on the Kashiwazaki Kariwa NPP units and their design margin.   ·     Working areas on seismic hazard analysis and for seismic design.   The cooperation with IAEA envisages also coordination and leading function of ITER-Consult for the EBP activity in order to develop objectives, approaches and requirements in the field of Public and Media interaction. The cooperation with IAEA and other international organizations has shown to be extremely effective to develop capabilities, to maintain updated knowledge and to strengthen international cooperation and networking.     Training on " NPP siting requirements and safety review " May 24-28, 2010 Vicovaro (Roma) - Italy   In the framework of an EC financed project, a training course on ‘’Siting requirements and safety review for NPP’’ was carried out by ITER-Consult (leader), IRSN and STUK. The objective of the course was to train the staff of the regulatory authority and TSOs to get familiar with requirements, analyses, methods for site analysis, content of documentation (site report)  to be submitted for review to the regulatory authority and regulatory approach for review. The training activity included an overview of the roles of different stakeholders and proceeded with a comprehensive set of lectures on the assessment process  which characterizes the site analyses, the logical progress and the sequence of the analyses starting from the preliminary survey of the site,  passing through consequent screening phases, up to the site detailed analyses. The objective is to identify and define the engineering measures to be taken in the design of  the NPP in order to protect it from the external events  as well as the provisions to be taken on the territory in order to consider, and minimize, the effects of the NPP on the environment and the public.     IAEA - JNES International Conference on Challenges Faced by Technical and Scientific Support Organization (TSO) in Enhancing Nuclear Safety and Security October 25 - 29, 2010 Tokyo - Japan The objective of this conference is to develop a common understanding of the responsibilities, needs and opportunities of the Technical and Scientific Support Organizations (TSOs). The conference will further promote international cooperation and networking among the TSOs to enhance nuclear safety, radiation safety and nuclear security. In addition, capacity building in countries with both extensive and limited experience in nuclear programmes, and in those countries embarking on nuclear power programmes for the first time, will be explored. The conference will build on approaches identified in the TSO conference of 2007 consistent with a global vision for TSOs within the framework of the Global Nuclear Safety and security Regime. More details   International Technical Meeting "Seismic Safety of NPPS" March 25-26, 2010 Tivoli - Italy Seismic  safety of Nuclear Power Plants is a key subject  deserving particular consideration in the use of nuclear energy.  Moreover this issue is a major concern in  public opinion especially in countries with a moderate to high seismicity and it has significant  impact on the development of nuclear energy programs. Substantial attention needs to be paid to the seismic safety of NPP while developing a nuclear program. In this perspective a Technical meeting on the ‘’Seismic Safety of NPP’’ is organized  by ITER-Consult, ENEA, CIRTEN and Sapienza University–Engineering Faculty with the main objective to exchange views and discuss the topic of seismic safety of NPPs based on international studies and research activities, lessons learned from experience, current design and regulatory practices. More details   Recent laws in nuclear field issued in Italy:  -  Decreto legislativo del 15 febbraio 2010 , n. 31 ’’Disciplina della localizzazione, della realizzazione e dell’esercizio nel territorio nazionale di impianti di produzione di energia elettrica nucleare, di impianti di fabbricazione del combustibile nucleare, dei sistemi di stoccaggio del combustibile irraggiato e dei rifiuti radioattivi, nonché misure compensative e campagne informative al pubblico, a norma dell’articolo 25 della legge 23 luglio 2009, n. 99- Supplemento ordinario n. 45/L alla Gazzetta Ufficiale  n. 55 del  8 marzo 2010.    - Legge 23 luglio 2009, n. 99 "Disposizioni per lo sviluppo e l'internazionalizzazione delle imprese, nonché in materia di energia" (art.29) - Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 176 del 31 luglio 2009.