Professional events

Lessons learned from the IRRS mission of the French Nuclear Safety Authority

 
An international workshop covering the lessons learned from the IRRS mission (Integrated Regulatory Review Service) of the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), carried out in November 2006 under the coordination of IAEA, was held on the 22nd and 23rd March 2007 in Paris.
 
This workshop, organised by IAEA and ASN, gathered together a hundred attendees, experts from IAEA and senior managers from Nuclear Safety Authorities in numerous countries including comment: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italia, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Tunisia, Ukraine, United states, Vietnam.
 
During the workshops the presentations given on topics including: the IRRS procedure arrangements, the mission objectives and the possible follow-ups from the mission, fed numerous discussions. Those Regulatory Bodies which will soon receive an IRRS mission, took advantage of the experience gainedt by their Counterparts. Several areas for improvements have been identified concerning the preparation and the development of these missions. Finally, to facilitate future IRRS missions, the establishment of a network of experts from different countries has been considered.
 
André-Claude Lacoste, the ASN Chairman, closing the workshop emphasizing in particular the importance of an IRRS mission as a key tool to enhance the perfomance of a Regulatory Body . He mentioned that the general implementation of IRRS missions will be the beginning of a positive process for nuclear and radiation safety across the world. Lastly, the ASN Chairman underlined the beneficial contribution of IRRS towards the harmonisation of international approaches and practices in the fields of nuclear and radiation safety.