From March 12-16, 2018, Dr. Steve Reese and Mr. Richard Holm (AdSTM) conducted a workshop on the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) approach to research and test reactor (RTR) inspection. The workshop was held at the Nuclear Security Support Centre of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of Ghana. The participants included nuclear regulators representing the Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies from Africa (FNRBA); which included the countries of Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, and Senegal.
The workshop provided the nuclear regulatory staff a practical application of USNRC inspection protocols for a typical RTR. The participants reviewed the assigned portions of USNRC Inspection Procedure (IP) 69001 through 69012 for both class I and class II RTRs. They covered topics that include inspector qualification, the importance of license documentation to proper inspection, inspection decorum, violations/enforcement and the general approach to all inspections. Although the main focus was on RTRs other technologies were also discussed. Special emphasis was placed upon the process for reviewing facility changes under 10 CFR 50.59.
During the workshop, the Steve Reese and Richard Holm provided instruction, mentoring, background information, and facilitated interactive dialogues with the participants that focused on USNRC and RTR facility practices relevant to RTR inspections and regulatory oversight practices.
The participants were very engaged throughout the week and they were very enthusiastic about this unique opportunity. They found the overall inspection exercise, examinations of facility operations, discussions about typical reactor operation examples, USNRC inspection protocols, and the interactions with AdSTM staff to be extremely valuable.