From December 8-12, 2019, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (U.S. NRC) International Regulatory Development Partnership (IRDP) conducted a workshop on the “Fundamentals of Reactor Regulation & Licensing Process” for the Arab Network of Nuclear Regulators (ANNuR). The workshop was hosted by Jordan’s nuclear regulatory body, the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC), at its headquarters located in Amman, Jordan. Participants included officials representing the nuclear regulatory bodies of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia.
Mr. Mel Fields and Mr. Mark Tonacci, IRDP instructors, provided instruction on the U.S. NRC’s approach to licensing a nuclear power plant (NPP) and an overview of NPP licensing regulations, including the eight phases of regulatory oversight and their associated functions. Instruction was also provided on the roles and responsibilities of the U.S. NRC, its infrastructure and safety culture, and the legal framework for licensing and regulating NPPs in the United States. Mr. Fields and Mr. Tonacci also discussed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) approach to NPP licensing to provide participants a general understanding of the relevant portions of IAEA Standards GSR Part 1 and SSG-12. Instructors introduced these topics via lecture and exercises for classroom discussion to help further enhance the understanding of the workshop material.