During the week of August 26, 2019, Mr. David Skeen of the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Dr. Charles Miller and Mr. Mark Tonacci of AdSTM;; and Mr. Peter Hughes, representing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), provided consultation to the Polish nuclear regulator, the Panstowowa Agencja Atomiskyki (PAA) in Warsaw, Poland. This consultation was focused on PAA’s use of their licensing process in simulating a design review using documents from reactor applications in other countries. The PAA staff performed the simulated review in teams focused on specific parts of the reactor and license applications. During the consultation meeting, the teams presented on the results of their technical reviews, schedule management, lessons learned, and planned future activities. . The consultation was conducted as a collaborative effort between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission International Regulatory Development Partnership (IRDP) and the IAEA Technical Cooperation programs and included dialogue with PAA technical and legal staff as well as management on the work performed The week’s work followed through on plans developed during two previous IRDP/IAEA workshops that were conducted in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
The consultants noted that PAA has made significant progress in developing their internal procedures, competencies, and processes. Their self-identification of necessary improvements was noteworthy. Participants were highly engaged in sharing challenges and successes during the consultation. The week ended in discussion of future planning for work that had been identified during the week and potential future consultations to further support PAA development.