Senior regulators and legal officers from Europe have sharpened their ability to draft good regulations during a two-week IAEA course that concluded 21 July.
The IAEA School of Drafting Regulations is supported by a regional technical cooperation project[1] that assists the harmonized and continuous improvement and development of infrastructure for radiation safety in accordance with relevant IAEA safety standards and guidance. The School provides Member States with a forum to share knowledge and experiences on drafting regulations, as well as guidance on all aspects of regulatory control of nuclear safety and radiation safety.
IAEA Schools of Drafting Regulations are organized for regulatory bodies that are responsible for the oversight of nuclear and radiation safety. The first School was held in 2010, and the Schools are now well established with elaborate content and proven efficiency in delivering results. The Schools combine learning and the exchange of experience with drafting and revision of national regulations to incorporate best practice, IAEA and other standards and requirements, and encourage a harmonized approach.
Experienced mentors support participants in their drafting activities throughout the course of each School and, because the Schools are mainly held at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, further advice is readily available from IAEA Technical Officers. Various regulatory approaches according to the nature and extent of regulated facilities and the maturity, complexity and resources of the regulatory body are fully taken into account, to ensure that drafts and revisions prepared during the School are appropriate to the culture, legislative and regulatory infrastructure of each participating State.
International experts in the topic areas specific to each School are invited to present on the issues facing regulators, particularly with regard to best practice, technological developments and even philosophical and political issues associated with maintaining an effective regulatory regime for nuclear and radiation safety.
Because the scope of oversight of regulatory bodies in IAEA Member States varies widely, some Schools address the full spectrum of regulated practices, but most focus on either nuclear safety or radiation safety to allow in-depth study.
The July 2017 School for European officers focused on radiation safety. Senior regulators and legal officers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Tajikistan and Ukraine took part in the course, and experienced mentors from UK, Greece, Lithuania and Slovenia provided support and advice. International experts and IAEA staff presented on a range of specialized topics associated with the scope of this edition of the School.
The next School for Drafting Regulations (Nuclear Safety Stream) for the Europe region will be held in Vienna during the period 13 – 24 November 2017.
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[1] RER9141, ‘Improving National Infrastructures for Safety’. Activities implemented under this project seek to enhance the effectiveness of national regulatory programmes, for example by strengthening national safety infrastructures for the control of facilities and activities, developing adequate and effective regulatory mechanisms, and harmonizing and streamlining national capabilities for regulatory control).