Findings from INSARR missions (2010-2020)

The findings from these INSARR missions show the need of research reactor organizations to pay increased attention to the importance of leadership and management for safety. This includes the establishment of an effective integrated management system covering all stages in the lifetime of the facility and all activities of safety importance. These findings also reflect the need for increased attention to:

• Enhancing the effectiveness of reactor safety committees, specifically by clarifying the advisory role of the committee, expanding scope of review to cover all areas important to safety, and ensuring independence from reactor management;
• Improving the quality of safety documentation to conform with the actual status of the facility, including justification and safety assessments of modifications, new experiments and utilization of the facility;
• Enhancing the operational safety programmes and procedures, in particular ageing management, procedures for operators’ responses to abnormal situations, arrangements to ensure power supply to safety classified items, and independence of the operational radiation protection programme;
• Implementing safety upgrades identified from safety reassessments performed in light of the lessons learned from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident;
• Ensuring adequate consideration of eventual decommissioning in operation and utilization of the facility, including updating of the preliminary decommissioning