Expert technical support for exploratory missions to INSC partner and potential partner countries

An initiative to extend cooperation under INSC was started by the EC in 2007. To identify the needs of countries which expressed an interest in cooperation in the field of nuclear and radiation safety, the European Commission performed exploratory missions to potential partner countries.

In order to decide its future strategy for nuclear safety cooperation/assistance to third countries, the EC needs:

• To identify and describe the key actors in the nuclear safety sector in the countries concerned. These actors are usually the National Regulatory Authorities (NRA), their Technical Support Organisations (TSO), the bodies in charge of radioactive waste management and radiation protection and the various ministries (Foreign Affairs, the Ministry on which the NRA is depending, etc).
• To have an overview of the nuclear safety situation in the new potential beneficiary countries and outline an action programme. This should cover what would be needed to bring the existing infrastructure to the level required to adequately regulate the initiation and implementation of a nuclear power programme as decided by the concerned country or, for the countries with existing nuclear power programmes, what would be needed to improve the existing regulatory infrastructure to current IAEA standards. For countries which are planning the start-up or construction of nuclear reactors for the first time, the Commission's assistance would be limited to regulatory assistance (including legislation) and the promotion of an effective safety culture. Assistance concerning emergency preparedness and the establishment of an effective safeguards regime may also be provided in all cases. A further area of assistance that may be considered is the national strategy for radioactive waste management and the remediation of former nuclear sites not covered by commercial obligations (e.g., disaffected mines).

The exploratory missions were intended to fulfil the above requirements. For many of these missions the EC contracted the support of technical experts in the related nuclear safety fields.

The purpose of the exploratory missions for the contracted technical experts was in particular:

• To identify the country state of readiness and need for assistance.
• To jointly develop a cooperation programme for creating or reinforcing the capacities of the national NRA in order to prioritise its future assistance programmes based on the importance of the problems and the geopolitical situation and to define typical assistance packages.
• To identify other areas of cooperation (e.g. radioactive waste management, emergency preparedness, safeguards) satisfying the requirements of the INSC regulation as well as the corresponding partner country organisations involved.

The work to be performed consisted of:

• Preparation of the mission in close collaboration with the EC Project Manager.
• Performance of the mission following instructions of the EC Project Manager.
• Reporting to the EC Project Manager on the achievements of the mission.

The expert's knowledge of matters related to the technical areas of INSC cooperation was of crucial importance for the success of the mission.

The contract was signed in November 2009 and was completed at the end of 2010.

The selected expert provided technical support during three Exploratory Missions, to Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, which were carried out in 2010.