From November 18 - 21, 2013, Mel Fields and Bob Gramm of AdSTM provided training on construction and vendor inspection techniques to the Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies in Africa (FNRBA). Participants from 10 countries including Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, and South Africa attended the workshop. The participants are involved with the FNRBA technical working group that deals with nuclear power plant regulation. The delegation from South Africa included numerous staff from the National Nuclear Regulator.
The AdSTM instructors discussed nuclear quality assurance, construction inspection program attributes, regulatory enforcement, vendor inspection protocols, defect reporting for vendors, and training and qualification for regulatory personnel. The workshop covered attributes that lead to effective inspections (e.g., qualified inspectors and adequate inspection procedures) and how to develop inspection programs for both nuclear power plant construction as well as regulatory oversight of vendors providing equipment and services for use in the nuclear power plant. During the weeklong workshop, the instructors provided illustrative examples from Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection related documents.