From October 16-20, 2017, Mr. Mark Tonacci and Mr. Richard Emch of Advanced Systems Technology and Management (AdSTM) conducted a Siting Application Review Workshop in Accra, Ghana. There were 20 participants in the USNRC/IRDP workshop, predominately representing the Ghanaian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA), created in 2016; however, representatives from the Radiological and Non-Ionizing Installations Directorate of NRA and from the Nuclear Power Institute (part of the Ghanaian Atomic Energy Commission) were in attendance.
The workshop presented the USNRC’s methodology for conducting the review of an application for an early site permit or a construction permit using the guidance of NUREG-0800 (NRC’s Standard Review Plan). The workshop focused predominantly on siting requirements including hydrology, earthquake potential and magnitude, meteorology, as well as emergency planning, quality assurance, and some discussion on grid electrical power considerations. The workshop included an interactive exercise where the participants were challenged to use the USNRC methodology to review the impact of flooding from cascading dam failures for the Vogtle Early Site Permit application. This workshop was first conducted in Ghana a few years ago, but now the Nuclear Regulatory Authority has been formed and a siting application is expected to be submitted within the next few years. Therefore, some of the participants remarked that the training was much more meaningful this time.
The workshop was very well received, and the participants were fully engaged.