State College, PA
From August 8 - 11, 2016, AdSTM staff conducted an On-the-Job (OJT) mock research reactor inspection at the Penn State Breazeale TRIGA Reactor (PSBR) in State College, Pennsylvania. The participants were three nuclear regulators from the Thailand Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP), Bureau of Nuclear Safety (BNSR), whose responsibility encompasses various aspects of research reactor oversight and inspection.
The OJT mock inspection provided the Thailand BNSR staff a practical application of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) inspection protocols for a typical...
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From 16 to 19 August 2016, John Kinneman of AdSTM, Inc. attended and participated in the Consultancy Meeting of the African Regulatory Body Network (FNRBA) held at IAEA in Vienna, Austria. One focus of this meeting was, “Regulatory Body needs and services provided by FNRBA to Regulatory Bodies.” In addition to discussions on this subject and revising the organization charter, there were meetings of the FNRBA Technical Working Groups (TWG). These meetings completed the development of specific needs from the results of a gap analysis and plans for activities in 2017 to respond to those gaps....
US NRC, supported by AdSTM, met with the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) of South Africa to discuss technical and regulatory cooperation. The topical areas discussed are reflective of current and upcoming issues facing both regulators: steam generator replacement, life extension, spent fuel storage, and new reactor siting. Additional topics included code sharing and personnel exchanges. AdSTM will continue to assist NNR in developing an Inspector Qualification program. Participants discussed various RSRP topics related to potential oversight responsibility over radiation sources.
The IRDP U.S. industry Design and Construction Codes and Standards Workshop was conducted from July 25 to July 29, 2016 at the offices of the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) in Bucharest, Romania. The audience was composed of members of the CNCAN regulatory staff, CNCAN university student interns, members of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant staff, and staff from the Centre of Technology and Engineering for Nuclear Projects. During the workshop, AdSTM instructors, Gene Imbro and Bob Gramm, addressed the following topics: Introduction to design and construction codes...
From June 20 – 23, 2016, AdSTM, Inc. staff conducted an IRDP workshop on Construction and Vendor Inspection at the offices of the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) in Bucharest, Romania. The audience was composed of CNCAN regulators, university students who are interns at CNCAN, Cernavoda Unit 1 and 2 licensee staff, staff from the Cernavoda Unit 3 and 4 project company, and staff from the Centre of Technology and Engineering for Nuclear Projects. Over the four-day workshop, AdSTM staff, Mel Fields and Bob Gramm, provided instruction and exercises that focused on...
Under the IRDP program support, AdSTM delivered a RTR workshop to the Peruvian Nuclear Energy Institute (IPEN) from June 13-17, 2016. The audience was composed of IPEN regulators and one invited regulator from Bolivia. The activity was of interest to Peru due to their responsibilities as regulators of one research reactor located near the capital city of Peru. During the four days’ workshop, several topics from basic concepts to licensing and inspections of research reactors were widely discussed. The main goal of this workshop was to provide support to the Peruvian Regulatory Authority with...
In conjunction with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies in Africa (FNRBA), AdSTM participated in the subject workshop which was held at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria from June 7-10, 2016. The workshop was chaired by AdSTM and consisted of a series of presentations, participating country reports, and breakout sessions. The presentations focused on the status of development of selected SMR designs, the safety requirements in the USA, Canada and Korea, economic considerations as calculated by the Nuclear energy Agency (NEA) siting...
From May 16-19, 2016, AdSTM, Inc. conducted an IRDP workshop on the NRC Research and Test Reactors (RTR) Inspection Program for the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) in Bangkok, Thailand. The audience was composed of OAP nuclear regulators from the Thailand Bureau of Nuclear Safety (BNSR), whose responsibility encompasses various aspects of research reactor oversight including inspection, program management, emergency response and security. The workshop was supported by AdSTM staff, Rich Holm, Mark Trump, and Tammy Way. Over the four-day workshop, instruction focused on the NRC approach for...
Richard Barrett, AdSTM, participated in a workshop on Advanced Capacity Building in Preparation and Response to Nuclear and Severe Radiological Accidents at College Station, Texas. The workshop was sponsored by the Nuclear Power Institute, an adjunct of the Nuclear Engineering Department of Texas A&M University.The workshop hosted 22 participants from countries with emerging nuclear power programs throughout Asia, Africa, South America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The focus of the workshop was to provide hands-on experience with the practices of U.S nuclear utilities regarding...
AdSTM conducted a Nuclear Power Plant Licensing Workshop in Mombasa, Kenya from April 18 to April 21, 2016. The workshop was attended by representatives of regulatory authorities from a number of African countries who are members of FNRBA, and are interested in pursuing Nuclear Power as part of their strategy to meet the growing demand for energy in their respective countries. Mr. Richard Emch and Dr. Charles Miller conducted the workshop, and they covered the necessary prerequisites and processes for a regulatory body to have the infrastructure that will be necessary and complete, so that it...