The Nuclear Executive Workshop is designed for use at meetings of nuclear safety professionals who represent diverse perspectives on the development of regulatory capabilities. The workshop is presented to regulators from several countries in a given region of the world. Workshops within a given country might bring together stakeholders with diverse interests, such as the regulatory agency, the Ministry responsible for development of nuclear energy, the electric utility companies and other industry groups.
The workshop has four objectives:
- To provide training on the fundamental concepts of nuclear reactor regulation and how they apply to the organization of a regulatory agency.
- To foster teamwork among organizations with a stake in nuclear regulation.
- To arrive at a consensus on the best approaches to developing regulatory structures within the local legal framework and cultural norms.
- To assign action items for executives to work on following the workshop.
The workshop runs for three- and one-half days and focuses on development of regulatory capabilities. The topics cover a wide range of issues related to the organization, staffing and training of a regulatory agency, and the development of a regulatory program. In each topic area, there are three types of sessions: training sessions, breakout sessions and general sessions
The training sessions impart information gleaned from regulatory policies and practice in countries with developed regulatory programs. The information imparted in training sessions is supplemented by the distribution of the following guidance documents:
- G-OI-OS: Generic Guidance on Organizational Structure for a Reactor Regulatory Program.
- G-OI-ST: Staffing, Training, & Technical Support for Startup of a Reactor Regulatory Program.
- G-OI-QP: Qualification Program for Reactor Licensing and Inspection Staff.
Training sessions are followed by breakout sessions, in which participants discuss the topics covered in training, formulate views on how they apply this training to their particular cases, and other topics of interest. In the general sessions, the breakout sessions report on their discussions.
Breakout sessions:
The central focus of the workshop is on the breakout sessions. There are five breakout sessions during the workshop. The topics for these breakouts follow the lines of the training sessions. General areas of discussion in the five breakout sessions will be as follows:
- Session 1: Legal framework; Phases of oversight
- Session 2: Regulatory concepts; Regulatory functions
- Session 3: Regulatory activities; Organizational structure
- Session 4: Submittal and evaluations; Staffing; Technical support
- Session 5: Training; Staff Qualification