During its regular meeting on June 1, the Armenian Government approved a draft presidential decree approving the Armenia-US Arrangement for the Exchange of Technical Information and Cooperation in Nuclear Safety Matters. The Committee on Nuclear Safety Regulation of the Republic of Armenia and the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission signed an expanded Cooperative Arrangement in Washington, USA, on March 14, 2023. The Nuclear Safety Regulatory Commission of Armenia has been cooperating with the U.S. since 1995. The Armenia-US Arrangement for the Exchange of Technical Information and Cooperation in Nuclear Safety Matters was signed on September 30, 1997, resumed in 2007 and in 2017. Under the arrangement, the USNRC performed or sponsored research in such areas as: Digital Instrumentation and Control; Reactor and Electrical Equipment Qualification; Environmental Transport; Radionuclide Transport and Waste Management; Dry Cask Storage and Transport; Fire Safety Research; Nuclear Fuel Analysis; Severe Accident Analysis; Operating Experience and Generic Issues; Human Factors Engineering; Organizational Factors/Safety Culture; Human Reliability Analysis (HRA); Probabilistic Risk Assessments; Radiation Protection and Health Effects; Seismic Safety; State of the Art Risk Consequences; Reactor Containment Structural Safety; Reactor Vessel and Piping Integrity; Regulatory Guide Update; New and Advanced Reactor Designs; Decommissioning; Thermal Hydraulic Code Applications and Maintenance; Uncertainty Analysis for Thermal Hydraulic Kinetics; Coupled 3D Neutronic and Plant Thermal Hydraulics; Medical Isotope Production; Long-term Operational Management; Plant and Systems Operations. Armenia’s Premier Nikol Pashinyan stated that small modular nuclear reactors with a capacity of 70 MW enable the existing capacities to be gradually built up.
NRSC representatives took part in retraining and maintenance trainings organized and conducted by the Department for Combating Terrorism and Nonproliferation of the National Nuclear Safety Administration to keep Armenian emergency response personnel prepared and up to date should they need to respond to a radiological incident. The course centered on the Spectral Advanced Radiological Computer System (SPARCS), a versatile gamma radiation detection system used in cars, trucks, boats, and aircraft for emergency response operations. SPARCS can be deployed for a wide range of radiological sources, conducting background surveys and portal monitoring at major public gatherings and providing border crossing surveillance. https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-team-enhances-armenias-emergency-response-capabilities
NRSC representative took participation in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s 35th Annual Regulatory Information Conference held on 14-16 March 2023 in Washington DC, USA. During the Conference two important agreements were signed between the U.S. NRC and ANRA. The signed agreements will allow continuing cooperation between U.S. NRC and ANRA/ NRSC in the field of licensing and safety assessment of nuclear installations. It will also give an opportunity to receive U.S. NRC safety analysis simulation tools (PARCS, RELAP, TRACE, RADTRAD) to support ANRA in its regulatory decision-making process.
The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center plays a key role in the fight against illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials in the Republic of Armenia. In cooperation with the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, National Security Service, RA Police and State Revenue Committee the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center conducts nuclear forensic expertise to characterize nuclear and radioactive materials found in the course of combating illicit trafficking. The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center, in combating illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials, also works to search for and recovery of nuclear and radioactive materials outside regulatory control in the Republic of Armenia to increase the level of protection of the public from the radiation exposure risks. The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center in collaboration with the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) implements the ISTC-AM-2546 project “Enhancement of Nuclear Forensics Capabilities in Armenia”. Main goal of the project is the improvement of the Armenian legal framework for sustainable and continuous development of nuclear forensics expertise as well as the promotion of effective cooperation between the bodies involved in combating illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials.
On 30 November 2022 NRSC successfully passed re-certification audit of its Quality Management System that was conducted in accordance with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 standard. This certification underlined the commitment of NRSC management and all teams to having a sustainable and traceable Quality Management System. It demonstrated high level of adherence to the quality standards in performing processes and procedures, which is undoubtedly integral to the company successful operation, as well as high and stable quality of works performed and services provided. The audit was carried out by the TUV Rheinland representative office in Armenia.
The main objective of the workshop was to present to the participants the IAEA competence management approaches, covering the processes related to the identifying competence needs, assessing existing competencies through gap analysis and designing competence development strategies to close identified gaps. The main emphasis was placed on presenting to the participants the tool on Systematic Assessment of the Regulatory Competence Needs (SARCoN) that was specially developed by the IAEA for the use by the Regulatory Bodies and with some adaptation could also be used by their Technical Support Organizations, and practicing on the use of the tool through implementing proposed exercises under supervision of the IAEA and international experts.
The representative of radiation safety group took part in EU CBRN CoE P67 “Strengthening CBRN Waste Management Capabilities in South-East and Eastern European Countries” final project meeting held in Tirana during 7-8 September 2022. The main results and outputs of the regional project, as well as possibility of new follow-up regional projects were discussed.
During the workshop, the organizers presented the requirements of the IAEA related to norms and norm industries, the methods of measuring norm samples, the preparation of samples and the analysis and interpretation of measurement results. Participating countries were provided with norm samples in order to conduct measurements in participating countries for the intercomparison exercise.
The main issues on licensing of construction and operation of RW treatment and storage facilities were discussed. The drafts of «Management of disused sealed radioactive sources and other institutional radioactive waste» and «Monitoring of Radioactive Waste Management Facilities» documents were finalized. International experts proposed to develop a road map for the establishment of RW management organization in Armenia and to consider the establishment of such an organization based on the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center, taking into account their scientific and technical capabilities and abilities.
