September 13th, 2018 — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (USNRC) Radiation Sources Regulatory Partnership (RSRP) held its 7th Regional Meeting for the Former Soviet Union (FSU) Countries in in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, from September 10-12, 2018. The meeting was hosted by the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Agency of Tajikistan (NRSA) and was attended by 17 representatives of the regulatory authorities from six countries: Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The meeting was held at the NRSA Tajikistan Regional Training Center, which was constructed with RSRP assistance. The RSRP is an NRC-funded program that assists member country partners with efforts to strengthen regulatory control over the use of radiation sources. The program has been very active with FSU countries for more than 14 years. Qi Tech, LLC. with assistance from its subcontractor Advanced Systems Technology and Management, Inc (AdSTM), provides the technical and training expertise for the RSRP. AdSTM conducted this meeting. Representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the Lithuanian Radiation Protection Center (RSC) participated and contributed to the success of the meeting. The meeting included an overview of RSRP activities and accomplishments in the FSU and other regions. The RSRP partner country representatives presented the status of their regulatory program, discussed recent accomplishments, including completion of tasks under RSRP, and presented current regulatory gaps and challenges. RSRP experts provided an overview of the Advanced Regulatory Information System (ARIS) software (developed under NRC sponsorship) and its capabilities for supporting a regulatory program, discussed recent improvements in ARIS version 2.5 and the development status and capabilities of the OCCUDOSE module designed for tracking occupational exposure. During the discussions, suggestions for improvement of ARIS were proposed, and potential implementation of those suggestions was discussed with users and the developer, the Armenian Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center (NRSC). The IAEA expert discussed planned activities for regulatory development in FSU countries through the Regulatory Infrastructure Development Program (RIDP). The representative of the Lithuanian RSC made a presentation on incorporating EURATOM Directives and IAEA guidance including that in GSR Part 3 into national legislation. The Director of the Tajikistan NRSA discussed the results of a recent meeting of the Steering Committee of the European Union and Central Asia (EuCAS) Network and discussed opportunities for future cooperation of that organization with regulatory bodies. The DOE representative presented the role of DOE in supporting regulations related to nuclear and radiological security in partner countries. NRC, supported by AdSTM, conducted bilateral meetings with each participating country and identified country specific needs. The needs will be analyzed and placed into the RSRP FSU Master Plan for activities to be conducted over the next 24 months. Source: http://www.rsrp-online.org/news/seventh-rsrp-regional-meeting-fsu-countries-2018 [metaslider id=”1735″]
2018թ․ հունիսի 5-8-ը ք․ Թբիլիսիում կայացել է “SEEE Regional Radiological Detection Exercise – LIONSHIELD 2018” տարածաշրջանային վարժանքը, որին ՀՀ թիմն Ալբանիայից ժամանած թիմի հետ միասին մասնակցել է «Ցամաքային անցակետում ռադիոակտիվ աղբյուրի անլեգալ փոխադրում մետաղի ջարդոններ տեղափոխող բեռնատարով» սցենարին: Վարժանքի նախապատրաստական աշխատանքներ և սցենարների քննարկում Վարժանքի մասնակիցները Վարժանքի շրջանակներում կազմակերպված ռադիոակտիվ աղբյուրի որոնողական աշխատանքներ
NRSC specialist Maro Aghazarian participated in the third meeting of the NEA/WGAMA task group on “CFD for Verification, Validation, Uncertainty Quantification and Benchmarking” which took place at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris, France from June 13-14. The document Requirements for CFD-Grade Experiments for Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics was discussed during the meeting. The status and data of Pressurized Thermal Shock (PTS) benchmark experiment performed at Texas A&M was discussed in detail, as well as details of the benchmark modeling organized by OECD/NEA. Uncertainty quantification methods were discussed. Future benchmark experiments and meetings were proposed and discussed in further detail.
The Regional Workshop on Communication for Safety by the Regulatory Body was conducted in 14-18th of May 2018 in Kiev, Ukraine. Representatives of the regulatory authorities of Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Tajikistan and Ukraine took part in this workshop. During the workshop representatives of participating countries presented their best practice on “Information, communication and trancparency with interested parties” in the field of nuclear safety and discussions followed regarding the features of “Communication and Consultation with Interested Parties by the Regulatory Body, No. GSG-6” safety guide implementation by IAEA.
January 23-25, 2018 – Peter Kelm of AdSTM visited Yerevan, Armenia to meet with Ashot Martirosyan, Chairman of the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ANRA), and with Armen Amirjanyan, the Director of Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center (NRSC) and his staff. Mr. Martirosyan highlighted his appreciation for the continuing US NRC support to ANRA, discussed ongoing activities and recent developments in Armenia. In November 2017 Armenia signed Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the European Union and will harmonize its legislation consistent with the EU directives within the next few years. This includes nuclear safety and radiation protection and represents a significant challenge to ANRA and NRSC. Mr. Martirosyan appreciates recent RSRP support to develop the structure for the new revision of the Armenian Atomic Act, and discussed potential need of continued support for the harmonization effort. Mr. Amirjanyan presented the status of the development of the new ARIS module OCCUDOSE (occupational exposure), that will be released in the summer of 2018 and the Spanish Language version of ARIS user interface. Participants discussed potential RSRP activities for the 2018/2019 Action Plan that includes continuing ARIS User support, support for the development of the radiological laboratory, training and development of inspection procedures. [smartslider3 slider=18] Source: http://www.rsrp-online.org/news/rsrp-visits-armenia
