Licensing of New Technology in Nuclear and Radiation Safety in Ukraine to Be Among SNRIU Priorities in 2021

Harmonization of nuclear and radiation safety rules and regulations with requirements of international safety standards and licensing of new technologies in this area in Ukraine will become one of the priorities of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate in 2021.

This was stated by the SNRIU Chairman Grygoriy Plachkov in his public report on the SNRIU activity in 2020 and key priorities for 2021.

“I believe that one of the most important priorities (for 2021 – ed.) – is to continue working on the possibility of licensing new technologies in our country. After all, science does not stay stagnant, everything undergoes constant development. Therefore, we must be prepared for licensing any new technology that may be used in Ukraine in future”, said SNRIU Chairman.

Mr. Plachkov emphasized that this field of activity will be one of the SNRIU priorities in 2021, in particular, in the framework of cooperation with European Atomic Energy Community aimed at implementation of EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which provides for harmonization of nuclear and radiation safety regulations and rules with current requirements of international standards. He reminded that in 2020 Ukraine joined the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) as an observer. In addition, Ukraine continued the improvement of national legislation, considering IAEA safety standards.

Ukrainian experts took active part in the work of the Nuclear Safety Standards Committee (NUSSC), Radiation Safety Standards Committee (RASSC) and Nuclear Security Guidance Committee (NSGC). According to Mr. Plachkov, four new cooperation projects with Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority are currently being implemented in Ukraine.

This includes Ukrainian regulatory threat assessment, development of requirements for exemption of radioactive materials from regulatory control, development of requirements and rules for safe management of disused sealed radiation sources recognized as radioactive waste and creation of management system for compliance with rules on safe transport of radioactive materials. Furthermore, cooperation with the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) is in progress.

In 2020, the cooperation with the colleagues from the U.S. Department of State (Projects “Cybersecurity Improvement at the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine”, “Combating Illegal Use and Illicit Trafficking of Radioactive Materials in the Eastern Region of Ukraine”), the U.S. Department of Energy (Project “Improvement of Security of Radiation Sources Used in Ukraine”) and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which provides technical assistance to the SNRIU, continued.

Mr. Plachkov believes that despite all challenges related to COVІD-19, application of new mechanisms and communication tools allowed proper nuclear and radiation safety to be ensued in the country and certain achievements to be reached in 2020.

As it was reported, because of the lockdown measures, the SNRIU reduced the number of inspections at nuclear facilities in 2020 by three times, to 134 instead of scheduled 271.

According to UKRINFORM.