IAEA-NS-IRRS-2010/01 ORIGINAL: English INTEGRATED REGULATORY REVIEW SERVICE (IRRS) MISSION TO PEOPLE S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Beijing, People s Republic of China 18 to 30 July 2010 DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND SECURITY
INTEGRATED REGULATORY REVIEW SERVICE (IRRS) REPORT TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Beijing, China 18 to 30 July 2010 2
INTEGRATED REGULATORY REVIEW SERVICE (IRRS) REPORT TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Mission date: 18 to 30 July 2010 Regulatory body: NNSA Location: Beijing, China Regulated facilities and practices: Organized by: Nuclear power plants, research reactors, fuel cycle facilities, medical industrial and research facilities, waste facilities, decommissioning and remediation. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) IRRS REVIEW TEAM Mike WEIGHTMAN Team Leader (UK) Shahid MALLICK Deputy Team Leader (Pakistan) Olivier ALLAIN (France) Serhii BOZHKO (Ukraine) Bradley CASSELS (Australia) Guy CLAPISSON (South Africa) Peter LIETAVA (Czech Republic) Iván LUX (Hungary) Bruce S. MALLETT (USA) Mika MARKKANEN (Finland) Koichiro NAKAMURA (Japan) Lasse REIMAN (Finland) François RINFRET (Canada) Yong Ho RYU (Republic of Korea) Vra STAROSTOVÁ (Czech Republic) Andrej STRITAR (Slovenia) Axel Magnus WESTERLIND (Sweden) Gustavo CARUSO IRRS Team Coordinator (IAEA) Hazem SUMAN IRRS Deputy Team Coordinator (IAEA) Stephen KOENICK IRRS Review Coordinator (IAEA) John ROWAT IRRS Review Coordinator (IAEA) Marlene KOBEIN IRRS Administrative Assistant (IAEA) 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At the request of the government of the People s Republic of China, an international team of twenty-two senior experts in safety regulation visited the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) of the People s Republic of China from 19 to 30 July 2010 to conduct an Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission. The purpose of this IRRS mission was to review the framework for regulating safety of all nuclear facilities and activities and radioactive sources of the People s Republic of China and the effectiveness of regulatory functions implemented by MEP (NNSA) and other governmental authorities. The review was carried out by comparison against IAEA safety standards IAEA Safety Fundamentals and Safety Requirements and Guides and the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources as the international benchmark for safety. The mission was also used to exchange information and experience between the IRRS Review Team and the Chinese counterparts in the areas covered by IRRS. The IRRS Review Team consisted of seventeen senior regulatory experts from fifteen Member States, four staff members from the IAEA and an IAEA administrative assistant. The IRRS Review Team carried out the review of the MEP (NNSA), its Technical Support Organization and other governmental authorities in all relevant areas: responsibilities and functions of the government, global safety regime, responsibilities and functions of the regulatory body; the management system of the regulatory body, the activities of the regulatory body including the authorization, review and assessment, inspection and enforcement processes, regulations and guides, and emergency preparedness and response. The IRRS review addressed facilities and activities regulated by MEP (NNSA), including the operation of nuclear power plants, research reactors, fuel cycle facilities, industrial, medical and research facilities, and waste management facilities. The review also addressed implementation of the Code of Conduct on Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources. Transport, medical exposure and nuclear security were not part of the IRRS scope. The mission included observations of regulatory activities at facilities and a series of interviews and discussions with the staff of other organizations to help assess the effectiveness of the system. These involved the following site visits: Qinshan NPP, China North Nuclear Fuel Co. Ltd, Shanghai Electric Group, Tsinghua University, Tianjin JPY Ion-Tech. Co., Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Guangdong Beilong Medium and Low level Waste Disposal Facility. The IRRS Review Team conducted interviews with the Ministry of Health MOH), Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center (NSC), National Energy Administration (NEA), China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA), China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC). In addition, four policy issues were addressed and discussed with MEP (NNSA) senior management and staff: regulatory independence and effectiveness, regulatory oversight during construction of an NPP, human resources and knowledge management at the regulatory body and international cooperation and collaboration of the regulatory body. MEP (NNSA) provided the IRRS Review Team with initial documentation as advanced reference material and results of the self-assessment, including a report with conclusions and an action plan with measures to improve its regulatory effectiveness. In addition, the IRRS Review Team also reviewed the implementation of the IAEA recommendations from the previous International Regulatory Review Team (IRRT) mission in 2000 and follow-up mission in 2004. Throughout the mission, the IRRS Review Team was extended full cooperation in technical, regulatory, and policy discussions by all parties; in particular the staff of MEP (NNSA) provided the fullest practicable assistance. 7
The IRRS Review Team identified a number of good practices, made recommendations and suggestions that indicate where improvements are necessary or desirable to continue enhancing the effectiveness of regulatory functions in comparison with the IAEA safety standards. The IRRS Review Team noted the impressive programme for nuclear development involving the construction and bringing into operation of around 100 nuclear power units by 2020. As a consequence, there will be a need for a compatible programme of other nuclear fuel cycle facilities, research facilities and activities. This report should be seen in that context. The IRRS Review Team noted that the particular social, economic and cultural environment coupled with a fundamental commitment to a safety first, quality first principle and the extensive use of IAEA safety standards provides a unique potential to execute such a programme to world leading standards of safety. Care will be necessary to ensure that the essential positive cultural and capability attributes of this environment are preserved throughout the decades to come. The IRRS Review Team observed that a comprehensive nuclear regulatory framework, including regulatory organizations, based on IAEA safety standards is in place in the People s Republic of China. As part of implementing the State policy in nuclear and radiation safety assurance, a regulatory organizational structure was reformed in 1998, 2003 and 2008 successively, putting the nuclear regulator under the jurisdiction of the MEP. The IRRS Review Team expects that this will need further time and effort to develop its full effectiveness, especially in light of the accelerating programme of nuclear development. This will require strong support from the government for ensuring that appropriate sustained funding and flexibility are provided. Some good practices identified by the IRRS Review Team are: The long term (2005-2020) nuclear power development plan issued in October 2007 and the long term plan (2006-2020) on nuclear safety and radioactive pollution prevention in 2007 include a clear nuclear policy statement adhere to the safety first/quality first principle, and a commitment to strengthen the supervision of nuclear safety and its enforcement; MEP (NNSA) has made available the basic conditions covering, inter alia, organisational, resource and safety culture factors for companies wishing to acquire a licence to have access to Chinese nuclear markets; The MEP (NNSA) recommendations for universities and other training of engineers in some professional areas are very useful; The qualification and registering of nuclear safety engineers in China; The authorization procedures and regulations concerning Chinese organizations involved with nuclear safety equipment have been developed in recent years. The regulatory supervision has been strengthened and is organized in an effective way; The MEP (NNSA) training programme for inspectors includes simplified reactor behaviour simulation training as well as licensee provided material on site equipment and systems; and MEP (NNSA) has initiated periodic meetings between Chinese nuclear utilities to promote the exchange of important safety related information. The IRRS Review Team identified some priority issues in need of improvement and believes that consideration of these items would enhance the overall performance of the regulatory system. The Chinese government/mep (NNSA) should issue as soon as practicable an expanded nuclear policy and strategy for safety, expedite the promulgations of nuclear laws such as the Atomic Energy Act and/or Nuclear Safety Act, draw up a comprehensive national policy and strategy for the management of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel and clearly define the role of the 8
relevant authorities in enforcing standards and regulations. The requirement to assign prime responsibility for nuclear safety to the organizations responsible for the facilities or activities should be clearly defined in the new laws to be promulgated; The Chinese government should establish the regulator, NNSA, as a real integrated regulatory Authority (Administration or Agency) within MEP with the appropriate competencies with a Vice Minister as its Administrator and Head, and a chief nuclear safety engineer as technical assistant. The chief nuclear safety engineer should be solely focused on technical decision-making on safety regulation given its importance and nuclear power expansion. MEP (NNSA) should assess its current and future needs for internal technical expertise considering especially its decision-making functions; The government should allocate adequate financial and human resources, of the appropriate competencies, for developing and maintaining the regulatory infrastructure in China commensurate with the current rapid development of its nuclear power programme; The government should provide MEP (NNSA) with sufficient flexibility, to ensure that the regulatory body can attract and retain the suitably qualified and experienced regulatory staff that it will require; The government should establish mechanisms for the effective coordination of the regulatory functions amongst MoH, provincial DoH, MEP and provincial EPA to ensure complete and clear coverage and coordination. In addition, MOH should ensure managing, controlling and recording the doses received by emergency workers for different types of response activities; MEP (NNSA) should further improve and implement an integrated management system in accordance with GS-R-3; MEP (NNSA) should develop regulations for decommissioning plans for existing as well as for planned nuclear installations, specifying when decommissioning plans should be drawn up, the scope, content and the period of revision; MEP NNSA should strengthen the auditing programme in foreign manufactory for quality assurance of equipment to be used in Chinese NPPs; The regulator s capability to perform independent verification of safety assessments needs to be strengthened. Adequate resources for regulatory review and assessment activities should be secured taking into account the rapid expansion of the Chinese nuclear programme. MEP (NNSA) should ensure that safety analyses results shall be verified with analyses performed by experts independent from the authors of the application; MEP (NNSA) should align the Evaluation Principles used in review and assessment with existing regulations; and The need for intensive exchange of operating experiences could substantially benefit nuclear safety in China as well as other countries by learning from each other. The IRRS Review Team findings are summarized in Appendix V. An IAEA press release was issued at the end of the mission. 9