Page 22 - Nuclear Plant Journal Digital Edition: January - February 2013
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22
Nuclear Plant Journal, January-February 2013
Strengthening
International
Nuclear
Regulatory
System
By Jukka Laaksonen, Rusatom Overseas.
Jukka Laaksonen
Jukka Laaksonen was Director General
of Radiation and Nuclear Safety
Authority (STUK) of Finland from 1997
to January 2012. After retirement from
STUK he works
with Joint Stock
Company Rusatom
Overseas.
He worked in
nuclear regulation
from May 1974
to January 2012,
mostly at STUK but
also as a visiting
expert at US NRC in
1981-82.
Since 1970’s he has
actively participated
to international
co-operation in the
area of nuclear safety and safeguards.
He has held several chairmanships in
international groups and committees,
among these are WENRA (Western
Europe Nuclear Regulators Association
(2009-2011) and the OECD/NEA’s
Committee for Nuclear Regulatory
Activities (1998-2007).
Currently Prof. Laaksonen is Vice
Chairman of INSAG (International
Nuclear Safety Group connected
with the IAEA) and a member of the
International Advisory Board of United
Arab Emirates.
An interview by Newal Agnihotri, Editor
of Nuclear Plant Journal at the World
Nuclear Association Symposium in
London, U.K. on September 13, 2012.
1.
How can the regulation of the
nuclear utilities be made more effective
worldwide?
There is close cooperation among
well-established regulators, so that they
are not only exchanging information but
also working together in several forms.
Especially in Europe, the regulators have
a cooperation forum called WENRA
(Western European Nuclear Regulators’
Association) which has developed sev-
eral common positions between the regu-
lators. I was one of the founding mem-
bers of WENRA and served as its chair-
man for two years until my retirement in
2012. Most of the
WENRA’s work to
harmonize regula-
tions is done within
working
groups
consisting from the
most experienced
and qualified ex-
perts of each regula-
tory body. So, inside
Europe, the team-
work among regula-
tors functions well.
There is also good
cooperation
with
Russian regulators
who attend meetings
of WENRA and its
working groups as observers. The posi-
tions of Russian regulators in topics con-
cerning nuclear power plant safety seem
to be quite close to WENRA’s positions.
Harmonized safety regulations and their
implementation, involving mutual peer
reviews, have evidently served well for
enhancing safety in Europe.
A wider forum of regulatory co-
operation is the CNRA (Committee
on Nuclear Regulatory Activities)
working under the OECD’s Nuclear
Energy Agency. In addition to European
regulators, large nuclear countries, USA,
Canada, Japan and Republic of Korea are
members of the CNRA. I was chairman of
that committee for eight years and during
that time the CNRA published a number
of guidebooks to enhance effectiveness
and quality of nuclear regulation. IAEA
is of course an important global forum
to transfer information between the
regulators although it has no standing
work groups dedicated for regulators.
So, the regulators themselves fully
recognize their role, and most of them
have adequate independence for making
decisions and enforcement power. But
in some countries there are problems
in these areas. A basic rule is that the
regulators should be independent from
those organizations concerned with
the promotion or utilization of nuclear
energy. My observation is that generally
the regulators are not depending on the
industry. The problem which I have seen
in some countries is that the regulators
are not independent from the political
decision makers. This is something which
is a serious problem, especially in the
new entrant countries. What I have been
emphasizing is that the political decision
makers have to understand their safety
responsibility, and the best way to show
that is to give the enforcement power to
the regulators. So, the regulators should
have full possibility to make all decisions
in safety matters, and to enforce their
position without any involvement of the
political decision makers. Unfortunately
there are a few countries with operating
nuclear power plants where the regulators
seem to be under too much influence of
government. So, they don’t have really
the independent power which would be
needed. This is very pertinent also in
many potential new entrant countries.
The people who are dreaming about
starting a nuclear program must first build
a strong infrastructure, including a strong
regulatory body. A positive example is
United Arab Emirates. Their government
has taken all decisions demonstrating
great responsibility responsible. They
have established a strong infrastructure
