IAEA Symposium on International Safeguards

Assessment of Nuclear Facility’s Safeguards System By Using Safeguards Performance Assessment Indexes

Not scheduled

5m

M Building (Vienna International Centre)

Roundtable Member Shaping the future of safeguards implementation (SGI) [SGI] ISSAS Missions and SSAC Self-Assessment

Speaker

Dr Zsolt Stefanka (Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority)

Description

In 2015, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority introduced Safeguards Performance Assessment Indexes (SPAI) to evaluate the annual performance of a facility’s nuclear safeguards system. The aim of the development of these indexes was the timely observation of occurring changes and of deviations from the optimal operation, and the early identification of issues to provide the possibility to prevent more serious deviations and a timely response. The parameters included in SPAI were developed for the assessment of performance, which are already available and easily accessible and collectable from the inspections (records), licensing procedures and submitted reports. In general, the HAEA does not have to use additional resources or collect additional information, only the available data and their circumstances have to be assessed and analysed. The areas assessed by SPAI for nuclear facilities cover three major parts of the facility safeguards system, such as (i) safeguards organization; (ii) operation of the safeguards system; (iii) safeguards licensing procedures The evaluated parameters include e.g. educational requirement for safeguards staff, quality of safeguards reporting for IAEA and EC, and results of safeguards inspections etc. The HAEA first used the SPAI to assess the safeguards system of the nuclear power plant in Hungary, however, from 2017 other nuclear facilities (research reactor, training reactor, storage facility) were evaluated by using the indexes. Based on the experiences since 2015 the early results have been promising. The method may be used for example to alert our authority when the decrease in the number of the safeguards staff of the facility can cause the weakening of the safeguards system. The Safeguards Performance Assessment Indexes as metrics proved to be very useful tools for the regulatory assessment of how safeguards are managed and operated at the facility level.