IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency Working Group 3A Self-Evaluation of Infrastructure Development Status Difficulties and Solutions

IAEA 3AQuestions/Difficulties 1. Many of the things written down are very difficult for a country which has nothing. If it has no information, how can it start? 2. Self-evaluation is difficult – you can deceive yourself. 3. We need to recognise that there is a lot of work to get to Milestone 1 and much more to get to Milestone Potential conflict of interest in countries where the utility is government-owned, and the regulator is a government department. 5. Does the regulator really have a role before commissioning/operation? Do we really need a full regulator capability by Milestone 2? 6. Do we have to assess all the 19 issues? 7. Is assessment against 19 issues enough? 8. What happens if the government decision at Milestone 1 does not follow the NEPIO recommendations? 9. Difficult to assess against the new document, if the work was done some time ago and it is difficult to provide all the evidence. 10. Should the results of the assessment be public or confidential? Embarrassing if the report is strongly critical. Should they be shared with neighbouring countries? 11. Who pays the cost of review/assessment?

IAEA 3ANeeds/Solutions 1. Start with a co-operation agreement (government to government) with another country which has experience? Co-operation utility to utility, or university to university, regulator to regulator etc. Also government to IAEA. 2. Self evaluation means government evaluation, so that the government demonstrates ownership and responsibility. Also have independent evaluation, for example by IAEA. 3. All developments must be done in parallel 4. NEPIO has possible continuing role in phase 2 and beyond in evaluation and oversight, and in national strategy for education etc Do not need to assess all together, but all need to be done. Alternative suggestion is to routinely self-assess progress against all issues, say, once per year issues are only a guideline. Some countries may have additional issues. We must remember the philosophy of continuous improvement. 8. Responsible vendors will probably not supply to country which has not sensibly met all milestone requirements This question should be discussed before the assessment. Gaining public acceptance is one aspect of being ready, so assessment must eventually be public. 11. Assessment should be part of the plan, and so part of the NEPIO budget. If the NEPIO has done a good job at reaching Milestone 1, then assessment will be easy and cheap.

IAEA 1 Many of the things written down are very difficult for a country which has nothing. If it has no information, how can it start? Start with a co-operation agreement (government to government) with another country which has experience? Co-operation utility to utility, or university to university, regulator to regulator etc. Also government to IAEA.

IAEA 2 Self-evaluation is difficult – you can deceive yourself. Self evaluation means government evaluation, so that the government demonstrates ownership and responsibility. Also have independent evaluation, for example by IAEA.

IAEA 3 We need to recognise that there is a lot of work to get to Milestone 1 and much more to get to Milestone 2. All developments must be done in parallel

IAEA 4 Potential conflict of interest in countries where the utility is government-owned, and the regulator is a government department All developments must be done in parallel

IAEA 5 Does the regulator really have a role before commissioning/operation? Do we really need a full regulator capability by Milestone 2? Yes

IAEA 6 Do we have to assess all the 19 issues? Do not need to assess all together, but all need to be done. Alternative suggestion is to routinely self-assess progress against all issues, say, once per year.

IAEA 7 Is assessment against 19 issues enough? 19 issues are only a guideline. Some countries may have additional issues. We must remember the philosophy of continuous improvement.

IAEA 8 What happens if the government decision at Milestone 1 does not follow the NEPIO recommendations? Responsible vendors will probably not supply to country which has not sensibly met all milestone requirements.

IAEA 9 Difficult to assess against the new document, if the work was done some time ago and it is difficult to provide all the evidence. ?.

IAEA 10 Should the results of the assessment be public or confidential? Embarrassing if the report is strongly critical. Should they be shared with neighbouring countries? This question should be discussed before the assessment. Gaining public acceptance is one aspect of being ready, so assessment must eventually be public.

IAEA 11 Who pays the cost of review/assessment? Assessment should be part of the plan, and so part of the NEPIO budget. If the NEPIO has done a good job at reaching Milestone 1, then assessment will be easy and cheap.