NEW DELHI, Feb 14: A delegation from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) has been visiting Indian facilities to discuss their security, an Indian announcement disclosed on Monday.
It said a five-member USNRC delegation, led by Commissioner Jeffrey S. Merrifield, visited the Indian atomic energy Regulatory Board (AERB) from Feb 7 to 11.
"This visit is part of the on-going nuclear safety co-operation between the two regulatory authorities. Extensive discussions in the form of a workshop were held during this visit on safety and regulatory matters related to Nuclear Power Plants. The technical workshop was inaugurated by Commissioner Merrifield," the official statement said.
Nuclear safety co-operation between AERB and NRC was resumed in February 2003 when a USNRC delegation led by the then NRC Chairman Dr. Richard A. Meserve visited India in Feb 2003.
During 2003-04 four meetings, two in India and two in the US, were held between experts of the two regulatory bodies. The present workshop is the fifth in the series where the topics of Safety of New Reactor Designs, Seismic Issues and Emergency Core Cooling Systems in nuclear power plants were discussed.
"In view of the recent tsunami in India the two sides also discussed regulatory requirements related to tsunami and flooding hazards at nuclear plant sites. The Indian side also shared their experience of construction and commissioning of new reactors," the statement said.
The US at present has 103 operational nuclear power reactors while India has 14 nuclear power plants in operation and 9 under construction. The USNRC delegation visited the Dhruva reactor and some of the engineering R&D facilities at BARC in Trombay.
They also visited the Tarapur site where two Boiling Water Reactor units of US design are operational and two units of 540 MWe each of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) of indigenous design are under construction. Commissioner Mr. Merrifield also visited the Rawatbhata site where four PHWR units are operating and two are under construction.
