ISLAMABAD: International experts have praised Pakistan’s regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety but also proposed measures that will bring about some improvements.

Nuclear experts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Korea, Lithuania, Slovenia, South Africa, Ukraine and the United States, officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and observers from Japan formed a 21-member team of Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) of the IAEA, which concluded a 12-day mission to Pakistan on Saturday.

The mission reviewed the effectiveness of the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) in regulating the safety of use of nuclear and radioactive material. The PNRA mandate covers nuclear power plants, research reactors, waste management facilities, radiation source applications and facilities, decommissioning activities and transport of radioactive material.

The mission recommended that the IAEA’s Fundamental Safety Principles should be fully incorporated into Pakistan’s safety framework and the primary responsibility for safety should be clearly assigned.

It suggested that legal responsibilities and obligations with respect to financial provisions for the management of radioactive waste, spent fuel and decommissioning should be clearly stipulated. It said the National Radiation Emergency Coordination Centre at the PNRA needed to be modernised. Regulations and regulatory guides that take the latest IAEA safety standards into account should be finalised and issued.

“PNRA has a well-established regulatory and legal framework that is based on IAEA safety standards. It conducts effective regulatory activities for nuclear power plants, including licensing, inspection, enforcement, lessons learned and emergency preparedness,” said Liu Hua, IRRS mission Team Leader and Vice Administrator of China’s National Nuclear Safety Administration.

PNRA Chairman Anwar Habib said the authority would seriously consider all recommendations and suggestions provided by the mission.

The IRRS will submit its report to the government in three months.

“We believe that these will further improve our work and effectiveness, enhancing the confidence of our stakeholders, including the government and the public,” he said.

The mission visited sites to observe inspections, an emergency exercise and conducted interviews of and discussions with the PNRA staff and personnel of other organisations.

It observed that being an independent and competent regulatory body, PNRA is empowered with the full scope of powers required by the IAEA standards, and is provided sufficient resources.

The legislation and associated regulations provide a binding legal framework for nuclear and radiation safety in Pakistan. The mission praised government’s willingness to provide PNRA with sufficient financial resources.