The panel session on Opportunities and Challenges for Technical Support and Safety Organizations took place on the 1st day of the Conference which was moderated by the ETSON Board members – managers of IRSN (France), Bel V (Belgium), GRS (Germany), JSI (Slovenia) and SEC NRS (R. Sharafutdinov represented A. Khamaza, SEC NRS Director and ETSON Board member).
In the course of the panel session Rashet Sharafutdinov described the SEC NRS activities in support the regulatory functions of Rostechnadzor.
For reference:
The European Technical Safety Organisations Network (ETSON) was established in 2006 as a result of efforts made by Technical and Scientific Support Organizations of France (IRSN), Germany (GRS), Belgium (former AVN and presently Bel V) with the purpose to strengthen and maintain the current successful cooperation practice, as well as to enter the market of nuclear review in the status of a unified highly experienced expert.At the moment, in addition to the founding organizations, the Association includes TSOs from European Union member states: AMEC (UK), ENEA (Italy), LEI (Lithuania), VUJE (Slovakia), JSI (Slovenia), MTA EK (Hungary), VTT (Finland), CV REZ (UJV) (Czech Republic), PSI (Switzerland) and organizations from non-European Union states: SEC NRS (Russia), NRA (Japan) and SSTC NRS (Ukraine).
Extensive work was performed by SEC NRS to substantiate the correspondence to the required characteristics of ETSON membership. Compliance with these criteria together with the fact that SEC NRS, as TSO of Rostechnadzor, had established itself to be the reliable partner in the framework of bilateral cooperation with several ETSON member countries, continued with SEC NRS entering the Association membership in 2012.
Since that time SEC NRS has been actively participated in the activity of all major ETSON working groups (PING, KMG, ERG, WM&D and TBRS) and expert subgroups on different fields of research in the sphere of nuclear and radiation safety.
The proposal to organize ETSON General Assembly session in Russia was one of the primary outcome of SEC NRS activity as the Association member. On July 02-03, 2013 the regular session of ETSON General Assembly took place in St. Petersburg. It was duly organized by SEC NRS. In the frames of this event the technical visit of foreign participants to the site of Leningrad NPP-2 under construction was made possible.
Alexander Khamaza, SEC NRS Director, was unanimously elected as the ETSON Vice-President at the General Assembly meeting on July 10, 2015 in Garching (Germany) and re-elected for the next term on June 27, 2017 in Frascati (Italy).
Current and continued SEC NRS involvement in ETSON work will enable the TSO of Rostechnadzor to share its experience and cutting-edge practices between mature expert organizations and, most notably from the EU, regarding the aspects of safety review (analysis) of nuclear facilities and the related activities, joint research, safety guides development. It will allow to provide the comprehensive scientific and technical support to nuclear regulatory authority of Russia more effectively.