Title: Definitions
1Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Minerals and
Energy 03 November 2004 Committee Room V475, Cape
Town
REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE REGULATOR FOR
2003/4
Adv L.B Zondo Nuclear Regulatory Authority
2Summary of Presentation
- Highlights from the annual report (2003/4)
- Financial Performance in Fin Year 2003/4
- Key strategic objectives for the future
3- REGULATORY CONTROL OVER POWER REACTOR FACILITIES
- KOEBERG POWER STATION(KNPS) PEBBLE BED MODULAR
REACTOR (PBMR).
4Licensing activities related to the Koeberg
Nuclear Station- KNPS
- Regulatory oversight of the KNPS
- The current KNPS authorisation Nuclear
Installation Licence NL-1 Variation 14, issued to
Eskom in terms of section 23 of the NNR Act, is
subject to 16 conditions, including specific
licensing requirements , which form the basis for
the NNR regulatory oversight of Koeberg in
protecting the public, property and the
environment. - Safety Assurance activities
- Safety assessments
- As in previous years a major part of the NNR
work related to in depth safety assessments
related to for example plant modifications,
nuclear fuel, spent fuel storage, plant condition
management and probabilistic risk assessment.
5Safety Assurance activities (cont.)
- Worker Exposure to radiation
- - Radiation exposure to personnel working at
Koeberg are subject to control by the operation
radiation protection programme which ensures that
control within the annual individual dose limit,
set by the NNR, is achieved. - - There were no concerns regarding the safety
of workers at Koeberg during the reporting
period. - Public Exposure to radiation
- - Public exposure to radiation is controlled
within strictly defined limits, set by the NNR,
through the implementation of radiological
emission and effluent management programme, which
ensures that the discharges of radioactivity from
Koeberg result in no significant risk to the
public - - There were no concerns regarding the safety of
the public leaving around KNPS during the
reporting period.
6- Safety Assurance activities (cont.)
- Emergency Planning and Preparedness
- The NNR conducted a full scale nuclear emergency
exercise at the KNPS on 18 February 2004.
Although the NNR umpires identified problems and
potential areas for improvement of the Koeberg
Emergency Plan, the NNR concluded that overall
the exercise was a success. - An action plan for implementing the necessary
corrective actions was formulated and monitored
for progress. - In terms of section 38(4) of the NNR Act the
Minister made regulations on development
surrounding nuclear installations to ensure the
effective implementation of any nuclear emergency
plan - Inspections and audits
- Approximately 400 inspections and two audits were
carried out during the reporting period. - Although , during the inspections and audits ,the
NNR identified problems and potential areas for
improvement the NNR was satisfied with the
overall compliance of KNPS.
7- Safety Assurance activities (cont.)
- Incidents and occurrences
- Although a total of 283 occurrences were reported
at KNPS none of these were in the category of
incidents and accidents as defined in the NNR
Act. - Other Licensing Activities (cont.)
- Licensing of Koeberg Reactor Operators
- During the reporting period the NNR renewed the
licences of 18 Senior Reactor Operators and 37
Reactor operators.
8Prospective Licensing and Other Projects
- Proposed Pebble Bed Modular Reactor-PBMR
- During the reporting period the NNR continued to
review the nuclear installation licence
application submitted by Eskom. - Main activities linked to the resolution of Key
Licensing Issues (KLIs) and safety issues
identified by the NNR during the NNR review of
the PBMR safety case. - The NNR also carried out a safety culture audit
on the PBMR Company. - A general observation of the audit was that the
safety culture within PBMR has improved over the
last 18 months) but some more improvement is
still required . -
9- REGULATORY CONTROL OVER MINING AND MINERAL
PROCESSING FACILITIES.
10SAFETY ASSURANCE
- Worker Exposure to Radiation
- - The Regulation of Natural Sources Programme
focused much of its regulatory efforts during the
reporting period on those mines where potential
exists that workers may be exposed to radiation
levels in excess of the dose limit. - Comparison of radiation exposure for 2001, 2002
and 2003.
11-
- Safety Assurance activities (cont.)
- Public Exposure to radiation
- A working group including representatives of
holders has been established to develop a status
report on radiation hazards to members of the
public arising from mining and mineral processing
facilities. - Activities of the working group are ongoing. The
results show that there is no safety concern. - Transport Safety
- - Routine shipments of low specific activity
(LSA-1) material are made easily between
authorized mines, scrap dealers and smelters, at
least 12 000 shipments took place during the
reporting period. No incidences of any
significance were reported from any of these
shipments.
12-
- Safety Assurance activities (cont.)
- Inspection and Audits
- - A total of 110 inspections were conducted to
verify the degree of compliance with the various
programmes and procedures implemented by the
holders. - - Holders were required to investigate the
reasons for and implement corrective actions
related to all the non-compliances identified. - - These inspections were focused on those mines
where worker doses could potentially be exceeded
and also on those mines where uranium and acid
plants were under demolition. - Incidents/Occurrences
- - A total of 28 occurrences were reported by
holders. Eleven were regarded as Category 1 and
related to those mines where workers were exposed
to radiation levels that exceeded the annual dose
limit of 50mSv during the 2003 calendar year.
13- REGULATORY CONTROL OVER NECSA VAALPUTS
14Licensing Activities related to Necsa Pelindaba
and Vaalputs sites
- Necsa operations at the Pelindaba are regulated
in terms of Nuclear Installation Licence, NL-27
- Safety Assessment
- The NNR approved 93 licence change requests by
Necsa during the reporting period. These included
safety assessments, facility operational
technical specifications, inservice inspection
manuals, radiation protection standards, security
manuals and quality management manuals.
15NECSA (PELINDABA)
- Worker Exposure to radiation
- The controls over occupational exposure were
comparable to the best practice internationally.
The average effective radiation dose per
occupationally exposed worker for 2003 was 0,66
mSv, which is 13.2 of the ALARA objective of 5
mSv.a-1. - There were no safety concerns as the ALARA
objective for maximum individual dose was not
exceeded for the calendar year 2003. - Public Exposure to radiation
- The public exposure arising from liquid and
gaseous effluent discharges was 0.021 mSv, which
is well within the dose limit of 0.25 mSv.a-1.
Liquid effluent discharges accounted for 0.012
mSv and gaseous discharges accounted for 0.009
mSv for the 2003 calendar year. - There were no safety concerns regarding public
exposure to the community living around Necsa.
16- Emergency Preparedness
- In compliance with section 38 of the NNR Act,
Necsa has in place a comprehensive emergency
plan. Over the reporting period various aspects
of the Necsa site emergency plan were tested,
including possible radiological and chemical
emergencies. - The NNR concluded that NECSA has the ability to
evaluate and manage an emergency on site, however
some work required to be streamlined - Physical Security
- Following the events of 11 September 2001
directives were issued by the NNR to Necsa as a
holder of a nuclear licence to re-access their
physical security measures in line with
international developments. As a result of these
directives improvements were made to the physical
security measures on the Necsa site
17- Inspections and Audits
- During the reporting period NNR inspectors
performed a total of 153 compliance inspections
on the Necsa site. These inspections covered all
aspects of the licensing conditions. During
these inspections the percentage compliance was
determined to be 96 percent. Therefore
compliance was acceptable in general. - Incidents/Occurrences
- Although a total of 114 occurrences were
reported at Necsa none of these were in the
category of incidents or accidents as defined in
the NNR Act.
18VAALPUTS
- Worker Exposure to radiation
- The controls over occupational exposure were
comparable to the best practice internationally.
The average effective radiation dose per
occupationally exposed worker for 2003 was 0,3
mSv. -
- Public Exposure to radiation
- Â Based on environmental surveillance programme
it can be concluded that there was no measurable
radiological impact on the public living around
Vaalputs. -
19- OTHER ORGANISATIONAL ACTIVITIES
20SAFETY STANDARDS
NNR work closely with the Department of Minerals
and Energy with regard to the drafting and
finalization of the document on safety standards
and regulatory practice. In terms of section 36
of the NNR Act the safety standards were
published in the Government Gazette for public
comment. Draft standards are currently with the
Department of Minerals and Energy considering
public comments
21INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES
The NNR continued to participate in IAEA Safety
Standard Committees
- NNR participated in the following committees
- The Waste Safety Standards Committee
(WASSC) - Transport Safety Standards Committee
(TRANSSC - Nuclear Safety Standards Committee
(NUSSC) While the Department of Health
participated in the Radiation Safety Standard
Committee (RASSC)
22HUMAN RESOURCES
Over the past year, the NNR has focused on making
changes to improve every aspect of the
organisations business. The focus has been on
making changes within the framework of current
legislation. EQUITY Total NNR
composition White males 26 (35.10) Black
males 24 (32.40) White females 12 (16.20)
Black females 12 (16.20) Included are 2
disabled permanent employees
23HUMAN RESOURCES
CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
Current Projected
Internship 12 50
Bursary 5 20
- University involvement
- Post Graduate Nuclear Safety at Wits University
- Radiation Science at North West University
24FINANCE DEPARTMENT
Financial Overview i. Revenue (operating
income) increased by R4.2 million to R48.7
million, representing a growth rate of 9.
Operating expenses for the year of R46.1
million have been contained well within the
inflation rate, the overall increase year on
year being 4. ii. The authorisation fees have
increased steadily year on year at 11.6 whereas
the state subsidy increased by 4.5. This
indicating the increasing dependence upon the
authorisation fees for funding purposes.
iii. Staff costs, excluding the defined benefit
plan component, increased by a reasonable 6.1.
The define benefit component increased by 38.6
which is beyond managements control as the
obligation is to a large extent influenced by
subjective assumptions used in the actuarial
valuation. In total, staff costs have increased
by 12.4.
25FINANCE DEPARTMENT
Financial Overview iv. The non-current
liability (provision) for retirement medical
benefits has increased by R1.8 million to R22.8
million. Â v. Overall, the NNR has endeavoured
to operate as best as the business constraints
permit and the financial performance for the 2004
financial year bear testimony to this.
26- KEY STRATEGIC GOALS FOR THE FUTURE
27Strategic Goals
- Within its four strategic focus areas the key
goals for 2004/5 will be - Core business (protection of persons, property
environment) - - Perform safety assessment to enable decision
to grant or refuse nuclear authorisation, perform
inspections audits as per schudules - Stakeholder satisfaction
- Â - Implement a communication strategy to ensure
that the organisation continues to perform its
mandate to the satisfaction of its stakeholders - Internal Business processes
- - Improve business management systems and
processes to deliver its mandate effectively and
efficiently - Human Resources
- Â - Special focus to capacity development and
innovative mechanisms to rectruit people to the
employ of the NNR.