Note: The NRC Commissioners were briefed by NRC staff on implementation of U.S. government conventions and treaties, export/import licensing, bilateral assistance and cooperation, assistance and cooperation with multilateral organizations, and international research activities
- Edited by Linton Levy -
At our Commission meeting today, we discussed our international engagements and activities that are valuable, both for the NRC and for other countries. This past year, I have had the opportunity to attend key international nuclear forums such as that of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors and the International Nuclear Regulators Association. I am extremely pleased with the feedback from our international colleagues indicating the NRC is a highly regarded nuclear regulator. Much of this can be attributed to the hard work of our Office of International Programs (OIP) in ensuring that our messages are clear and our operating experiences are shared in useful ways, and it is based on a foundation of our dedicated agency staff.
While international cooperation provides us with the opportunity to help other countries and learn new ways of identifying and approaching problems, the agency will need to carefully evaluate the requests for our assistance to ensure that we do not over-commit the agency’s resources. The number of countries approaching us for assistance continues to grow and our international program is relatively small. We know that OIP receives only about one percent of the NRC’s budget, and we want to allocate those resources wisely.
This coming year will be one in which international attention will be on the NRC, as we will be participating in the IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service. This will certainly provide us with insights that will help us to continue to be such a well regarded nuclear regulator.
It is important that the NRC continues its key role in the global nuclear forums such as the IAEA and Nuclear Energy Agency. We will continue to benefit from our strong international relationships, both in sharing our experiences as an independent regulator as well as learning from the operating experiences of others.