International Cooperation

AERB recognizes international cooperation as a measure for enhancing effectiveness of regulatory control and improving regulatory practices taking into account the regulatory experiences and best practices around the world. AERB has been actively involved with various international bodies for exchanges of information and cooperation in the regulation of nuclear safety and radiation protection. Important international cooperation activities of AERB are as follows:

Multilateral Cooperation

AERB recognizes international cooperation as a measure for enhancing effectiveness of regulatory control and improving regulatory practices taking into account the regulatory experiences and best practices around the world. AERB has been actively involved with various international bodies for exchanges of information and cooperation in the regulation of nuclear safety and radiation protection. Important international cooperation activities of AERB are as follows.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

AERB has been actively participating in IAEA activities. The staff of AERB participates in various Technical and consultants’ meetings organised by IAEA on a range of topics related to Nuclear Power plants, fuel cycle facilities, radiation facilities, transportation of radioactive materials and illicit trafficking of radioactive materials. AERB has also been participating in IAEA Coordinated research Programme (IAEA-CRP).

AERB takes part in the development of IAEA documents. AERB experts are serving as members in IAEA Safety Standards Committees.

AERB is the national coordinator for IAEA- International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES), IAEA–Incident Reporting System (IRS) and Fuel Incident Notification and Analysis System (FINAS). AERB participates in all activities related to their functioning.

India is a participant of the Incident and Trafficking Database (ITDB) program of the IAEA. AERB being a national contact point is regularly reporting incidents to ITDB involving illicit trafficking, thefts, losses and other unauthorized activities and events involving nuclear and other radioactive materials.

The Government of India ratified the Convention on Nuclear Safety on March 31, 2005. India is submitting its national report from 4^th Review Meeting (in 2008) onwards. AERB prepares the national report of India on the fulfilment of obligations arising from the provisions of the Convention on Nuclear Safety and participates in its Review Meetings. India’s report can be found at https://www.aerb.gov.in/english/convention-on-nuclear-safety.

India has expressed its support for Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources and its Supplementary Guidance on the Import and Export of Radioactive Sources. AERB is the point of contact for the purpose of facilitating the export and/or import of radioactive sources in accordance with the Code and this Guidance.

AERB officials participates as members in the IAEA’s Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) Missions to various countries.

AERB plays an active role in strengthening the global safety regime and towards this contributes in various meetings, peer review missions and development of safety standards of IAEA. It also utilises experience gained through these safety-cooperation activities towards further augmenting safety regulatory system within India.

Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)

The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is a specialized agency within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialised countries, based in Paris, France.

The NEA operates under the guidance of the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy, through a series of specialised standing technical committees. India is participating in two such committees namely Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) and Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI). India’s status in CNRA and CSNI has been enhanced from ‘Adhoc Invitee’ to ‘Participant’ in these committees.

AERB is contributing in following Working Groups of CNRA and CSNI.

Working Group on Operation Experience (WGOE),
Working Group on inspection practices (WGIP).
Working Group on the Regulation of New Reactors (WGRNR),
Working Group on Public Communication of Nuclear Regulatory Organisations (WGPC)
Working Group on Risk Assessment (WGRisk),
Working Group on Analysis and Management of Accident (WGAMA)
Working Group on Integrity and Ageing of Components and Structures (WGIAGE)
Working Group on Fuel Safety (WGFS)

CANDU Senior Regulators Forum

AERB participates in annual meetings of CANDU Senior Regulators, organised by IAEA, for exchange of information on issues specifically related to safety of PHWRs. The meeting provides a technical platform to discuss the current issues related to improvement in nuclear safety after Fukushima NPP accident, generic issues of CANDU reactors, etc.

AERB is one of the key contributors in CANDU PSA Working Group established by IAEA as suggested by CANDU senior regulators forum. The objectives of the CANDU PSA Working Group are to support regulatory authorities, utilities and designers in their area of PSA by harmonizing regulatory approaches and utilities practices on the use of PSA and to make recommendations to CANDU Senior Regulators Forum.

VVER Regulators Forum

VVER Regulators Forum is for exchange of information and experience on issues specifically related to safety of Russian VVERs. AERB is a member of this forum and regularly contributes to the activities of the Forum. AERB participates in the PSA Working Group, Reactor Physics Working Group of VVER Regulator’s Forum.

Atomic Energy Research (AER)

AERB joined the Atomic Energy Research (AER), Hungary as member organization in 2019. AER is an international community of researchers, engineers and operators from countries running the VVER type nuclear reactors. The objective of AER is to promote information exchange among VVER utility staff, Designers, R&D institutes and Safety authorities. AERB attends meetings of AER scientific council and its working Groups.

Bilateral Cooperation

International Peer Review of AERB

IRRS Follow up Mission

The IRRS follow-up mission to India with extended scope was hosted during June 9-20, 2022. The 2015 mission covered regulatory activities in relation to Nuclear Power Plants, whereas the scope of this mission, along with the follow up of 2015 mission recommendations/suggestions, was extended to include the review of safety regulation of radiation sources facilities and activities also.

The IRRS team, reviewed India’s progress against the recommendations and suggestions identified in the initial 2015 IRRS Mission and concluded that AERB has considered the recommendations and suggestions made by the 2015 mission in a systematic manner and significant improvements have been made in many areas. Of the original 13 recommendations and 21 suggestions, 11 recommendations and 20 suggestions have been closed, and the IRRS team did not make any new finding in relation to the topics covered during the IRRS initial mission.

With respect to the extended scope of mission the IRRS team identified a Good Practice in relation to the integration of the regulatory processes within e-Licensing of Radiation Applications (e-LORA), an online platform used by the applicants, authorised parties and AERB. e-LORA platform has significantly improved in efficiently managing the information to be submitted by an applicant.

Further, the IRRS team recognised the systematic approach to integrate the approval of equipment with the need for a consent to an applicant prior to procuring a radiation source and the issuance of a consent to operate a facility or conduct an activity with radiation sources, as a Good Performance. With respect to radiation sources facilities and activities, the team concluded that AERB properly implements radiation safety requirements in India in accordance with IAEA safety standards. The IRRS team also identified few areas of improvement for which recommendations/suggestions were made.

The IRRS Follow-up Mission Report 2022 is made available to the public and can be found at https://www.aerb.gov.in/storage/uploads/News/newscBUFs.pdf

Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) Mission

The first Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) Mission to India was conducted during March 16 – 27, 2015. The IRRS mission to India was limited in scope and covered only Nuclear Power Plants.

The IRRS Mission concluded that the AERB is an experienced, knowledgeable and dedicated regulatory authority for the protection of the public and environment. The team identified several good practices followed by AERB and made recommendations and suggestions for further strengthening of safety regulatory regime.

The report of IRRS Mission to India was made available to the public and can be found at https://www.aerb.gov.in/images/PDF/25-November-2015.pdf

Convention on Nuclear Safety

The Government of India ratified the Convention on Nuclear Safety on March 31, 2005. The Objectives of the Convention are to achieve and maintain a high level of nuclear safety worldwide, to establish and maintain effective defenses in nuclear installations against potential radiological hazards, in order to protect individuals, society and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation from such installations; and to prevent accidents with radiological consequences and to mitigate such consequences, should they occur.

The Convention places certain obligations on the States operating nuclear power plants. The obligations are based on the principles contained in the IAEA Safety Fundamentals document "Fundamental Safety Principles (SF-1)" and cover for instance, siting, design, construction, operation, the availability of adequate financial and human resources, the assessment and verification of safety, quality assurance and emergency preparedness.

The Convention has a peer review process, wherein the Contracting Parties are required to submit national reports on the implementation of their obligations for "peer review" at the meetings of the Contracting Parties, to be held at the IAEA. These review meetings are held once every three years. The national reports are to be prepared following specified guidelines and should be submitted about nine months ahead of the Review Meeting, for review by other Contracting Parties. Based review, questions are posed on the national reports by other Contracting Parties, for which the answers are to be provided within the specified deadline before the Review Meetings. Further, the Contracting Parties are required to present their own national reports and also peer review the national reports of other Contracting Parties, during the Review Meeting, which extends over two weeks. Based on the peer review, a Country Review Report is prepared (introduced for the first time in the 7^th Review Meeting), which is further considered in the Plenary session of the Review Meeting for preparation of the Summary Report of the Review Meeting. As per the guidelines and rules of the Convention, the Summary Reports of the review meetings are publicly available. Making the other reports of the Convention pertaining to the respective countries public is the prerogative of the individual governments.

India submitted its first national report for the Convention for the 4th Review Meeting in 2008. Subsequently national reports were submitted for the 5th Review meeting (held in 2011), 6th Review Meeting (held in 2014), 7th Review Meeting (held in 2017), 8th Review Cycle (national report submitted in 2019; the Review Meeting was postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic) and Joint 8th and 9th Review Meeting (held in 2023). Apart from these India also submitted a national report for the 2nd Extra-ordinary meeting held in August 2012.

Joint 8th and 9th Review Meeting

The Joint 8^th & 9^th Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety was held at the Headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria from 20^th March to 31^st March 2023. Eighty-one out of the ninety one Contracting Parties participated in the Review Meeting.

India uploaded the National Report for the Joint 8^th & 9^th RM of CNS in the secured website of CNS on August 4, 2022 for review by the Contracting Parties. The Report updates on how the Government of India continues to fulfil its obligations under Articles 6 to 19 of the Convention. All land-based nuclear power plants including storage, handling and treatment facilities for radioactive materials attached to the NPPs and directly related to the operation of the Nuclear Power Plants are covered in the national report. This report also addresses the national position with regard to the Vienna Declaration on Nuclear Safety for the implementation of the objectives of the CNS. This report specifically contains the actions taken by Indian NPPs for safe operation during COVID-19 pandemic. India received 176 questions on this National Report and provided answers to all the questions within the stipulated time.

An Indian Delegation led by Chairman AERB, with experts from AERB, BARC, NPCIL and the Indian Embassy at Vienna, participated in the Review Meeting. The Indian Delegation presented the National Report in the Review meeting and participated in the discussions for preparation of the Country Review Report, which provides the outcome of the peer review.

Indian National Report to Joint 8th and 9th Review Meeting

Questions and Answers on National Report for 9th Review Meeting of CNS

Country Review Report for India - Summary Report

Summary report- Joint8th and 9th Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties to The Convention on Nuclear Safety

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1	The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) of France signed on France 29 July 1999
2	Federal Environmental, Industrial, and Nuclear Supervision Service (ROSTECHNADZOR), of Russia, signed on 15 January 2003
3	National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN), Romania signed on 19 September 2012.
4	State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) signed on 10 December 2012
5	United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) signed on 9 October 2013
6	Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland (STUK) 15 October 2014
7	Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) signed on 16 September 2015
8	Bangladesh Atomic Energy regulatory Authority (BAERA) signed on 08 April 2017
9	Office for Nuclear Regulation of Great Britain (ONR) signed on 17 April 2018
10	Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear safety (VARANS) signed on 18 December 2020
11	State Committee on Industrial Safety, Uzbekistan signed on 27 September 2022
12	Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic signed on 25 September, 2023.

The mission of the AERB is to ensure the use of ionising radiation and nuclear energy in India does not cause undue risk to the health of people and the environment.

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