IAEA IRRS Mission

IRRS stands for Integrated Regulatory Review Service and is a service offered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to its member states for improving and further developing nuclear safety worldwide. Core elements of an IRRS mission are the self-assessment of the national legislative, regulatory and organizational framework with regards to nuclear safety of nuclear facilities by the Member State in the run-up to the mission and the subsequent review by an international team of experts in the sense of a peer review during the mission.

EU Member States have committed themselves, in accordance with Directive 2009/71/Euratom as amended by Directive 2014/87/Euratom, to carry out a self-assessment of the national legislative, regulatory and organisational framework for, inter alia, nuclear safety of nuclear installations at least every ten years and to invite a subsequent review by international experts. The Heads of Nuclear Regulatory Authorities of the EU Member States have agreed to use the IAEA service of the IRRS Mission as a tool to implement the above commitment.

As a first step, a national self-assessment of the supervision system is to be carried out on the basis of the IAEA regulatory framework - the IAEA Safety Standards. Subsequently, the answers are to be evaluated and a National Action Plan for improving national supervision is to be developed. The Self-Assessment, the National Action Plan as well as background material (laws, regulations, nuclear rules, etc.) are to be compiled as so-called Advance Reference Material (ARM) and forwarded to the international team of experts before the mission is carried out. The international team of experts consists of employees of nuclear authorities in other countries and of the IAEA, who are familiar with the task and its performance or who have been trained by the IAEA as reviewers.

The mission itself lasts two weeks. During the mission, the team of experts conducts interviews with employees of the supervisory authorities, the expert organisations and the operators. The supervisory activities in individual nuclear facilities are also comprehended on site. As a result of the IRRS mission, the IAEA expert team prepares a report. It contains recommendations and suggestions in which areas there is room for improvement in the view of the international team of experts, but also in which areas the national nuclear supervisory authorities are above the international benchmark (good practice).

After the main mission, the National Action Plan is revised in such a way that the recommendations and indications are evaluated and corresponding implementation measures are defined. The follow-up mission reviews and evaluates the implementation of the recommendations and suggestions made in the meantime. The follow-up mission takes place at intervals of two to four years after the mission. Usually, most members of the expert team have already participated in the original mission.

Figure: An overview of the entire IRRS process.

In Germany, an IRRS mission was carried out for the first time in 2008 and a follow-up mission in 2011 on a voluntary basis.

A second mission took place in 2019 in fulfilment of the EU legal obligation under Directive 2009/71/Euratom as amended by Directive 2014/87/Euratom. Preparations are currently underway to conduct the follow-up mission. The ARM was sent to the international team of experts on 7 August for preparation and is the basis for the follow-up mission to be held in Bonn from 9 to 16 October. As in 2019, the authorities involved are the licensing and supervisory authorities of the Federal Government and the Länder of Baden Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein.

An IRRS mission was conducted in Germany in 2008 with a follow-up in 2011.