Preparation of the Regulatory Infrastructure for the New Nuclear Build

Slovenia is seriously considering building a new nuclear power plant. The Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) is very much aware of the complexity of such a project as well as of the fact that at the moment the SNSA does not have sufficient resources for licensing and overseeing the design, construction and operation of the possible new plant. Likewise, the question arises whether technical support organizations which support SNSA in supervising the existing Krsko nuclear power plant have sufficient capacity. Therefore SNSA established a special project team with the task to prepare the Administration for the possible start of the new nuclear build. In the beginning of 2009, the project team prepared the analysis of licensing process, which is basically an overview of spatial planning, construction and nuclear safety regulation processes. The purpose of the review of the whole process, from spatial planning to the issuance of the operating license, was to identify phases which will require most effort. The next step was to set the strategy for the review process as well as to analyze and establish the basis for resource demands needed for SNSA's and other stakeholders involvements and decision making in the process. This will enable SNSA to establish a qualified and effective infrastructure for a possible new nuclear build. (authors)