The Challenge for Small Countries to foster Nuclear Knowledge to assure independent Nuclear Safety Assessments

The safe operation of a nuclear power plant (NPP) has the highest priority for every operator and regulator. The technical design of the nuclear reactor and a well-established safety culture at the plant are universally seen as the corner stones of an effective nuclear safety strategy. Both aspects are best monitored by a regulating authority. The regulator must be an independent agency where nuclear experts are constantly supervising the daily operation and the implementation of safety regulations. Furthermore the experts should constantly update and refine the safety regulations and define best practices. The Fukushima incident highlighted the vital importance of an independent and effective regulatory agency. Manning such an agency with experts, often recruited out of the very industry that is being supervised, whilst staying independent becomes an even more difficult task in small country. The possible pool of experts is already small and often academia, once seen as the ideal unbiased recruiting ground, is more and more encouraged to team up with industry to secure funding. This poses interesting and far reaching questions for all parties involved; academia, the industry and the regulatory authority. Especially in a small country all stakeholders will often know each other personally and will have often worked together in earlier constellations. Yet all parties must guard their independence and impartiality. Especially under the scrutiny of a rightly ever watchful public and in view of an increased energy market deregulation with the associated need that all stakeholders cut their costs. The aim of this work is to introduce simple strategies and best practices on how small-sized countries can deal with this dilemma. (author).