Enhanced cooperation between IAEA and Republic of Korea on safeguards implementation at light water reactors

Full text: In Korea, national inspection has been initiated from the second half of 1997. From 1999, national inspection has been carried out for all nuclear facilities in Korea. In 2000, national inspections were performed successfully in 32 nuclear facilities including 12 PWRs, 4 CANDU reactors, 10 research facilities, 4 fuel fabrication plants and others. As the national inspection system settled down, both the IAEA and Korea were looking for possible ways of cooperation for mutual benefit. It was expected that considerable saving on inspection resources as well as more effective safeguards implementation could be achieved, if more enhanced cooperation work was realized. In 1999, the IAEA and Korea agreed to establish a working group for the enhanced cooperation between both sides. A working group, composed of experts from the IAEA and ROK, reviewed several options for enhanced cooperation on LWRs in Korea and suggested a measure for implementing the current safeguards approach for LWRs with remote monitoring. The basic concepts of the Enhanced Cooperation Scheme are: 1. The SSAC shall carry out all scheduled inspections for each facility for each year, while the Agency shall carry out the annual PIV and post-PIV, and a random selection of the remaining inspections; 2, The remote monitoring (RM) data necessary for technical and safeguards review shall be shared between the Agency and SSAC; 3. The IAEA shall bear the costs of purchasing RM equipment and communication operating costs from the central hub station in Korea to Vienna; the ROK will bear the costs of installing all RM equipment and communication operating costs from each LWR to the central hub station in Korea. Typically, around 8-9 inspections are performed for one LWR per annum under current safeguards approach; 1 pre-PIV, 1 PIV, 1 post-PIV, 3-4 interim inspections, fresh fuel receipts and simultaneous inspection. RM design includes 2 digital cameras (equipment hatch and spent fuel pond), VACOSS seals (equipment hatch and canal gate), a computer server, UPS (uninterruptible power supply), communication links with encryption and authentication capability, and cables. A centrally located hub is employed that processes encrypted LWR RM data and transmits it to Vienna and the State Authority. Along with the application of remote monitoring, the IAEA can utilize national inspectors during interim inspections. In other words, the SSAC will carry out all necessary activities during interim inspections on LWRs under the audit of the IAEA. For the evaluation, the IAEA will take advantage of the data submitted by the SSAC, remote monitoring and unannounced inspection along with a PIV once a year. The working group report was approved by both the IAEA and Korea on its implementation. For official agreement, a MOU is under discussion. In parallel, steps for actual implementation of the new approach are undergoing. These include RM equipment installation at LWRs, hub station installation, provision of a detailed work plan and joint procedures. Up to now, RM equipment installation has been completed for 12 LWRs and will be completed during 2001 for additional 2 LWRs currently under construction. Among these, 3 LWRs (Kori-2, Younggwang-3, and Ulchin-1, one from each LWR site) were selected for rehearsal to gain practical experience prior to actual implementation. A hub station was installed at TCNC in August 2000 and data transmission had started at 3 selected LWRs for rehearsal. Following the successful conclusion of the rehearsal activities, which are planned to be concluded by the end of September 2001, the Enhanced Cooperation Scheme, will be applied to all LWRs in operation in Korea. (author)