Stakeholder Coordination and Preparation for Hosting IPPAS Module 4 Mission

Thailand by Office of Atomic Energy for Peace (OAEP) has hosted IPPAS mission once in 2005. After the mission OAEP was divided into two organizations, Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) and Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology (TINT) which responsible for nuclear and radiation regulatory functions and nuclear and radiation research activities respectively. OAP and TINT have been performing their tasks and addressing 2005 IPPAS recommendations and suggestions. One of the tasks is issuing Nuclear Energy for Peace Act (NEPA), 2016 that addresses the legal recommendations and forms legal basis for nuclear regulations. If not hosting all IPPAS modules at the same time, the most logical practice is hosting module 1 IPPAS mission at first and later the rest of the modules. At the moment, all subsidiary regulations under NEPA are not completely published and enforced, the NEPA use some regulations and requirements that were effective under the previous Act by mutatis mutandis. Changes and improvements are certainly expected in the new set of regulations and requirements, hence hosting module 1 before completion of new set of regulations is not appropriate. Instead, competent authority staffs have been regulating radioactive materials under existing regulations for years. In theory, Thailand should be able to host module 4 IPPAS mission. Hence relevant data collections from stakeholders through various workshops and meetings have been conducted and used to evaluate whether the country is ready to host at least one module that is the most benefit, i.e. module 4 IPPAS mission. Input data in the analysis includes (a) existing relevant regulations; (b) stakeholders that are relevant to the contexts and their roles and responsibilities and; (c) how each ones currently interact and perform interconnected functions under existing legal framework. The results will address supporting factors and factors that are found to be challenging if Thailand hosts the mission. Timeline for hosting the mission will be based on the results of the evaluation. While timeline is expected to know, another crucial aspect is how OAP as a coordinating organization would share all the aspects of the results to all stakeholders. These are keys not only to just receive the mission but also strengthen and maintain effective national nuclear regime. At least, with stakeholders realizing and understanding the importance of their roles and responsibilities should encourage an involvement of all parties to perform interconnected functions in a better way. (author)