From 11th to 27th of November, Rosenergoatom Concern JSC (part of Power Division of ROSATOM State Corporation) hosted the IAEA Corporate OSART (Operating SАfety Review Team) mission for the first time. 
A team of IAEA experts confirmed Rosenergoatom’s commitment to nuclear safety principles, and identified a number of practices applied by the company which might be of use to the entire international community. 
At the press conference concluding the 17-day mission, Peter Tarren, head of the IAEA expert team, noted: “The IAEA views this mission as a remarkable success. Every organization can seek continuous improvement, but what I have seen here in the Concern is a real commitment to safety principles. I would like to point out that we identified very good practices applied in Rosenergoatom which will be useful for the international community and will contribute to enhancing nuclear safety not only in particular states but on a global scale as well”. 
The OSART mission team was comprised of 12 experts and 2 observers from 11 states, including Canada, China, France, Germany and Great Britain. The inspection of the Concern and three of its branches – Balakovo NPP, Kola NPP and Smolensk NPP – covered nine areas, including corporate management, independent nuclear supervision, accident management and emergency preparedness and response. 
The experts interviewed the personnel in the central administration and at nuclear power plants, where they observed the meetings procedure, analyzed assessment-related documentation and examined communication with stakeholders. At the same time, they did not assess Rosenergoatom’s compliance with safety requirements of the regulating body or safety at particular NPPs, nor did they assess operational safety at any of Rosenergoatom’s NPPs or compare it with that at other NPPs in the world. 
Special attention was drawn to the efficient implementation of policies related to safety, personnel’s attitude to work, support, motivation and control methods used by the management, as well as employee behavior and current state of NPP facilities assessment. 
Andrey Petrov, Director General of Rosenergoatom, said: “This OSART mission represents not only another step towards improving our performance in various fields but also a unique opportunity to undergo an independent assessment of the whole company by the IAEA. Before this, only two such OSART Corporate missions were conducted – in the Czech operating organization CEZ and in the French EDF. Implementing recommendations developed by the OSART team will help us further improve the operational safety of our NPPs, while the identified good practices will contribute to increasing safety in the world”. 
The expert team submitted a draft report to the Concern’s management, which will send its comments to the IAEA. The final report will be submitted to the Government of the Russian Federation approximately within a three month period. All OSART mission reports are publicly available.
Source: ROSATOM Communications Department
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