The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to strengthen the nuclear regulatory infrastructure of the Agency’s member states, uses a mechanism called the Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS), which includes a comparison of the legal, technical, and political solutions used in individual countries with the IAEA standards and good practices.
The IRRS review report published by the IAEA is the result of a two-week mission carried out on September 4-15, 2023, at the invitation of the Polish government. The IRRS mission team, consisting of fifteen experts from fourteen countries, four staff from the IAEA and an observer from the European Commission, reviewed regulatory oversight of existing nuclear facilities, ionising radiation activities in terms of IAEA safety standards, and preparations for oversight of the construction and operation of nuclear power plants in Poland. International experts of the IRRS mission recognized that the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) is a competent regulatory body, and the team of the PAA’s employees is committed to the effective implementation of nuclear regulatory tasks, including preparation for supervision and control over the safe implementation of nuclear energy in Poland.
The mission involved institutions that are part of the nuclear safety and radiological protection system in Poland: the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA), acting as the host of the mission, the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) and the Provincial Sanitary and Epidemiological Station (WSSE) in Warsaw, the National Centre for Radiation Protection in Health Care (KCORwOZ). Additionally, representatives of the Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Interior and Administration and the Office of Technical Inspection participated in the mission. Members of the IRRS mission also accompanied PAA inspectors during regulatory inspections carried out at the MARIA nuclear research reactor, the Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility, a medical facility, and an industrial facility using ionising radiation.
The complete IRRS mission report (in English) is available on the IAEA’s website (here) and on the PAA’s website (here).
