Transition from Quality Assurance Programmes to Integrated Management System in NIRR-1 Facility

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Centre for Energy Research and Training, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

Abstract

The transition from the Quality Assurance (QA) Programmes to the Integrated Management System (IMS) was imminent in the Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIRR-1) from the regulatory and best practices perspectives. NIRR-1 is a Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) with a nominal thermal power of 34 kW after its fuel was converted to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) in 2018. The reactor has been in operation since 2004 when it was first commissioned using High Enriched Uranium (HEU) fuel. The Quality Assurance (QA) programme for NIRR-1 was first developed in 2002 before the commissioning of the reactor in 2004. Since then, several changes have occurred in the existing safety standards and national regulations. An effort was made in 2021 to draft the initial IMS programme for the NIRR- facility by combining the various existing QA programmes, using the IAEA Safety Standard No. GSR Part 2 and other relevant documents for guidance. This effort required further input from experts, especially those from facilities that implemented the IMS, to help develop a standard IMS programme for NIRR-1. In this regard, the NIRR-1 management requested the assistance of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to facilitate the movement from the QA programmes of the various aspects of NIRR-1 to an IMS.

Keywords

Arab Journal of Nuclear Sciences and Applications
Volume 56, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
Special Issue: Proceedings of the 10th African Conference on Research Reactor Safety, Operation and Utilization, Cairo, Egypt, 27 – 29 November 2022, organized by the IAEA in cooperation with the EAEA.
January 2023
Pages 87-93

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