Participants discussed how organizations can adapt and ensure that processes and mindsets focus on the ‘Safety First’ principle to strength nuclear safety culture in all nuclear and related facilities, as well as understanding the problem and defining it. The case studies and ‘leadership games’ enabled participants to think through situations, identify gaps and ways that could help an organisation improve its nuclear safety processes and mechanism. The importance of communication and transparency were highlighted.
Reflecting the importance of this School, Karmolporn Pakdee, a Dissemination Officer at Thailand’s office of Atoms for Peace said: “Nuclear and radiological safety is so important. It needs everybody’s cooperation, we all need to be committed to it as a team through planning and systematic approaches that include the proper use of diverse tools and communication — only then can we bring nuclear and radiological safety to the public in every corner all over the world.”
“At first, it was difficult for me to think separately of a “leader” and a “manager”,” said Risako Kegasa, a participant from the Hitachi-GE Nuclear Plant’s Engineering Department. “However, I finally understood the leader is not a position, but leadership is the method of thinking, communicating and organizing.”
One of the specific area of the course content is based on the IAEA safety standards, in particular the General Safety Requirements Leadership and Management for Safety (No. GSR Part 2). Participants analysed specific case studies involving scenarios such as unintended medical exposure, a nuclear power plant outage and leaks of radioactive material.
As part of the programme, participants visited the Naraha Remote Technology Development Centre, The TEPCO Decommissioning Archive Centre, the Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Sciences and they were also given a tour of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
“This course aims to strengthen safety leadership across the region for decades to come,” said Mallick. “By applying what they learn here throughout their careers, the participants will contribute to improved nuclear and radiation safety in their countries.”
The participants who attended this programme from 17 to 28 February were from Bangladesh, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. Other International Schools of Nuclear and Radiological Leadership for Safety this year will be held in Spain and in Greece in May, in Egypt in June, in Argentina in July, in India and in Mexico in November.
A pilot version of the school was held in November 2017 in Nice, France. The successful methodology was extended in 2018 in Mexico and India followed by various courses in Turkey, Pakistan, Brazil and Morocco in 2019.
