TOOLS
Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) for national safety regulatory infrastructure
URL: http://www-ns.iaea.org/tech-areas/regulatory-infrastructure/sat-tool.asp?s=3
Self-Assessment Tool (SAT)
The SAT facilitates the self-assessment by Member States of their national regulatory infrastructure for nuclear and radiation safety, conducted
on the basis of the IAEA safety standards.
Member States are encouraged to implement
self-assessment as an integral part of their national regulatory body’s management system for
assessing and improving regulatory performance.
The SAT tool is designed to facilitate this process.
The methodology
The IAEA self-assessment methodology describes the five phases (preparation, answering,
analysis, action plan and follow-up) of the selfassessment process.
The SAT enables efficient, comparable and objective implementation of these phases. In particular, this is done by answering SAT question
sets and providing evidence and justification to
support the answers given. This is followed by
a separate internal analysis of all responses and,
subsequently, the planning and implementation
of an improvement plan for the national regulatory infrastructure.
Advantages
The IAEA self-assessment programme will facilitate planned and progressive improvement of the
legislative and governmental infrastructure for
safety and will enhance the effectiveness of regulatory activities.
TO O LS
Target Audience
Regulators
Governments
Operating
Law
TSOs
Health
Nuclear Installation Safety
Vendors
Educators
Organizations SAFETY REGULATORY
Enforcement
Sector
SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL (SAT) FOR NATIONAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
• The SAT is a stand-alone system. However, it is
compatible with the Integrated Regulatory Review
Service (IRRS), and may be used both in preparation for, and during the conduct of, an IRRS.
• The SAT is modular in both its design and use.
The question sets, all derived from relevant
IAEA safety standards and international undertakings, are arranged in core and thematic
modules. Further thematic modules are expected to be added in later versions.
• The SAT permanently archives outputs of the selfassessment in the form of a detailed SAT report,
including responses to question sets, appended
documentary evidence and the analysis of the
responses, both for each core and thematic module
of the SAT, and collectively for all modules addressed in any one life cycle of the self-assessment.
• The SAT offers an electronically generated
‘priority assignment’ value, derived from the
responses given to the questions for each module and for the whole self-assessment, that
provides an indication of where the most immediate needs for improvement might lie.
• The SAT tool and the report produced are
structured to facilitate action planning for the
continuous improvement of regulatory infrastructure in accordance with identified priorities and realistically achievable objectives.
• The SAT report is freely editable but, once agreed
as being accurate and complete, may be archived
as a permanent record, thus serving as a baseline
of the status of the regulatory infrastructure at
one particular time.
• The SAT software (which incorporates a high level
of confidentiality and data security) runs on any
MS Windows system. It is available on CD-ROM on
request or may be downloaded from the IAEA web site.
• SAT includes an editor, with question drafting
and editing functionalities, to allow Member
States to develop specific question sets based
on national requirements.
• Currently, SAT contains questions sets used
by the regulatory body for conducting self-assessment. Complementary modules are being
developed to be used by operators for conducting their own self-assessment for safety based
on the relevant IAEA standards.
sis team. These teams play specific roles in each
phase of the self-assessment process.
Duration
The duration of a self-assessment depends
strongly on its scope and the regulatory mandate, but typically a full scope self-assessment
of a mature regulatory body could take about 9
months.
Reporting
The SAT produces an automatic report which
can be further edited. Publication of the report
is a decision for the body carrying out the selfassessment.
Recommended frequency or follow-up
As per the IAEA self-assessment methodology,
each self-assessment should be planned and
conducted on a periodic basis (typically two to
three years to ensure effective assessment of
regulatory performance and support of continuous improvement).
Prerequisites
Not applicable.
Public outreach
The IAEA encourages every Member State to
use the results of their self-assessment to communicate with all interested parties, including
the public, on their regulatory performances.
Supplementary IAEA services
The IAEA provides training support to the Member States in the implementation the IAEA SelfAssessment Methodology and the SAT software.
National and regional events may be organized
upon request.
SAT implemented in Member States
The SAT has been widely implemented in Member States, in particular those in Europe and Africa,
where it is part of regional projects on strengthening regulatory infrastructure for safety.
Conducting a self-assessment is a prerequisite
for receiving an IRRS. The SAT has been used in
preparation for IRRS missions.
Who benefits?
The SAT is primarily used by representatives of
regulatory bodies, technical service organizations and government officials. The IAEA selfassessment process and SAT are applicable in all
Member States, irrespective of the current status
of their regulatory infrastructure for safety.
Team composition
According to the IAEA self-assessment methodology, several teams (from the body conducting the self-assessment) should be established:
For further Information:
Contact: [email protected]
See: http://www-ns.iaea.org/tech-areas/regulatoryinfrastructure/sat-tool.asp?s=3
Write to:
Division of Radiation, Waste and Transport Safety
Department of Nuclear Safety and Security
International Atomic Energy Agency
Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100
1400 Vienna, Austria
TOOLS
Nuclear Safety and Security Programme
12-22811
Related Technical Areas
Nuclear Security
Incidents and Emergencies
Transport Safety
Waste Management
Radiation Protection
Features and functionalities of the SAT: management team, respondent team and analy-