This Safety Guide provides specific recommendations on establishing a programme and organization for commissioning of research reactors to meet the relevant requirements of IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSR-3, Safety of Research Reactors. It covers the commissioning stages, procedures, reports and documentation and provides guidance for commissioning of new experimental devices and modifications. The recommendations in this publication are intended for use by operating organizations of research reactors, regulatory bodies and other relevant organizations involved in a research reactor project. This Safety Guide is a revision of IAEA Safety Standards Series No. NS-G-4.1, which it supersedes.

• 1. INTRODUCTION
  • Background
  • Objective
  • Scope
  • Structure
• 2. APPLICATION OF THE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO THE COMMISSIONING OF A RESEARCH REACTOR
  • Management responsibility for commissioning of a research reactor
  • Resource management for commissioning of a research reactor
  • Process implementation for commissioning of a research reactor
  • Measurement, assessment and improvement of the management system in commissioning of a research reactor
• 3. COMMISSIONING PROGRAMME FOR RESEARCH REACTORS
  • General objectives of the commissioning programme for a research reactor
  • Format and content of the documentation describing the commissioning programme for a research reactor
    • General description of the commissioning programme
    • Organization and responsibilities
    • Commissioning stages, with tests and prerequisites, and their scheduling
    • Commissioning procedures and reports
    • Documentation generated by the commissioning programme
• 4. COMMISSIONING ORGANIZATION FOR RESEARCH REACTORS
  • Roles within the commissioning organization for a research reactor
    • Operating organization
    • Management group
    • Construction group
    • Commissioning group
    • Operations group
    • Reactor safety committee
    • Other groups
  • Role of the regulatory body
  • Responsibilities within the commissioning organization for a research reactor
    • Operating organization
    • Management group
    • Construction group
    • Commissioning group
    • Operations group
    • Reactor safety committee
    • Other groups
  • Involvement of the regulatory body
  • Interfaces between activities of participating groups in the commissioning of a research reactor
    • Interfaces between construction group activities and commissioning group activities
    • Interfaces between commissioning group activities and operating group activities
  • Handover of the research reactor from commissioning to operation
  • Emergency preparedness for research reactors
• 5. COMMISSIONING STAGES FOR RESEARCH REACTORS
  • Stages, tests and prerequisites for the commissioning of research reactors
    • Stage A: Tests prior to fuel loading
    • Stage B: Fuel loading tests, initial criticality tests and low power tests
    • Stage C: Power ascension tests and power tests
• 6. COMMISSIONING PROCEDURES AND REPORTS FOR RESEARCH REACTORS
  • Commissioning procedures for research reactors
  • Commissioning reports for research reactors
• 7. COMMISSIONING DOCUMENTATION FOR RESEARCH REACTORS
  • Record keeping for commissioning of research reactors
  • Updating the safety analysis report for a research reactor
• 8. COMMISSIONING OF NEW EXPERIMENTAL DEVICES, EXPERIMENTS AND MODIFICATIONS
  • Extension of the commissioning period for new experimental devices, experiments and modifications to a research reactor
• Appendix PREREQUISITES AND TESTS FOR EACH COMMISSIONING STAGE OF A RESEARCH REACTOR
• REFERENCES
• CONTRIBUTORS TO DRAFTING AND REVIEW