PNRI Completes EU Project on Legal and Regulatory Framework
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EU officials and experts with the PNRI Nuclear Regulatory Division staff during their final meeting at PNRI.
PNRI Completes EU Project on Legal and Regulatory Framework
After five years of close cooperation with representatives and experts from the European Union (EU), the Philippines, through the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) has finally completed its technical cooperation project with the EU to enhance and strengthen the regulatory regime for nuclear safety in the Philippines in accordance with international obligations, criteria and practices.
From 2013 to 2017, PNRI engaged in the EU-funded project PH3.09/09 (PH/RA/01) entitled “Technical assistance for improving the legal framework for nuclear safety and strengthening the capabilities of the Regulatory Authority of the Philippines and its TSO (PNRI)” through several meetings, trainings, workshops and fellowships. The project formally ends in June 2017.
The final project meeting was held at PNRI on March 24 with EU project counterparts and management team in attendance, namely Jorge Luis Hernandez, Jean-Yves Ravachol, Przemyslaw Imielski, Marianne Jelinski, Yann Berna, Mark Hulsmans, Francesca Nieto and Michel Chouha.
Around 20 experts from the EU facilitated the exchange of information, experiences and reference materials on topics covering legal and regulatory systems of other EU member countries vis-à-vis the Philippines, regulatory processes, safety requirements, human resource assessment and development and safety management system. The EU Project Team is composed of RISKAUDIT (France), IRSN (France), BEL V (Belgium), GRS (Germany), ITER Consult (Italy), STUK (Finland) and SUJB (Czech Republic).
Philippine experts participated in 14 major events organized under the project. Aside from PNRI, participants also came from agencies such as the National Power Corporation, Department of Energy, Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau, Department of Health – Center for Device Regulation, Radiation Health and Research, and the Department of Science and Technology Legal Office. Fourteen PNRI regulators also engaged in on-the-job training and study visits in their counterpart regulatory agencies and nuclear facilities in Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Italy, and Germany.
The implementation of the project, led by Mr. Teofilo V. Leonin, Jr., Chief, Nuclear Regulatory Division, was divided into four major tasks with corresponding PNRI project counterparts: Task 1 – Technical Assistance for the Enhancement OfThe Regulatory Framework in the Philippines (M.V. Palattao/ A.A. Singayan), Task 2 – Enhancement of The Regulatory Processes For Assessing Nuclear Safety and Licensing Of Nuclear Power Plants (V.K. Parami/E.G. Racho), Task 3 – Strengthening Capabilities Of The Nuclear Regulator In Deterministic And Probabilistic Safety Assessment (C.M. Nohay) and Task 4 – Human Resources Development Plan And Training Program for PNRI And Its TSO (L.B. Cayabo).
The EU-funded project, the first of its kind, has resulted in a remarkable outputs and enhancement of the regulatory capabilities of PNRI, particularly in their technical background on legal and regulatory infrastructure for nuclear power plants, inter alia, all the technical documents and reference materials needed in performing the regulatory functions of PNRI. The final meeting was concluded by a plant walkdown of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
Another major outcome of the project was reflected in the drafting of the Code of PNRI Regulations (CPR) Part 5 on Site Evaluation Criteria and CPR Part 7 on Licensing Requirements for Nuclear Installations, and the Human Resource Development Plan (HRDP) and Training Program for the staff of the PNRI Nuclear Regulatory Division (NRD).
Under Republic Acts 2067 and 5207, both as amended, and Executive Order 128, PNRI serves as the regulatory body of the Philippines for nuclear and radioactive materials and facilities, a function that PNRI performs through the NRD.
The Philippines Signs a Country Programme Framework (CPF) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for 2016-2021
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From the International Atomic Energy Agency
Ms Carol M. Yorobe, Undersecretary of the Department of Science and Technology, and Mr Dazhu Yang, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation, have signed The Philippines’s Country Programme Framework (CPF) for the period of 2016 - 2021 on 31.05.2017. A CPF is the frame of reference for the medium-term planning of technical cooperation between a Member State and the IAEA and identifies priority areas where the transfer of nuclear technology and technical cooperation resources will be directed to support national development goals.
The Philippines has been an IAEA Member State since 1958. Its 2016-2021 CPF identifies six priority areas:
- Food and Agriculture
- Natural Resources and Environment
- Energy
- Industry
- Human Health
- Nuclear Safety and Security
DepEd NCR Writeshop on Nuclear Science at PNRI
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PNRI Officer-in-Charge Dr. Carlos Primo David and DOST Science Education Institute Director Dr. Josette Biyo (1st row, 8th and 9th from left, respectively) with PNRI and Department of Education - National Capital Region (DepEd - NCR) officials and participants of the Writeshop on Lesson Exemplar Integrating Nuclear Science at PNRI Auditorium, Diliman, Quezon City (May 23, 2017)
PNRI Hosts Regional Workshop on Receptor Binding Assay for Red Tide
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The participants of the Regional Workshop on Receptor Binding Assay (RBA) Method Validation and Related Statistical Approaches
IAEA expert Ms. Maria-Yasmine Bottein (extreme right) with some workshop participants visiting the PNRI RBA laboratory
PNRI Hosts Regional Workshop on Receptor Binding Assay for Red Tide
Taking another step in improving the detection of the dreaded red tide among countries in Asia and the Pacific, the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) hosted a Regional Workshop on Receptor Binding Assay (RBA) Method Validation and Related Statistical Approaches at the Novotel Manila Araneta Center in Quezon City.
Two experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and 19 representatives from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Palau, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam participated in the week-long workshop held from April 24 to 28. The event also incorporated the Third Coordination Meeting for IAEA Project RAS 7026, under which the workshop was conducted.
The project aims to spread the use of RBA as a more efficient detection method for harmful algal blooms (HABs), more commonly known as red tide, which poses a serious threat to the health and livelihood of people in coastal areas.
Being an archipelagic country, the Philippines contributed greatly in the development of the method, with PNRI being designated as an IAEA Collaborating Center for Harmful Algal Blooms in 2005 and 2010. PNRI’s research work on the RBA method particularly involved its applications for paralytic shellfish poisoning caused by consuming mussels contaminated with saxitoxin from algal blooms.
The RBA method was approved in 2011 by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) and was recently transferred by PNRI to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) as an update to their older Mouse Bioassay method.
For this year, the workshop aimed to sustain the HAB studies in the Asia-Pacific Region and expand the RBA method to other types of toxins. An important aspect of these efforts is the continued validation of the method for specific types of toxins such as such as the ciguatoxin responsible for ciguatera fish poisoning.
The workshop also emphasized the provision of comparable quality of data among the participating countries and the need for statistical approaches to deal with uncertainties in the researchers’ data. These will be taken into consideration in a harmonized and standardized measurement approach for the RBA method. Each participant also reported its overall progress on the status of HAB studies in their respective countries.
Learn more about PNRI's research and development on the Receptor Binding Assay (RBA) technology for Harmful Algal Blooms, more commonly known as "red tide" in this episode of APRUB (NET 25) featuring PNRI Chemistry Research Section Senior Science Research Specialist Mr. Rhett Simon Tabbada.
