Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF)
The Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF) is a member-driven forum of nuclear safety regulators established in June 2010. The Forum promotes the sharing of regulatory knowledge and experience through coordinated international cooperation with the goal of achieving a high level of nuclear safety that is consistent with the IAEA safety standards.
The RCF comprises of countries with matured nuclear power programmes (providers) and countries that intend to expand or introduce the use of nuclear power (recipients). RCF members are regulatory bodies for nuclear safety and therefore the primary focus is nuclear safety, including the interface issues with nuclear security.
The RCF implements the following activities based on its
Terms of Reference:
- Coordinated support for the active recipients which demonstrate a commitment to develop regulatory infrastructure based on the IAEA safety standards with the support of the government.
- RCF information sharing through the RCF plenary meetings, support meetings, bilateral meetings, meetings with active recipients countries focusing on strategic issues, etc.
The IAEA works as the RCF secretariat to facilitate and promote the work of the RCF.
Regulatory Cooperation Forum Plenary Meeting discusses new Strategic Priorities
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Objectives of RCF
The purpose of the RCF is to promote the sharing of regulatory knowledge and experience between RCF Members with the goal of achieving a high level of nuclear safety that is consistent with the IAEA safety standards.
- To promote collaboration and cooperation among RCF members to improve coordination of IAEA and other international support for regulatory infrastructure development;
- To contribute to achieving and sustaining a high level of nuclear safety that is consistent with the IAEA Safety Standards; and
- To optimize resources among RCF members and improve coordination of IAEA and other international support to ensure that it is complementary.
RCF Strategic Plan
The Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF) is a member-driven forum of nuclear safety regulators established in June 2010. Many embarking and expanding countries have now benefited from RCF support activities and successfully developed competent regulatory organizations and have effective regulatory frameworks.
The RCF's first Strategic Plan (2020-2024) was developed to provide direction and focus for future activities to ensure continued effectiveness and sustainability in a changing nuclear power sector environment. A comprehensive survey of the effectiveness of the RCF Programme was conducted, and the Evaluation Report that summarized the survey results and provided suggestions for future actions was published in 2023. It is also noted that there has been a significant development within the global nuclear sector towards the deployment of nuclear technologies. For example, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), and steady progress of embarking countries developing their regulatory infrastructure for nuclear power.
This new Strategic Plan (2024-2028) sets the vision for the next 4 years period, builds on the successes of the previous plan, and confirms the background to the RCF's activities, vision, mission, and values, as described in the table below. It also identifies a set of new strategic priorities including, benefiting from different perspectives through the Steering Committee and Plenary meeting, as well as explicitly captured in the Evaluation Report.
- Improve facilitation and coordination of assistance among RCF members through systematic planning and implementation of Support Meetings (meetings between a recipient country and multiple potential provider countries).
- Improve RCF Coordination, optimization of resources, and the effectiveness of meetings by refining the scope of information exchanged among RCF members.
- Enhance RCF participation and membership contributions by clarifying RCF members' roles and responsibilities, together with a systematic process to confirm members' willingness to satisfy them.
- Maximize RCF information sharing as reflected in this Strategic Plan, through cooperation and coordination with other external groups and organizations or other Forums (e.g., SMR Regulators Forum, TSO Forum, FNRBA).
- Enhance RCF communication arrangements and activities.
This strategic plan also includes for the first time a Foreword from the RCF Chair and Vice Chair providing a personalised vision and commitment to the future work of the RCF. An RCF Operating Plan will be developed, containing, time-bound actions with Key Performance Indicators in order to deliver the Strategic Priorities and enable the RCF to monitor and evaluate its progress toward achieving its vision.
The RCF will continue to consider the issues of funding and resources to assure the effectiveness and sustainability of the RCF in achieving its mission.
Evaluation of RCF Programme
In alignment with the Strategic Objectives for evaluating the progress of support projects and based on its Terms of Reference, a comprehensive survey on the effectiveness of the RCF Programme and the RCF Operational Plan was conducted in 2022. The RCF Task Group reviewed the survey results and developed the “Evaluation Report on the Performance of the Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF)’s Programme.” This report was approved by the RCF Steering Committee in July 2023.
Main findings of the Evaluation Report are:
- The RCF provides an important service as it is the dedicated international forum for facilitating collaboration between IAEA Member States’ regulators with established nuclear power programmes and those planning to expand or introduce the use of nuclear power.
- There is strong support for the RCF amongst Member States in its role of coordinating support in regulatory infrastructure development. This is reflected by the fact that many responses indicated agreement or strong agreement to specific survey questions asking about the added value in participating in RCF activities.
- Whilst the survey results in general recognized the benefits of the RCF as defined in its role and objectives and set out in the Terms of Reference, there were significant suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the RCF.
Improvement of RCF Programme based on the Evaluation Report
The RCF Steering Committee in July 2023 discussed the new direction of the RCF Programme, including:
- Reconfirmation of Added Value of RCF as summarized below:
- To enable effective information exchange among regulators, with outcome basis
- To identify key challenges, and take measures to address them
- To facilitate the implementation of the support to the recipients with avoiding unnecessary duplication of bilateral support
- Enhancement of coordination of the support under RCF covering the relevant bilateral support and the support from international organizations.
- Increased visibility and proactive communication
- Optimal use of support meetings to facilitate the bilateral support from provider countries to active recipient countries
RCF Membership
Membership to the RCF is open to all Member States of the IAEA. RCF member will normally be represented by senior representatives from regulatory bodies in Member States and from international organizations, such as the IAEA, the European Commission (EC) and the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Technical and Scientific Support Organizations (TSO) or other organizations may participate in the RCF with the agreement of the regulatory bodies of the Member State or upon request from one of the international organisations being a member of the RCF.
The Members of the RCF consist of providers and recipients. Providers are Member States with established nuclear power programmes. Their role is to provide assistance to the RCF and recipient countries. Recipient countries are those member States introducing or expanding the use of nuclear power.
The Members of the RCF are expected to contribute to the RCF Programme as "providers" and/or "recipients". Membership requires Steering Committee approval and is recorded in Annex 1 of this Terms of Reference.
To join the RCF, requests must be submitted to the RCF Secretariat for consideration based on the purpose of the RCF and Criteria for Support. The decision on membership is made by the Steering Committee. Other IAEA Member States may participate in the RCF as observers with the approval of the Steering Committee.
RCF Members and Observers
(Observer) Belgium, Germany, OECD/ NEA
(Note) Active shows “Active Recipient”
RCF Steering Committee
RCF Steering Committee
The RCF Steering Committee plays a crucial role in providing leadership and ensuring transparency, openness, efficient, and effective planning and implementation of the RCF Programme. Its responsibilities include:
- Developing the Strategic Plan
- Establishing the Strategic Objectives
- Promoting communication and transparency
- Enhance RCF outreach
The Steering Committee comprises the following members:
- Canada
- China
- France
- International Atomic Energy Agency
- Japan
- Republic of Korea
- Pakistan
- Poland
- Russian Federation
- South Africa
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Vietnam
Current RCF Officers
Chair: Ramzi Jamaal (2022- Current)
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"As the driving force behind the Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF), collaborative efforts transcend borders, fostering a culture of safety and an expertise exchange in nuclear regulation. Guided by the RCF's strategic vision, emerging nuclear nations find mentorship and support for developing regulatory frameworks that adhere to the IAEA’s safety standards. Through partnerships, the RCF is building momentum for international cooperation, steering towards excellence in nuclear energy regulation, and addressing pressing global energy and climate challenges."
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Vice Chair: Faizan Mansoor (2022- Current)
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"Keeping in view the vision and mission of RCF, I foresee enhanced cooperation among RCF members. I urge RCF members to share their experiences and support each other in strengthening capabilities in line with the common characteristics, thus ensuring its vision and mission. I wish effective and robust cooperation amongst nuclear regulators and with all stakeholders to achieve a high level of nuclear safety commensurate with IAEA nuclear safety standards."
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IAEA RCF Secretariat: Masahiro Aoki (2019-2024)
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"The RCF has been evolving in response to changes in the surrounding circumstances and has been contributing to continuous safety improvements through international cooperation. The RCF Secretariat continues to fulfil its role by enhancing information exchanges among RCF members and providing support to the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson, while ensuring accountability for its activities and interaction with stakeholders regarding nuclear safety."
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RCF Financial Support
The Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF) relies on extrabudgetary and in-kind contributions from its members to sustain its work.
The contributions are commonly used to support professional staff, including a Cost-Free Expert (CFE), as well as costs related to support staff, and operating expenses.
The financial support facilitates, as well the participation of IAEA staff, RCF members, and external consultants in RCF meetings and events.
The financial and in-kind support provided by members of the RCF, particularly the financial support provided by Canada, Japan, and the European Union, through contract No. INSC/2023/441/950, enable the efforts to assure the effectiveness and sustainability of the RCF in achieving its mission.
RCF Achievements - Belarus
Gosatomnadzor is grateful to RCF for its substantial assistance in the development of the regulatory infrastructure for nuclear and radiation safety in the Republic of Belarus. Especially we would like to note the methodological support that the RCF has applied and continues to apply to determine the needs for the countries and which is based on 200 actions from the IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSG-16 "Establishing the Safety Infrastructure for a Nuclear Power Program", recommendations and suggestions of the IAEA missions conducted in the beneficiary countries.
Particularly, it would be important to note one of the first and significant RCF events for our country, the high-level visit to the Republic of Belarus on the development of safety culture in the nuclear field, under the leadership of IAEA Deputy Director General D. Flory on December 2-3, 2014 and a special workshop on the characteristics and approaches to the development of safety culture for the specialists of the regulatory body.
During the visit, the representatives of the organizations involved in the implementation of the Belarusian nuclear power program were informed about the practical experience and steps to build safety culture by the leadership and experts of the IAEA, the European Commission, and regulatory authorities of the countries with developed nuclear energy including the Russian Federation, the USA, France, and a country that is starting to develop a nuclear power program, Vietnam.
RCF Achievements - Poland
In the last decade PAA (Polish Nuclear Regulatory Authority) has been developing its regulatory readiness for introduction of nuclear power in Poland. In this period of time, some most crucial capacity building activities were done by PAA in close cooperation with the Regulatory Cooperation Forum. Thanks to the RCF we were granted possibility to reach out to all potential provider regulatory authorities and present PAA needs for tailored made activities, which were deemed difficult to achieve on our own - and after presenting and discussing our case we received satisfactory responses and assistance to strengthen our regulatory framework for new NPPs.
The first large project implemented in cooperation with the assistance of several RCF provider countries was an on-the-job training program (OJT). PAA specialists and nuclear inspectors were granted the possibility to spend several months in various foreign regulatory bodies gaining hands-on regulatory experience and learning about nuclear power plants in the field, while shadowing work of foreign nuclear regulatory inspectors on construction and operation sites. OJTs proved to be a very effective tool to provide advanced training to our staff, which we started in 2015 and continue with several countries currently.
The second large project proposed by PAA and accepted by the RCF was a simulation of safety review for a construction license. It was an original concept developed by PAA and refined in cooperation with experts provided by RCF countries and the IAEA. We implemented it under the name of ALEP: Advanced Licensing Exercise Project. During almost a two-year period from 2018 to 2019, the PAA team of regulatory specialists, in cooperation with international experts, simulated a licensing process, from receiving application for the construction license of an NPP, through safety review, to issuing the license. It was unique experience, that helped PAA to get a deep self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses in our preparations to be an effective nuclear regulator. Following the ALEP project we were able to adjust our development activities in right direction. The ALEP project received recognition by IRRS Mission and was marked in the IRRS report as a good practice.
PAA continues to coordinate its activities with the RCF towards achieving regulatory readiness. We believe that the Forum helps us implement capacity building activities tailored to our needs.
RCF Achievements - Ghana
The Nuclear Regulatory Authority of Ghana (NRA) joined the Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF) to:
- support the NRA to effectively put in place the needed infrastructure for nuclear safety in time for Ghana’s first nuclear power plant;
- obtain an opportunity to interact and learn from advanced nuclear regulatory bodies; and
- share our approach to regulating nuclear installations enabling peer review and receipt of guidance.
The NRA was introduced to the RCF by the section head of the Regulatory Activities Section of IAEA in September 2016.
With nineteen identified challenges, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority was admitted into the Regulatory Cooperation Forum on 13 June, 2017 at the 9th Steering Committee Meeting and Support Meeting held in Brussels. The NRA started discussions with the European Commission on possible support through the European Instrument for International Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC) at the RCF Steering Committee Meeting held in June 2017. Four additional challenges were identified through a visit of RCF Officers to Accra on 21st November 2017.
The EU-INSC Project is supporting development of regulatory infrastructure for nuclear safety through development of regulatory strategy; integrated management system; human resource plan and training programme; safety principles, requirements and criteria for new nuclear reactors; capabilities for site licensing activities; and transparency and public information. The Project has supported development of site evaluation, licensing, integrated management system, design, construction, commissioning, operation, decommissioning and nuclear liability and civil damage regulations. Guidelines have been developed for classification of safety systems and deterministic safety assessment.
The USNRC has continued to support the regulatory infrastructure in Ghana with workshops on nuclear power plant oversight and standard review plans with staff enrolled in two online nuclear safety internal trainings of the USNRC. The NRA is benefiting from RAMP Computer Codes and exploring opportunity to participate in the CAMP Computer Codes program of the USNRC. The inspector qualification and training programme of the NRA was reviewed by the USNRC.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has supported the NRA with a workshop on fees and charges for nuclear installations. The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) hosted seven staff of the NRA on a scientific visit supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The broad support received by the NRA goes to tell the invaluable contribution the RCF is making in the regulatory infrastructure development in Ghana.
