Regulatory Inspection (RI)
Assuring compliance with rules, requirements and licensing conditions is one of the AERB's core regulatory processes and is carried out through verification. Routine inspections verify that licencees are complying with requirements as well as conditions of their licence. This ensures that licencees are following safety norms and adhering to their licence conditions. These RIs include inspection of technical aspects as well as required administrative arrangements and ranges from scrutiny of various documents, procedures, and test reports, in-house reports to observation of tests, measurements and field visits.
Apart from routine RIs, AERB also conducts special inspections and surprise inspections to ensure real time compliance with requirements and relevant stipulations. AERB also deputes Site Observer Team (SOT) at selected nuclear power plant/project sites for day-to-day observance of regulatory compliance.
Authorized Inspectors or team of Inspectors conduct RI at facilities. The authorized inspectors are granted with powers to take on the spot enforcement action in consultation with the Competent Authority (Chairman, AERB), if required. Such enforcement actions may include curtailment of activity or stoppage of operation of a facility.
AERB inspector along with his/her team of inspectors is empowered primarily to:
- enter at all reasonable hours, for inspection purpose, the premises of any RF during any stage of consenting process (siting, construction, commissioning, operation and decommissioning);
- observe, inspect, examine, measure, copy, photograph, sketch or test as the case may be, any of the instrument/equipment, question any personnel, review and verify relevant documents and records etc., for the purpose to ensure safety;
- inspect, from safety point of view, to ensure that the licencee has fulfilled the radiological safety requirements for carrying out the practices at the radiation installation as per the stipulations laid down in the consent;