IAEA and STUK inspected the nuclear material inventory of Olkiluoto nuclear power plant

Figure text: IAEA’s inspectors using an electronic control device to check if the reactor’s cover has remained closed since the last inspection. Figure: TVO.

IAEA stated in March that it would continue to perform inspections of nuclear materials also during the coronavirus pandemic. This means that the countries and facilities to be inspected will have to take care of the arrangements required in this situation.

IAEA performs nuclear materials inspections in all the states party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, approximately 20 times a year in Finland. STUK always participates in the inspections and performs its own inspection at the same time.

STUK is responsible for overseeing that nuclear energy is used in accordance with the international treaties and that the nuclear materials used in Finland remain in peaceful use as required by the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). IAEA ensures in its inspections that everything is in order.

“The inspection was exceptional in many ways this time. The entry of IAEA’s inspectors into the country, for example, was arranged in cooperation with the Finnish Border Guard”, said Marko Hämäläinen, Section Head in charge of nuclear materials safeguards at STUK. Since the nuclear power plants apply strict restrictions required by the situation, moving around the plant and other practical inspection arrangements had to be organized differently than they usually are.

“The safeguards of nuclear materials are based on inspections ensuring that each fuel assembly brought to the plant is where it should be”, Hämäläinen describes the inspection.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). (https://www.finlex.fi/fi/sopimukset/sopsteksti/1970/19700011)