The U.S. Department of Energy conducts a comprehensive effort to improve nuclear safety worldwide. U.S. specialists establish working partnerships with nuclear regulatory and power plant personnel in other countries. They coordinate their work with similar efforts undertaken by other Western countries and Japan.

A major component of this cooperative safety work focuses on Soviet-designed nuclear power plants in Armenia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and five Central and Eastern European countries--Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, and Slovakia. In these countries, 20 power plants with a total of 65 operating reactors participate in the joint efforts.

Objectives of the Cooperative Safety Work

The U.S. goal is to work with host countries to reduce the most serious risks at their nuclear power plants. The United States established at the outset the following objectives:

• Improve the physical condition of plants and install needed safety equipment.

• Engender a nuclear safety culture in which safety takes priority over power production.

• Develop improved safety procedures and train operators in their use.

• Conduct safety assessments that meet international standards.

• Establish regional centers for training reactor personnel and develop simulators for training control room operators.

• Develop regulatory and institutional frameworks for nuclear power plant design, construction, and operation that are in keeping with international practices.

• Address the extraordinary problems at Chornobyl.