With the introduction and implementation of the National Research and Development Innovation Act in 2021, researchers are required to have a greater understanding of research ethics and to comply more strictly. The range of misconduct in research and the standards for sanctions have been expanded with the introduction of the National Research and Development Innovation Act. In addition, researchperforming institutions and specialized agencies have been obligated to establish their own research management systems and standards according to the changed criteria. The Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control (KINAC), a nuclear regulatory authority that is conducting national R&D in related fields, has sought to strengthen research ethics by revising related regulations, introducing a plagiarism detection system, and expanding related education in accordance with these policies. In this study, we analyzed the effectiveness of the plagiarism detection system as a basic quality control measure for research results and a tool for enhancing research ethics, which was introduced. KINAC did not simply introduce a plagiarism detection program but established institutional improvements and other regulatory measures to support it, with the aim of more effectively managing research results. To analyze the effectiveness of this system, we calculated the plagiarism rate by sampling 30 papers each year for the three years before the introduction of the plagiarism detection system. When comparing the plagiarism rates before and after the introduction of the plagiarism detection system, no exceptional cases of high plagiarism rates were found in papers published after the introduction of the system. Although most of the papers before the introduction of the system showed a satisfactory plagiarism rate, some cases showed high plagiarism rates. We analyzed the cause of such cases in detail. Some exceptional cases were also found to be included in the range of misconduct regulated by the National Research and Development Innovation Act. As no such cases were found after the introduction of the system, we could infer that the system is effectively functioning as a tool for basic quality control and enhancing research ethics. In the future, we plan to expand the sample qualitatively and quantitatively by including other forms of outcomes published by the institution, not just papers, and conduct a more detailed analysis. Based on the results, we will develop various improvement plans for enhancing the quality and research ethics of the institution’s research results.

In Korea, nuclear regulation is supervised by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC). The area that required expertise in regulatory activities has been entrusted to the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control (KINAC) affiliated to the NSSC. Such nuclear regulatory activities should be implemented fairly and objectively because they directly affect nuclear operators and the entire nuclear industry. In addition, as the recent policy trend has flowed in the direction of improving the business efficiency and quality of public institutions, a study was intended to improve the overall regulatory quality of the institution. First, a case study was performed on the quality management system of domestic and foreign related organizations, including the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the US. Through study and analysis of the system, it was attempted to derive institutional quality requirements for KINAC and to establish a plan to use the requirements as major items of Internal Quality Control (IQC) system. By analyzing the quality management systems of research institutes such as Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) as well as regulatory authority, the characteristics of KINAC that conduct R&D necessary for regulation were reflected. Based on this study, the quality management system leading to IQC-EQA (External Quality Assurance) -TQM (Total Quality Management) will be established continuously to improve the business quality of regulatory authority.