The KINAC resident inspectors are responsible for conducting on-site regulatory and intergovernmental support tasks related to safeguards, physical protection, and cybersecurity in each NSSC regional office. In nuclear material accounting and control, resident inspectors primarily perform tasks such as national inspections and technical support for IAEA inspections. However, with the increasing cases of non-compliance with the advance notification procedure by operators, there is a growing need for improvement in the role of resident inspectors in on-site regulation. In response to this situation, the safeguards division in KINAC has analyzed and improved the on-site check procedures of resident inspectors at LWR facilities. The existing procedure outlines the process where resident inspectors receive the advance notification documents submitted by operators and utilize them as a reference for conducting weekly checks during the overhaul period when IAEA surveillance cameras are installed. Additionally, according to the attached forms specified in the procedure, resident inspectors are required to submit the check results report to the director of the safeguards division in KINAC every week and to the NSSC every month. The inspection items include checking the execution and changes of advance notification, verifying unnotified matters, discussing other issues, assessing the integrity of things such as the operational status of IAEA surveillance equipment, and so on. On April 13-14, 2023, the Safeguards division organized a two-day resident inspector’s work-sharing workshop to discuss improvements in the on-site check procedures of resident inspectors at LWR facilities. During the workshop, a comparison and analysis were conducted between the existing procedures and actual on-site activities. Unnecessary tasks such as advance notification document reception and monthly reporting were eliminated, and the focus was shifted towards emphasizing essential tasks. The opinions of resident inspectors were taken into account to derive directions for improvement. The existing procedure was applicable only during Overhaul periods for resident inspectors. It has been improved by removing this limitation, allowing its use during routine times. Furthermore, the procedure has been enhanced by clarifying its purpose, scope, users, and definitions of terms and specifying responsibilities and authorities. Unnecessary terminology has been eliminated. Remarkably, the definition of advance notification has been detailed, and the reporting of check results has been simplified through weekly task reporting. The Safeguards division in KINAC has strived to enhance the efficiency and simplification of on-site regulatory activities for resident inspectors at LWR facilities by improving their on-site check procedures. These improvement activities are expected to aid resident inspectors in effectively performing a wide range of tasks, including safeguards, physical protection, cybersecurity, and government support. In the future, it will be possible to continue refining the on-site check procedures by sharing the results of using the procedure in meetings and gathering various opinions from resident inspectors.

KINAC began dispatching the resident inspector in 2012 to strengthen on-site Wolsong nuclear power plants (NPPs) regulations. The dispatched resident inspector is a member of the regional office of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) and is in charge of technical support, on-site regulation of safeguards, and physical protection for the Wolsong regional office of NSSC. As the number of nuclear facilities in the ROK increased, the resident inspectors began to be dispatched to other regional offices. The resident inspectors were assigned to Hanul in November 2015, Kori in March 2017, Hanbit in March 2015, Saeul in March 2022, and Wolsong in March 2023. Accordingly, this paper intends to reflect on the increasing role of resident inspectors and predict on-site regulatory work in the field of nuclear control. The role of the resident inspectors is described in detail in the internal regulations of KINAC. Among the tasks in the common field is technical support at regional offices for the most critical areas of nuclear control implementation, and on-site verification of the matters requested by the director of each implementation division shall be carried out. Tasks in the field of safeguards include an on-site check of facility regulation review, implementation of national inspections, technical support for IAEA inspections, and information management. Among them, technical support work for Unannounced inspections should be the top priority. These days, in particular, the importance of reviewing the results of checking advanced information and containment and surveillance equipment by facility operators is emerging. Among the tasks performed by the resident inspectors, more than 80% of the functions related to physical protection account for. The resident inspectors check the status of the physical protection system by weekly/monthly/quarter, implement physical protection regulation review and inspection, conduct exercise evaluation, and perform technical support for special assessments. Recently, regulatory activities related to radioactive terrorism and the emergence of illegal drones have been strengthened. In the field of cybersecurity, where its role has recently been increasing, the resident inspectors are performing basic field regulation tasks. Similar to the area of physical protection, the resident inspectors check the cybersecurity system for weekly, monthly, and quarterly readiness, and on-site inspections of cybersecurity review and inspection technical support, exercise evaluation, and other requests are mainly performed. The role of the resident inspectors is expected to expand further in the future due to the increase in terrorist risks at home and abroad and changes in the regulatory environment. However, there is a limit to performing an increasing number of tasks, with the human resources of the resident inspectors limited to one to two for each site. If the resident inspectors are dispatched for each field of safety measures, physical protection, and cybersecurity, they can perform their duties more efficiently, but problems may arise in the operation of our personnel. Therefore, the proper and precise allocation of work while maintaining the current system is an essential part. The roles and prospects of the resident inspectors analyzed in this paper can be used to deploy the headquarters and field regulation personnel and set the direction of work in the future.