Nuclear safety and security are very much the responsibility of owners or operators of a nuclear facility in close cooperation with national authorities.[6] This is laid down in the first principle of the Fundamental Safety Principles of the Safety Standards to protect people and the environment (IAEA, 2006/3).

The International Nuclear Safety Group (INSAG) has considerable experience in regulatory organizations, research, academic institutions and the nuclear industry and provides advice and guidance on nuclear safety approaches, policies and principles (IAEA, 2011/3). In particular, INSAG will provide recommendations and opinions on current and emerging nuclear safety issues to the IAEA, the nuclear community and the public. INSAG has issued a large number of documents, particularly one in 2010, on the interface between safety and security at nuclear power plants (IAEA, 2010/4). The group requests that states ‘set up an appropriate legislative and regulatory framework to ensure control of nuclear power plants, as well as of the transport and uses of nuclear material that present a radiological risk and thus require safety and security provisions’. The group continues to require the necessary competence and authority for the regulator ‘in both the safety and security fields’ and to provide the necessary ‘authority, competence and the financial and human resources necessary to accomplish their tasks’.