An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) follow-up review mission to Sri Lanka has concluded that the country is making progress in establishing the necessary nuclear infrastructure as it embarks on development of its nuclear power programme.
The mission team, comprising two international experts from Bulgaria and Türkiye and two IAEA staff, was requested by the Sri Lankan government.
It assessed the progress made to address the recommendations and suggestions of the Phase 1 2022 INIR mission, which assesses Sri Lanka’s readiness to make a knowledgeable commitment to a nuclear power programme using the IAEA Milestones Approach and Evaluation Methodology.
The 2022 mission made 26 recommendations and six suggestions to assist Sri Lanka in advancing its infrastructure development.
In 2010, Sri Lanka’s Cabinet approved the initiation of studies for implementing a nuclear power programme in the country, and a Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organisation (NEPIO) was established in 2019 to coordinate related efforts, which included the Ministry of Energy, the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Board (SLAEB), the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Regulatory Council (SLAERC). In 2024, the government decided on further actions to consider a nuclear power programme.
The INIR team concluded that Sri Lanka has made good progress to address recommendations and suggestions made by the 2022 mission.
Sri Lanka has already identified five candidate sites for the nuclear power plant, established a management structure to oversee the procurement process for nuclear reactors, drafted a comprehensive nuclear law and included nuclear power in its current long-term energy planning for the period 2025-2044.
Sri Lanka hosted a national workshop on nuclear law in November 2023, as well as an IAEA Site & External Events Design Review Service (SEED) mission in 2024, which reviewed the country’s selection process to identify candidate sites. A SEED follow up mission also took place in July.
“Sri Lanka is actively working on addressing the recommendations and suggestions from the main INIR mission in 2022,” said mission team leader John Haddad from IAEA’s Nuclear Infrastructure Development Section. “This indicates the level of commitment of Sri Lanka to conduct the required studies and make a knowledgeable decision regarding the nuclear power programme.”
Nuclear Power is included as an energy source within the CEB Least Cost Long Term Generation and Expansion Plan 2025-2044. According to the plan, accommodating a nuclear power unit above 600 MWe to the Sri Lankan network will be technically challenging due to the network’s condition, projected demand growth, and the generation mix, which is expected to be dominated by variable renewable energy sources.
The team said further work is needed related to the finalisation of strategies and studies in various areas of infrastructure development such as, among others, management, human resource development, stakeholder involvement, radioactive waste management and industrial involvement.
In developing its recommendations, the INIR team considers the comments made by the relevant national organisations. Implementation of any of the team’s recommendations and suggestions is at the discretion of the member state requesting the mission. The results of the INIR mission are expected to help them develop an action plan to fill any gaps, which in turn will help the development of the national nuclear infrastructure.
