A team of nuclear safety experts with the International Atomic Energy Agency completed a five-day safety review of the SAFARI-1 reactor in Pelindaba, South Africa, focusing on aging management and continued safe operation of the 61-year-old 20-MW research reactor.

The IAEA team found that the SAFARI-1’s management and technical staff had a strong commitment to and involvement with the assessment but recommended that formal programs be established to address the aging reactor’s equipment.

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which provides safety oversight of Department of Energy sites, is holding a public hearing on August 14 on benchmarking of best practices in the management of aging infrastructure.

According to the DNFSB, the goal of the hearing is to gather information from relevant organizations on best practices in infrastructure aging management to inform the development of potential safety improvements to DOE programs.

Duke Energy’s Harris nuclear power plant’s 24th refueling outage began in early October. The plant, located in New Hill, N.C., is a 964-MWe Westinghouse three-loop pressurized water reactor that started commercial operation in May 1987.