The overall target of Syrian energy policy aims at ensuring supply security by providing energy services to all segments of society at cost effective and affordable prices, appropriate to Syrian economic conditions. In accomplishing this goal, Syrian energy policy is faced with three main challenges, namely expanding the gas market, sustaining the oil production and developing country’s power capacity. To overcome these challenges, the following general implementation measures are considered:

Reducing technical losses and illegal consumption;

• Supporting the introduction of energy savings and efficiency improvement;

• Encouraging the use of renewables;

• Establishing cost oriented price policy;

• Conserving oil and substituting with gas;

• Attracting foreign investment in oil, gas and power sectors.

A key challenge for the Syrian NG industry is logistical, with gas reserves located mainly in the north-east, while the general population is centred in west and south. The Syrian Petroleum Company is currently working to increase the Syrian Arab Republic’s gas production through several projects aiming at expanding and developing the national NG network. In addition, the electricity generation policy has the priority to replace oil with NG in the existing stations and converting NG power plants to combined cycle wherever possible. Moreover, the Government is in the process of relaxing the state monopoly over the power sector. There are many efforts to reinforce transmission and distribution networks, and to improve the quality of customer services.

Covering future energy needs with respect to the sustainable development of energy sector forms is the main objective of any energy policy. Responding to the high increase of energy consumption and increasing economic, financial and environmental burdens, the Syrian Arab Republic — like many other countries — has made noticeable efforts over the last two decades to explore possible energy conservation and efficiency improvement measures, in order to reduce energy demand on one side and replace the exhaustible fossil fuels with renewable and nuclear alternatives on the other. The importance of energy conservation and energy efficiency policy in the context of sustainable development has regained political momentum. Recent developments on the energy market have seen highly volatile oil prices, increased awareness of the need for energy security, and growing energy related environmental problems including the threat of human induced climate change. In this context, energy conservation and efficiency improvements can benefit both society and the environment by: reducing atmospheric pollution; lessening negative externalities resulting from energy production; boosting industrial competitiveness; generating employment and business opportunities; improving the housing stock and the comfort level of occupants; enhancing productivity; increasing security of supply; and contributing to poverty alleviation, among other aspects.

In order to reflect the above national energy policy and the future structure of the Syrian energy system in a consistent and well organized way, comprehensive analyses were performed to cover both demand and supply sides, using advanced methods and IAEA tools (MAED, WASP, MESSAGE and SIMPACTS).

On the demand side, the future long term (up to 2030) energy and electricity demand has been projected according to different scenarios reflecting the possible future demographic, socioeconomic and technological development of the country. These scenarios are constructed to cover a plausible range, in which future evolution factors affecting energy demand are gauged.

On the supply side, a comprehensive analysis of the national energy supply options was performed in order to formulate an adequate energy supply strategy that ensures meeting the projected future demand. The analysis depends on the integrated energy supply methodology where the whole national energy system (including all possible resources and conversion technologies) has been assessed on the basis of the least cost approach adopted in the IAEA’s optimization tool MESSAGE. In this analysis, all possible future supply options represented by fuel type and conversion technologies are considered. This also ensures supply security through diversifying the energy mix by selecting more efficient, affordable and cost effective energy technologies, including improved fossil fired technologies, renewables and nuclear technologies. To reflect national needs in both social and economic dimensions, constraints have been imposed on new investments, fuel availability, energy import and export, market penetration rates and time required to implement new technologies. This is essential for realistic appraisal in case of introducing renewables connected with problems of availability or in case of a nuclear option that requires huge investment and preparation of national infrastructure. The results indicate that a nuclear option will enter the Syrian electricity generation system in 2020 with a NPP capacity of 1000 MW.

A Law on Energy Conservation was enacted by the Ministry of Electricity in 2009 to fulfil the country’s sustainable development requirements, with emphasis on disseminating energy conservation concepts, facilitating energy efficiency actions, improving energy saving and deploying various renewable energy applications.

Through this law, the relevant institutions are committed to energy conservation and efficiency practices, using renewable energies in all sectors of their activities and using energy efficient equipment.

Furthermore, to assess the influence of climate change and impact of the Kyoto Protocol on the future development of the Syrian energy sector, the Ministry of Environment, with the support of UNDP, recently finalized a project on “Enabling Activities for the Preparation of the Syrian Arab Republic’s Initial National Communication to the UNFCCC”. The project deals with GHG inventory calculation of the energy sector according to IPCC guidelines, vulnerability analysis of the Syrian energy sector to climate change and evaluation of the future strategy to mitigate GHG emissions. In this sense, the energy sector is responsible for the most GHG emissions, and inside it the subsector of electricity generation plays a dominant role. The proposed mitigation measures comprise energy savings and conservation, switching to a cleaner fuel, recovery of flared gases, increasing the role of cleaner generation technologies like renewables and nuclear options in the future electricity generation. The mitigation analysis indicates that the adopted measures in the energy sector could reduce about 60 Mt of CO₂ in the year 2030, of which about 37% would come from the power sector.

The Ministry of Electricity and the Commission of Planning and International Cooperation signed the project document “Energy Efficiency Code Project” with UNDP in January 2011. The project objective is to reduce CO₂ emissions from the energy sector in the Syrian Arab Republic by reducing energy demand in the building sector through preparing a new performance based code of energy efficiency, including minimum energy performance standards, energy labelling of the new buildings, standards specified for electric efficient materials, capacity building of principal stakeholders, and an appropriate compliance regime to ensure that these new requirements will be effectively implemented.

Syrian fossil resources are limited to oil and natural gas (NG). The proven geological oil reserves are estimated to be almost 24 billion barrel of oil equivalent (Bboe), of which 6.9 Bboe are extractable. Almost 4.3 Bboe have been already extracted in 2003 and the remaining oil reserves are estimated to about 2.6 Bboe. The proven geological reserve of NG in the Syrian Arab Republic is estimated to 612 billion cubic metres (Bm³), of which 371 Bm³ are extractable. Sixty Bm³ have been produced through 2003 and the remaining reserve is about 311 Bm³. Key indicators for the Syrian energy sources are consigned in Table 4.

TABLE 1. SYRIAN ENERGY SOURCES, KEY INDICATORS

Energy production (Mtoe)	4.68	Electricity consumption (TWh)	15.01
Electricity consumption/population (MWh/capita)	0.81	Net imports (Mtoe)	5.49
TPES (Mtoe)	9.98	TPES/population (toe/capita)	0.54
TPES/GDP (toe/thousand 2010 USD)	0.59	TPES/GDP PPP (toe/thousand 2010 USD)	0.27
CO2 emissions (Mt of CO2)	26.24	CO2/TPES (t CO2/toe)	2.63
CO2/population (t CO2/capita)	1.42	CO2/GDP PPP (kg CO2/2010 USD)	0.70

Source: IEA Indicators 2015.

Despite severe damages to domestic energy infrastructure, leakage and illegal consumption in addition to the sanctions imposed on the country, the Syrian Arab Republic can still be considered self-sufficient in energy. For example, in 2015, a total of 18 580 Mtoe was ready for transmission. Table 5 shows energy balance and final energy consumption within the country for 2015 according to the Ministry of Electricity statistics; while energy balance according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) is given in Table 6.



TABLE 2. ENERGY BALANCE FOR SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC 2015

1 kg of oil equivalent (koe) = 10000 Kilocalories (kcal)/kg															Intermediary consumption					Non-energy consumption
Energy source	Crude oil	Normal fuel oil and diesel	Fuel oil and diesel	Kerosene (1000 ton)				Gasoline (1000 ton)				Liquid gas	Fuel oil	Natural gas		NAFTA	Heavy distillates	(Pure gas)	Asphalt		Coal	Sulphur	Solvents (aczuline + toluene + enhanced gasoline + NAFTA)
Equivalent of heat	1000 ton	1000 ton	1000 ton	Normal	Hydrogenated	Air/Civil	White spirit	Super Octane 90	Octane 95	Special	Normal	1000 ton	1000 ton	MM3		1000 ton	1000 ton	1000 ton	1000 ton		1000 ton	1000 ton	1000 ton
Kilocalorie/KG	10000	10200	10200	10450	10650	10650	10650	10700	10700	10700	10700	11300	9600	9000		10750	9600	11300	9600		8300	9600	10650
Production	1964	1345		2		94.03	0.430	882			24	147	1598	5245		10	7	74	61		0.283	4.44	2
Import	3907	117				11.50		98				222	230									0
Export		0.95				9.312							0.515						0.445
Change in inventory	-23	147	0	2	0	-1	0	46	0	0	0	1	309	512		10	0	0	2		0	-3	0
Total available	5894	1314	0	0.484		97	0.37	934			24	368	1519	4733		0	7	74	58		0.782	6.994	2
						0

The Final Energy Consumption Within the Country

Energy source	Crude oil	Normal fuel oil and diesel	Fuel oil and diesel	Kerosene (1000 ton)				Gasoline (1000 ton)				Liquid gas	Fuel oil	Natural gas	NAFTA	Heavy distillates	(Pure gas)	Asphalt	Coal	Sulphur	Solvents (xylene + toluene + enhanced gasoline + NAFTA)	Oils and grease	Electricity
Equivalent of heat	1000 ton	1000 ton	1000 ton	Normal	Hydrogenated	Air/Civil	White spirit	Super Octane 90	Octane 95	Special	Normal	1000 ton	1000 ton	MM3	1000 ton	1000 ton	1000 ton	1000 ton	1000 ton	1000 ton	1000 ton	1000 ton	GW/H
Agriculture, irrigation and pumping drinking water		131																	0.782				810
Extractive industries		23											1	101								0.42	100
Oil and gas refining and transport	5894	25											72	101			73					0.3	100
Manufacturing industries		74					0.37						237	108			0.488			24	2	4	3296
Electricity generation		11											1208	4424									1036
Road construction and paving		40																58
Commercial		53										18				1.192							1039
Transportation		394				97		934			24											14
Government departments, temples and street lighting		300																					340
Household		263		0.528								349											9525
Losses
Total consumption	5894	1314	0	0.528	0	97	0	934	0.00	0.00	24	368	1519	4733	0	1.19	74	58	0.78	24.01	2	19	16247

Source: Ministry of Electricity 2016.

TABLE 3. ESTIMATED AVAILABLE ENERGY RESOURCES, BALANCE FOR 2015(in thousand tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) on a net calorific value basis)

Year 2015	Coal*	Crude oil**	Oil product	Natural gas	Nuclear	Hydro	Electricity	Total***
Production	0	1155	0	3484	n.a.	36	0	4660
Imports	1	4400	1717	0	n.a.	0	0	6118
Exports	0	0	-601	0	n.a.		-23	-623
Electricity plants	0	0	-1385	-2851	n.a.	-36	1538	-2734
Gas works	0	0	0	0	n.a.	0	0	0
Liquefaction plants	0	0	0	0	n.a.	0	0	0
Oil refineries	0	-5479	5437	0	n.a.	0	0	-42
Energy industry own use	0	0	-160	-52	n.a.	0	-176	-388
Losses	0	0	0	0	n.a.	0	-225	-225
Total final consumption	0	0	4897	582	n.a.	0	1115	6600
Industry	0	0	966	205	n.a.	0	375	1546
Transport	0	0	2132	0	n.a.	0	0	2132

*Also includes peat and oil shale where relevant.

**Includes crude oil, NGL, refinery feed stocks, additives and other hydrocarbons.

*** Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Source: IEA Balance 2015.

The main statistical indicators for the Syrian energy system related to energy production, consumption and ratios of electricity production/energy production and external dependency are presented in Tables 7 and 8; while energy production and distribution of energy consumption by sector in 2015 are illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

TABLE 4. SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC SUMMARY ENERGY STATISTICS

Oil
Proved reserves, 2014 (million barrels)	Total oil supply, 2012 (thousand bbl/d)	Total petroleum consumption, 2012 (thousand bbl/d)
2500	71	258
Natural gas (billion cubic feet)
Proved reserves, 2013	Dry natural gas production, 2012	Dry natural gas consumption, 2012	Reserve to production ratio
8500	228	228	26
Electricity
Generation capacity, 2011 (GW)	Electricity generation, 2011 (BkWh)	Electricity consumption, 2010 (BkWh)	Distribution losses, 2010 (BkWh)
7.8	43.8	35.6	7.1

Source: US EIA February 2014.

TABLE 5. SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC ENERGY AND ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION AND RATIO OF EXTERNAL DEPENDENCY

	1990	2000	2005	2012
Energy consumption per capita (GJ/capita)	27.9	48.8	57.04	41.24
Electricity consumption per capita (kWh/capita)	719.9	1135.7	1865	1453
Electricity production/Energy production (%)	4.4	5.9	10.7	19
Nuclear/Total electricity (%)	0	0	0	0
Ratio of external dependency (%)	-186.3	-92.8	-11.1	2.3

Source: IEA.

FIG. 1. Energy production by sector in 2015.

FIG. 2. Distribution of energy consumption by sector in 2015.

The Syrian generation sector relies mainly upon fossil fuel, which has had a share above 80% of the electricity mix over the last two decades. For the future development of the electricity generation system, the Syrian electricity policy focuses on the following issues:

Improving technical performance of the existing power plants;

• Enhancing the electric load factor of the power system;

• Replacing heavy fuel oil (HFO) with NG;

• Enhancing the average system efficiency by increasing the share of CC;

• Increasing the share of clean technologies by encouraging renewables and nuclear options;

• Reducing technical losses and illegal consumption from distribution networks.

To analyse and evaluate the future development of the electricity generation sector, two future scenarios were developed by Energy Planning Group reflecting the most favourable development trends for the Syrian power sector. Both scenarios depend on the least cost expansion approach of generated electricity unit over the study period 2005–2030. The first development trend refers to the Reference Scenario (RS) that reflects the baseline development in formulating a future optimal expansion plan for the generation sector under a set of limits and constraints that reflect the technological features of available, committed and future power plant candidates, availability of domestic fuel resources and import and export possibilities. The second is an alternative expansion scenario, a so called Clean Technology Scenario (CTS) that focuses on introducing policy measures in terms of energy savings and clean technologies (renewable, nuclear, NG firing) that help in reducing GHG emissions.

Following the RS results, electricity generation will increase from 34 TWh in 2005 to about 148.4 TWh in 2030. The optimal expansion plan shows an increase of installed capacity from 6 200 MW to 29 600 MW. The new capacity is distributed as follows: 14 360 MW for CC, 12 200 MW for heavy fuel fired steam power plants, 900 MW for GT, 300 MW for wind turbines and 1 600 MW for two nuclear power plants that will enter the system in 2020 and 2025.

The optimal expansion plan of CTS shows that the installed capacity will total 32 360 MW in 2030. The new capacity addition comprises 2 000 MW for wind, 2 000 MW for PV and 1 000 for CSP, and remaining are thermal power plans and two nuclear power plants as in the RS.

The final electricity demand⁽¹⁾ formed about 15.5% of total final energy demand in 2007. This demand grew rapidly during the period 1994–2007, and stood at about 30.6 TWh in 2007.The electricity distribution by sector of consumption in 2015 is presented in Table 9.

TABLE 6. DISTRIBUTION OF FINAL CONSUMPTION OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF ENERGY BY SECTOR FOR 2015

Production and service sectors	Petroleum products and natural gas		Non-energy consumption	Electricity
	1000 tons of petroleum products	Percentage of the total	1000 tons of petroleum products	GWh	1000 tons of petroleum products	Percentage of the total
Manufacturing industries	347	11%	80	3 296	283	22%
Agriculture	134	4%	1	810	70	5%
Construction and building	41	1%	56	0	0
Transportation	1 530	49%		0	0
Household sector	663	21%	1 500	9 525	819	63%
Trade, services and government departments	382	12%		1 379	119	9%
Total	3 097	100%	1 636	15 010	1 291	100%
? Including illegal uses. Source: Ministry of Electricity 2016.

During the period 1994–2009, the peak load demand grew from 2474 MW to 7223 MW, showing an average growth rate of 7.4%. To cope with both peak load and electricity demand increase, the available installed capacity increased from 3600 MW to 7518 MW (winter time, and 6500 MW in summer time). Thus, the reserve margin of more than 30% in the year 2000 decreased gradually, and the system has shown a deficit in the installed capacity in 2006 and 2007 that resulted in real power shortages during the peak time. The available capacity in 2009 was 85% from thermal and 15% from hydropower plants. In 2009, the total generated electricity reached about 43 TWh, of which 95% was from thermal and 5% from hydro generation (Table 10).

Due to the limited generation of hydropower, the increasing electricity demand led to steady increases in the use of fossil fuel for generation purposes, mainly by heavy fuel oil (HFO) and NG. During the period 1994–2009 the share of hydropower generation fluctuated heavily between 5% and 20%, depending on water availability in the Euphrates River. Thus, over the whole period the share of thermal generation exceeded 80%, and in 2009 it reached more than 95%. Hence, the fossil fuel consumption in electricity generation — consisting of HFO, natural gas (NG) and small amounts of diesel — increased from 3 Mtoe to 9.3 Mtoe during the period 1994–2009. Depending on the available domestic NG, its share in the fuel mix fluctuated significantly; it increased from 32% in 1994 to 60% in 1997, decreased to 48% in the year 2000 and increased again to 59% in 2002 and to 49.5% in 2009.

TABLE 7. ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION, CONSUMPTION AND CAPACITY

								Average annual growth rate (%)
	1970	1980	1990	2000	2005	2009	2012*	2000 to 2012
Capacity of electric power plants, gigawatt electrical (GWe)
- Thermal			1.83	4.50	5.07	6.37	6.69	3.35
- Hydro			0.55	1.06	1.15	1.15	1.25	1.33
- Nuclear
- Wind
- Geothermal
- Other renewables
- Total			2.33	5.57	6.23	7.52	7.94	2.50
Electricity production, terawatt hours (TWh)
- Thermal			10.63	22.71	31.49	41.38	39.26	4.67
- Hydro			1.59	2.50	3.45	1.95	3.64	3.18
- Nuclear
- Wind
- Geothermal
- other renewables
- Total1			12.22	25.21	34.94	43.30	42.90	4.53
Total electricity consumption (TWh)			8.90	18.53	27.06	32.50	35.32	5.52

¹ Electricity transmission losses are not deducted.

* Latest available data.

Source: Electrical Statistical report (1999-2000)-(2005-2010-2011-2012).

The capacity of hydroelectric power plants in the Syrian Arab Republic for 2009 was 1151 MW distributed as shown in Table 8, whereas the electricity production by resource for 2012 is illustrated in Fig. 3.

TABLE 8. CAPACITY OF HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS (MW)*

Hydroelectric power plants	Winter time	Summer time
AL THAORA	650	200
Tishreen	450	200
Albaath	51	50

* Subject to the availability of water resources.

FIG. 4. Electricity production by resource for 2012.

Law No. 12 (1976) promulgated the establishment of the Atomic Energy Commission of Syria (AECS). In 1979, the AECS assumed its duties as a governmental agency responsible for peaceful utilizations of atomic and nuclear technologies. Research departments, facilities and laboratories were founded and staffed with a skillful workforce towards carrying out basic and applied research in the fields of atomic and nuclear applications. The AECS represents the Syrian Arab Republic in regional and international gatherings related to nuclear and atomic issues. In 1963, the Syrian Arab Republic became a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency. It has fulfilled its international obligations with respect to nuclear safeguards by signing the NPT in 1967. The AECS complies with radiation safety regulations and is the regulatory authority in the Syrian Arab Republic. In considering a nuclear power programme, the AECS becomes the most appropriate organization in the Syrian Arab Republic to assess design options, establish user requirements, and prepare bid documents. Regarding the country’s preparation to introduce its first NPP, the following main achievements can be noted:

In the years 1980–1985, the AECS in cooperation with the Ministry of Electricity initiated the first steps toward a nuclear power programme. The efforts at that time accomplished a site selection study in cooperation with the Russian side. The first NPP was supposed to be a Russian design (WWER). However, the project was suspended after the Chernobyl accident.

• During the period 1999–2009, a comprehensive long term analysis of the Syrian energy system was performed, aiming at projecting future final energy and electricity demand and formulating optimal energy supply strategy up to 2030. The main focus was on the development of the optimal expansion plan for the electricity generation system to identify the optimal future generation mix and evaluate the possible role of a nuclear option and the time schedule for the introduction of the first nuclear power plant on the basis of a least cost expansion. For this purpose, various IAEA analysis tools (such as MAED, WASP, MESSAGE and SIMPACTS) were employed, and two technical cooperation projects with the IAEA were accomplished. The optimization results indicate that the first NPP would enter the generation system in the year 2020 with a capacity of about 1000 MW.

• During the same period, significant effort was put into HRD and capacity building related to the nuclear power project, in addition to the preparation of preliminary user requirements for the NPP and a feasibility study for a PWR.

• In compliance with the IAEA rules and agreements, the AECS has established the Radiological and Nuclear Regulatory Office (RNRO).

• In 2009, the Higher Steering Committee for NPP, which sends its reports to the Prime Minister, was established. It has a set of responsibilities similar to those of a Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organization (NEPIO).

• Also in 2009, two committees were established, one at the AECS to deal with regulatory, nuclear safety, environmental and hydrological aspects, and another at the Ministry of Electricity to deal with issues of technical infrastructure related to electric power plants and the national grid.

2.1.2. Current Organizational Chart(s)

Figure 4 represents the organizational structure of the Syrian energy sector. The AECS is responsible for all activities related to peaceful applications of atomic energy in the fields of agriculture, medicine and industry. The AECS also represents the Syrian Arab Republic’s membership in the IAEA and in other organizations. Prime Minister Decision No. 6514 of 1997 specifies the functions of the AECS as the regulatory body for radiation safety in the Syrian Arab Republic. A new law (legislative decree No. 64 of 2005) was issued by the President of the Syrian Arab Republic. This legislative decree complies with the international standards as specified in the IAEA Safety Standards Series Nos GSR Part 3, Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources: International Basic Safety Standards (BSS) and GS-R-1. It nominates the AECS as the regulatory authority with respect to radiation protection and safety and security of radiation sources.

The Ministry of Electricity is exclusively responsible for the utilization of electric power plants. Thus, the operation of a possible future NPP will also be under this responsibility.

FIG. 5. Diagram illustrating the organizational structure of Syrian energy system.

There is no nuclear power plant in operation, under construction or decommissioned in the Syrian Arab Republic. According to the long term energy planning studies in the Syrian Arab Republic, the nuclear option was anticipated to contribute to the national electricity production in 2020. During the period 2020–2030, two nuclear reactors would have been operated with a total capacity of 1600 MW.

Not applicable.

The Syrian energy supply strategy recently highlighted the competitive role of the nuclear option in the future energy supply mix. There is acceptance and willingness to consider the nuclear option for electricity generation. This is due to the fact that the supply strategy, which had been developed recently, indicated that the Syrian Arab Republic was going to encounter serious problems in covering its future energy demand after 2015. For the time being, the Syrian Arab Republic has maintained a reasonable energy balance. However, as primary energy demand in the Syrian Arab Republic increases by an average annual rate of 5%, while at the same time oil production is steadily decreasing and NG production is limited, the country will depend more and more on energy imports. These imports were expected to reach 16% of primary energy demands in 2015 and more than 45% in 2020. Thus, in view of the positive supply security features of the nuclear option, introducing it into the Syrian electricity generation system during the period 2020–2025 will increase supply security and mitigate possible socioeconomic concerns.

However, despite all these facts, there has not yet been an official decision to consider an NPP as a generation option.

The only indication is the recently undertaken effort to support infrastructure development for the future nuclear power programme in the Syrian Arab Republic in the form of a Technical Cooperation (TC) project with the IAEA, namely SYR/0/020 “Conducting a Technical and Economic Feasibility Study and Site Selection for a Nuclear Power Plant”, which aimed at:

Defining technical specifications and performing economic evaluation of the most suitable nuclear power plant, technically and economically;

• Selecting the appropriate nuclear power plant depending on technical, safety, economic, financial and performance characteristics;

• Identifying site parameters that affect the plant design;

• Establishing a national coordination framework for the national nuclear power programme;

• Establishing a legal framework and a national technical qualification system;

• Evaluating the development status in the Syrian Arab Republic regarding nuclear infrastructure and user requirements for introducing the first nuclear power plant.

The first NPP was planned to be a turnkey project with some national participation. However, there is no policy for fuel supply or spent fuel storage. It is expected that these issues will be addressed in the framework of the ongoing international efforts led by the IAEA to solve the problem of nuclear fuel supply and spent fuel disposal for new counties embarking on nuclear power programmes for peaceful applications.

As already mentioned the introduction, the first NPP will be managed mainly by the AECS in cooperation with the Ministry of Electricity. No NEPIO has been established, as described in IAEA Nuclear Energy Series No. NG-T-3.6. However, the Higher Steering Committee for NPP (reporting to the Prime Minister) was established in 2009, with powers and responsibilities similar to those of a NEPIO. In addition, two committees were also established in 2009. The AECS is responsible for reactor engineering aspects, regulatory, nuclear safety and nuclear fuel cycle issues, etc). Meanwhile, the Ministry of Electricity will deal with issues like the technical infrastructure related to electric power plant and the national grid.

In 2008 and 2009, the AECS produced two technical reports on the main criteria for selecting a future NPP in the Syrian Arab Republic. Old documents are also available at the Ministry of Electricity. However, these reports date back to1980 and deal with a Russian NPP design.

In the case of the Syrian Arab Republic, there is an understanding of the required national strategy for accomplishing Phase 1 and Phase 2 for introducing the first NPP. The draft “User Requirements” for introducing the first NPP are prepared and can serve as a starting point for a comprehensive report.

It is expected that the first NPP will be funded by the Syrian Government with possible support from regional funding sources. However, financial and economic evaluation is one of the important outputs of the TC project with the IAEA (SYR/0/020).

Present and future electric grid capacity in the Syrian Arab Republic was adequate to incorporate an NPP as a baseload source. However, grid stability needs further improvement. Regional interconnection with eight countries of the region is available. The electric grid interconnection around the Mediterranean is planned to be completed in the next 10 years.

As already mentioned, several documents from a previous study for site specification and environmental impact assessment (EIA) are available. However, these documents need detailed review and evaluation. According to the EIA, the AECS is responsible and has good expertise.

The research infrastructure at the AECS is especially devoted to research programmes addressing the peaceful application of nuclear energy. The AECS is responsible for defining the basis of the national policy and the related plans and programmes regarding the peaceful utilization of atomic energy in the Syrian Arab Republic. This includes executing and supporting research, analysis and studies that might lead to nation’s scientific, technological and economic development related to the utilization of atomic energy; establishing research and training centres, laboratories and test facilities; educating the personnel in the nuclear field and cooperation with the universities and related organizations; and preparing and implementing the decrees and regulations to determine the basis for nuclear and radiological safety.

The AECS undertakes research by performing experimental and theoretical studies at its laboratories and by implementing projects with international and local institutions. This includes R & D activities related to:

Reactor physics and shielding calculation using adequate analysis tools;

• Thermal hydraulic and reactor safety analysis with special emphasis on research reactors;

• Reactor kinetics to measure selected Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) kinetic parameters;

• Radiation protection with main focus on medical and industrial applications;

• Advanced NDT expertise with application in oil and other industry branches;

• Activities related to medical radioisotope production.

Not applicable.

The cooperative activities related to nuclear applications are performed by the AECS in cooperation with the IAEA. Over the last three decades, the AECS implemented many Technical Cooperation and Coordinated Research Projects with the IAEA. The AECS received many IAEA experts in different fields, such as in energy planning, research reactors (INSARR mission), radiation protection and radiological regulation.

In addition, the TC and Coordinated Research Project (CRP) programmes of the IAEA proved to be important tools for promoting national research activities in different fields of interest in nuclear technology. The following are relevant TC and CRP projects implemented during the last decade:

TC Project SYR/0/006, Energy and Nuclear Power Planning Study: on Analysis of Energy and Electricity Demand Projection in the Syrian Arab Republic (covering the period 1999–2030);

• Comparative Assessment of Electricity Generation Options (RAS/0/043);

• Assessing the Economic Viability of Alternative Energy Supply Options to Meet Energy and Water Challenges in ARASIA Region (RAS/2/017);

• Technical and Economic Feasibility Study and Site Selection for a Nuclear Power Plant (SYR/0/020);

• Supporting Strategic Planning to Meet Future Energy Needs in ARASIA Member States (RAS/0/052);

• CRP (CRP12216) on Safety significance of postulated initiating events for different research reactor types and assessment of analytical tools (J7.10.10);

• CRP (CRP15044) Innovative methods in research reactor analysis: Benchmark against experimental data on neutronics and thermal hydraulic computational methods and tools for operation and safety analysis of research reactors;

• Improving Utilization of Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (SYR/4/009);

• Energy and Nuclear Power Planning Study (SYR/0/006);

• Nuclear Safety (SYR/9/005);

• Research Reactor (SYR/4/002);

• Nuclear Analytical Laboratory (SYR/0/004);

• Uranium Exploration (SYR/3/002), (SYR/3/004);

• Uranium Recovery from Phosphoric Acid (SYR/3/003);

• Nuclear Electronics (SYR/4/003), Nuclear Electronics (Phase II) (SYR/4/005);

• Waste Management (SYR/9/004);

• Human Resource Development and Nuclear Technology Support (SYR/0/019).

The following is a chart indicating the position of the Radiological and Nuclear Regulatory Office within the AECS organizational structure.

Presidential Decree No. 64 of 2005 was issued on 3 August 2005 by the president of the Syrian Arab Republic. This legislative decree complies with the international standards as specified in the BSS and GS-R-1, the commitments of the Syrian government in its letter to IAEA Director General regarding the application of the code of conduct and Security Council Resolution 1541. It nominates the AECS as:

The regulatory authority with respect to radiation protection and safety and security of radiation sources;

• Responsible for emergency planning and coordination for radiological or nuclear accidents;

• The competent authority responsible for issuing approval certificates for package design.

The AECS is obliged by this legislative decree to establish a regulatory body to carry out the duties assigned by this legislative decree and to appropriately staff it and provide needed resources.

The AECS established the regulatory body: the Radiological and Nuclear Regulatory Office (RNRO) by Decision No. 23/6 dated 10 October 2006.

By the above mentioned legislative decree, the AECS is empowered to:

Prepare regulations, to be issued by the Prime Minister.

• Issue authorizations.

• Perform inspections. Inspectors have the powers of Judicial Police.

• Impose enforcement actions.

• Undertake measures to detect illicit trafficking.

• Verify the absence of contamination exceeding permissible limits in the goods imported to or crossing into the Syrian Arab Republic.

• Promote protection, safety and security culture among the public.

Moreover, this legislative decree prescribes sanctions in case of non-compliance. The sanctions scheme takes into account the risk associated with the radiation sources. It also defines the civil liability for damages due to radiological or nuclear accidents.

By this legislative decree, an advisory committee, the “Radiation Protection and Safety and Security of Radiation Sources Committee”, was established to support the AECS.

All regulatory functions are controlled by: (1) Prime Minister Decree No. 134 of 17 January 2007 “General Regulations on Radiation Protection and Safety and Security of Radiation Sources” and (2) Detailed Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials, (Decision No. 206/2016 of 15 December 2016) based on IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSR-6, Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (2012).

The process for obtaining a licence from the regulatory authority is as follows:

Licensee submits an application form to the AEC-RNRO, containing all detailed data and information about the activity (responsibilities, radiation sources, location, workers, monitoring, emergency etc.). For some activities, the radiation protection programme should be attached to the form.

• The RNRO makes an assessment of the application and radiation protection programme. If the submitted documents are sufficient, the RNRO pays a visit to the site to inspect it and check the availability of safety arrangements.

Only then a decision may be taken to issue an authorization. However, if there is lack of some information, data or safety arrangements, a letter shall be sent to the licensee for further action.