Academic literature on the topic 'Industries Assistance Commission'

Public policies are, at once, the means for articulation of political philosophies and processes, the conduits for conversion of political and bureaucratic decisions into actions and the means by which the electorate can assess government performance. Public policy processes offer a means of achieving social and economic change and they are a primary justification for the existence of governmental systems. On these counts, identification of the elements of policy processes and the ways they interact with each other is essential to an understanding of the relationships between public policy decisions, systems of democratic government and their connections with wider society. This thesis goes behind the facade of public policy outcomes and analyses the processes involved in arriving at policy decisions. Linkages are traced between political theories, the processes of public policy decisions and final policy outcomes. This involves, first, an examination and critique of liberal-democratic theories. Second, there is detailed examination of pluralist democratic practice, which is the prevailing political paradigm of modern western liberal-democratic societies. The analysis finds substantial evidence of gross distortions in the process relative to normative theories. Plain causes are the institutionalisation of special interests to the exclusion of wider public interests and inadequate accountability of governments and bureaucracies for their actions. Policy processes in pluralist systems are examined and it is concluded that the social environment, institutional influences and factors which affect the behaviour of institutions are key elements explaining public policy decisions. The capacity for pluralism to significantly influence policy outcomes depends largely on the degree and nature of access to the public policy process at various points. In examining the role of government institutions in public policy processes, it is argued that a clear distinction between the elected legislature and the administrative bureaucracy is artificial and misleading. Further, there is evidence that public service bureaucrats can become captives of their particular client groups and, thus, less accessible to the full range of relevant interests. These problems are exacerbated by the two-party Westminster model of representative democracy which tends to concentrate power in cabinet government, resulting in a decline in the importance of parliament as a deliberative and scrutinising bodies. This dissertation develops the view that there are significant causal links between institutional philosophies and values and the dominant disciplines within institutions. It is also argued that growing professionalism in bureaucracies and a tendency for functional divisions of public policy to be in broad symmetry with the divisions of the professions, tends to intensify the influence of particular professional disciplines on related areas of public policy. The critique of liberal-democratic theories and the related discussion of factors affecting policy processes in a pluralist system are used to identify the essential elements of public policy processes. It is proposed that all policy processes contain the four elements of pluralism, access, accountability and planning which are interactively related. Differences in emphasis given to these elements in the policy process explains the nature of individual policy decisions. Thus, the normative policy process datum model provides both a static and dynamic framework for analysing policy decisions. In order to examine the theoretical arguments in an empirical context, the policy processes of the Australian Federal Government, in the area of industry assistance, are analysed. This policy arena contains all the 'raw material' of pluralist processes and is, therefore, a fertile area for analysis. Furthermore, operating within this policy arena is the Industries Assistance Commission [IAC], a bureaucratic institution which is quite unlike traditional administrative structures. The IAC has, prima-facie, all of the features of the policy process datum model; it operates in an open mode, it encourages a range of pluralistic inputs, it has a highly professional planning function and, because its policy advice is published, it encourages scrutiny and accountability of itself, other actors in the bureaucracy and the elected government. The IAC operates in a rational-comprehensive mode. The analysis concludes that the IAC was established in part to be a countervailing force to restore some balance in the industry policy arena. In this it has been partly successful - the distributive policy decisions of governments have come under much greater scrutiny than in the past and other areas of the bureaucracy have been forced to operate more frequently in a rational-comprehensive mode, rather than as advocates of sectional interests. The IAC has itself limited its range of objectives, however, and has tended to become a computational organisation, isolating its core economic [planning] technology from the interactive processes of the policy process model, i.e. pluralism, access and accountability. By protecting its essential philosophy in this way, the IAC runs the risk of becoming less influential in the overall policy process. Using the policy process model as a datum, and the empirical experience of the IAC and the policy arena in which it operates, several options for administrative reform are examined. A summary agenda for administrative change is proposed which revolves around ways of achieving balanced pluralistic inputs, a greater degree of access, better bureaucratic and government accountability and ways of exploiting but controlling technocratic planning expertise. Emphasis is placed on the need to achieve enriched interactive flows between each of these key elements. If these conditions can be met, it is proposed that a revised and improved administrative bureaucracy will emerge.

The documents address Delany’s accomplishments as a Freedmen’s Bureau official in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and his views on how to ensure that freedmen had the resources to fully explore the benefits of freedom. They underline the challenges freedmen confronted, and Delany’s success in creating a functional working relationship between ex-slaves and ex-slave owners. His Bureau reports highlighted the advances made by, and challenges confronting, freedmen. He envisioned every black family attaining economic self-sufficiency through land-ownership, and published a series of articles underlining the industrious capacities of blacks and the benefits of making land available to them. However, Delany also realized that land-redistribution would be a challenge, and that freedmen would have no choice but work as contract laborers. He devised a “Triple Alliance” contract system designed to prevent previously unrestricted practice of uncompensated exploitation of black labor. He urged blacks to deemphasize political rights and prioritize instead economic elevation.

The European Commission has recently launched a new initiative dedicated to Nuclear Safety in Central and Eastern Europe called after “Safety of Eastern European Type Nuclear Facilities” (SENUF). SENUF contributes to bring together all stakeholders of the nuclear safety programs for the Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States (TACIS) and the Poland Hungary Aid for Reconstruction of the Economy (PHARE): beneficiaries, end users, Eastern and Western nuclear industries, and thus, to favour fruitful technical exchanges and feedback of experience. At present, the main focus of SENUF is the nuclear power plant maintenance as a substantial element of plant operational safety as well as life management. A dedicated Working Group has been established on plant maintenance. 10 members have joined in the starting period. After a thematic introduction the paper discusses the maintenance optimisation general aspects and current activities in the CIS and CEEC, the paper presents SENUF and reports about the first activities developed within the working group One of its major tasks in 2004 was to prepare a status report on advanced strategies to optimise maintenance. Optimisation projects have an interface with the plant’s overall life management program. Today, almost all plants belonging to SENUF members have an explicit policy to extend their service life. Thus, component ageing management, modernisation and refurbishment actions became much more important. Preliminary results of the extended inquiry are already available which show a rather homogeneous propagation of techniques and methods in general. A web-enabled database has been developed to provide maintenance managers and engineers with adequate information on “Advanced and Special Equipment, Tools, Materials and Processes” in order to help them selecting the most appropriate and cost efficient solution for their maintenance needs. Information about the existence, the main parameters of such equipment and the experience of their usage that can be valuable for others facing similar problems, will be shared through easy access by members. Currently, the activity is starting to develop into the area of Reliability-Centred and Risk-Informed Maintenance, taking benefit from cooperation with the IAEA. Further extension of the memberships is expected in the near future.

The European Union’ TACIS programme was established for the New Independent States since 1991. One priority for TACIS funding is nuclear safety. The European Commission has made available a total of € 944 million for nuclear safety programmes covering the period 1991–2003. The TACIS nuclear safety programme is devoted to the improvement of the safety of Soviet designed nuclear installations in providing technology and safety culture transfer. The Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission is carrying out works in the following areas: • On-Site Assistance for TACIS Nuclear Power Plants; • Design Safety and Dissemination of TACIS results; • Reactor Pressure Vessel Embrittlement for VVER in Russia and Ukraine; • Regulatory Assistance; • Industrial Waste Management and Nuclear Safeguards. This paper gives an overview of the Scientific and Technical support that JRC is providing for the programming and the implementation of the TACIS nuclear safety programmes. In particular, two new projects are being implemented to get an extensive understanding of the VVER reactor pressure vessel embritttlement and integrity assessment.

The European Union’ TACIS programme has been established for the New Independent States (NIS), among them in the Russian Federation since 1991. One priority of TACIS funding is Nuclear Safety. The European Commission has made available a total of 944 Million € for nuclear safety programmes covering the period 1991–2003. The TACIS nuclear safety programme is devoted to the improvement of the safety of Soviet designed nuclear installations in providing technology and safety culture transfer. JRC is carrying out works in the following areas: • On-Site Assistance for TACIS operating Nuclear Power Plants; • Design Safety and Dissemination of TACIS results; • Reactor Pressure Vessel Embrittlement for VVER; • Regulatory Assistance; • Industrial Waste Management; • Nuclear Safeguards. All TACIS projects, dealing with these areas of activity are now available in so called Project Description Sheets (PDS) or Project Results Sheets (PRS) in the Internet for everybody. JRC has created in the Internet an easy to open and to browse database which contains the result of works in relation to the above mentioned nuclear activities. This presentation gives an on-line overview of the app. 430 projects which have been implemented so far since the outset of the TACIS Nuclear Progremme in the Russian Federation, which is representative to the other CIS countries, benefiting from the TACIS. The presentation will mainly consist of an on-line-demonstration of the TACIS Nuclear WEB Page, created by JRC.

Industry-specific technology demonstration projects are key to facilitating deployment of solar industrial process heat technologies. Frito Lay North America (FLNA) is pursuing installation of a solar industrial process heat plant at the manufacturing plant in Modesto CA. FLNA contracted with Industrial Solar Technology Corp. for design and installation of the system and with National Renewable Energy Lab for technical assistance. The US Department of Energy and California Energy Commission both facilitate private companies implementation of technology demonstration projects with incentives, tax policy, and technical assistance. The solar plant would include: 5,387 m2 (57,969 sf) of parabolic trough solar collectors; pipe from solar array to unfired steam generator; unfired steam generator (USG); hot water heat exchanger (HWHX); pipe from hot water heat exchanger back to array field; and associated pumps, bypass piping, and controls. Performance of each component of the solar heating system varies with changing conditions of intensity of the sunlight, position of the sun, and ambient temperature. Since each of these parameters change throughout the day and throughout the seasons an hourly simulation of one year’s performance is performed. The simulation is used to estimate annual energy delivery as well as to inform design recommendations. The solar array inlet temperature is solved for iteratively for each hour of the year based on an energy balance of the entire loop including all components. Nested within this iteration are iterations for the operating temperature of each of the 16 modules in series. Hourly direct beam solar radiation (W/m2) data for Modesto CA for 8 years from 1998–2005 was provided by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Renewable Resource Data Center and the minimum year, average year, and maximum year were used in the analysis. Results indicate that the system would deliver between 3,898 MWh and 4,308 MWh per year (13.3 and 14.7 billion Btu/year) with an average of 4,044 MWh/year (13.8 billion Btu/year). This average estimate of 13.8 billion Btu/year agrees with the contractors proposal and also with methods described in the Industrial Process Heat Handbook published by NREL. The simulation is able to model more detail and inform design recommendations, such as bypassing the steam generator and only making hot water on winter days.

The disused sealed radioactive sources including orphan sources in Lebanon, along with the growing industry of sealed radioactive sources in medical, industrial and research fields have posed a serious problem for authorities as well as users due to the lack of a national store for disused radioactive sources. Assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was requested to condition and store disused radium needles and tubes present at two facilities. The mission took place on July 25, 2001 and was organized by the IAEA in cooperation with the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission (LAEC). Other disused radioactive sources were kept in the facilities till a safer and securer solution is provided; however orphan sources, found mainly during export control, were brought and stored temporarily in LAEC. The necessity of a safe and secure store became a must. Prior to October 2005, there was no clear legal basis for establishing such store for disused radioactive sources, until the ministerial decree no 15512 dated October 19, 2005 (related to the implementation of decree-law no 105/83) was issued which clearly stated that “The LAEC shall, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health, establish a practical mechanism for safe disposal of radioactive waste”. Following this, the work on inventory of disused sealed sources along with collecting orphan sources and placing them temporarily in LAEC was legally supported. Moreover, several missions were planned to repatriate category I and II sources, one of which was completed specifically in August 2009; other missions are being worked on. In 2008, a national technical cooperation project with the IAEA was launched. Under the Technical Cooperation (TC) project with reference number LEB3002, the project was entitled “Assistance in the establishment of a safe temporary national storage at the LAECfor orphan sources and radioactive waste” which cycle is 2009–2011. Under this project, a national store for radioactive sources in the third basement of LAEC is being established. The area is being reconstructed currently and will be equipped when ready under LEB3002 project. Along with this, a system for sealed disused sources management has been prepared, part of which is applied now and the rest will be applied upon the establishment of the store. This paper will cover the inventory collection process, the study for the establishment of this store, the present and prospective waste management system, and the waste acceptance criteria.