The commissioner of the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), Francisco Castejón, has participated in the meeting of the General Committee of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

This Joint Convention is held every three years, but in 2021 it didn´t take place due to the pandemic, being postponed until the summer of this year. At today's meeting, all the evaluation committees have met, forming the so-called General Committee to prepare a roadmap that will serve as a guide for the evaluation of the reports and the presentations that will be made at the review meeting of the Convention.

This Convention is made up of States that come together voluntarily to share experiences, difficulties and good practices through the national reports presented by each country. Spain, at this meeting, like all countries, has presented a report that will be evaluated at the review meeting.

The evaluation of the reports is carried out in eight working groups, each group composed of different countries, through a committee that is in charge of each group of countries. Commissioner Francisco Castejón chairs group 7 (made up of Germany, Brazil, Cuba, Eritrea, Morocco, Mauritania, the Netherlands, Serbia, Ukraine and Uruguay) and will present and share the report of group 7 as well as the evaluation of the reports of these countries.

Francisco Castejón has reported that the progress of the work of group 7 is taking place as planned and has expressed his concern about the crisis generated by the war in Ukraine, which could have effects on the Convention. He has also pointed out the importance of this Convention to guarantee the safe management of radioactive waste, to establish good practices and for the most advanced countries to share experiences with those that have just joined the convention.

The number of countries participating in the Convention has risen from 75 to 83, demonstrating the growing international interest in exchanging experiences, challenges and good practices on the management of radioactive waste and spent fuel from nuclear power plants. Participation is not limited only to nuclear countries, but also is open to other countries that only have radioactive facilities medical and industrial uses.

 

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