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2025
Spain hosts IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service Follow-up Mission
Several institutions, including the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council and ministries are participating in the review
High-level international experts will assess implementation of suggestions made in 2018
Integrated Regulatory Review System Follow-up Mission
The Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN,by its acronym in Spanish) is hosting an IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) Follow-up Mission until February 3rd. This review builds upon the 2018 mission and aims to assess the implementation of the recommendations made to the Spanish regulator following the last visit.
Throughout the week, the mission team will hold a series of meetings and interviews to review documentation provided by the involved institutions and analyse the progress made in addressing the recommendations related to nuclear safety and radiological protection in Spain.
In 2018, the IAEA team highlighted the high level of preparation, experience, and dedication of the staff from the ministries involved, the CSN, and ENRESA. The international organisation identified a number of good practices in all institutions reviewed and made recommendations to the Government, the CSN, and other entities such as the ministries of Ecological Transition, Foreign Affairs, Health, Consumer Affairs, Development, and Interior.
Specifically for the CSN, the mission team made five improvement proposals addressing cooperation agreements with other competent authorities on contaminated areas management; provisions for conducting periodic self-assessments of its management system; development of regulatory provisions for emergency preparedness and response; participation in a dialogue with the government to obtain the necessary flexibility to adjust its organizational structure; and the improvement of its training activities through the establishment of a more systematic training approach.
Over the past years, the regulatory body has worked to implement concrete actions to address the suggested improvements. "This kind of mission demonstrates the Council's commitment to nuclear safety and radiological protection at all levels," commented CSN President Juan Carlos Lentijo, who thanked all the institutions involved for their dedication and effort on this review.
In addition to the CSN technical team, the Follow-up Mission includes IAEA experts, reviewers from the regulatory bodies of the United States (USNRC), Switzerland (ENSI), Germany (BMUB), and France (ASNR), as well as representatives from the ministries for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITERD); Foreign Affairs, Health, and Interior.
Follow-up
The Follow-up Mission addresses the status of all situations related to exposure, activities, and regulated facilities such as nuclear power plants, fuel cycle facilities, waste management facilities, radiation sources in industrial and medical facilities, spent nuclear fuel storage and transport containers, as well as facilities and activities related to naturally occurring radioactive materials. It also reviews emergency preparedness and response, transport, decommissioning, medical exposure control, occupational exposure control, environmental monitoring, discharge control, and public exposure.
IRRS missions are designed to strengthen the effectiveness of the national nuclear regulatory infrastructure, utilizing IAEA safety standards and international best practices, while recognizing the authority and competence of each country to ensure nuclear and radiological safety. Countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, South Korea and the Czech Republic have recently hosted such missions with the participation of CSN members as reviewers.
Spain hosted its first IRRS in 2008, with a Follow-up Mission in 2011. In 2018, Spain hosted the first combined IRRS-ARTEMIS mission conducted by the IAEA to date. ARTEMIS missions (Integrated Review Service for Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management, Decommissioning and Remediation) are peer reviews to provide independent expert advice on radioactive waste and spent fuel management. The Follow-up to the ARTEMIS mission will take place in October of this year. In 2018, the team consisted of 24 high-level international experts from Germany, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Slovenia, the United States, Finland, France, Hungary, Japan, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and IAEA staff.