The Second International Regulators Conference on Nuclear Security has started this morning at the Prado Museum in Madrid with the opening speech of Jorge Fernandez Díaz, Minister of Interior, Fernando Marti Scharfhausen, Chairman of the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), Stephen G. Burns, Chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), and Juan Carlos Lentijo, Deputy Director of the Nuclear Safety and Security Department of the Atomic International Energy Agency (AIEA).

The Conference, that builds on the results of the 2012 edition, which was held in Washington under the sponsorship of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC), will last until next Friday 13^th and will serve as a platform for dialogue, sharing experiences and building relationships among the counterpart regulatory entities responsible for the security of nuclear and radioactive materials and facilities.

This second edition of the Conference encompasses relevant topics such as the crucial importance of a strong and independent regulatory body, the new nuclear regulatory challenges, cybersecurity and the protection of confidentiality and information, security effectiveness, the security of research reactors, sources and transport activities and the nuclear security culture.

In his speech, the Minister of Interior stressed that the Ministry: “has defined a new security model for nuclear power plants based on the activation of a Response Units of the Guardia Civil to be located permanently in each one of the nuclear plants, representing 185 troops dedicated to this task in 2016, a figure that will grow by another 305 in 2017, to cover all nuclear power plants in Spain for a total of 490 members of this Response Units”.

On the other hand, Fernando Marti Scharfhausen stressed the opportunity of this meeting “to learn from each other and strengthen our collaboration towards the common goal of developing joint regulatory strategies to protect our citizens and critical infrastructures”. He also mentioned that this regulator’s conference “aims to contribute to the work already done under the Nuclear Security Summits and the International Atomic Energy Agency, by complementing with the regulators’ perspective on this important matter”.

In this sense, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission President, Stephen G. Burns, remarked that “this conference builds on the work of four years ago, with many of the same issues still foremost in our minds: legal and regulatory frameworks for security; the methodologies of establishing design basis threats and undertaking threat assessments; information protection and cyber security; the interface of safety and security regulations; and personnel trustworthiness and reliability”.

Finally, Juan Carlos Lentijo, Deputy Director of the Nuclear Safety and Security Department of the AIEA mentioned the agreement to extend the application of the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. “I am delighted to say that this past Sunday, 8^th of May 2016, marked the date of the entry into force of the Amended Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. This significant milestone means that there are now legally-binding requirements for countries to protect nuclear facilities, as well as nuclear material in domestic use, storage and transport”, he added.