The commissioner of the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), Javier Dies, and the technical director of Nuclear Safety, Rafael Cid, have participated in the plenary meeting of the Western European Nuclear Regulators’ Association (WENRA) that has been held between yesterday and today in a hybrid way. The CSN delegation has participated electronically.

At the beginning of the plenary meeting, an update of the implementation of the strategic objectives of the group of European Regulators was addressed. In the same way, the activities to monitor the degree of regulatory harmonization and at the implementation at the facility level of the WENRA Safety Reference Levels was covered. As a matter of special interest, the revision of the content and the current state of development of the technical specifications that will delimit and define the second Topical Peer Review under the Nuclear Safety Directive, which will focus on fire safety in facilities and will be developed in 2022 and 2023, stands out. The purpose of the specifications is to serve as a technical guide for participating countries in the preparation of their self-assessment national reports, as well as for the experts who will participate in the review process.

The meeting also served to review the activity of the working groups dedicated to the harmonization of nuclear safety requirements for reactors (Reactor Harmonization Working Group), to the safe management of radioactive waste and decommissioning (Working Group on Waste and Decommissioning) and nuclear safety in research reactors (Working Group on Research Reactors). At the previous meeting, an additional group was created, the Steering Group of Reference Levels (SRL Steering Group), which will address the ongoing process of reviewing, updating and reorganizing the entire body of safety reference levels of the association. In addition, proposals for new WENRA activities associated with the regulatory activities linked to the small modular reactors (SMR) and the foreseen deployment of these technologies in some of the WENRA member countries was introduced.

Likewise, the representatives of the different regulators that integrate this association contributed with the most important activities that their institutions and countries have faced since the last meeting.

The Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA) was created 20 years ago in the spirit of establishing a regional forum that allows the exchange of information and experiences in nuclear safety and the development of initiatives and programs within the framework of the European Union, aimed at the harmonization of the safety of nuclear installations in Europe.

The Nuclear Safety Council is one of the founding members and participates in plenary meetings as well as in permanent working groups.

 

* Check here the glossary of technical terms *