This week the sixth edition of the International Regulatory Conference organized between the European Nuclear Regulators Group (ENSREG) and the European Commission took place in Brussels, in which the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) participated through its president, Juan Carlos Lentijo and commissioner Pilar Lucio.

Juan Carlos Lentijo, as head of the Spanish regulatory body, gave a presentation in the session dedicated to the key issues in nuclear safety research, in which he presented the 2021-2025 R&D Plan as well as the main CSN regulatory challenges linked to research and development.

Among the challenges mentioned, Lentijo highlighted the need to streamline the processes for assigning resources to R&D projects, in coordination with other entities involved, especially from the public sector, the applicability of the results obtained from R&D in activities of regulation, without forgetting the cooperation both nationally and internationally in this area and the dissemination of the results achieved.

On her behaf, commissioner Lucio intervened as a speaker in the session dedicated to the adaptation carried out by the regulators during the health crisis generated by Covid-19. Lucio presented the strategy developed by the CSN in the context of the restrictions of the pandemic and which allowed the institution's activity to continue, fulfilling the functions assigned to the regulator, especially in maintaining the supervision and regulation of health services and of energy production, which were considered essential in this context, always within the scope of the CSN's powers. The commissioner highlighted the regulator's capacity for adaptation and resilience to deal with the situation.

The conference was inaugurated by the president of the Conference, Gerrit Niehaus, director of nuclear safety and radiological protection of the BMUV (German acronym for the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection); the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi; the Commissioner for Energy of the European Commission, Kadri Simson and the president of the Western European Regulators Association (WENRA), Olivier Gupta.

Of special interest was the monographic session dedicated to nuclear safety in Ukraine, which included the participation of the acting president of the Ukrainian regulator (SNRIU), Oleh Korikov, in which the importance of guaranteeing decent working conditions for workers of the country's nuclear facilities as a fundamental element. In this regard, the help provided by the member countries in sending material and offering technical support to the Ukrainian regulator was also commented.

All the sessions had a colloquium format after the presentations in which the participants discussed and contributed with practical cases and lessons learned, due to their interest as a reference for action in the face of emerging challenges, both for regulators and for other organizations involved in the international framework.

In addition, other issues of interest were addressed in sessions dedicated to the regulatory challenges of new designs or public participation in waste management and long-term operation. The Conference, held between Monday and Tuesday, was attended by 300 representatives of nuclear regulatory bodies, as well as professional associations, civil and environmental groups. Both the day on Monday and Tuesday could be followed through the retransmission platform of the European Commission.

Plenary Meeting

Once the Conference was over, the ENSREG Plenary held its 49th meeting, which was also attended by a delegation from the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council headed by its president, Juan Carlos Lentijo.

Among the issues addressed at this meeting, the activities of compliance with Directive 2014/87/Euratom on nuclear safety and, especially, the progress of the activities related to the second Topical Peer Review (TPR) exercise on issues of special relevance to nuclear safety.

On this occasion, the second TPR, which will run until 2024, is dedicated to fire protection, in both nuclear and fuel cycle facilities. More information on this can be found on the CSN website through the following link.

About Ensreg

ENSREG is a high-level advisory group created in 2007 at the request of the European Commission to raise recommendations to the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament on Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Waste Management. The CSN participates in its meetings as well as in ENSREG working groups dedicated to the areas of Nuclear Safety, Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management, International Cooperation and Communication and Transparency of the regulatory body.

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