The president of the CSN, Josep Maria Serena i Sender, has met via videoconference with his counterparts from the International Nuclear Regulators Association (INRA), the organisation made up of the regulatory bodies of the nine countries in the world with more experience in the licensing of nuclear activities.

This meeting -which has been the first official act of the new chairman of the NRC (the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of the United States), Christopher T. Hanson, after the change in the US administration-, has allowed to share experiences and deepen into the main measures and provisions developed by regulatory bodies to deal with the COVID pandemic.

Therefore, Serena i Sender has explained the continuity plan that the CSN implemented during the declaration of the state of alarm in Spain and has reported on the CSN's regulatory activity, which has remained practically intact in all its fundamental processes. However, the president has emphasised that the inspection process has been the most affected by the pandemic, but the Spanish regulatory body adapted this plan to the situation by identifying which were the inspections that could be postponed, carried out remotely or through a combination of remote and on-site inspections.

Likewise, he has shared the document, approved in July 2020, with the general criteria for remote inspections, which includes the detailed process of how a virtual inspection should be carried out as well as all the administrative requirements and the possibility of carrying out mixed inspections, that is, part of the inspection remotely and the other part in person.

During his intervention, he also commented on some important aspects of future planning due to the situation generated by the pandemic, such as the final implementation of the transition to digital, progress in the organisation and development of CSN continuity plans, the renewal of the computer system and support and the reinforcement of the communication with all staff, among others.

The International Nuclear Regulators Association (INRA), founded by the regulatory bodies of the nine countries in the world with more experience in the licensing of nuclear activities was created in Paris in May 1997.

INRA holds two official meetings a year where regulatory issues of common interest are openly discussed. In this international association, transparency, multilateral cooperation and the exchange of experiences among the countries that compose it are promoted.

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