The president of the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), Juan Carlos Lentijo, has participated in the meeting on gender equality in nuclear regulation of the International Gender Champions Impact Group (IGC IC) leadership network together with commissioner Pilar Lucio.

Rumina Velshi, president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), president of INRA and co-director of this group, presented the new incorporations from Israel, Australia and the South African Republic. For his part, Costance Vestervoss, head of gender equality at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), explained the agency's equality framework, which has the institutional support of its Director General Rafael Grossi and pursues the ambitious goal of reaching a situation of parity in 2025.

The president of the Spanish regulator insisted that talking about equal opportunities is also talking about a safety culture and highlighted some of the specific actions that were carried out at the CSN during 2021 in terms of equality that are based on a roadmap for the preparation of the first  CSN Equality Plan.

Lentijo recalled that more than half of the CSN staff is made up of women; the publication of the new CSN ​​style manual, which fundamental part is to “facilitate the incorporation of inclusive language in the regulatory body”; and added that "the Spanish regulator actively participates in the development of content for social networks related to equal opportunities and the presence of women in the scientific and nuclear fields." In addition, she shared the results of a perception survey conducted at the end of 2021 to ascertain the opinion of CSN professionals on equal opportunities, which will be the basis for the development of the first CSN Equality Plan.

The president of the CSN also recalled the last publication issued by the institution, a biography on the Nobel Prize in Physics María Goeppert Mayer and the previously published one on the life of Marie Curie, without forgetting the articles on women scientists in the informative magazine Alfa. At this point, he wanted to thank the work done by his predecessor, Josep María Serena, since he included equality as one of the strategic priorities of the Spanish regulator.

For his part, the Director General of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), William Magwood, explained the document that is being prepared on gender parity in the nuclear sector in this agency, which will be available in September and will be the basis of a Gender Balance Policy.

Gender equality in nuclear regulation

The International Gender Champions (IGC) organization brings together leaders and decision makers working to confront gender barriers and make gender equality a reality. Founded five years ago, the IGC network has more than 250 members.

Its board is made up of heads of organizations, diplomatic missions and institutions around the globe. They all share the goal of increasing the representation of women within their ranks.

In September 2020, the IGC Impact Group on Gender Equality in Nuclear Regulatory Agencies was established and co-chaired by Rumina Velshi, President of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Heidi Hulan, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to UN Agencies in Vienna, and Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The objective of the Impact Group is to expand the IGC sphere of influence and create a community of heads of nuclear regulatory agencies and organizations that are committed to address gender issues in their institutions, countries and with international partners, where they already are 26 members. .

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