The Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) has participated in the 44th meeting of the Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) that took place between yesterday and today. The CSN representatives at this meeting, held virtually, have been the commissioner Pilar Lucio and the director of Nuclear Safety, Rafael Cid, among other members of the regulatory body.

The December meeting of the CNRA committee has been chaired by the president of the Finnish regulator, Petteri Tiippana, and has been focused on the strategic approach of the committee, from the redefinition of its objectives, the identification of its priorities and future challenges and its vision of governance and internal organization, based on the information obtained from the contributions made by its members during 2019 and 2020. The debate on this restructuring concluded with the need for further analysis by all regulatory authorities, given the importance of these changes in the future functioning of the organization. The forecast for the implementation of the new strategy is about two years and among the priorities identified, the so-called supply chain and the need to integrate it into the safety management systems of the nuclear power plants during their operating lifetime. In addition to this and other elements and novelty priorities, the committee will continue to focus on facilitating the exchange of experiences and knowledge in the field of nuclear safety regulation and other cross-cutting aspects such as safety culture or public communication and participation.

Likewise, the Director-General of the NEA, William Magwood, reported during the meeting on the current context of the Covid-19 pandemic and on the need to extract lessons learned about how it has affected inspection practices, operating experience, communication and safety culture, among other relevant aspects that are expected to be addressed in future meetings.

Working groups’ activities

Finally, the committee reviewed the status and proposals for activities of the various working groups dependent on the CNRA, which have adapted their work dynamics to the virtual mode without hardly affecting their planning.

The representatives of these groups had the opportunity to present their progress to the main committee and propose new activities and reports for approval; These included task proposals on the impact of COVID on inspection activities, on leadership and safety culture in organizations, including regulators, and on the workshop on nuclear risk communication, in preparation by the Working Group on Public Communication (WGPC) co-led by the CSN. The approval of the document that includes the regulatory position on the Impact of Cyber Security Features on Digital I&C Systems Important to Safety at Nuclear Power Plants, prepared by the digital instrumentation and control group (WGDIC), stands out. This report has been led by the CSN representative in the working group, and in its preparation he has significantly participated in coordination with other areas of the CSN. All the CSN representatives in the groups perform an essential function in the CSN's contribution to the NEA's activity, which in turn, allows to obtain the best feedback.

The CSN considers important maintaining of an active participation in all the groups of which it is part, and directly promotes activities relate to the safety culture (since the Spanish regulator is immersed in its own evaluation process) and the communication of risks to the public. Therefore, the attendance to this meeting is considered relevant and strategic, as it provides the CSN with the most valid references towards maintaining updated regulations and practices harmonized with our environment.

The CNRA is an international committee composed of representatives of the regulatory bodies of OECD member countries. It was created in 1989 to guide the NEA program on the regulation, authorization and inspection of nuclear facilities in terms of safety.

* Check here the glossary of technical terms *