The chairman of the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), Mr Josep Maria Serena i Sender together with commissioner Pilar Lucio, held a bilateral exchange this afternoon via videoconference with the president and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), Ms Rumina Velshi and the Executive Vice-President and Chief Regulatory Operations Officer, Ramzi Jammal.

This meeting is the first arranged by both presidents since the recent approval, last September, of the first Memorandum of Understanding between both regulators.

The Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation and exchange of information in nuclear regulatory matters between the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council provides a framework for bilateral collaboration and information exchange between the Spanish and the Canadian regulator. It will have an initial duration of five years and includes the exchange of information on nuclear safety, radiation protection and physical protection, including aspects such as operational experience and lessons learned from nuclear incidents and accidents, emergency management and communication in crisis situations. Likewise, under the agreement, lessons learned about communication strategies in the nuclear and radiological field, the management of high-level waste and spent fuel, research and development, can be shared; and respective regulatory activities, including those for innovative nuclear technologies.

Both organizations have previously cooperated in multilateral fields, for example in working groups of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the OECD and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as well as in the International Nuclear Regulators Association (INRA) and the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association Association of European Nuclear Regulators (WENRA).

The bilateral meeting has also allowed to address potential issues for future bilateral cooperation, such as the assessment of the safety culture in regulators, communication and public participation strategies and actions, and regulatory actions in areas such as the disposal of radioactive waste and spent fuel or the site remediation and the management of contaminated soils.

Moreover, the meeting allowed to review topics of common interest related to the participation of the CSN and the CNSC in the framework of the IAEA and regulatory associations such as INRA.

 

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