The Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) has participated in the 46th meeting of the Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) that took place between yesterday and today. The CSN delegation at this meeting has been led by the commissioner Pilar Lucio.

The Director-General of the NEA, William Magwood, welcomed the meeting participants and provided updated information on organizational aspects and relevant ongoing and planned activities within the international agency. Likewise, national representatives were provided with information on the conclusions and perspectives following the international conference organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the lessons learned a decade after the Fukushima Daiichi accident, held in November 2021, and after the UN climate change summit (COP26).

At the meeting, chaired by the president of the Finnish regulator, Petteri Tiippana, progress has been made in planning for the practical application of the committee's strategic approach and structure, redefined at the end of last year and which will be gradually implemented over the course of next year, with January 2023 as the target date for the effective start-up of the new organization.

In this way, the process of change of governance, internal organization and priorities of the committee for the coming years was analyzed, among which cross-cutting elements such as safety culture and leadership in regulatory organizations will reinforce their presence. Furthermore, aspects related to policies and regulatory aspects such as licensing, inspection and control and an intensified focus on the supply chain and emerging or innovative technologies will be integrated into the committee's work program.

During the first day of the meeting, the reports on the current activities of the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) and of the Working Group on Inspection Practices (WGIP), which objective is to promote the exchange of experiences related to safety inspections of nuclear power plants among the member countries of the NEA, were presented.

Working group´s activities

The Committee also 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, with little effect on their planning. All the groups have agreed to return to the in-person meetings in 2022, if the health conditions allow it.

The chairs of the working groups presented their progress and proposed new activities and reports for approval. Among them, the Operating Experience Group (WGOE) highlighted the seminar that will take place next spring on inspections to the licensees’ operating experience program.

For its part, the Working Group on Public Communication (WGPC) presented the news on the status of a new publication on trust in regulatory bodies and the anticipation of holding a seminar based on this topic the next spring.

Likewise, the progress of the Working Group on Safety Culture (WGSC) was presented, among other topics the methods to evaluate and strengthen the safety culture of the regulatory bodies and the novelties of the two tasks in which this group will be mainly involved in until 2023 were highlighted: the impact of regulatory bodies on the organizations they supervise (and vice versa) from a safety culture perspective and the leadership for safety.

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.

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