The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) held this morning the third extraordinary meeting to update the available data on the safety of the Ukrainian nuclear facilities. The meeting included the participation of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) and special attention was paid to the situation in Chornobyl after the announcement, by the Ukrainian authorities, of the loss of electrical power to this site.

On behalf of the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), the acting president, Javier Dies, and the technical director for Nuclear Safety, Juan Carlos Lentijo, participated. Regulators from Switzerland and the United Kingdom and the Western European Regulators Association (WENRA) also participated as observers in the meeting.

The association considers that the events that occurred in Chornobyl are an element of concern and supposes a violation of the key pillars of nuclear safety and security, although, as the IAEA declared, it does not suppose a critical impact on the safety of the facilities. ENSREG calls for power supply to be restored immediately and for the Ukrainian regulator (SNRIU) to be allowed to retake control of all facilities. In addition, it expresses its concern about the potential risks that could affect both the local population and neighboring countries.

On March 6, ENSREG already published a statement in which it expressed its concern about the situation, given the very serious consequences that an attack or the interruption of normality in the activity of the facilities could have for Europe and for the whole world. ENSREG will continue to coordinate closely on all these matters with the IAEA, will closely monitor the situation and call new meetings whenever the situation requires it.

ENSREG is a high-level advisory group created in 2007 at the request of the European Commission to raise recommendations to the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament on Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Waste Management. The CSN participates in its meetings as well as in ENSREG working groups dedicated to the areas of Nuclear Safety, Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management, International Cooperation and Communication and Transparency of the regulatory body.

Institutional declaration of ENSREG