A delegation from the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), headed by Commissioner Pilar Lucio and Deputy Director of Nuclear Facilities, Cristina Les, has participated in the working sessions of the Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) from the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

This is the first meeting of the Committee after its restructuring in December 2022, which consisted on the creation of five working groups focused on constant improvement in the field of nuclear safety.

The new mandates address aspects such as the supervision and monitoring of facilities, the control of the supply chain and the incorporation of new technologies. Additionally, it is expected to reinforce cross-cutting aspects such as leadership, safety culture, communication with stakeholders and safety-oriented organisational capabilities.

NEA Director General William Magwood, assessed the organisation's first six months after the restructuring, assuring that the changes carried out make the Committee more compact and its operation, more efficient.

The CSN remains highly involved in the organisation through the presence of its technical staff in the different working groups to share knowledge and develop joint projects. Commissioner Pilar Lucio highlighted the regulator's commitment to the NEA as an essential forum for constant improvement, both from a technical and social point of view, through communication and transparency. Precisely on this last issue, Spain will host a working meeting next autumn.

The Committee was presented with the newly created working groups, such as leadership and safety culture or new technologies, which raised their planned activities for the coming years. Many of these groups represent the continuation of the previous ones, adapting their nomenclature or integrating others to make them more efficient, optimise their performance and increase the scope of their results.

The Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities

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 programme on the regulation, authorisation and inspection of nuclear facilities in terms of safety. The CNRA has various working groups that address several issues, from the operating experience of nuclear power plants to communication with the public, including the regulation of new reactors or the safety culture.

The CSN strongly supports active participation in all the groups that count with representatives from its technical staff. The CSN also directly promotes activities related to safety culture and risk communication to the public. Furthermore, the CSN’s International Relations Strategy includes a commitment to the membership to this organisation as it is considered a forum for constant improvement.