European regulators reaffirm commitment to maintaining a high level of nuclear safety

WENRA is an informal association of representatives of the nuclear regulatory authorities of European countries with nuclear programmes. Nineteen Member States including Slovenia, three Associate Members and ten Observers are represented. The main tasks of the association are to maintain a common approach to maintaining nuclear safety and, to this end, to develop common European Safety Reference Levels (SRL), to provide independent reviews of nuclear safety in European countries and to exchange experiences.

The meeting was opened by a welcoming address by the State Secretary at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, Mr. Miran Gajšek. He stressed the importance of European and global cooperation in regulating and ensuring a high level of safety of nuclear installations and proper management of radioactive waste. He expressed the Slovenian Government's support for the commitment to the safe use of nuclear energy at a national level and worldwide.

Participants were briefed, inter alia, on the recent situation in Ukraine and the work of the individual WENRA Working Groups, in particular on the implementation and possible renewal of SRL in different areas and discussed cooperation and possible solutions in mutual acceptance or consideration of regulatory decisions in the review of technical solutions for the new power plant projects. The need for as uniform an approach as possible among the competent European regulatory authorities is becoming even more important in the light of the increased interest in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the emerging new technologies and reactor types, including small modular reactors, digitalisation and artificial intelligence in the nuclear industry. The rapidly changing situation and advances will require the development of new working methods and approaches to address future regulatory and technical challenges. WENRA has already adapted its strategy to these new challenges, which will not only be based on the development of SRLs but will also address innovative technologies, climate change, cyber security and knowledge management.