The 52nd meeting of The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) took place yesterday with the focus on the continuous improvement of nuclear safety across the continent.
Held in Brussels, Donald Urquhart, the Office for Nuclear Regulation's (ONR) Executive Director of Regulation (EDR) attended for the UK.
Three substantive topics were discussed on Monday including the second Topical Peer Review (TPR 2) covering fire protection nuclear safety at nuclear installations, nuclear safety in Ukraine, and an ENSREG board report about stress corrosion cracking within French reactors.
Between 20-30 countries were represented at the independent expert advisory group's meeting, with those EU Member States in attendance being represented by senior officials from their national regulatory authorities or nuclear safety authorities, with representatives of the European Commission and WENRA also in attendance.
TPR 2 has been selected by ENSREG as part of the European Union’s revised Nuclear Safety Directive requirement for member states to undertake national assessments on a specific topic, related to nuclear safety, every six years, followed by a peer review by other member states.
Monday's meeting also featured a progress report on Small Modular Reactor European partnership work and updates on the safety of civil nuclear facilities in Ukraine, particularly at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Donald said: "Getting current information about nuclear safety in Ukraine is always very important, as is showing our support for the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine.
"I was keen to hear about the proportionality of the Topical Peer Review on fire safety, and progress in understanding and addressing steel corrosion cracking in France.
"Given the presence of almost all European nuclear states, the meeting was a really good opportunity to maintain strong relationships, networks and dialogues with counterparts and to discuss opportunities for cooperative working, including on the effects of climate change."