The 150th session of the Steering Committee of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency held in Paris in light of historical perspectives and future challenges

The Steering Committee of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) held its 150th meeting from 22-23 October 2025, in Paris, with the participation of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority. The event included a policy briefing on the application of advanced recycling and used fuel treatment, where experts of the field gave presentations to representatives of Member States on the prospects of technological options aimed at reducing the amount of radioactive waste.

In view of the 150th occasion, the meeting was organized in the framework of recalling defining moments of past Steering Committee meetings while also presenting future challenges, such as the impacts of artificial intelligence.

In the administrative part of the meeting, the Member States were briefed by the Director-General of the NEA summarizing the main events of the past period, discussed the report on the progress of the scientific projects managed by the NEA and its Databank, and reviewed the status of applications submitted for the currently vacant position of Vice Chair of the Bureau of the Steering Committee.

The second day of the Steering Committee meeting included a policy briefing on the application of advanced recycling and used fuel treatment, where experts of the field gave presentations to representatives of Member States on the prospects of new technologies, such as advanced reprocessing, further utilization in new generation reactors, or even the extraction of medical isotopes and rare earth metals, to the reduce the total amount of radioactive waste.