WENRA statement

The Western European Nuclear Regulators’ Association, WENRA, has published a statement in which it sets new, stricter safety objectives for new nuclear power plants. By improving the design of power plants on the basis of operating experience and technical developments, the Association wants to ensure that nuclear power plants that will be built in Europe in future years will be even safer than those currently in operation. Members of WENRA emphasise that in designing new nuclear power plants, it is important to take into account operating experience feedback of current plants, the lessons learned from accidents and the development of nuclear power technology and safety assessments. WENRA strives to actively promote that more demanding safety objectives will also be taken into account in the standards published by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The statement is based on the report published by WENRA in January 2010 and the comments which various interest groups have provided in the report. Established in 1999 with the participation of the European countries and Switzerland, the WENRA’s objective is to harmonise the safety of European nuclear power plants at the very least to the basic level that has been jointly agreed on. It also aims to promote the continuous improvement of safety at both current and future nuclear power plants. Among the objectives of WENRA safety of radioactive waste, decommissioning and final disposal plays an important role. The harmonisation of requirements in this field is an ongoing process. The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority takes part in the acitivity of WENRA. Mr. Iván Lux, Deputy Director General represents HAEA in the Association. The statement can be read in full on WENRA’s website at www.wenra.org.