OECD NEA Steering Committee 2023 Spring Meeting in Paris

OECD NEA Steering Committee

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Steering Committee, in the work of which the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority plays active role, held its 145th meeting in Paris on 20-21 April 2023. The reports on the agenda of the meeting included, among others, the organisation's programme of work and budgets, the current NEA joint projects and the situation of staff on loan at the NEA.

The priority of the NEA SC regarding small modular reactors (SMRs) is to monitor the development and deployment of each reactor type at global level and to classify progress for comparability. The new regular publication of the Secretariat aims to match this goal. The NEA Secretariat also delivered a presentation on the INEX-6 emergency exercise, which explores long-term recovery options after a fictitious nuclear accident, with a particular focus on socio-economic impacts and communication with stakeholders.

On the second day of the meeting in the framework of a policy debate, participants reviewed the issues related to deep geological repository programmes for the long-term storage of high-level radioactive waste. The NEA believes that the technology is available today, as evidenced by the facility in Finland that will be operational in a few years. According to the organisation the main challenge is the political and social implications.