To do this, WENRA draws on three working groups, each with competence in a field of nuclear safety: ∙ the Reactor Harmonisation Working Group (RHWG); ∙ the Working Group on Radioactive Waste and Decommissioning (WGWD); ∙ the Working Group on Research Reactors (WGRR). The work done by WENRA in 2022 led to a number of significant advances, in particular: ∙ completion of the drafting of the technical specifications for the second thematic peer review, devoted to protecting nuclear installations against fire hazards; ∙ definition of the criteria for expanding the association to other countries and to changing the status from observer member to associate member; ∙ the adoption of a joint declaration recalling the importance of nuclear safety in the current energy crisis context; ∙ coordination of the position of the WENRA members on several subjects currently under discussion at the European or international level. The WENRA members in particular confirmed that the various international initiatives on the subject of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) should enable the nuclear safety authorities to assume their national responsibilities. In 2022, the WENRA Chairman also took part in various conferences held by the WENRA stakeholders. With respect to the joint declaration mentioned above, he stressed the fact that the current renewed interest in nuclear power demands collective vigilance to maintain a high level of safety yet should be considered as an opportunity to achieve new progress in the field of safety, thanks to work being done on innovative technologies. Finally, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, WENRA set up a group specifically to regularly send out information to its members on the situation of the nuclear installations and tasked with making public joint positions on events liable to have safety consequences, as well as to conduct simulations of accident scenarios in order to anticipate the deployment of coordinated measures by the WENRA members, were an accident to occur on a Ukrainian nuclear installation. Plenary meeting of WENRA in Bonn (Germany) – April 2022 WAR IN UKRAINE: WENRA TAKES ACTION As of the beginning of the conflict, the entire international community of nuclear safety authorities took action. Whether at the national, European or international levels, various initiatives were carried out to recall the international principles of nuclear law, produce situation briefings, share preoccupations and provide the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) and the Ukrainian Government with material or human assistance. In addition to several discussions held during the plenary meetings of WENRA or extraordinary meetings devoted to the crisis in Ukraine, WENRA set up a group of experts. This group, which is chaired by ASN, comprises technical support from WENRA members and representatives of the European Commission. This expert group produced technical analyses of situations with particular safety implications and published its resulting position statements. After publishing an initial joint position statement with HERCA on 9 March, it drafted three position statements concerning the Chernobyl site (11 March) and the Zaporizhzhia NPP (24 March and 10 August). These position statements, focusing on the technical aspects of the situation in Ukraine, express a common view by the regulators about situations which could have a major potential impact on safety. This group of experts also conducted comparative evaluations of source terms emitted into the atmosphere following a jointly selected specific core melt accident. The work that it did confirmed their mutual understanding and their knowledge of the tools, hypotheses and codes used by the various organisations to produce their models. They demonstrated that several organisations in Europe, even if few in number, are able to calculate the source terms in real-time and with coherent results. The hypotheses which need to be adjusted to more accurately reflect reality were also identified, thus reinforcing the implementation of a coordinated Europe-wide response in the event of an accident. ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2022 197 • 06 • International relations 06 01 07 08 13 AP 04 10 12 14 03 09 05 11 02
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