∙ adoption of a joint declaration on the challenges linked to SMR development, underlining the benefits for the members of implementing joint evaluation processes for reactors with a sufficiently mature design, informing industry of their requirements, so that such joint evaluations can be satisfactorily implemented. With respect to the war in Ukraine, WENRA maintained its exchanges with the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) so that it could provide it with any support necessary. In 2023, the group of experts specifically appointed by WENRA in 2022 to carry out activities related to the war in Ukraine published its safety assessment of the Zaporizhzhia NPP following the failure of the Kakhovka dam. In 2023, the WENRA Chairman also took part in various conferences organised by the WENRA stakeholders, such as IAEA or NEA, during which he shared his vision of the challenges faced by safety regulators, governments and industry in the new nuclear context. For 2024, one of WENRA’s priorities will be the implementation of its new strategy. 2.8 THE ASSOCIATION OF THE HEADS OF EUROPEAN RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION COMPETENT AUTHORITIES (HERCA) In the field of radiation protection, HERCA, founded in 2007, also at the instigation of ASN, is an association of the Heads of the European Radiological Protection Competent Authorities. Its aim is to reinforce European cooperation in radiation protection and to harmonise national practices. HERCA now comprises 56 authorities from 32 European countries, comprising the 27 members of the EU, Iceland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Serbia and Switzerland. For the first semester of 2023, its technical secretariat was entrusted to the Swedish nuclear safety regulator (Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten – SSM) which also chaired the association before this role was transferred to ASN. Since June 2023, Jean-Luc Lachaume, an ASN Commissioner, has chaired HERCA with the support of two vice-chairs, one from the Luxembourg health ministry and the other a Commissioner of the Spanish nuclear safety regulator (Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear – CSN). Six expert groups are currently working on the following themes: ∙ practices and sources in the industrial and research fields; ∙ medical applications of ionising radiation; ∙ preparedness for and management of emergency situations; ∙ veterinary applications; ∙ natural radiation sources; ∙ education and training. HERCA also hosts a network of experts which collaborate at several levels: collection, registration and reporting of occupational doses. In June 2023, the association met in Stockholm, and then again remotely in November. The undertakings made by the new Chair concern the concrete implementation of HERCA’s strategy, with ASN making a significant contribution to its definition. The main areas for focus in 2023 are the following: ∙ reinforcing HERCA communications and visibility in order to improve the accessibility of its technical documentation and its positions by its stakeholders and the public; ∙ its continued active participation in the project to overhaul the recommendations of the ICRP; ∙ preparation of a seminar dedicated to implementation of Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom of 5 December 2013 (see point 2.4), by its member countries and with the participation of the European Commission in May 2024. In June 2023, HERCA also organised a seminar devoted to radiotherapy inspection and took part in a number of international events, including those organised by the ICRP and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in September 2023, dedicated to management of emergency situations. Finally, HERCA published the “country data sheets” of its members regarding the designation of radiation protection experts and officers required by Directive 2013/59/Euratom. 2.9 THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S ASSISTANCE PROGRAMMES At the European level, through the Instrument for Cooperation on Nuclear Safety (ICNS) it created in 2007, the European Commission enables nuclear safety regulators in emerging countries to benefit from assistance missions to help them set up or reinforce their regulatory framework and practices in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection. In 2021, the European Parliament approved a new instrument equivalent to the ICNS, the European instrument for assistance and cooperation in nuclear safety (EINS), endowed with a budget of 300 million euros for the period 2021-2027. This budget allows funding of activities carried out by the nuclear safety regulators of the Member States, their technical support organisations and other organisations, as applicable, on behalf of the beneficiary countries. It was thus in 2023 that ASN contributed to structuring a project to support the Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies in Africa (FNRBA). The European Commission has allocated a budget of 4.8 million euros to this project, the aim of which is to support the development of a nuclear safety culture in several African countries and help them implement a regulatory framework based on the strictest nuclear safety and radiation protection standards. If this project, which is to start in 2024, is confirmed, it would be implemented with the participation of several European States via their nuclear safety regulator or their technical support organisation within a consortium for which ASN would assume technical leadership and Expertise France administrative management. The EINS instrument is supplemented by other international technical assistance programmes in response to resolutions taken by the G8 or by IAEA to improve nuclear safety in third-party countries and which are financed by contributions from donor States and from the EU. 196 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 • 06 • International relations
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