ASN took part in the INRA plenary meeting
Information notice
This meeting, with Japan as chair, was an opportunity for INRA's members to discuss current topics, subjects of common interest and nuclear safety issues.
The members of INRA(1) in particular shared their experience regarding internal transformation and initiatives to reinforce the efficiency of their actions, improve their regulatory frameworks and adapt to the coming challenges. Of these, climate change and its possible repercussions on the energy policies of the States, were discussed. More particularly, the growing interest in small modular reactors (SMR) on the part of many players in the nuclear sector was underlined. The members of INRA thus discussed their current or future activities in this area. The question of the operating lifetime of the NPPs was also tackled, as were the conditions for the long-term management of nuclear waste and the reprocessing of spent fuel.
Among the other subjects covered, the Japanese nuclear safety regulator presented the state of progress of its review of the file on the discharges at sea of the tritiated water currently stored on the site of the Fukushima Daiichi NPP, and which was the subject of an IAEA evaluation mission.
Bernard Doroszczuk notably emphasised the issues surrounding the construction of new installations, the development of new reactor concepts, the continued operation of reactors beyond 50, or even 60 years, and the major political decisions to be taken in the short and medium terms. He also mentioned the importance of forward planning and maintaining safety margins as well as the need to implement a coherent, long-term radioactive waste management policy.
Rumina Velshi, the Chair of the CCSN, the Canadian nuclear safety regulator, was appointed as Chair of INRA for a period of one year.
This meeting was an opportunity to visit a number of nuclear sites, including the fuel fabrication and spent fuel reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, and the Onagawa NPP, where major civil engineering work is under way to protect it against tidal wave flooding risks.
- INRA (International Nuclear Regulators Association) comprises the heads of nine nuclear safety regulators: ASN (France), BMUV (Germany), CCSN (Canada), CSN (Spain), NRA (Japan), NRC (United States), NSSC (South Korea), ONR (United Kingdom) and SSM (Sweden).
Date of last update : 12/12/2022