INRA, which comprises the nuclear safety authorities of Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States, met twice in 2005 under the German chairmanship of Mr. Wolfgang Renneberg (Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit – BMU, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Protection of Nature and Nuclear Safety), in Bonn in June and in Munich in September.

Apart from presenting the main events in their respective countries, the INRA members discussed the safety consequences of installation ageing, the lessons to be learned from the third meeting of the contracting parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety (see point 2.1 above), cooperation in the licensing process (for example licensing by the Finnish authority of the Franco-German designed EPR reactor) and the notion of the independence of the nuclear safety authority.

The INRA members appointed the Director General of the ASN chairman of the association for 2006.

The WENRA association was officially created in February 1999, the founder members being the heads of the nuclear safety authorities of Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The Director General of the ASN was nominated first Chairman for a period of two years and his term of office was extended in 2001 for a further period of two years. Following their March 2003 meeting, the WENRA members appointed Mrs Judith Melin (Sweden) as chairwoman. During this same meeting, they decided to admit to the association the regulators of the seven "nuclear" countries (operating at least one nuclear reactor to produce electricity) who were at that time applying for membership of the European Union: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The objectives defined by the WENRA members when the association was created are:
- to provide the European Union with an independent capability for examining nuclear safety and regulations problems in the countries applying for membership of the European Union;
- to develop a common approach to nuclear safety and regulation, in particular within the European Union.

With regard to the first task, WENRA in October 2000 published a revised version of its report on safety in the seven nuclear countries applying for membership of the European Union. This report contributed to the position adopted by the Council of the European Union and the recommendations sent by the Commission to these countries to enable them to attain the high level of nuclear safety required prior to their acceptance into the Union.

With regard to the second task it set for itself (harmonisation of national approaches to safety), WENRA created two working groups:
- one (under the control of the British nuclear safety authority) for nuclear power plants (see chapter 12),
– the other (under the control of the ASN - until 2004 - and then the Czech safety authority) for management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, plus dismantling operations (see chapter 16).

In each of these fields, the groups began by defining the reference levels for each technical topic, based on the IAEA's most recent standards and on the most demanding approaches employed within the European Union (and therefore, for all practical purposes, in the world).

As an initial pilot study (the conclusions of which are available on the ASN's website) into harmonisation of nuclear reactor safety in the founding countries had demonstrated the relevance and effectiveness of the methodology adopted, a process to assess national practices in relation to these reference levels was then developed.

During its two annual plenary meetings, WENRA is kept informed of the progress of the groups work and determines future guidelines for the groups. Thus, in 2005, during their last meeting in Stockholm (7 - 9 December), in application of the commitments made during the previous meetings - particularly the previous meeting of 15-16 March at The Hague, Netherlands) the WENRA members were able to examine the conclusions of the working groups, presenting the results of the national practices assessment process. For nuclear power reactors, these results indicated that the harmonisation work under way for the past three years was well advanced, with numerous reference levels being defined. For spent fuel and radioactive waste management, this work is less well advanced and will be continued.

The next steps are as follows:
– the conclusions of the working groups will be made public during the course of a seminar to be held in Brussels on 9 February 2006;
- before the end of 2006, each member will present an action plan, that aims to bring its national practices into compliance with the defined reference levels for any technical area in which there are identified differences,
- national practices must be harmonised by 2010.

ASN's position

This work as a whole confirms WENRA's ability to carry out wide-ranging, bottom-up nuclear safety harmonisation work (directives, action plan, etc.).

INRA and WENRA, which were created at the initiative of the Director General of the ASN, also constitute unique and irreplaceable opportunities for free and informal discussions between nuclear safety authority heads.