ASN Report 2017

185 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 07  - International relations The safety regulators also set up voluntary associations, such as the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA), the Heads of the European Radiological protection Competent Authorities (HERCA) and the European Association of Competent Authorities (EACA) for the transport of radioactive materials. At a multilateral level, cooperation takes place within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN agency founded in 1957, and the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), created in 1958. These two agencies are the most important inter-governmental organisations in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection. 1.1 Giving priority to Europe Europe is one of the priority areas for ASN’s international actions. The aim is to contribute to sharing, harmonisation and improving knowledge and practices in the fields of nuclear safety, the safety of waste and spent fuel management and radiation protection. With regard to nuclear safety and the safe management of waste and spent fuel, ASN takes part in two informal organisations working more specifically in favour of European harmonisation: ENSREG and WENRA. ENSREG was created in 2008 and led to a political consensus on European Directives concerning nuclear safety in June 2009, followed by spent fuel management and waste in July 2011. This institution also took part in a process to revise the Nuclear Safety Directive proposed by the European Commission in 2013, following on from the review further to the Fukushima Daiichi accident. Each safety regulator then provided technical advice to its government responsible for the negotiations in Brussels, until its revision on 8th July 2014. WENRA was created in 1999 and is an association of the heads of nuclear regulatory authorities in European countries with power reactors, with the other countries being observers. This association is based on experience-sharing by safety regulators with a view to harmonising safety rules for reactors and waste management facilities. In the field of radiation protection, HERCA, which was founded in 2007, aims to create an informal forum for heads of radiation protection authorities, along the lines of WENRA. Its aim is to reinforce European cooperation in radiation protection and the harmonisation of national practices. 1.2 Cooperation in the fields of nuclear safety and radiation protection outside Europe ASN multiplies its initiatives to share nuclear safety and radiation protection best practices and regulations outside Europe. Within the IAEA, ASN thus actively participates in the work of the Commission on Safety Standards (CSS) which drafts international standards for the safety of nuclear installations, waste management, the transport of radioactive substances and radiation protection. Although not legally binding, these standards do constitute an international reference, including Presentation by Pierre-Franck Chevet, ASN Chairman, at the opening of the ENSREG conference in Brussels, 28th-29th June 2017.