18 Nov (NucNet): EU member states have shown a good level of compliance with the 2009 Nuclear Safety Directive, although in some cases it is not certain that nuclear regulators are adequately staffed and funded, a European Commission report published today says.
The report says cooperation among member states is needed to ensure an effective use of existing resources, for instance in the case of licensing procedures for the long-term operation of nuclear plants or new build. Such cooperation would be “particularly beneficial” for smaller competent regulatory authorities.
It says international benchmarking has been widely used and that by the end of 2015, international counterparts will have reviewed the legal and organisational framework of all member states operating nuclear power plants, through IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service missions. Full-scope missions should be preferred to limited ones, the report says.
Safety arrangements imposed on nuclear installations – under the supervision of regulatory authorities – including development of expertise and skills, are largely in place, the report says.
It says that over the past five years, major steps have been taken at EU level to improve nuclear safety. These have followed a two-track approach: verifying the capabilities of nuclear installations to resist serious safety events and strengthening the legal framework.
Following the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident, the European Council asked the EC and the European Nuclear Safety Regulators’ Group (Ensreg) to reassess the EU’s 131 nuclear power reactors. The EC and Ensreg carried out stress tests, which resulted in a number of recommendations. The implementation of these recommendations is regularly assessed through the peer review of national action plans.
Today’s report outlines progress made by EU member states to meet the objectives of the Nuclear Safety Directive, which was adopted in June 2009 and was seen by Europe as a major step towards achieving a common legal framework on nuclear safety. Until the Directive’s introduction, nuclear safety was governed by national legislation and international conventions. This system was supplemented by the Directive, which gave binding legal force to the main international nuclear safety principles.
In 2014 the Directive was amended after a review of the legal framework for nuclear safety took into account lessons learned from the post-Fukushima stress tests as well as Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (Wenra) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety requirements.
The amended Directive is to be transposed into national law by 15 August 2017. The amendments are:
- Strengthen the independence of national regulatory authorities;
- Introduce a high-level EU-wide safety objective to prevent accidents and avoid radioactive releases;
- Set up a European system of peer reviews on specific safety issues every six years;
- Increase transparency on nuclear safety matters by informing and involving the public; and
- Promote an effective nuclear safety culture.
The report acknowledges that there are differences from country to country over the identification and management of safety issues. This is partly due to the fact that the 2009 Directive only contained broad principles, leaving some leeway as regards their implementation. It also failed to impose some important requirements. The EC said the amended Nuclear Safety Directive addressed these deficiencies, by strengthening important obligations on, for instance, the independence of the regulatory authority and interaction with the public.
The amended Directive goes beyond the 2009 Directive’s requirements by introducing a common EU safety objective, supplemented by a European peer-review mechanism, with a view to harmonising the EU approach to nuclear safety. As a result, the report says, the transposition of the amended Directive represents “a new challenge” for member states.
The report is online: http://bit.ly/1l5kV3a
