On September 25-29, 2023, representatives of State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine took part in the The 50th meeting of the WENRA Working Group on Waste and Decommissioning, which held on 25-29 September in the video conference format.

At this meeting, SNRIU presented a revised self-assessment of the requirements of regulatory legal acts of Ukraine, prepared by the SNRIU with the involvement of the SSTC NRS, for compliance with WENRA safety reference levels in terms of decommissioning nuclear installations.

WENRA safety reference levels for decommissioning contain 62 requirements, including organizational structure, responsibility, management system, preparation for decommissioning at the design stages, construction, commissioning and operation of a nuclear facilities, development of a decommissioning strategy and project, procedures for decommissioning and management of radioactive waste generated during activities, maintenance, repair and inspection, emergency preparedness, safety assessment, exchange of experience and other aspects of ensuring safety during the decommissioning of nuclear installations.

WENRA safety reference levels are based on IAEA recommendations and reflect the best practices of European countries.

Based on the results of the consideration of this self-assessment, representatives of the WENRA working group confirmed the compliance of Ukrainian regulatory requirements with the safety reference levels for nuclear facility decommissioning.

Such results testify to the successful harmonization of national requirements in the field of the use of nuclear energy with the recommendations of the European Union and the IAEA, including WENRA safety reference levels.

For reference:

WENRA - Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (The independent association of European national nuclear regulators) was founded in 1999 as an association of senior management (heads) of Western European regulatory authorities of those countries where at least one nuclear installation is located during the construction, operation or decommissioning phase.

The WENRA Association includes Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain and Ukraine (since 2015).

One of the main tasks of the WENRA is to establish, implement and disseminate harmonized and exemplary levels of nuclear safety, which are based on IAEA recommendations and reflect the best practices of European countries.

To implement the above tasks, several WENRA working groups were established in 2002, one of which is the WENRA Working Group on Waste and Decommissioning – WGWD.