The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG), announced 4 July, that it has agreed an action plan to follow-up the European stress tests. The plan is due to be finalized by the end of July 2012, it said.
National regulators and the European Commission meeting in ENSREG on 3 July were in agreement that the peer review process is finished and that follow-up would occur by way of an ENSREG action plan. Agreement was reached on all major topics in the action plan. It will specify the need for country specific action plans and regulatory peer review workshops to share lessons learned on the implementation of post-Fukushima safety improvements. The action plan will also specify fact-finding follow-up site visits in order to better prepare for the peer review workshops.
National regulators will propose candidate sites to be visited and the sites will be agreed to by the ENSREG Action Plan Task Force. The work of the ENSREG Action Plan Task Force will be absorbed into the ENSREG Working Group on Nuclear Safety once the action plan and fact finding site visits are complete.
“The post Fukushima action will be carried out with full transparency,” ENSREG said, adding that the outcomes of the peer review workshops will be presented to the public in the next ENSREG conference and the country-specific plans will also be publicly available.
ENSREG chairman Mr. Andrej Stritar said: “I am happy all National regulators and the EC were able to come to agreement on the completion of the stress test process and a path forward”.
Also at the meeting, Mr. Tero Varjoranta (Finland) was unanimously elected as new Chairperson of ENSREG, replaing Stritar who has held the position for the last four and a half years.