On 17-18 September 2024, the NEA Working Party on the Legal Aspects of Nuclear Safety (WPLANS) met in person and online with 29 participants from 16 NEA member countries, 2 non-NEA member countries, as well as the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency, both of which provided updates on matters of special interest to the WPLANS.
The meeting featured discussions on the planning of the upcoming NEA workshop designed to analyse the legal frameworks needed for the adoption of innovative nuclear technologies and applications hosted by the government of Sweden. The discussion focused on substantive and practical topics related to the planning of the workshop such as potential session themes and speakers, pre-workshop activities, and practical details. The outcomes of the discussion will be used to help inform the programme of the upcoming workshop. Also on this topic, an update on licensing and regulation of SMRs and new and advanced reactors was provided by the United States, which also provided an update on legal challenges related to licensing decisions.
The WPLANS also addressed the legal issues related to long-term operation and lifetime extensions of nuclear power reactors with a presentation provided by Korea. An update on the progress towards publication of the five-year update to the 2019 report Legal Frameworks for Long-Term Operation of Nuclear Power Reactors was also provided, with a goal of publishing by the beginning of 2025.
The NEA Division of Radioactive Waste Management provided an overview of NEA activities related to radioactive waste management. On this topic, the WPLANS addressed legal issues related to radioactive waste management with presentations from Canada and the Netherlands.
Further, the WPLANS heard updates on national developments in the legal aspects of nuclear safety from the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, the Slovak Republic and Switzerland.
Finally, a draft Programme of Work for 2025-2026 was provided with potential new areas of work discussed.
