In all, 28 countries including 18 from the EU are members of the OECD/NEA. The NEA is the international focus for the developed nations on nuclear issues. It brings together a number of countries from North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and this membership represents much of the world's nuclear expertise. The role of the OECD/NEA is complementary to that of the IAEA. It shares "best practices" amongst its members and focuses more on processes and procedures rather than standards, and aims to assist its member countries in maintaining and further developing, through international co-operation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The NEA has several standing committees that feed into guidance on nuclear safety and radioactive waste management:
OECD/NEA is also the secretariat for the Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP). The MDEP was set up to share the resources, knowledge and information accumulated by national nuclear regulatory authorities during their assessment of new reactor designs, with the aim of improving both the efficiency and the effectiveness of the process.
