The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
International Guidance on Nuclear Safety and Radioactive Waste Management
Since nuclear power was first introduced, there has always been a culture of learning from each other to take on board best practices in nuclear safety and radioactive waste management. Following the Chernobyl accident in 1986 there was an added impetus to increase international co-operation and accelerate moves to harmonise global nuclear safety standards to ensure that all countries had confidence in the safety of their neighbours' nuclear installations. A number of international bodies and in particular the IAEA develop guidance - contained in published international standards - on best practice in nuclear safety, radioactive waste management and the regulation of these. This guidance is used by national regulators in the EU for developing national standards and practices.
More about IAEA
More about The International Conventions
The OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)
In all, 28 countries including 18 from 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 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.
