EU Statement at the IAEA Board of Governors on Nuclear Safety, 8 September 2025

Chair, 

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine align themselves with this statement.

The EU and its Member States attach utmost priority to nuclear safety during the entire fuel cycle. It must be continuously strengthened. To uphold this principle, it is essential that regulatory authorities remain independent, thereby ensuring that safety is not compromised by other competing interests. It is essential to promote leadership and management for safety, including a strong safety culture and to ensure independence of the regulatory authorities. The EU and its Member States strive for the highest possible nuclear safety and radiation protection. This is in accordance with the Euratom legal framework, IAEA safety standards and international conventions. We also remain a major actor for global nuclear safety assistance and technical cooperation. 

The EU continues to support nuclear safety improvements in its Member States and beyond through EU Stress Tests and Topical Peer Reviews, and worldwide through the European Instrument for International Nuclear Safety Cooperation. 

Chair,

The EU and its Member States remain deeply concerned over the nuclear safety and security risks caused by Russia’s illegal war of aggression, its seizure of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the intense military activities in the vicinity of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. Through its actions, Russia seriously endangers nuclear safety and the IAEA’s rotations and monitoring work. We continue to support the Agency’s crucial missions in Ukraine and stress the importance of respecting the Director General’s seven indispensable pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security during an armed conflict and the five concrete principles. We call on the Secretariat to provide an update on its work on reviewing challenges related to nuclear safety and security in armed conflicts. This was requested by the nuclear safety resolution adopted by the IAEA General Conference last year. We will address nuclear safety issues in Ukraine in more detail under item 8.

Chair,

We appreciate the Agency’s continued vigilance to ensure that safety standards remain fully applicable and up to date for all nuclear installations.  We welcome the adoption of the 2025 strategy for the long-term plan for the IAEA safety standards and request the Agency to continue its work accordingly. 

Euratom and its Member States remain fully committed to the Convention on Nuclear Safety, including the Vienna Declaration, and to the Joint Convention. We call on all IAEA Member States to join these important instruments. We invite the Secretariat to intensify its outreach efforts to promote broader adherence to the Joint Convention in particular. 

We also encourage Contracting Parties’ active participation to the review processes under these two conventions. They are of utmost importance for improving safety and radiation protection worldwide. The outputs of the reviews are not only of benefit to nuclear safety at national level but also help the Agency to improve safety standards. In this respect, we appreciate the efforts of the Contracting Parties to both conventions for enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the review processes, and the decisions taken to this end.

The IAEA peer reviews and advisory services are important tools to assess and improve nuclear safety. We encourage all IAEA Member States to make use of them. We welcome the efforts of the Agency to keep these services effective and efficient. A good example is the new Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission concept. This involves focused scope missions for countries that have already completed two IRRS full scope cycles, and the ongoing discussion on how to better integrate IRRS and ARTEMIS missions. 

The EU reiterates its support to the IAEA’s work in Fukushima, also through a voluntary contribution of €1 million.

Chair,

The EU remains committed to strive for the highest level of nuclear safety including for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). We note that stage II of the Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative continues its work on safety aspects for SMRs. The European Industrial Alliance on SMRs, established by the European Commission last year, has recently endorsed its Strategic Action Plan, which includes actions focusing on nuclear safety. It also aims to facilitate international cooperation closely with international organisations, such as the IAEA, on nuclear safety, radioactive waste management and emergency preparedness and response. 

The EU notes the fast development of Artificial Intelligence and its applications worldwide. We look forward to the IAEA’s TECDOC on Safety and Security Implications of the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Nuclear Installations and the upcoming international Symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Energy. 

We recall the strategic importance of building, maintaining and further developing human capacity. This involves a high level of nuclear expertise and skills, a strong safety culture and leadership in safety as well as continuity of knowledge and the availability of a skilled and inclusive nuclear workforce in Member States. Ensuring sufficient human and financial resources is an essential component of regulatory independence.

We encourage the Secretariat to enhance its activities and support to Member States in this important area. In March 2025, Euratom started a project entitled Skills4Nuclear to address shortages in nuclear skills and technologies.

With these remarks, we take note of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Report contained in document GOV/2025/39.

Thank you, Chair.