Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The following countries align themselves with this statement: North Macedonia^*, Montenegro^*, Albania^*, Ukraine^*, the Republic of Moldova^*, Bosnia and Herzegovina^*, Georgia, Iceland⁺, Liechtenstein⁺, Norway⁺ and San Marino.

Following the tragic earthquake in February, the EU extends its deepest condolences, solidarity and humanitarian support to the people of Türkiye and Syria.

Chair,

Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its continued armed attacks on the Ukrainian territory and its attempted illegal seizure of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remain a matter of grave concern to the European Union. We continue to condemn this aggression in the strongest possible terms. Russia bears full responsibility for endangering nuclear safety in Ukraine, in Europe and beyond.  

The IAEA Director General’s latest report on Ukraine, based on information from IAEA experts on-site, highlights the major impacts of Russia’s war on the safety and security of the ZNPP and on other nuclear installations in Ukraine. Once again, we urge Russia to stop intimidating the Ukrainian personnel and interfering with their decision-making, and immediately withdraw all Russian personnel, weapons and military vehicles from the ZNPP and hand back control of the plant to its rightful owner - Ukraine. Russia’s continued shelling of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which has damaged off-site power lines and buildings of nuclear installations, further increases the risk of a nuclear accident. The EU strongly supports the IAEA’s permanent presence at all Ukraine’s nuclear sites to which the EU has so far contributed €2.2 million.

Chair,

The EU and its Member States attach the utmost importance to nuclear safety and its continuous improvement and strengthening. We must avoid complacency. An effective safety culture and leadership for safety are to be promoted, along with ensuring timely implementation of reasonably practicable safety improvements to comply with high safety standards for nuclear installations, radioactive waste, transport and radiation protection. We highlight the importance of promoting, assessing, and improving safety culture in all relevant organisations, including licensees and regulatory bodies.

There is no doubt that well-educated, trained and qualified staff is a must priority for the safe implementation of all nuclear activities and for all engaged stakeholders. It is therefore of strategic importance to build, maintain and further develop human capacity and high level of nuclear expertise and skills in Member States. We call on Agency to effectively use the existing and explore further tools to support Member States in nuclear safety capacity building and knowledge management.

The EU continues to support nuclear safety improvements worldwide, including through the implementation of EU-methodology stress tests and the European Instrument for International Nuclear Safety Cooperation (EI-INSC), with a budget of € 300 million for 2021-2027.

We appreciate the Agency´s continued commitment to ensuring that Safety Standards remain fully applicable and up-to-date and, as appropriate, considering the safety implications of situations involving armed attacks. Strengthening Safety Standards should be an ongoing task and remain a priority for the Agency, including a timely publication process.

We encourage all Member States, especially those who have not done so, to request the Agency’s peer review and advisory services, implement findings in a timely manner and publish mission reports for transparency. The value the EU places on IAEA peer reviews, such as IRRS and ARTEMIS, is reflected in its ongoing financial contribution towards these programmes.

The EU finds it important to take into account external hazards most notably in the site selection and the operation of nuclear installations, including duly considering safety implications from seismic hazards at such installations.

The EU welcomes the IAEA’s ongoing monitoring of Japan’s plan to discharge Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean in order to ensure that any discharge is in line with international safety standards. We take note with satisfaction of the regular briefings and reports issued by the Agency which foster transparency and provide relevant information to the international community. The EU is pleased to announce a voluntary contribution of €1 million to support the IAEA and its experts in carrying out this important task.

We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to all relevant international nuclear safety conventions, in particular the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS) and the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (JC), and encourage all IAEA Member States to join them. The joint 8th and 9th Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety will start in a few weeks.  We welcome the convening of the conference after postponement due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The EU stands ready to engage and contribute to its successful outcome. We underline the need for all Contracting Parties to fulfil their legal obligations, address their nuclear safety issues and intently participate in the Review Meeting to ensure a robust peer review process. The growing number of Contracting Parties to nuclear safety and emergency Conventions is a welcome trend. We call upon the Agency to continue outreach activities to promote the universalisation and implementation of these instruments. We also welcome the growth of the IAEA’s Response and Assistance Network (RANET), which strengthens global response capacities.

We thank the Agency for prioritising the robust regulatory infrastructure and decision-making processes, including scientific knowledge, expertise and support provided by the Technical and Scientific Support Organisations (TSOs) and other relevant institutions.

Effective emergency preparedness and response (EPR) arrangements and capabilities should be a priority for every Member State. We encourage all Member States to utilise the established channels and existing operating arrangements to share notifications and monitor data.

Further development of decommissioning strategies and plans, including financing and work on final radioactive waste and spent fuel disposal solutions, is essential and should be addressed early in any nuclear power or radiation technology programme.

We urge Member States to take appropriate steps to avoid imposing an undue burden on future generations by seeking and applying transparent, safe and long-term management solutions for radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. We call upon Member States to implement these solutions in a timely and coherent manner and stand ready to share our expertise. We call upon the Agency to continue advancing discussions on deep geological disposals and related safety, security and safeguards aspects.

Regarding ageing management and long-term operation (LTO), we recall the need to systematically consider elements related to human resources policies and knowledge transfer between generations. We welcome and encourage the continuation of the Agency’s work and assistance to Member States in this view, especially via Safety Aspects of Long Term Operation (SALTO) missions.

We welcome the Secretariat’s continued efforts to systematically tackle safety aspects of ageing management, including physical ageing and technical obsolescence, and long-term operation. We encourage the IAEA to further enhance its assistance to Member States in capacity-building and knowledge management.

We appreciate the IAEA’s efforts focusing on the interface between nuclear safety and nuclear security. We expect the Agency to continue addressing the existing challenges in a coherent, coordinated and integrated manner.

We continue closely monitor developments related to the safety of advanced nuclear technologies, such as Small and Medium Sized or Modular Reactors (SMRs), including transportable nuclear power plants, and take note of the activities conducted under the Agency-wide platform on SMRs. The EU remains committed in ensuring a high level of nuclear safety of SMRs in compliance with the IAEA’s safety standards and attaches importance to its policy regarding the development of regulatory infrastructures. We welcome the Director General’s Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization (NHSI) Initiative. We encourage the Agency to continue to attach due emphasis to these aspects and to provide assistance to Member States in this regard. We also look forward to receiving regular information from the Secretariat.

With these comments, the EU takes note of the Nuclear Safety Review 2023 as contained in document GOV/2023/2.

Thank you, Chair.

* Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, as well as potential Candidate Country Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

+ Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are members of the EFTA and of the European Economic Area.