From 6 to 8 May 2024, a delegation from the Spanish regulatory authority visited ENSI. Discussions focused on the topic of radiation protection, in particular exchanging of experience relating to the Leibstadt NPP and to the Mühleberg NPP, which is currently being dismantled.
The continuous improvement of nuclear safety and security in Switzerland is the main concern of international cooperation. The regulatory exchange of information and experience plays an important role in this. The ENSI Board therefore updated and adopted the Strategy International Activities.
Both Leibstadt and Beznau nuclear power plants have shown that, in the event of or after a very severe earthquake, they can ensure that their reactors are stable and safe. Dose values of one or 100 millisievert which have to be complied with will not be exceeded even after earthquakes that are only to be expected every 1,000 or 10,000 years respectively.
At the end of March, the Organizational Meeting for the forthcoming Review Conference of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and of Radioactive Waste Management was held at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This year’s meeting also marked the end of the Swiss Chairmanship.
With the service mandate from 2024 to 2027, the ENSI Board has set new targets for the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI). The focus of ENSI’s regulatory activities is now the safe long-term operation of the nuclear power plants.
At the end of 2023, Oskar Grözinger left the ENSI Board, as he has reached the statutory term limit of 12 years.
Every six years, the EU Commission and the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) organise a Topical Peer Review (TPR): a thematically focused review of nuclear installations by international experts. The main topic of the 2023 TPR was fire protection in nuclear installations. Switzerland and numerous other European countries submitted a country report to ENSREG as part of the TPR. The interested public has now the opportunity to ask questions about these country reports.
At this year’s meeting, the German-Swiss Commission devoted particular attention to the progress made in deep geological disposal. The results of the IAEA’s international review missions in Switzerland and Germany were also discussed in Munich on 22 and 23 November 2023.
The Swiss Federal Council confirms six incumbent members of the ENSI Board for the coming legislative period.
