HERCA WENRA Side event in the margin of the 59th IAEA General Conference

HERCA WENRA Side event in the margin of the 59^th IAEA General Conference

To introduce the HERCA-WENRA approach for a better cross-border coordination of protective actions during the early phase of a nuclear accident, HERCA and WENRA held a side event during the 59th IAEA General Conference in Vienna.

At the side event, Chair of the HERCA Working Group on Emergencies Georges Piller presented the approach, which introduces a common European emergency preparedness and response approach on coordination, independent of the scenario of the accident.

Subsequently, a panel consisting of WENRA Chair Hans Wanner and HERCA Chair Sigurður Magnússon, the current and previous Chair of the HERCA Working Group on Emergencies Georges Piller and Patrick Majerus and the Chair of former HERCA-WENRA Task Force on Emergencies, Philippe Jamet discussed issues on emergency planning and coordination related to the approach.

“This is a very important step in improving the coherence of the response and enabling cross-border cooperation in the unlikely event of a nuclear accident ” says Chair of the HERCA Working Group on Emergencies Georges Piller. “The next challenge is now to implement these principles at national level and make sure that other relevant stakeholders such as civil protection are included.”

The side event was the occasion to remind the around 70 participants that the HERCA-WENRA approach has been developed by nuclear and radiation safety regulators and that these regulators have committed to engage a cooperation at national level with the competent authorities in charge of civil protection for the implementation of the corresponding measures.