United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20555

Phone 301-415-8200 Fax 301-415-2234

Internet:opa@nrc.gov

No. 97-087 FOR IMMEDIATE

RELEASE

Tel. 301/415-8200 (Friday, May 30,

1997)

INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR REGULATORS ASSOCIATION ESTABLISHED

The International Nuclear Regulators Association (INRA), a

new body designed to enhance nuclear safety worldwide, was

created by eight founding members in a meeting in Paris over the

past two days.

During the meeting, Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, Chairman of the

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), was elected first

Chairman of the INRA, to serve for a term of two years.

Founding members of the Association are: Canada, France,

Germany, Japan, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United

States. The German representative was unable to attend the Paris

meeting.

The senior regulators from the attending countries signed a

terms of reference document describing how the INRA will be

organized, its initial membership, and how it plans to develop

working relationships with other national and international

nuclear safety and regulatory bodies. The outlines of this

document were first discussed at a precursor meeting in

Washington, D.C., last January.

In the Paris meeting, two broad topics were discussed at

length: national trends in electric generation and their effect

on nuclear safety; and an assessment of effectiveness of nuclear

regulatory and safety assistance. The group indicated an

intention to revisit these topics in future meetings.

The Association expects to meet again next January, the time

and place to be announced, and thereafter to meet initially twice

a year.

Members of the INRA attending the Paris meeting were:

Dr. Agnes Bishop, President, Atomic Energy Control Board of

Canada;
Mr. Andre-Claude Lacoste, Director, Nuclear Installations

Safety Directorate, France;

Mr. Yasumasa Togo, Chairman, Nuclear Safety Commission, and

Mr. Tomihiro Taniguchi, Deputy Director General, Agency of

Natural Resources and Energy, MITI, Japan;

Dr. Juan M. Kindelan, President, Consejo de Seguridad

Nuclear, Spain;

Mr. Lars Hogberg, Director General, Swedish Nuclear Power

Inspectorate;

Mr. Sam A. Harbison, HM Chief Inspector of Nuclear

Installations,

Nuclear Safety Installations (NII), United Kingdom; and

Dr. Jackson, Chairman of the NRC, United States.

Gerald Hennenhofer, Director General for Nuclear Safety,

Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear

Safety, Germany, is the prospective eighth member, to be

confirmed.

The terms of reference for the INRA are attached.

#
May 29, 1997

TERMS OF REFERENCE

FOR

THE INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR REGULATORS ASSOCIATION (INRA)

PREAMBLE:

The International Nuclear Regulators Association ("Association")

is established to influence and enhance nuclear safety, from the

regulatory perspective, among its members as well as worldwide.

The Association shall comprise the most senior officials of wellestablished independent national nuclear regulatory organizations

who wish to exchange perspectives on important issues of nuclear

safety.

OBJECTIVES:

ˇ To establish a forum for the most senior nuclear regulatory

officials to exchange views on broad regulatory policy

issues (technical, legal, economic, administrative).

ˇ To build a global nuclear safety culture.

ˇ To encourage the most efficient use of resources in areas of

common interest.

ˇ To work to enhance the stature of nuclear regulatory

organizations worldwide.

ˇ To seek consensus on how nuclear regulatory issues can be

approached and implemented; to facilitate international

cooperation in regulation.

ˇ To work to advance nuclear safety through cooperation among

its members, cooperation with relevant existing

intergovernmental organizations (e.g., IAEA, OECD/NEA), with

other national nuclear regulatory organizations, and other

groups and organizations, as appropriate.

ˇ To identify emerging nuclear regulatory challenges.

ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS:

ARTICLE 1: NAME
The organization established pursuant to these Terms of Reference

shall be called the International Nuclear Regulators Association

(INRA).
ARTICLE 2: PURPOSE

The Association shall influence and enhance nuclear safety, from

the regulatory perspective, among its members as well as

worldwide.

ARTICLE 3: ACTIVITIES

The tasks assigned to the Association shall be carried out, both

individually and collectively, in conformity with the provisions

set forth in these Terms of Reference, to support the common

interest of the members. In particular, the Association shall

act by consensus to:

1. Promote the exchange of information and experience among

members.

2. Review and assess on a continuing basis the effectiveness of

the Association's activities.

3. Make recommendations to other responsible bodies, both

national and international, concerning issues of nuclear

regulatory significance; support international cooperative

activities and other nuclear safety initiatives, participate

in relevant activities of other bodies concerned with

nuclear safety, as appropriate; and review the nuclear

safety programs of existing international bodies.

4. Consider, at an early date, the value of convening meetings

comprising the most senior officials of a broad range of

national nuclear regulatory organizations, relevant existing

intergovernmental organizations, and other groups and

organizations, as a useful means of advancing the

Association's stated objectives.

ARTICLE 4: MEMBERSHIP

Members of the International Nuclear Regulators Association shall

be the most senior officials of national nuclear regulatory

bodies.

The initial membership takes into account, for each respective

country, the size and scope of the nuclear program; the existence

of a well-established, independent nuclear regulatory authority,

and a firm commitment to the provision of the Convention on

Nuclear Safety.

The Association intends to consider, during an initial period of

two years, the most effective way to achieve its objectives and,

based on that experience, how to involve other national nuclear

regulatory organizations.
ARTICLE 5: LANGUAGE

The working language shall be English
ARTICLE 6: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The Association shall establish the following organizational

elements.

ˇ A Chairman shall be chosen by consensus and shall coordinate

the work of the Association during his/her period of

incumbency.

ˇ The first Chairman shall serve for two years. Thereafter,

the designated Chairman shall serve for a period of one

year.

ˇ The Chairman shall provide the Secretariat functions during

his/her period of incumbency.

ˇ The members shall cover their own expenses for participation

in meetings.

ARTICLE 7: ASSOCIATION MEETINGS

Association meetings shall be held at least annually.

Association meetings shall be organized on the most efficient

possible basis.

The agreed consensus of the group will be made publicly

available. The confidentiality of the working papers and

discussions of the Association shall be protected, as

appropriate, to the extent authorized by the respective national

laws and policies of its members.