The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) was established in 1958 as a specialised agency of the OECD with the aim of playing an information and coordinating role in engineering and regulatory activities related to the peaceful and economic use of nuclear energy. It comprises all countries with a well-developed nuclear technology and also has close relations with non-member countries where nuclear power is developed, such as China and India.
The NEA’s committees and working groups deal with all aspects of the life cycle of nuclear installations: from the safety of fuel supplies to international radiation protection standards; from licensing procedures for nuclear sites to economic evaluation; from procedures for safety and accident prevention to the technological outlook for future installations.
The NEA maintains an accurate registry of all civil nuclear installations in OECD countries, promotes international nuclear legislation, codifies guidelines for radioactive waste management and disposal, as well as for transparent communication to the peoples close to nuclear waste production and disposal facilities.
The NEA works closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which headquarter is located in Vienna. The IAEA deals with issues concerning the non-proliferation of nuclear technologies and with the European Commission in Brussels. The NEA also presents close coordination of its activities with other OECD units, in particular with the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Environment Directorate.
Among the Agency’s activities, the most relevant are those related to safety culture in nuclear-related issues, and those comparing costs and benefits of the different directions of new-generation nuclear power. In the Strategic Plan for the 2023-2028 activity, the following aspects are emphasised:
- Sustainability and cost-effectiveness.
- Comparison of current innovation trends in nuclear energy.
In addition to the Steering Committee, which meets twice a year, the operational activities of the NEA are carried out by 8 Standing Committees:
- Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities – CNRA
- Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations – CSNI
- Radioactive Waste Management Committee – RWMC
- Committee on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management – CDLM
- Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health – CRPPH
- Committee for Technical and Economic Studies on Nuclear Energy Development and the Fuel Cycle – NDC
- Nuclear Law Committee – NLC
- Nuclear Science Committee – NSC
Apart from these, there exists an additional group in charge of the NEA Data Bank, one of the organisation’s flagships. As a matter of fact, the NEA Data Bank is an international reference centre for software, nuclear and thermochemical data relevant to nuclear power generation, reactor management and radiation protection. It is also accessible to non-member countries and serves as a reference point, especially for safety issues within the whole cycle that concerns nuclear research and production facilities.