The western European safety regulators founded the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA) at the beginning of 1999. This move was triggered by the necessity to develop a common position concerning the safety of nuclear power plants in EU candidate states for accession negotiations. In other words, governments asked individual regulators about the status of nuclear safety in applicant countries. The joint efforts of WENRA members - the heads of nuclear regulatory bodies from 10 countries - resulted in two reports (Link) making a comparison between reactors licensed in the existing European Union and the reactors licensed in the applicant countries as well as of the legal systems and the mandate and power of the nuclear regulators. The WENRA reports were used for the preparation of the report on nuclear safety in applicant countries issued by the Working Party on Nuclear Safety (WPNS) under the Atomic Questions Group of the European Council.
In March 2003, co-operation within WENRA was extended. WENRA now defines itself as a network of nuclear safety regulators in Europe whose aim it is to exchange experience and discuss significant safety issues relating to the operation of nuclear installations. Today there are 19 Members, 3 Associated Members and 10 Observers represented in WENRA (Link).
Currently, WENRA has four technical working groups in which experts from regulatory authorities, partly supported by experts from the national technical safety organisations, deal in depth with regulatory aspects of nuclear safety. These working groups are:
- Reactor Harmonization Working Group (RHWG)
- Working Group on Waste and Decommissioning (WGWD)
- Working Group on Research Reactors (WGRR)
- Working Group on Recruitment and Skills Management (WGRSM)
“Inspection Working Group (WIG)" of WENRA completed its work in 2012.