The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)

(Established 1958)

Status

Agency of the OECD

Mission

To assist its member countries in maintaining and developing further, through international cooperation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for the safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, as well as to provide authoritative assessments and to forge common understandings on key issues, as support to government decisions on nuclear energy policy and as an input to broader OECD policy analyses in areas such as energy and sustainable development.

Activities

The NEA Secretariat serves seven specialised standing technical committees and the Data Bank, which are under the leadership of the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy ― the governing body of the NEA ― which reports directly to the OECD Council.

The standing technical committees, representing each of the seven major areas of the Agency's programme, are comprised of Member country experts who are both contributors to the programme of work and beneficiaries of its results.

These work areas are:

• Nuclear safety and regulation
• Nuclear energy development
• Radioactive waste management
• Radiation protection and public health
• Nuclear law and liability
• Nuclear science
• Information and communication
• The Data Bank

This approach is highly cost-efficient as it enables the Agency to pursue an ambitious programme with a relatively small staff that co-ordinates the work. A full list of publications and reports arising from the work of the standing technical committees is available from Agency's web site.

United Kingdom Interests

Lead Department

Department of Trade and Industry
Contact: Gerard Franks, EIBU 2b, Bay 197, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET
Telephone:  +44 (0) 7251 2550  Email: gerry.franks@dti.gsi.gov.uk

Other Interested Departments and Organisations

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6DE.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Lowestoft Laboratory, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 0HT.

Briefing and Reporting Mechanisms

NEA Working Groups and Standing Committees working through the DTI, in consultation with Defra and other interested bodies.

Perspective

The CEFAS Lowestoft Laboratory monitors and advises on the transfer of radioactive material in the aquatic environment and its control. The NEA has parallel responsibilities in the international context. The NEA identifies substances which cannot be discharged at sea; by implication this implies that some substances can be so discharged. Both bodies are concerned with the radioactive waste disposal into the marine environment and its control. Activities include coordinated research programmes and assessment of degrees of impact. UK research has produced a scientifically sound assessment of the impact of radioactive waste dumping at the North East Atlantic site. At present any plans to dispose of radioactive waste in the deep sea are politically unacceptable, irrespective of scientific evidence suggesting low or negligible impact.