In many countries, Probabilistic Safety Assessments (PSA) form an integral part of the methods used to analyse the safety of nuclear power plants. Accordingly, a multitude of publications offers guidance on the use and development of PSA, e. g. those published by the International Atom Energy Agency or the Nuclear Energy Agency. 

As it has been the case with its previous editions, ETSON and its member organizations will contribute extensively to the upcoming IAEA lnternational Conference on Enhancing Nuclear Safety and Security Through Technical and Scientific Support Organizations which will take in place at the Agency´s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from December 2 to 6 and is being organized jointly by the IAEA and ETSON.

As part of its longstanding cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the European Technical Safety Organisation Network (ETSON) took the opportunity to hold a side event at the 68th IAEA General Conference which took place from September 16 to September 20 in Vienna, Austria. To inform and engage with representatives of the IAEA and its member states, ETSON President Jean-Christophe Niel (IRSN), ETSON Vice President Michel Van haesendonck and other experts of ETSON members highlighted recent and ongoing activities of the network.

ETSON is delighted to announce that the Practical Agreement between ETSON and IAEA was renewed by an exchange of letters between ETSON’s President and IAEA’s Deputy Director General L. Evrard, until September 2027.

The year 2023 has seen various significant events that have undeniably influenced the nuclear field and impacted the ETSON activities, also on a global scale.

Find out more about ETSON´s organisation, activities and external relations in 2023 in our annual report.

From June 12 to June 14, IRSN hosted meetings of the ETSON Board and the General Assembly in Cadarache, France.

Over the past years, an increasing number of EU member states have expressed great interest in the development and deployment of small modular reactors (SMR) with a view to reduce their future CO2-emissions, in some cases including the allocation of specific programmes and budgets and even concrete plans for SMR build.

In 2023, four teams participated in the final phase. A Science slam was organized At BEL V in Brussels by the "Junior Staff Program" on October  11th.

An ETSON Conference was held on 11 and 12 October 2023 in Brussels, Belgium. Bel V hosted this 2023 edition.
There were about 5O participants from different European TSOs, as well as representation on behalf of the Japanese TSO NRA.

The second edition of the ETSON Conference entitled “TSO challenges in a rapidly evolving environment” will take place in Brussels on 11 & 12 October 2023.