Premium
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has officially invited Romania to become a full member of its Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the NEA data bank.
The Romanian Government said Friday in a press statement that Romania's accession to NEA will be formalised with official exchange of letters between Romania and OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria in June 2017.
The Government added Romania's accession to the agency is the outcome of many years of cooperation involving Romanian experts and exchanges of expertise as well as good practices with NEA committees regarding the sustainable and responsible use of nuclear power.
"I am hailing the OECD decision to invite Romania to become a full member of the Nuclear Energy Agency, which will benefit both parties. This is confirmation of constant progress made by Romania with assimilating OECD instruments. We will do our best for Romania to start accession negations as soon as possible to join the world's club of the best economic development practices," Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu is quoted as saying in the statement.
According to the statement, Romania officially submitted its NEA membership application in October 2016. Romania's nuclear programme has undergone evaluation by the NEA Secretariat that involved all the relevant ministries of Romania, nuclear industry officials and officials of nuclear research institutes and the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Romania's Relation with OECD.
"The dialogue revealed that Romania is meeting the standards of NEA member states with advanced nuclear programmes. It also revealed a joint interest in cooperation between Romania and NEA being consolidated in the areas of nuclear technology, nuclear research, radioactive waste management and nuclear security," the statement reads.
The Government mentioned that with the completion of the accession process, Romania and Argentine will join 31 countries already NEA members.
"We are very glad to have Argentina and Romania join the NEA, a step that signals the growing co-operation between the OECD and both countries, and an evidence of their commitment to best practices in the field of nuclear energy," OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria is quoted as saying in the statement.
The statement adds that OECD's decision reconfirms Romania's long-term commitment to nuclear power development and international cooperation. Romania has a developed nuclear power infrastructure and national industry using safe CANDU-6 nuclear technology.
