A high level meeting of representatives from Switzerland, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Croatia, Armenia, Belarus and Turkey to discuss EU stress tests of nuclear power plants is scheduled for 23 June 2011.

“Following the request of the European Council on 25 March that the safety of all EU nuclear power plants should be reviewed on the basis of a comprehensive risk and safety assessment, on 24 May the Commission and ENSREG reached agreement on the criteria, methodology and timeframe for carrying out these stress tests in the EU,” EU Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger stressed in his speech at EP.

“Drawing the lessons from the Fukushima accident and aiming to contribute to the continuous improvement of nuclear safety the tests will focus on assessing how nuclear power plants can withstand the consequences of various natural disasters as well as man-made failures and actions.”

“A meeting with neighbouring countries on the stress tests was held on 1 June 2011 in Brussels with representatives from Switzerland, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Croatia, Armenia, Belarus and Turkey participating. There was a common understanding to participate in this process and to carry out similar tests. A high level meeting is scheduled for 23 June 2011 to confirm this common approach,” Mr. Oettinger noted.