The fourth meeting of the Belgian-Luxemburg Commission for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection took place on Thursday 23 March 2017 at the Ministry of Health in Luxembourg.

The setting up of this committee stems from an agreement signed on 14 May 2013 between the Belgian Minister of the Interior and the Luxembourg Minister for Health on the organisation of bilateral cooperation in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection.

During the meeting, the two countries exchanged views on Belgian nuclear installations, in particular that of Tihange. In this regard, the Luxembourg parliamentary questions concerning nuclear safety in Belgium and the modifications of the plant following stress tests and the prolongation of operations were presented. An exchange of views was also held on the feedback from the nuclear emergency exercise held on 29 November 2016 in Tihange and in which Luxembourg had participated as an observer.

In terms of medical applications, the point was made on the joint efforts of the two countries on the justification of the examinations with in particular the audits in the hospitals and the awareness campaigns. In addition, the review was done on cross-inspections of the justification process. A European inspection week of medical imaging services was organised in 2016. In this context, the inspectors from both countries participated as observers in the inspections with a view to sharing their experiences.

In terms of radiation protection, the two delegations discussed, inter alia, the transposition of the European directive laying down the basic standards for health protection against exposure to ionising radiation and the radon problem, for which one Action plan is foreseen in the context of the aforementioned Directive.

In general, the purpose of this meeting was to review the many existing cooperation actions and those still to be implemented between the two entities, with a view to further advancing nuclear safety and radiation protection.

The two delegations expressed their satisfaction at the conclusion of this fourth meeting, which took place in a cordial and constructive atmosphere.