BRUSSELS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission underlined on Wednesday the need for a higher level of nuclear safety as a high-level group on nuclear safety and waste management met.
"While we can see a potential rise in the use of nuclear energy around the globe as well as in the EU, European citizens call for a strong European role in the field of nuclear safety," said European Union (EU) Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, who opened the meeting.
The high-level group was created by the European Commission to give advice on nuclear safety.
The group, composed of senior officials from national regulatory or nuclear safety authorities, is helping the commission to identify priority safety issues, as well as to advise and assist the commission in progressively developing EU rules regarding the safety of nuclear installations and the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste.
Piebalgs asked the group for a speedy finalization of a work program for nuclear safety issues. The group has already established a work program on waste management and is working on transparency issues.