The members of the International Nuclear Regulators Association (INRA), as representatives of nations with well-established, independent nuclear regulatory authorities, and a firm commitment to nuclear safety, have reviewed the report by the High Level Advisory Group on "Nuclear Energy in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): Towards an Integrated Approach" (the Birkhofer Report). The Report's key findings and recommendations provide basic guidance for interested stakeholders to enhance the work of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and its contributions to nuclear energy issues into the early 21s' Century.

We see the Birkhofer Report as a valuable contribution to forging a future role and course of action for the NEA and offer the following perspective on the regulatory aspects. We believe that promotion of nuclear energy should be the role of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and that the NEA should concentrate on the scientific and technological aspects of nuclear energy issues. We agree that the NEA should remain a governmental forum where nuclear energy issues can be discussed in an objective manner. Further, we support the NEA extending its technical expertise, and, through interrelationships between entities of the OECD, integrating the NEA in the development of an objective understanding of nuclear energy issues. Finally, we wish to underline that the effectiveness and efficiency of the NEA are highly dependent on the active contributions from member states inter alia by providing highly qualified experts to the various NEA committees and working groups. Only in this way can the NEA create a net benefit to Member States which exceeds their individual contributions.

To this end, we support

• The creation of a new NEA Mission Statement, which would include clearly defining the NEA role in nuclear safety; would outline short, medium and long-term perspectives; and would form an integral part of the Strategic Plan;
• The need for the NEA Steering Committee to develop a sound approach to carry out a plan of action, review the NEA's Program of Work, and consider the organizational structure of the Agency, in light of the new Mission Statement and adopted Strategic Plan goals and strategies;
• An information strategy to assist Member countries in sustaining and improving the scientific and technological basis for the safe use of nuclear energy in OECD countries, where this use is desired;
• Cooperating for specific purposes with non-member countries, in the international interest of affecting the safety culture of nations in transition from assistance to cooperation; however, this cooperation should not develop into a direct assistance program or duplicate the efforts of other international organizations; and
• The need for closer cooperation with other OECD agencies (e.g., IEA) including enhancing communication; developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to avoid overlap and duplication: and increased contact with relevant energy entities in the private sector.

INRA believes that the following issues still need to be addressed:

• Preservation of the scientific role of the NEA, without requiring additional resources and NEA administrative structures.
• Emphasizing the importance of attracting and introducing young people to the NEA network of scientific and technical cooperation as a means of developing and maintaining competence in nuclear technology within the OECD.
• Clarification of the economic, the environmental, and nuclear safety arguments with respect to the use of nuclear energy. There should be no confusion on just what the NEA's responsibilities are in each of these areas and how they are to be carried out. The Strategic Plan is the appropriate mechanism to address this need.
• While recognizing that involvement by industry experts in the scientific, technical and economic work of the NEA is extremely important, it should be emphasized that Member States should have sole control over any industrial participation in the work of the NEA, and that industrial participants should be nominated according to each State's national procedures and administrative practices.

We look forward to discussing these views in more detail with the NEA.