Overview

The National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) is the national authority responsible for the regulation, licensing and control of nuclear activities in Romania. In accordance with the legal provisions, CNCAN is a specialized body of the central public administration with legal personality, subordinated to the Government and coordinated by the Prime Minister through the General Secretariat of the Government.

Nuclear safety and nuclear security share a common objective, namely the protection of the public, of occupationally exposed personnel, of patients and of the environment against exposure to ionizing radiation or radioactive contamination above the limits permitted by the legislation in force.

Through the norms it issues on the basis of the legal provisions, and through the licensing and inspection processes it manages, CNCAN ensures the framework for nuclear activities to be carried out safely and for exclusively peaceful purposes.

CNCAN has extensive experience in its area of competence, which includes, inter alia:

• regulations concerning the safe conduct of nuclear activities, including related legislation
• nuclear safety and security
• protection against ionizing radiation
• the nuclear safeguards system
• physical protection of nuclear and radioactive installations and materials
• transport and transit of radioactive materials, nuclear materials and/or materials of nuclear interest, and of ionizing radiation sources and generators
• safe management and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel
• import, export and intra-Community transfer of nuclear/radioactive materials and/or materials of nuclear interest, and of nuclear/radiological installations
• civil liability for nuclear damage
• quality management in the nuclear field;
• harmonization of national legislation and regulations in the field with the corresponding legislation and regulations of the European Union
• application of European legislation and of the provisions of international treaties on safeguards control, physical protection, illicit trafficking, the transport of nuclear and radioactive materials, radiation protection, requirements for the management system in the nuclear field, the nuclear safety of nuclear and radiological installations, the management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, and planning, preparedness and response to radiological and nuclear emergency situations;
• cooperation with the relevant international organizations and with similar regulatory bodies
• provision of information to the general public and the media about the work carried out and/or in response to various events.

CNCAN is fully independent of the organizations involved in the promotion and use of nuclear energy and represents.

Within its area of competence, CNCAN provides the technical expertise and the specialist interface in Romania's relations with international bodies and organizations such as the IAEA, the European Commission, WENRA, the OECD/NEA, etc., and is the national contact point for the application of the Convention on Nuclear Safety, the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and the Amendment thereto, the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency and the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency.

Through work carried out in a transparent manner, CNCAN seeks to uphold and promote essential organizational values, such as the competence, professionalism, impartiality and ethical spirit of its staff, and transparency, with a view to building and strengthening the credibility and legitimacy of the institution at national and international level.