European Institutions

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GIF Welcomes EURATOM

EURATOM was officially welcomed as a member of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF), at its meeting in Toronto, Canada on 26 September 2003. At the meeting, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), which has prepared a number of technical proposals for joint projects, participated in the negotiations on the terms for model agreements on such projects.

Commissioner Highlights Research in Nuclear Safety Field

EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin has stressed the importance of research in the field of nuclear safety and plant life management. The Commission says that, as Europe's nuclear power reactors grow older, maintaining high safety levels is a key issue for industry and policymakers.

The Commission issued a press statement coinciding with a seminar, 'Networking for Effective Research and Development', held at the JRC Institute for Energy at Petten on 22-23 September. The meeting examined future networking activities for nuclear plant life management.

In the statement, Mr. Busquin said: “Players in the nuclear sector have to talk to each other especially when nuclear safety is at stake. Sharing vital information to enhance the reliability of nuclear plants is a necessity rather than a choice. EU-wide networks in the nuclear field play a key role in processing and disseminating data, in bridging information gaps and achieving a critical mass in knowledge. This allows for a fast response in the event of problems and actually prevents problems from arising.

“The Commission fosters this information flow and contributes to it. Lessons learned during the past 10 years will now be used to step up co-operation, in the spirit of the European Research Area.”

The Commission co-ordinates major networks on the ageing of materials in nuclear power plants (AMES), on inspection and qualification (ENIQ), for evaluating the structural integrity of components (NESC) and on application of neutron diffraction techniques (NET), as well as on safety of Eastern European type nuclear facilities (SENUF). These are part of the JRC's SAFELIFE project on the safety of ageing nuclear power plants. These initiatives address issues such as enhancing the safety of Soviet-design reactors in Eastern Europe, checking on the capacity of ageing nuclear facilities to withstand accidents and preventing cracks and leaks.