European Institutions

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The European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN) Forms Assoc.

- Galvanising Its Bid to Tackle Nuclear Competence Shortfalls

Beset by a worrying fall off in the numbers of students of nuclear science and technology, the future of Europe’s nuclear industry and research – characterised by ageing competence – could be severely compromised in mere decades from now. The repercussions would jeopardise not only nuclear’s future in the energy mix but also the assurance of existing installations’ safety standards.

A flicker of light is becoming a ray of hope at European Union (EU) level, however. The bearer of the torch is the European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN).

Under the European Commission’s 5th Framework Programme (FP5), the ENEN – charged with the overarching tasks of preserving and further developing European nuclear expertise – crystallised into a non-profit making association in September last year.

Setting up an official association was, indeed, a milestone for the ENEN, now legally headquartered at the French Atomic Energy Commission / National Institute for Nuclear Sciences and Technology (CEA/INSTN) in Saclay, France. The seeds for its development had been sown when, in 2000, the Consultative Committee of Euratom had submitted recommendations to retain competence not only in reactor technology, but also radioactive waste management, the nuclear fuel cycle and radiological sciences.

Thus the Network was born, and had been taking shape – involving 20 university partners and three research centres – since January 2002. And nothing has been holding back its momentum!

This fact was underscored when delegates to ENEN’s first general assembly in November last year were called upon to appoint the Association’s Board of Governors. It was also keenly observed by Dominique Gentile, director of CEA/INSTN and president of the Association - in his welcome to the chairman, Michel Giot, vice-president of the Board of Governors of the Nuclear Research Centre in Mol, Belgium, and to the assembly.

Coining the Association’s 2002–2003 start-up phase: “a step forward towards the creation of a European higher education space,” Prof. Gentile drew attention to the ENEN’s achievements. He outlined how these had focused on – among other related objectives – preparing the groundwork for the future delivery of a European Master of Science Degree in Nuclear Engineering (EMSNE).

Particularly exciting elements of the project, co-ordinated by Frans Moons of the Mol research facility, were the pilot sessions. Aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of quintessentially European nuclear engineering education schemes, these simultaneously involved up to 10 of the 17 European countries in which the ENEN has been active. One such course, ‘the Eugene Wigner Course on Reactor Physics Experiments’ was conducted over the same three-week period in Bratislava, Vienna, Budapest and Prague in April and May 2003. Twenty postgraduate students participated.

In its statutes, the ENEN Association’s global strategies for tackling both quantitative and qualitative issues in nuclear education encompass: promoting PhD studies, mutual recognition, student and teacher mobility, as well as boosting student numbers through incentives and making the nuclear domain more appealing.

So how does the Association propose moving forward in the near future?

• In March this year, at its second general assembly, the Association will set up five management committees to steer its projects.

• Under the European Commission’s FP5, the focus was on bringing academic institutions into the network. In 2004–2005, under Joseph Safieh of CEA/INSTN as co-ordinator, the emphasis will be placed on incorporating the nuclear industry and regulatory bodies. This will be achieved in terms of the ‘Nuclear European Platform of Training and University Organisations’ (‘NEPTUNO’) project, under the Commission’s 6th Framework Programme (FP6).

The ENEN Association’s members comprise universities. It also welcomes nuclear enterprises, regulators, research centres and learned societies as associate members.

More information about the ENEN Association is available at: http://www3.sckcen.be/enen/