The French Young Generation Network meets its European partners

Since its creation in 1995, national YGN representatives meet about three times a year in order to define the orientations of the network, present an abstract of their respective activities and schedule new actions at the European level.

After a first Core Committee Meeting hosted by the British YGN in Edinburgh, Scotland last February (just before the PIME Congress) and a second one hosted by the Spanish YGN in Cordoba, Spain last may (during the European Nuclear Society Young Generation Forum), this third Meeting took place at the French Nuclear Energy Society headquarters in Paris from 16th to 18th of October, 2009. 22 people coming from 12 different countries accepted the invitation from the French YGN, probably a record!

An overview of the French Nuclear R&D

The first day was dedicated to a visit of the CEA Saclay facilities. After having been given a presentation of the CEA activities by Richard LENAIN, head of the Reactor and Applied Mathematics Studies Department, participants had the opportunity to discover the ORPHEE prototype research reactor with Catherine PELESZEZAK, Deputy-Director. ORPHEE is a research reactor designed to supply neutron beams for the fundamental research on condensed materials. This tool is complementary to SOLEIL synchrotron. ORPHEE has a thermal power of 14 MWth and generates a neutronic flow rate of 3.1014 neutrons / cm² / s.

This day has been concluded by an informal diner, followed by a visit of the French Capital by-night, which was a good chance to get to know each other, especially for newcomers of this type of event.

Target: Copenhagen (COP15)

The second day was much more studious. Participants of the morning workshop had to define the participation of the ENS-YGN to the next United Nations Climate Change Conference COP15, which has taken place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 7th to 18th of December, 2009. After having participated to the COP14 conference in Poznan, Poland, last year, a deep feedback has been realized and ENS-YGN Core Committee members decided early to apply to a Side Event for the 15th edition. 6 members from the ENS-YGN decided to go to Copenhagen in order to deal with three major issues through presentations and other communication materials: Nuclear and CO₂ Emissions; Waste Management; Safety and Security.

The birthplace of the European activities

After this workshop, the Core Committee Meeting took place and enabled each national YGN representative to present its country report and its future activities: technical visits, debates and conferences, learning sessions given to students, bilateral events… It is important to notice that most of these activities are now opened to other ENS-YGN members (8 people from the Swedish YGN and 1 Spanish participated to the French event Boral Nights in July for instance). It was also a unique chance to sum up all the past and future events organized by the ENS-YGN: articles written for the ENS News; participation to the European Nuclear Energy Forum – ENEF (Prague, May 28^th - 29^th) and its working group dealing with transparency issues; participation to the AtomiCareers in Europe event (Brussels, December 4^th - 5^th)… After this intense day, participants enjoyed French food and wine in a cozy restaurant just wholly booked for them. Everyone seems to have appreciated the evening, thanks to the masterfully organization from Edouard. The next Core Committee Meeting will be organized by the Hungarian YGN and will take place in Budapest, February 13^th, 2009, just before the PIME congress.

The French YGN acknowledges the SFEN, its mother society, and M. Bernard JOLLY in particular for his full support. Many thanks also to M. LENAIN and Mrs. PELESZEZAK from CEA for the technical visit.

Guillaume VAAST and Edouard HOURCADE