[en] The EURATOM research and training programme for partitioning and transmutation is discussed. The EU has been supporting various P and T related activities since 2007 under the auspices of the 7. Framework Programme (FP7). The European Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNE-TP) was put in place to help make decisions related to demonstration facilities to be built around a 2015-2020 time horizon. Two collaborative projects, ACSEPT, which studies partitioning technologies and actinide science, and EUROTRANS, which studies transmutation of high-level nuclear waste in ADS, are summarised. (authors)

[en] For the sake of clarification, education and training (E and T) are defined as follows: - Education is a basic or life-long learning process: education is broader than training and encompasses the need to maintain completeness and continuity of competences across generations (it is essentially a knowledge-driven process, involving academic institutions as suppliers, and students as customers). - Training is learning a particular skill required to deliver a particular outcome: training is about schooling activities other than regular academic education schemes (it is essentially an application-driven process, involving industrial/regulatory training organisations as suppliers, and professionals as customers). The goal of the EURATOM education programmes is, in collaboration with academia, to offer instruments that help produce top-quality teaching modules that can be assembled into higher level training packages or Masters programmes that are jointly qualified and mutually recognised across the EU. This is done naturally in line with the Bologna process (ERASMUS). The following four objectives have been agreed upon (ENEN): - Modular courses and common qualification approach (offer a coherent E and T framework and ensure top-quality for each module); - One mutual recognition system across the European Union (e.g. European Credit Transfer and accumulation System of ERASMUS /ECTS/); - Mobility for teachers and students across the EU (prepare the 'internal market' for free circulation of nuclear experts); - Feedback from 'stakeholders' (Both scientific and financial). (involve the 'future employers' in the process, thereby getting additional funding). The goal of the EURATOM training programmes is, in collaboration with 'future employers', to identify commonalties amongst CPD actions ('Continuous Professional Development'). The following four objectives have been agreed upon ('EURATOM Fission Training Scheme'): - Address life-long learning and career development in the areas of Nuclear Fission and Radiation Protection, adapting wherever possible the four above ENEN principles. - Maximize transfer of higher level knowledge and technology with emphasis on inter-sectoral mobility across the EU (e.g. internships in the stakeholders' organisations). - Remove all administrative or other barriers to the mutual recognition of professional qualifications in the Internal Market (right to provide services anywhere in the EU). - Ultimate objective develop 'European Training Passports' that will enable high-level nuclear experts to exercise in the EU and will be a quality label for all employers. (author)

[en] A European strategy for nuclear knowledge management is discussed, based on the 'knowledge triangle' (i.e. research, education and innovation), proposed by Science and Research Commissioner, Janez Potocnik. The emphasis is on the component 'education', which rests actually on 3 principles: common qualification (delivery of a quality label), mutual recognition (Bologna 1999 mechanisms) and mobility of teachers and students (practical instruments at European level). Some achievements are presented, such as the degree 'European Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering', developed by the legal Association ENEN, and similar initiatives related to waste management and radiation protection. Finally, conclusions are drawn regarding achievements and prospects of Euratom research and training. (author)

[en] The activities of the European Commission (EC) in the field of nuclear energy are governed by the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM). The research activities of the European Union (EU) are designed as multi-annual Framework Programmes (FP). The EURATOM 6. Framework Programme (EURATOM FP -6), covering the period 2002-2006, is funded with a budget of 1, 230 million Euros and managed by the European Commission. Beyond the general strategic goal of the EURATOM Framework Programmes to help exploit the potential of nuclear energy, in a safe and sustainable manner, FP -6 is designed to contribute also to the development of the 'European Research Area' (ERA), a concept described in the Commission's Communication COM(2000)6, of January 2000. Moreover EURATOM FP-6 contributes to the creation of the conditions for sharing the same nuclear safety culture throughout the EU-25 and the Candidate Countries, fostering the acceptance of nuclear power as an element of the energy mix. This paper gives an overview of the research activities undertaken through EURATOM FP-6 in the area of Reactor Systems, covering the safety of present reactors, the development of future safe reactors, and the needs in terms of research infrastructures and education and training. The actions under FP-6 are presented in their continuity of actions under FP-5. The perspectives under FP -7 are also provided. Other parts of the EURATOM FP, covering Waste Handling and Radiation Protection, as well as Fusion Energy, are not detailed in this paper. (authors)

[en] This paper gives a summary of the main research activities on reactor systems (safety of existing nuclear installation and future nuclear systems) and innovative processes for the back-end of the fuel cycle ongoing under the Sixth (FP6) (2002-2006) and Seventh (2007-2011) EURATOM Framework Programmes. The activities related to research infrastructures and education and training are also reported. In FP6, large projects have led to more integration of research in Europe in certain topics. The European Technology Platform on Sustainable Nuclear Energy (SNE-TP) has been launched in September 2007. A strategic research agenda (SRA) is being prepared by the members of SNE-TP and should be completed at the beginning of 2009. The main chapters foreseen in the SRA build on the thematic areas of FP7. (authors)

[en] This paper is an overview of the current Euratom FP-7 research and training actions in innovative nuclear fission reactors and fuel cycle technologies, including partitioning and transmutation. It is based on the more than 40 invited lectures that were delivered by research project coordinators and by keynote speakers at the FISA-2009 Conference, organised by the European Commission DG Research/Euratom. The education and training programmes in nuclear fission and radiation protection are also discussed, aiming at continuously increasing the level of nuclear competences across the EU. It is necessary to consider the most recent nuclear fission technologies (Generations of Nuclear Power Plants): - GEN II: safety and reliability of nuclear facilities and energy independence; - GEN III: continuous improvement of safety and reliability, and increased industrial competitiveness in a growing energy market; - GEN IV: for increased sustainability, and proliferation resistance. The focus in this paper is on the design objectives and research issues associated to Generations IV systems that have been agreed upon internationally. Their benefits are discussed according to a series of ambitious criteria or technology goals established at the international level. One will have to produce not only electricity at lower costs but also heat at very high temperatures, while exploiting a maximum of fissile and fertile matters, and recycling all actinides, under safe and reliable conditions. Scientific viability studies and technological performance tests for each Generation IV system are now being carried out in many laboratories world-wide, in line with the intergovernmental GIF agreement. The ultimate phase of commercial deployment is foreseen for 2040. (orig.)

[en] Description: The CRISSUE-S project was created with the aim of re-evaluating fundamental technical issues in the technology of LWRs. Specifically, the project seeks to address the interactions between neutron kinetics and thermal-hydraulics that affect neutron moderation and influence the accident performance of the NPPs. This is undertaken in the light of the advanced computational tools that are readily available to the scientific community today. Specifically, the CRISSUE-S activity deals with the control of fission power and the use of high burn up fuel; these topics are part of the EC Work Programme as well as that of other international organisations such as the OECD/NEA and the IAEA. The problems of evaluating reactivity induced accident (RIA) consequences and eventually deciding the possibility of NPP prolongation must be addressed and resolved. RIA constitutes one of the most important of the ?less-resolved? safety issues, and treating this problem may have huge positive financial, social and environmental impacts. Public acceptance of nuclear technology implies that problems such as these be satisfactorily resolved. Cross-disciplinary (regulators, industry, utilities and research bodies) interaction and co operation within CRISSUE-S provides results which can directly and immediately be beneficial to EU industry. Co-operation at an international level: the participation of the EU, former Eastern European countries, the USA, and observers from Japan testify to the broad interest these problems engender. Competencies in broad areas such as thermal-hydraulics, neutronics and fuel, overall system design and reactor surveillance are needed to address the problems that are posed here. Excellent expertise is available in specific areas, while limited knowledge exists in the interface zones of those areas, e.g. in the coupling between thermal-hydraulics and neutronics. In general terms, the activities carried out and described here aim at exploiting available expertise and findings and gathering together expert scientists from various areas relevant to the issues addressed. Added value for the CRISSUE-S activity consists of proposing and making available a list of transients to be analysed by coupled neutron kinetics/thermal-hydraulic techniques and of defining ?acceptability? (or required precision) thresholds for the results of the analyses. The list of transients is specific to the different NPP types such as PWR, BWR and VVER. The acceptability thresholds for calculation precision are general in nature and are applicable to all LWRs. The creation of a database including the main results from coupled 3-D neutron kinetics/thermal-hydraulic calculations and their analysis should also be noted. The CRISSUE-S project is organised into three work packages (WPs). The first WP includes activities related to obtaining and documenting relevant data. The second WP is responsible for the state-of-the-art report (SOAR), while the third WP concerns the evaluation of the findings from the SOAR and includes outcomes of the entire project formulated as recommendations, mainly to the nuclear power industry and to the regulatory authorities. The present report is the result of the first WP and discusses the type of transients that are of interest in relation to reactivity-initiated accidents in LWR NPPs and elaborates on the data required for coupled 3-D neutron kinetics/thermal hydraulic analysis and also on data needed to perform associated validations. The reports have been written to accomplish the objectives established in the contract between the EU and its partners. Expected beneficiaries include institutions and organisations involved with nuclear technology (e.g. utilities, regulators, research, fuel industry). In addition, specific expected beneficiaries are junior- or senior-level researchers and technologists working in the considered field of research and development and application of coupled neutron kinetics/thermal-hydraulics