Council Decision of 19 December 2011 concerning the Framework Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community for nuclear research and training activities (2012 to 2013) (2012/93/Euratom) (repealed)

I.B. NUCLEAR FISSION, SAFETY, AND RADIATION PROTECTION

Objective

Establishing a sound scientific and technical basis in order to accelerate practical developments for the safer management of long-lived radioactive waste, enhancing in particular the safety(1), while contributing to resource efficiency and cost-effectiveness of nuclear energy and ensuring a robust and socially acceptable system of protection of man and the environment against the effects of ionising radiation.

Rationale

Nuclear power constitutes an element in the debate on combating climate change and reducing Europe’s dependence on imported energy. In the broader context of finding a sustainable energy-mix for the future, the Framework Programme will also contribute through its research activities to the debate on the benefits and the limitations of nuclear fission energy for a low-carbon economy. Through ensuring even higher safety levels, more advanced nuclear technologies could also offer the prospect of significant improvements in efficiency and use of resources and producing less waste than current designs. Nuclear safety aspects will receive the greatest possible attention.

Efforts are still required to ensure a continuation of the Community’s outstanding safety record and the improvement of radiation protection continues to be a priority area. The key issues are operational reactor safety and management of long-lived waste, both of which are being addressed through continued work at the technical level, though allied political and societal inputs are also required. In all uses of radiation, throughout industry and medicine alike, the overriding principle is the protection of man and the environment. All thematic domains to be addressed here are characterised by an overriding concern to ensure high levels of safety.

Three major European cooperative initiatives in nuclear science and technology have been launched since the start of the Seventh Euratom Framework Programme. They are the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP), the Implementing Geological Disposal Technology Platform (IGDTP) and the Multidisciplinary European Low-Dose Initiative (MELODI). The activities of both SNETP and IGDTP correspond very closely with strategic energy technology plan priorities, and a core group of SNETP organisations are responsible for implementing ESNII, the European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative. They encompass activities within the scope of the Framework Programme, notably in so far as nuclear safety is concerned.

There is increasing interaction between SNETP, IGDTP and MELODI and other stakeholder forums at the Union level, such as the European Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF) and the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG), and further synergies will be sought as appropriate through framework programme activities whilst recalling that the development of industrial products and services should be funded by the industry itself.

The Framework Programme is characterised by an overriding concern to promote high levels of safety, taking also into consideration the international context. It will also continue to support initiatives to ensure that facilities, training and training opportunities in Europe remain appropriate in view of current orientations of national programmes and in the best interests of the Union as a whole, in particular as regards nuclear safety and radiation protection. This, more than anything else, will ensure that an appropriate safety culture is maintained.

Activities

1. Management of ultimate radioactive waste

Implementation-oriented research activities on remaining key aspects of deep geological disposal of spent fuel and long-lived radioactive waste with, as appropriate, demonstration of the technologies and safety, and to underpin development of a common European view on the main issues related to waste management from discharge to disposal.

2. Reactor systems

Research to underpin the safe operation of all relevant reactor systems (including fuel cycle facilities) in use in Europe or, to the extent necessary in order to maintain broad nuclear safety expertise in Europe, those reactor types which may be used in the future, focusing exclusively on safety aspects, including all aspects of the fuel cycle such as partitioning and transmutation. Accompanying measures to contribute to the debate on a sustainable energy mix in Europe.

3. Radiation protection

Research, in particular on the risks from low doses, medical uses and the management of accidents, to provide a scientific basis for a robust, equitable and socially acceptable system of protection, taking also into consideration the benefits of the uses of radiation in medicine and industry.

4. Infrastructures

Support for the use and continued availability of, and cooperation between, key research infrastructures in the priority thematic areas above.

5. Human resources and training

Support for the retention and further development of scientific competence and human capacity in order to guarantee the availability of suitably qualified researchers, engineers and employees in the nuclear sector over the longer term.

(1)

Any nuclear security research activities are covered under heading II ‘Nuclear activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC)’.