Collaborative platforms
In line with the strategy to establish a true European Research Area in nuclear science and technology and with the support of the European Commission via the Euratom FrameworkProgramme, some forums have recently been established bringing together leaders from industry, academia and national research and safety organisations to plan and carry out research more strategically. Two of these forums are technology platforms involving industrial players and end users of the technology as well as publicly-funded research organisations and institutes – SNEPT and IG DTP.
SNETP – Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform
The Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform brings together more than 100 members from 21 European countries, including all the major nuclear industrial and research players (including industry – both utilities and vendors – research organisations, technical safety organisations, academia, civil society organisations, NGO s). Formally launched in September 2007, SNE-TP represents a major effort to better coordinate research activities in the area of nuclear fission safety and systems and to collaborate more effectively in implementing research of strategic importance for Europe.
More information: http://www.snetp.eu/
SNETP Pillars: NUGENIA, ESNII, NC2I
NUGENIA – Nuclear Generation II & III Association
NUGENIA is an international non-profit association dedicated to the research and development of nuclear fission technologies, with a focus on Gen II & III nuclear plants.
It provides scientific and technical basis to the community by initiating and supporting international R&D projects and programmes.
The association gathers stakeholders from industry, research, safety organisations and academia, committed to develop joint R&D projects in this field.
More information: https://snetp.eu/nugenia/
ESNII – European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative
It addresses the need for demonstration of Generation IV Fast Neutron Reactor technologies together with supporting research infrastructures, fuel facilities and R&D work. The main goal of ESNII is to design, to license, to construct, to commission and put into operation before 2025 the Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR) Prototype reactor called ASTRI D and the flexible fast spectrum irradiation facility MYRRHA. The ALFR ED demonstrator for Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR), and ALLEGRO for Gas-cooled Fast Reactor (GFR) technologies are also part of the roadmap.
More information: http://www.snetp.eu/esnii/
NC2I – Nuclear Cogeneration Industrial Initiative
NC2I aims at demonstrating an innovative and competitive energy solution for the low-carbon cogeneration of heat and electricity based on nuclear energy. The targeted outcome is commissioning within 10 years of a nuclear cogeneration prototype to deploy this low-carbon energy technology in several energy-intensive industries.
More information: http://www.snetp.eu/nc2i/
Implementing Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste Technology Platform – IGD-TP
The IGD-TP is dedicated to initiating and carrying out European strategic initiatives to facilitate the stepwise implementation of safe, deep geological disposal of spent fuel, high-level waste and other long-lived radioactive waste. It aims to address the remaining scientific, technological and social challenges, and support European waste management programmes.
It was initiated by the European Commission and waste management organisations. The group welcomes all interested parties (industry, research and academia, research centres, technical safety organisations, non-governmental organisations, associations, SMEs) endorsing the IGD-TP vision and willing to contribute positively and constructively to the group’s goals, such as establishing and implementing the Strategic Research Agenda and participating in information exchange and knowledge transfer.
More information: www.igdtp.eu
The European Fusion Education Network
The FuseNet Association was founded to be a platform for the coordination of European fusion education in 2010. And that is what we have been doing ever since. Rooted in academia, we are driven by the notion that the students of now will be the researchers, engineers and pioneers of the future. By connecting and facilitating educators and students across Europe, we build on this understanding. We want to make fusion the place to be for bright and motivated people. By connecting academia with industry and supporting student mobility we stimulate fusion students to get in touch with the work field.
More information: https://fusenet.eu
The European Nuclear Education Network
The European Nuclear Education Network, (ENEN) is an international nonprofit organization (aisbl) established under the Belgian law. The main purpose of the ENEN Association is the preservation and the further development of expertise in the nuclear fields by higher education and training in Europe.
The mission of ENEN is the preservation and the further development of expertise in the nuclear fields by higher Education and Training. This objective should be realized through the co-operation between universities, research organisations, regulatory bodies, the industry and any other organisations involved in the application of nuclear science and ionising radiation.
More information: https://enen.eu
Other initiatives
CONCERT – European Joint Programme for the Integration of Radiation Protection
Research
The ‘CONCERT-European Joint Programme for the Integration of Radiation Protection Research’ under Horizon 2020 aims to contribute to the sustainable integration of European and national research programmes in radiation protection. CONCERT as a co-fund action strives to achieve the attraction and pooling of national research efforts in Radiation Protection with EURATOM research programmes in order to make better use of public R&D resources and to tackle common European challenges in radiation protection more effectively by joint research efforts in key areas. In order to rise to this challenge CONCERT is operating as an umbrella structure for the research initiatives of the radiation protection research platforms MELODI, ALLIANCE, NERIS, EURADOS and EURAMED.
More information: http://concert-h2020.eu/
MELODI – Multidisciplinary European Low Dose Initiative
MELODI is a European Platform dedicated to low dose ionizing radiation risk research.
The purpose of the MELODI is to integrate national and European activities in the field of low dose and low dose-rate radiation research, to define priority scientific goals and to implement research.
The Strategic research Agenda of MELODI identifies these priority goals and the specific resources, infrastructures and training capabilities needed to further developing the low dose risk research.
The key priority for radiation protection is to improve health risk estimates for exposures corresponding to the dose limits for occupational exposures and to reference levels of the population in emergency situations.
More information: http://www.melodi-online.eu
NERIS – European Platform on preparedness for nuclear and radiological emergency response and recovery
NERIS was established in June 2010 to assure the positive momentum in nuclear and radiological emergency co-operation in Europe and to develop technical and methodological methods at all operational levels.
The NERIS Platform is a forum for dialogue and methodological development between European, national, regional and local authorities, technical support organisations, operators, professional organisations, research institutes, universities, non-governmental organisations, consultants, and national and local stakeholders and associations taking part in decision making of protective actions in nuclear and radiological emergencies and recovery in Europe.
The objectives of the Platform are defined as to improve the effectiveness of current European, national and local approaches for preparedness concerning nuclear or radiological emergency response and recovery, to promote more coherent approaches in preparedness for nuclear or radiological emergency response and recovery throughout Europe, to identify gaps and needs for further developments in preparedness for nuclear or radiological emergency response and recovery, to address new and emerging challenges in the field of preparedness for nuclear and radiological emergency response and recovery, to maintain and improve know-how and technical expertise in preparedness for nuclear or radiological emergency response and recovery among all interested stakeholders in Europe.
More information: http://www.eu-neris.net/
ALIANCE – European Radioecology Alliance
The European Radioecology Alliance was founded in 2009 to coordinate and promote European research on Radioecology. It acts as a Research Platform defining priorities and research programmesand integrating resources. It promotes communication with stakeholders. The ALLIANCE, together with the EC-STAR Network of Excellence (2011-2015), has developed a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), which defines a long term vision on the needs and implementation of research in Radioecology. Members of the ALLIANCE bring together parts of their respective research and development programmes into an integrated programme that maintains and enhances radioecological competences and experimental infrastructures and addresses scientific and educational challenges in assessing the impact of radioactive substances on humans and the environment.
More information: http://www.er-alliance.org/
EURADOS – The European Radiation Dosimetry Group
The European Radiation Dosimetry Group is a non-profit organization promoting research and development and European cooperation in the field of ionizing radiation dosimetry. The European Radiation Dosimetry Group comprises a self-sustainable network of more than 60 European institutions and 300 scientists active in the field of radiation dosimetry. The aim of the network is to promote research and development and European cooperation in the field of the ionizing radiation dosimetry.
EURADOS activities encompass coordination of working groups, organization of scientific meetings and training activities, and organization of intercomparisons and benchmark studies. EURADOS areas of activity are individual monitoring for external and internal exposure, retrospective dosimetry, environmental radiation monitoring, diagnostic and interventional radiology, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy and computational dosimetry.
More information: http://www.eurados.org/
EURAMED
The European Alliance for Medical Radiation Protection Research (EURAMED) represents a consortium of associations involved in the application of ionizing radiation in medicine, namely the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), the European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (EFOMP), the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS), the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) with the goal of jointly improving medical care and its medical radiation protection issues through sustainable research efforts. Since October 1st, 2017 EURAMED is a non-profit organisation registered in Austria.
For the first time the five medical societies joined forces and agreed on a collaboration to improve the application of ionising radiation in medical care by developing and exploring common research strategies and by actively promoting the translation of results into clinical practice.
More information: www.euramed.eu
