RRFM 2009 Transactions - European Nuclear Society

eformulation of an existing AFRA project on research reactor utilization to bring it in line with
efforts to form coalitions and networks.
C. Outreach
Extensive coordination was maintained with other external programs or partners with related
objectives. This included establishment of a working relationship with UK Department for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), Closed Nuclear Cities Program
(CNCP), and U.S Department of Energy Office of Science for relevant activities which are
supportive of project specific coalition development activities.
Various international meetings, conferences and symposia were used to publicize the
Research Reactor Coalitions initiative, to solicit additional prospective partners for proposed
coalitions, and to organize side meetings related to specific coalition activities. In this regard,
presentations were made by IAEA representatives at the following meetings:
- European Nuclear Society, Research Reactor Fuel Management Meeting (RRFM 2007),
Hamburg, Germany, 3 to 5 March 2007.
- European Nuclear Society, Nuclear Education – Science and Technology (NEST 2007),
Budapest, Hungary, 5 to 7 May 2007.
- DOE Isotope Workshop, Rockville, Maryland, 5 to 7 August 2008.
- TRIGA International Meeting, Lyon, France, 8 to 9 September 2008.
Side meetings related to EERRI and the Caribbean Coalition, as well as to several other
potential coalitions, took place at the NEST and TRIGA meetings.
4. PLANNED 2009 ACTIVITIES
Plans for 2009 seek to consolidate the existing coalitions and to encourage maturation, selfreliance
and sustainability, new business/utilization activities, and participation by countries
without ready access to research reactors. Work will also continue on other prospective
coalitions that have been under discussion.
In particular, the ongoing crisis and unreliability of supply in the international isotope market –
especially relating to Mo-99 – seems to offer a potential opportunity for new irradiation and
processing capability which could ideally be satisfied through a coalition of producers.
Caribbean RRC: Initial efforts in 2009 are focused on preparations for the initial workshop
for TC project RLA/0/037 in Bariloche, Argentina, 2 to 6 March 2009. As noted in Section 3 A
above, it is anticipated that the new regional TC project will support a activities to be
proposed by the Caribbean partners for specific activities over a three-year period in
marketing, customer/business planning, and NAA quality certification. Two NAA expert
missions (from Jamaica and Argentina) to Colombia will take place in February and April/May
as the Colombia reactor has received approval for regular operations beginning in 2009. It is
expected that 1-2 workshops will be held in 2009 on NAA and customer services. It is
planned that a sub-regional workshop will be held in late 2009 or early 2010 to introduce the
coalition to potential users/customers from countries in the Caribbean region that do not have
access to research reactors.
East European RRI: A third plenary meeting will be held in Vienna after RRFM 2009 to
review follow-up and progress since the September 2008 meeting and to intensify work on
cooperative activities for 2009. It is planned that this meeting will begin to develop a longrange
plan for the development of EERRI and that an irradiation services market study for
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