Annex I Description of Work (April 2007) - ENEN Association

Euratom 2005-6 – Fixed deadline
Coordination Actions
ENEN-II
4. Relevance to the objectives of the EURATOM Programme
The ENEN-II project addresses the Euratom specific objectives for the harmonisation of
nuclear education and training schemes across the European Union as formulated in chapter 3
of the EURATOM Work Programme 2005/2006.
Two years after its founding, the ENEN Association has developed to one of the cornerstones
of the European Higher Education Area in the nuclear field and acquired considerable
visibility in academic and industrial circles. In the NEPTUNO project course frameworks,
training modules, procedures, best practices, accreditation criteria, guidelines and
recommendations have been developed, based on documented and perceived needs of the
stakeholders. Pilot sessions have been organised to some extent. The objective of the ENEN-
II project is the full implementation, demonstration and testing of the NEPTUNO
developments in actual practice, building confidence within the ENEN Association and the
academic environment and demonstrating to the industrial world that the concept is working,
that it is productive and providing added value to the European Union. The ENEN-II project
further includes an action plan to extend training activities from the academic environment
into post-graduate, post-doctoral and professional training, following and testing the
recommendations elaborated during the NEPTUNO project. The ENEN-II project plans to
expand as well the academic education as the post-graduate training and research beyond
nuclear engineering by addressing radiation protection, analytical radiochemistry,
radioecology and geological disposal and underground storage of radioactive waste.
Resources within the ENEN Association will be coordinated with other education and training
organisations and End User networks to ensure that there is no future shortage of skills to
continue the safe and efficient operation of Europe’s nuclear industry and the next generation
of nuclear power plants, to maintain and develop the wealth of non-power nuclear
applications in our modern societies, to protect and monitor people and their environment
with respect to radiation and radioactive contamination, to take care of decommissioning and
dismantling obsolete nuclear installations, and eventually to ensure the safe disposal of
radioactive waste in underground storage facilities and selected geological formations.
In this way, the ENEN-II project will provide means to strengthen European co-operation, for
mitigating prospective risks of scarceness of both researchers and skilled academic teachers in
the fields of radiation protection, analytical radiochemistry, radioecology and geological
disposal of radioactive waste. It will harmonise the education programme to the current and
future needs of the End Users and create attractive courses, which arouse students to choose
and pursue studies in those fields. To some extent, the academic programmes set up within
the project could also be used as pedagogic materials for professional training activities.
Beyond the educational and training objectives, the ENEN-II project will federate European
academic efforts for improving and developing multidisciplinary research. The development
of new academic research programmes generally implies a heavy investment in both human
resources and equipment. Organising a constructive dialogue between End Users, teachers
and researchers, pooling resources, structures and facilities, and facilitating access and
mobility will help to accelerate the emergence of new research programmes. In this way,
ENEN-II contributes to the construction of the European Research Area.
Annex I Description of Work - page 13 of 124