Euratom FP6 Research Projects and Training Activities Volume III

PROJECT SYNOPSES 

Euratom FP6 

Research Projects and 

Training Activities 

Volume III 

EUR 22385 

ALISIA 

ANTIOXI 

ARGONA 

CANDIDE 

CARD 

CATT 

CIP 

EFNUDAT 

EISOFAR 

ELSY 

ENEN-II 

ERA-PRO 

FUTURAE 

GENEPI-ENTB 2 

GENEPI-lowRT 

GENRISK-T 

HPLWR Phase 2 

LWR-DEPUTY 

MAGIC 

MICADO 

MTR+I3 

NICODEME 

NOTE 

NUDAME 

NULIFE 

OBRA 

PAMINA 

PATEROS 

PLINIUS FP6 

PROTECT 

PuMA 

SAPIERR-II 

SNF-TP 

THERESA 

TIMODAZ 

TMT Handbook 

VELLA

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 


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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Euratom FP6 Research Projects 

and Training Activities 

Volume III 


2007 Euratom EUR 22385

LEGAL NOTICE 

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ISBN 978-92-79-05047-3 

© European Communities, 2007 

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CONTENTS 

Introduction 5 

FP6 research activities 7 

Partnership in Euratom FP6 14 

Management of radioactive waste 17 

Geological disposal ARGONA 18 

CARD 20 

CATT 22 

CIP 24 

MICADO 26 

OBRA 28 

PAMINA 30 

SAPIERR-II 32 

THERESA 34 

TIMODAZ 36 

Partitioning and transmutation CANDIDE 38 

EFNUDAT 40 

LWR-DEPUTY 42 

NUDAME 44 

PATEROS 46 

PuMA 48 

VELLA 50 

Radiation protection 53 

Quantification of risks associated with low and protracted exposures ERA-PRO 54 

Radiobiology GENEPI-ENTB 2 56 

GENEPI-lowRT 58 

GENRISK-T 60 

NOTE 62 

Protection of the environment and radioecology FUTURAE 64 

PROTECT 66 

Risk and emergency management TMT Handbook 68 

Other activities in the field of nuclear technologies and safety 71 

Innovative concepts ALISIA 72 

EISOFAR 74 

ELSY 76 

HPLWR Phase 2 78 

Education and training ENEN-II 80 

Safety of existing installations ANTIOXI 82 

MAGIC 84 

NULIFE 86 

Infrastructures MTR+I3 88 

NICODEME 90 

PLINIUS FP6 92 

Cross-cutting SNF-TP 94 

Glossary 96 

Index of projects 101 

3

Introduction 

This brochure describes the third batch of 

research projects funded by the specific 

programme for ‘Research and Training on 

Nuclear Energy (2002-2006)’ under the Sixth 

Euratom Framework Programme for Nuclear 

Research and Training Activities (FP6). The 

projects described here all involve research 

activities in the general area of nuclear fission, 

including the management of nuclear waste, 

radiation protection, and other activities in 

the field of nuclear technologies and safety, 

such as innovative concepts, education and 

training, and the safety of existing nuclear 

installations. Euratom activities on research 

and development for nuclear fusion are not 

covered here. 

One-third of the electricity consumed in the enlarged EU is 

generated by nuclear (fission) power. Over the next 50 years, 

world energy demand is set to increase rapidly: global 

energy use will at least double, with electricity demand 

growing fastest and new energy carriers, such as hydrogen, 

entering the market. As an indigenous and dependable 

source of energy, nuclear power can contribute to the EU’s 

independence and security of future energy supply. More 

advanced reactor technology promises significant improvements 

in the efficiency and sustainability of nuclear power 

production whilst, at the same time, ensuring even higher 

standards of safety and producing less waste. 

Moreover, in the context of increasing evidence of climate 

change, and a consequent need to reduce fossil fuel use, 

nuclear power is the only carbon-free technology currently 

available to advanced societies that is able to provide baseload 

electricity supply 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

This brochure is being published at a time when energy in 

general and nuclear energy in particular are in the political 

INTRODUCTION 

spotlight. In this context, research in nuclear science and 

technology, including that coordinated and financed 

through the Euratom Framework Programme, is taking on an 

enhanced significance. Initiatives such as the Strategic Energy 

Technology Plan, whose establishment was endorsed at the 

European Council summit in March 2007, and the imminent 

creation of a technology platform in sustainable nuclear 

energy, are extremely significant developments. 

Addressing societal concerns, 

protecting the public 

However, there are a number of important concerns that 

affect the future use of nuclear power in Europe. The 

primary issues are operational reactor safety and the 

management of long-lived radioactive waste. Protection 

of society and the environment is paramount in all 

decisions relating to nuclear activities – including the use 

of radiation in medical applications. To ensure a continued 

high level of safety for society, nuclear technology 

demands the use of ‘state-of-the-art’ techniques requiring 

a continual supply of highly trained and dedicated people. 

Research plays an essential role in this process. 

The European dimension to these issues is evident. The 

safety of nuclear reactors is an important issue for all countries, 

whether or not they themselves operate nuclear 

power plants. All countries produce radioactive wastes or, 

through the grid, import electricity from nuclear production 

in other countries. All hospitals use radioactive substances 

in various diagnosis and treatment technologies; 

research reactors operate in many countries; universities 

use radioactive isotopes in vital research in chemistry, 

biology and engineering; and many industrial activities 

also use sources of ionising radiation. 

All waste is safely managed. The low-hazard waste is already 

disposed of on the industrial scale. In the case of the smaller 

volume of the most hazardous waste, principally originating 

from nuclear power reactors, the continuing R&D effort is 

making tremendous progress towards reversible disposal in 

deep geological repositories. Various host rocks have been 

evaluated and assessments made of the ability of such systems 

to isolate this high-level waste from the surface environment 

for the required timescales (10 000 years +). In 

addition, innovative techniques such as partitioning and 

transmutation could reduce the long-term radiotoxicity of 

this waste, thereby minimising the timescale required for 

5

6 

isolation. However, in parallel to these important advances at 

the cutting-edge of science, a less technocratic approach is 

needed in order to involve the public in the decision-making 

process, especially regarding the siting of disposal facilities 

and related waste governance issues. This ability to communicate 

effectively with the general public is a common concern 

in all technical research projects in this field. The 

Euratom programme even includes projects devoted entirely 

to these ‘softer’ societal issues, such as governance and participative 

decision-making (see for example the COWAM 

project in Vol. I of this brochure, ARGONA, CIP and OBRA in 

this volume and also the more general ‘Science and Society’ 

programme under the European Community Framework 

Programme). 

Ultimately, decisions related to management of radioactive 

waste and whether or not to use nuclear power are 

political and societal ones to be taken at the national level. 

However, these critical decisions should be based on 

knowledge, not taken in ignorance. Research can and must 

supply this knowledge. 

The programme 

© AREVA NP (FR) 

The FP6 Euratom programme directly contributed to key 

policy objectives for the EU: 

Protection of society and the environment – This fundamental 

principle was reinforced through EU legislation 

under the founding treaties for both Euratom and the 

European Community and lies at the heart of all EU policy 

making. 

Security of energy supply, the fight against climate 

change and sustainable economic growth – Energy is the 

life-blood of modern society. The Commission’s Green Paper 

‘A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and 

Secure Energy’, published in March 2006, and the comprehensive 

‘energy package’ of 10 January 2007, present the 

dilemma facing Europe in achieving these three often conflicting 

objectives. The EU needs to protect itself from risks of 

interruption to energy supplies, by using a diverse portfolio 

of energy sources and technologies, developing further 

indigenous and renewable energy sources and by improving 

energy efficiency. The consequences of increased global 

temperatures driven by human activity, in particular the 

emission of greenhouse gases due to the use of fossil fuels, is 

one of the greatest environmental and economic challenges 

facing society. Economic development, sustainable growth 

and jobs are at the cornerstone of the Lisbon Agenda. 

Nuclear power in particular is one of the energy technologies 

that can help the EU meet all three challenges. 

The knowledge-based society – The Lisbon Council of 

March 2000 set the EU an objective of becoming the most 

competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 

2010. The achievement of this objective is a top priority. 

The level of knowledge and expertise in nuclear science in 

Europe makes it a recognised world leader in many aspects 

of nuclear technology and enables a competitive edge for 

European enterprise. 

Research on nuclear fission and radiation protection at a 

pan-European level carried out within FP6 and earlier 

framework programmes has encouraged significantly 

increased levels of cooperation in Europe. This has resulted 

in substantial benefits to the EU as a whole by ensuring 

high levels of nuclear safety and environmental protection. 

The identified priority thematic research areas are of 

concern to all Member States and, by enabling a coordinated 

effort, the framework programme ensures the 

development of a common European view on scientific 

issues, as well as harmonisation of standards across the 

Union and beyond. 

EURATOM FP6 RESEARCH PROJECTS AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES 

Volume III

FP6 research activities 

The legislative basis of the FP6 Euratom programme is to be 

found in Council Decision 2002/668/Euratom 1 adopting the 

Sixth Framework Programme of the European Atomic Energy 

Community (Euratom), covering both fusion- and fissionrelated 

activities. 

The activities undertaken within FP6 cover similar thematic 

priorities to those of the Fifth Euratom Framework 

Programme (FP5 Euratom): the management of radioactive 

waste, radiation protection, and other activities in the 

field of nuclear technologies and safety. 

The activities undertaken within FP6 Euratom were 

allocated a similar overall budget (allowing for inflation) to 

FP5 but focused on a smaller number of (larger) projects. 

The new instruments available under FP6 (see box on page 8) 

were being applied to reinforce further integration in this 

area of European research. 

During FP5, some 222 Euratom projects were funded with a 

total of EUR 163 million allocated from the EU budget. 

Nearly all of these projects have now been completed. 

Final reports on FP5 Euratom projects are available at: 

http://cordis.europa.eu/fp5-euratom/src/lib_finalreports.htm. 

1 http://cordis.europa.eu/fp6-euratom/lib_legislative.htm 

FP6 RESEARCH ACTIVITIES 

© EC, JRC 

The 37 FP6 Euratom projects listed below, grouped under 

thematic priorities, are described in greater detail later in 

the brochure. These projects are the third and final batch 

of FP6 Euratom projects to be funded. This third call for 

proposals was published on 8 June 2005 with a deadline of 

11 October 2005. The projects also include Specific 

Support Actions from a call for proposals that was 

continuously open through FP6 with cut-off dates every 

six months (see p. 11). The final cut-off date for this 

continuous FP6 call was 11 April 2006. 

The results of the first and second calls for proposals can be 

found in Volumes I and II of this brochure. The first call was 

issued on 17 December 2002 with a deadline of 6 May 

2003, whilst the second call was issued in 14 November 

2003 with a deadline of 14 April 2004. 

In total, 77 projects have been contracted under FP6 

Euratom, representing cumulative European Commission 

funding of EUR 186 million. A number of individual fellowships 

and grants were also awarded during FP6; these are 

not reported in this brochure. 

Management of radioactive waste 

The main research areas here are the geological disposal of 

highly active and long-lived radioactive waste and the 

minimisation of the radiologically most hazardous 

component of this waste through partitioning and 

transmutation (separation of the more hazardous isotopes 

and their conversion to less hazardous ones). Support for 

European actinide science – the science of the heavy 

elements used and/or produced by nuclear reactions – is 

an important part of the programme that cuts across both 

the above main areas. Important synergies also exist 

between partitioning and transmutation and research in 

nuclear systems. 

The funded projects (see box on page 8 for a description of 

FP6 instruments) described in this volume are: 

Geological disposal 

❚ ARGONA – A STREP on how new political processes can 

be implemented in policy-making for nuclear waste 

management. 

7

8 

❚ CARD – A CA assessing the feasibility of setting up a 

technology platform in the field of research on 

geological disposal of radioactive waste. 

❚ CATT – This SSA will help to facilitate technology 

transfer between Member States in particular in the 

context of possible regional waste repositories. 

❚ CIP – The COWAM in Practice STREP will cover the 

implementation of the decision-making and governance 

practices and principles recommended by 

COWAM and other Euratom projects. 

❚ MICADO – Uncertainties in current models used to 

describe dissolution mechanisms for high-level waste 

in repositories will be assessed in this CA and future 

research needs identified. 

FP6 instruments 

❚ OBRA – This CA will consider the feasibility of establishing 

an observatory for the long-term governance of 

radioactive waste management in Europe. 

❚ PAMINA – The main objective of this IP is to improve and 

harmonise integrated performance assessment metho - 

dologies for disposal in deep geological environments. 

❚ SAPIERR-II – This CA builds on the feasibility studies 

produced in previous projects to develop prac tical 

implementation strategies and organisational structures 

for shared waste facilities in Europe. 

❚ THERESA – Deep geological repositories will need the 

reliable models developed in this STREP to simulate 

complex thermal, hydrological, mechanical and chemical 

processes over long time periods. 

Networks of Excellence (NoE) aim to strengthen and develop the Community’s scientific and technological excellence 

by integrating, at European level, research and training capacities at national and regional level. Each NoE will 

advance knowledge in a particular research area by assembling a critical mass of expertise and organising activities 

targeted towards long-term, multi-disciplinary objectives. 

Integrated Projects (IP) are designed either to give increased impetus to the Community’s competitiveness in a specific 

research area or to address a major societal issue by mobilising a critical mass of research and technological 

development resources. Clear scientific and technological objectives will be identified and specific results in terms 

of products, processes or services pursued. 

Specific Targeted Research or Training Projects (STREP) aim to improve European competitiveness and should have 

a sharp focus. A STREP could be a research project designed to gain new knowledge to improve or develop new 

products, processes or services. Alternatively, it could be a demonstration project designed to validate new technologies 

with economic potential. 

Coordination Actions (CA) promote and support coordinated initiatives between research and innovation operators 

to improve integration. They cover activities such as conference organisation, sharing of best practice, and the 

establishment of information systems. 

Actions to promote and develop human resources and mobility cover a variety of activities under the general 

umbrella of training, education and mobility, including Training Fellowships (TF), Special Training Courses (STC), 

Grants for Co-operating with Third Countries (GFTC) and Transnational Access to Large Infrastructures (TALI). 

Specific Support Actions (SSA) complement the implementation of the framework programme and may be used to 

prepare for future EU R&D work, including monitoring and assessment activities. 

Integrated Infrastructure Initiatives (III) combine in one single action several activities to reinforce and develop research 

infrastructures to provide services at the European level. This could include networking activities with a support activity. 



❚ TIMODAZ – A STREP assessing the extent to which the 

damaged zone induced by the excavation and thermal 

impact of the repository might affect long-term safety. 

Partitioning and transmutation (including cross-cutting 

with nuclear systems) 

❚ CANDIDE – This CA will ensure that appropriate 

high-quality nuclear data are available for input to 

design activities for future reactor systems. 

❚ EFNUDAT – An III on differential neutron data measurements, 

vital to support transmutation system and 

Generation IV reactor design studies. 

❚ LWR-DEPUTY – A STREP looking at methods to burn 

plutonium and other high-level waste in existing 

nuclear power plants. 

❚ NUDAME – Researchers are gaining improved access 

to unique facilities at the Neutron Physics Unit in 

JRC-IRMM through this TALI. 

❚ PATEROS – A CA setting out the European vision for 

the deployment of partitioning and transmutation 

technology up to pilot plant stage. 

The European Research Area (ERA) and Euratom 


❚ PuMA – This STREP will examine aspects of the use and 

transmutation of plutonium and other transuranium 

isotopes in fuels for future very high temperature 

gas-cooled reactors. 

❚ VELLA – This III will create a virtual European laboratory 

focussing on lead technologies for advanced nuclear 

applications. 

Radiation protection 

A major focus of this research is a better understanding of 

the mechanisms of radiation carcinogenesis and better 

quantification of the risks from exposure to radiation at low 

and protracted doses – this has important implications for 

the use of ionising radiation in both medicine and industry 

(including nuclear energy). It also has implications for populations 

living in regions with higher-than-average background 

(or natural) radiation. The area also covers 

protection of the environment and radioecology, risk and 

emergency management, and protection in the workplace. 

The ‘Euratom experience’ during previous framework programmes has been one of consistent success in pursuing 

essential research and facilitating pan-European collaborative efforts on waste management, reactor technology 

and safety, and radiation protection. This research effort is helping to retain and improve competences and 

know-how, thereby maintaining the competitiveness of European industry in these fields. 

In the fission area, there is also close co-operation between the various research players as a result of bilateral and 

multilateral agreements, including at international level (for instance under the auspices of the OECD/NEA, IAEA or ISTC 

and STCU) . The Euratom Framework Programme is making full use of these opportunities as well as those offered through 

umbrella agreements on the peaceful uses of nuclear technology concluded between Euratom and third countries. 

In co-operation with the Member States, a number of activities have been undertaken that are helping to build and 

implement the ERA. In particular, these include mapping the capacity of research centres and other research players in 

Europe and identifying the topics in the various research areas that need more coordination. The new instruments in 

FP6 (Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence) have made a significant contribution to integrating the key 

players in this area and establishing the ERA in nuclear fission science and technology. This restructuring effect 

of the FP6 instruments will be capitalised upon during FP7, especially through the establishment by the research 

community of technology platforms in sustainable nuclear energy (official launch date 21 September 2007) and 

geological disposal (currently being planned in the CARD project). 

9

10 

The funded projects described are: 

Quantification of risks associated with low 

and protracted doses 

❚ ERA-PRO – This SSA will enable online access to the data 

contained in the European Radiobiological Archives. 

Radiobiology 

❚ GENEPI-ENTB 2 – The genetic basis for variations in patient 

response to radiotherapy, from adverse reaction to no 

effect on targeted tumours, will be studied in this STREP. 

❚ GENEPI-lowRT – This STREP will look to identify genetic 

markers that relate to differing clinical responses to 

radiotherapy. 

❚ GENRISK-T – A STREP investigating how genetic 

differences influence the risk of developing cancer, 

particularly at low radiation dose. 

❚ NOTE – This four-year IP will study the health effects of 

radiation on cells adjacent to the cells that are the 

target of therapeutic radiation. 

Protection of the environment and radioecology 

❚ FUTURAE – A CA to investigate the feasibility of establishing 

one or more Networks of Excellence in the field 

of radioecology. 

❚ PROTECT – This CA will compare methodologies used 

to protect the environment from ionising radiation with 

approaches used to protect it from other stressor 

contaminants such as chemicals. 

Risk and emergency management 

❚ TMT Handbook – Practical tools and responses to 

terrorist incidents involving nuclear or radioactive 

materials for responsible national authorities will be set 

out in the handbook produced by this STREP. 

Other activities in the field 

of nuclear technologies and safety 

These activities cover three main areas: 

1. research on innovative reactor concepts, for example 

very-high-temperature nuclear reactors, including 

other applications for nuclear power such as hydrogen 

production; 

2. safety of existing nuclear installations, including plant-life 

management (providing a basis for the extended 

operation of existing plants), research on severe accidents 

and decommissioning activities, though activities 

on decommissioning have been much reduced compared 

to previous programmes as a result of the high 

level of industrial maturity already achieved in this sector; 

3. important cross-cutting aspects such as education and 

training and infrastructure projects, including the 

establishment of new courses and the harmonisation of 

relevant curricula. 

The preservation and enhancement of a skills base for 

nuclear science and engineering in Europe is a fundamental 

prerequisite for effective R&D, the competitiveness of the 

sector, and the maintenance of high levels of nuclear safety 

and radiation protection. Education and training is therefore 

a key element of the EU support in this sector. 

For example, by promoting exchange of personnel 

between Member States and institutions, this activity 

spreads knowledge and best practice, and helps build 

future research partnerships. It also allows scientists from all 

Member States to access the best equipment and facilities. 

The funded projects described are: 

Innovative concepts 

❚ ALISIA – The molten salt technologies being investigated 

in this SSA could be important in a number of innovative 

nuclear applications. 

© EC-JRC-ITU 



❚ EISOFAR – This SSA addresses the future of sodiumcooled 

reactor technology. 

❚ ELSY – A STREP looking at the design of a competitive 

and safe molten lead-cooled fast critical reactor. 

❚ HPLWR Phase 2 – The use of supercritical water as a coolant 

in light-water reactor technology to give improved 

efficiency and lower cost will be evaluated in this STREP. 

Education and training 

❚ ENEN-II – Building on the FP5 ENEN and FP6 NEPTUNO 

projects, this CA will expand education and training 

activities from academic to professional and industrial 

settings. 

Safety of existing nuclear installations 

❚ ANTIOXI – This STREP will construct an improved 

predictive model for radioactive build-up and corrosion 

phenomena in nuclear power plants. 

❚ MAGIC – A better understanding of the ageing mechanisms 

in the instrumentation and control systems of 

nuclear power plants is the subject of this CA. 

❚ NULIFE – Integration of safety-orientated research on 

materials, structures and systems resulting in 

harmonised lifetime assessment methods for nuclear 

power plants is the aim of this NoE. 

Infrastructures 

❚ MTR+I3 – This III will reinforce Europe’s capabilities for 

testing materials and fuel in realistic in-pile radiation 

environments. 

❚ NICODEME – This TALI project will coordinate access 

to large-scale thermal-hydraulic facilities for plant 

component testing. 

❚ PLINIUS FP6 – Unique experimental facilities that 

simulate reactor environments during severe accident 

scenarios are made available through this TALI project. 

Cross-cutting issues 

❚ SNF-TP – This CA will develop a strategy and roadmap 

for a technology platform in nuclear fission research to 

be established in 2007. 


Smaller funding instruments – 

the continuously open call 

© AREVA NP (FR) 

Within FP6 Euratom, an open call received proposals on a 

continuous basis with evaluations after six-monthly cut-off 

dates in April and October. The following instruments (see 

box on p. 8 for more details) and areas are covered: 

❚ Specific Support Actions (SSA): These projects are 

included in the present brochure under the appropriate 

thematic areas. 

❚ Actions to promote and develop human resources and 

mobility: These include funding for training fellowships, 

special training courses and grants for co-operation 

with third countries to allow young researchers from 

the Newly Independent States (NIS) of the former 

Soviet Union to work in EU laboratories (not included in 

this brochure). Actions also include Transnational 

Access to Large Infrastructures (TALI), an instrument 

that facilitates access by research workers to key infrastructure 

facilities (funded projects are again included 

under the appropriate thematic area in this brochure). 

11

12 

Forward to FP7 

The Seventh Euratom Research Framework Programme (FP7 Euratom) is now underway. Euratom FP7 was formally 

adopted towards the end of December 2006 and covers the five-year period 2007-2011. The total budget is 

EUR 2.75 billion, of which EUR 287 million has been allocated to ‘indirect’ research actions on nuclear fission and 

radiation protection and a further EUR 517 million reserved for the ‘direct’ research programme undertaken by the 

JRC. FP7 Euratom may be extended for an additional two years to correspond with the seven-year duration of the 

EC Framework Programme. The Euratom programme largely maintains continuity with the FP6 funding instruments 

with an emphasis on increased coordination with national and industrial programmes, in particular via the establishment 

of technology platforms – the basis of which is being established through projects initiated during FP6. 

The Commission has also put in place simplified administrative procedures to facilitate access to the programme. 

The objective of the FP7 Euratom in nuclear fission and radiation protection is to establish a sound scientific and 

technical basis that can accelerate practical developments for the safer management of long-lived radioactive 

waste, promote safer, more resource-efficient and competitive exploitation of nuclear energy, and ensure a robust 

and socially acceptable system of protection of people and the environment against the effects of ionising radiation. 

Research activities are proposed under five main headings, the first three being thematic and the last two 

essentially cross-cutting. 

Management of radioactive waste will involve implementation-orientated R&D for deep geological disposal of 

long-lived radioactive waste, and, as appropriate, demonstration activities on technologies and safety to underpin 

the development of a common European view on the management and disposal of waste. It will also encompass 

research on partitioning and transmutation and other concepts that have the potential to reduce the amount 

and/or hazard of the waste for disposal. 

Reactor systems research will help to ensure the continued safe operation of existing nuclear power reactors, 

including aspects such as lifetime extension, and assess the potential and safety aspects of future sustainable reactor 

technologies, particularly as regards resource efficiency, safety, proliferation resistance and waste production. 

Radiation protection will look principally at the risks from low-dose and medical uses of radiation in order to provide 

the scientific basis for a robust, equitable and socially acceptable system of protection that will not unduly limit 

the use of radiation in medicine and industry. Research will also be undertaken to mitigate the potential impact of 

acts of nuclear and radiological terrorism. 

Support to infrastructures will target key European research facilities such as material test reactors, underground 

research laboratories, tissue banks and radiobiology facilities that are needed to maintain the high standards of 

technical ability in the European nuclear sector. This will include support for the design and construction of new 

infrastructures or the refurbishment of existing facilities, together with facilitating access by research workers. 

Support for human resources and training will ensure the retention and development of a skills base covering 

nuclear competences, thereby guaranteeing the future availability of suitably qualified researchers and engineers 

in the European nuclear sector. 

For further information, please visit http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/euratom-fission 



14 

USA 

CANADA 

Partnership in Euratom FP6 

ARGENTINA 

IRELAND 

PORTUGAL 

SPAIN 

UNITED 

KINGDOM 

FRANCE 

BELGIUM 

THE 

NETHERLAND 

LUX. 

DEN 

GE 

SWITZERLA

MARK 

S 

MANY 

ND 

ITALY 

SWEDEN 

CZECH REP. 

POLAND 

SLOVAKIA 

FINLAND 

ESTONIA 

LATVIA 

LITHUANIA 

AUSTRIA 

HUNGARY 

SLOVENIA ROMANIA 

UZBEKISTAN 

MALTA 

GREECE 

BULGARIA 

RUSSIA 

UKRAINE 

CYPRUS 

Partnership in Euratom FP6 (EU-27 and Associated Countries) 

Euratom international co-operation agreements (in force or under negotiation) 

Other countries 

KAZAKHSTAN 

CHINA 

JAPAN 

15

Geological disposal ARGONA 18 

CARD 20 

CATT 22 

CIP 24 

MICADO 26 

OBRA 28 

PAMINA 30 

SAPIERR-II 32 

THERESA 34 

TIMODAZ 36 

Partitioning and transmutation CANDIDE 38 

EFNUDAT 40 

LWR-DEPUTY 42 

NUDAME 44 

PATEROS 46 

PuMA 48 

VELLA 50 

CHAPTER 1 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE 

MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE 

WASTE 

17

18 

ARGONA 

ARENAS FOR RISK GOVERNANCE 

NOVEL METHODS FOR IMPROVED DECISION-MAKING 

The ARGONA project intends to 

demonstrate how participation 

and transparency link to political 

and legal systems. In particular it will show 

how new approaches can be implemented in 

discussion and policy-making for nuclear 

waste management programmes. Theoretical 

development will be undertaken and new 

approaches tested. Decision-makers and 

stakeholders at both national and local levels 

will be involved in the project. 

Improving theory and practice 

ARGONA involves fourteen organisations from eight 

countries. Together they represent implementers and 

regulators of nuclear waste management, university 

institutions, research institutes and consultant companies. 

Some of the participants are actively involved in nuclear 

waste management programmes, while others are 

researchers in natural and social sciences. Research activities 

will also include actors from civil society, such as local 

authorities, public interest groups, and non-governmental 

organisations. The project is coordinated by the Swedish 

Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) and managed by Karita 

Research, Sweden. 

ARGONA will analyse the processes in a wide set of models 

for deliberation and transparency in the light of current 

political and legislative structures in a more conscious way 

than has been done so far. The project will also show the 

way forward through the implementation of new and 

innovative approaches to transparency and participation in 

decision-making. This will mean transferring not just 

theoretical knowledge between countries in Europe but 

also know-how on implementation. 

Transparency and risk communication 

While realising that informing the public on methods for 

nuclear waste management is not sufficient for public 

acceptance, the nuclear waste management community 

Josefin Päiviö Jonsson 

Project Coordinator 

Kjell Andersson 

Project Manager 

has entered a phase of actively encouraging stakeholder 

participation and input and of engaging the social 

sciences on a much larger scale than was the case just a 

decade ago. However, there remains scope for increased 

progress in such European programmes. This is the case in 

Western Europe in spite of the fact that this is where most 

of the research has so far been devoted to transparency and 

participation. The new EU member states are now de - 

veloping their own approaches but they also want to gain 

from methodologies developed earlier within the EU 

research programmes. 

ARGONA will investigate how approaches to transparency 

and deliberation relate to each other and also how they 

relate to the political system in which decisions, in 

particular on the final disposal of nuclear waste, are 

ultimately taken. The project will then turn to study the role 

played by mediators – those who facilitate public 

engagement with nuclear waste management issues – and 

the conduct of public consultations. In particular, the 

communication of models used for deliberation and 

transparency during consultation exercises will be studied. 

Furthermore, the project will investigate how good risk 

communication can be organised taking cultural aspects of 

the participants and different arenas or forums into 

account. In a central part of the project major efforts will be 

made to test and apply approaches to transparency and 



participation by making explicit what it would mean to use 

different approaches within these different cultural and 

organisational settings. Finally, the ARGONA partners will 

develop guidelines for the application of novel approaches 

that will enhance real progress in nuclear waste 

management programmes. 

Improving stakeholder participation 

The ARGONA project will map policy-making structures 

within EU and in the participating countries and clarify the 

roles of deliberative and transparency approaches in policymaking 

structures. It will test a number of approaches to 

stakeholder participation within the system currently 

established in the Czech Republic. The project will 

disseminate good risk communication techniques and 

strategies across national borders and develop a framework 

for how behavioural sciences findings and more technical 

approaches can be integrated in risk communication 

strategies. 

More public involvement 

for better decision-making 

ARGONA will improve the knowledge of how different 

approaches to stakeholder participation can enhance 

public engagement and involvement. It will increase the 

awareness among decision-makers and other stakeholders 

of the roles of ‘mediators’ of public participation methods, 

so that their advice can be effectively reviewed before 

appropriate participation methods are implemented. 

The project will also disseminate the resulting ARGONA 

approaches and findings to other ‘controversial’ policymaking 

areas, such as biotechnology, the oil industry and 

other energy-related areas. 

Public events 

The results of the ARGONA project may be presented at the 

Euradwaste conference in October 2008. 

MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE 


Coordinator 

Josefin Päiviö Jonsson 

Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate 

Klarabergsviadukten 90 

S-106 58 Stockholm 

Tel. (46-8) 698 84 00 

Fax (46-8) 661 90 86 

josefin.p.jonsson@ski.se 

www.argonaproject.eu 

Project details 

Project type: Specific Targeted Research Project 

Project start date: 01/11/2006 

Duration: 36 months 

Total budget: EUR 1 857 410 

EC contribution: EUR 1 200 000 

EC Project Officer: Christophe Davies 



Unit J. 2 – Fission 

CDMA 1/61 


Tel. (32-2) 296 16 70 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

Karita Research AB, Management, SE 

Göteborg University, SE 

Nuclear Research Institute ŘeŽ plc (NRI), CZ 

University of Tampere, FI 

DECONTA, SK 

SCK•CEN, BE 

University of Lancaster, UK 

RAWRA, CZ 

Stockholm University, SE 

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, NL 

Galson Sciences Ltd, UK 

University of Stavanger, NO 

Wenergy AB, SE 

I N F O R M A T I O N 

19

20 

CARD 

COORDINATION ACTION FOR THE COORDINATION OF RESEARCH, 

DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION PRIORITIES AND STRATEGIES 

FOR GEOLOGICAL DISPOSAL OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES 

A PLATFORM FOR WASTE? 

The CARD project will assess the 

feasibility of a technology platform 

that would provide a European 

framework for networking and cooperation in 

the context of research, development and 

demonstration for radioactive waste disposal 

across the European Union. In the light of that 

assessment, the project will then define 

the structure, functions and practical require - 

ments of such a technology platform to be 

implemented during the Seventh Framework 

Programme (FP7). 

Scoping the community, 

building the model 

The key objectives of the project are to produce a baseline 

of information on radioactive waste management in the 

participating national programmes and define the key 

factors that would support the development of a 

technology platform or an equivalent European networking 

structure. The team will develop a model of the preferred 

option for the structure including specific functions and 

practical requirements for the technology platform. Having 

developed the preferred model, this will then be presented 

to a variety of stakeholders and their views collated. Finally 

a set of recommendations will be drawn up outlining how 

the preferred model could be implemented in FP7. 

The partners involved in the project consortium represent 

the most advanced national programmes in Europe in 

terms of research, development and demonstration 

investment in the realisation of safe and cost-effective 

geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. 

Consultation and knowledge-sharing 

Initially the project will obtain the views of its individual 

partners and other interested parties in Member States by 

means of a structured questionnaire. These views will be used 

to define the various organisations’ requirements and the 

practical approach in respect of implementation of a 

technology platform. This consultation process will continue 

with an EC-sponsored workshop event to discuss the 

preferred option. Once a finalised option for the technology 

platform is agreed, a proposal for implementation during 

Euratom FP7 will be produced. 

Knowledge-sharing is an important aspect of the overall 

project and will be served principally by the establishment 

of a network of interested parties in the participants’ 

Member States. A dedicated project website will be set up 

on which results will be posted. In addition to discussion at 

the proposed workshop event, the project will be 

presented at relevant international conferences. 

Platform implementation 

The project is intended to have one major, overall result in 

the form of a proposal for a technology platform that will 

act as the basis for networking and cooperation in the 

context of research, development and demonstration on 

geological disposal of radioactive waste in the European 

Union. A key aspect would be the transfer of knowledge 

and/or technology from well-advanced programmes to 

those that are less well advanced. 

As a result of the consensual method used to develop this 

proposal, it should have the commitment and support of a 

wide range of interested parties in the Member States. The 

proposal should be documented and published by the end 

of 2007 with a view to its implementation in late 2008. 

A safe and cost-effective solution 

A European technology platform in the area of geological 

disposal research, development and demonstration should 

deliver more effective resource utilisation across Europe, 

particularly in using specialised facilities, specialised 

research groups or institutes to address common objectives 

in existing and future national programmes. It can establish 

a shared knowledge basis that is applicable to the 

development of safety cases, facility designs etc. and help 

mapping of competence and excellence in the European 

Union. In particular it can provide advice to the European 

Commission on the most relevant topics to be tackled at 

the level of framework programmes. 



The main nuclear sectors interested in the results of the 

project are waste management organisations, public 

authorities, regulatory bodies and research centres – 

particularly those with formal responsibilities in their national 

radioactive waste management programmes. Successful 

implementation of the European technology platform 

resulting from this project is intended to promote the safe, 

efficient and more cost-effective delivery of a geological 

disposal solution for radioactive waste management in 

Europe. 

Public events 

A workshop will be held in late 2007, at a time and location 

to be agreed with the EC, to promote discussion of the 

proposed technology platform. It is intended that this will 

involve the full range of prospective participants in the 

technology platform. 



Coordinator 

Alan Hooper 

NDA Radioactive Waste Management Directorate 

Curie Avenue 

Harwell, Didcot 

Oxfordshire OX11 0RH 

United Kingdom 

alan.hooper@nda.gov.uk 

www.cardproject.eu 

Tel. (44-12) 35 82 54 01 

Fax (44-12) 35 82 52 89 


Project type: Coordination Action 



Total budget: EUR 350 000 

EC contribution: EUR 350 000 

EC Project Officer: Tom McMenamin 




CDMA 1/58 


Tel. (32-2) 296 02 77 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

ONDRAF/NIRAS, BE 

Radioactive Waste Repository Authority, CZ 

Posiva Oy, FI 

Agence nationale pour la gestion des déchets radioactifs, FR 

Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit mbH, DE 

Agencija za radioaktivne odpadke, SI 

Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos, S.A., ES 

Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, SE 

Nationale Genossenschaft für die Lagerung radioaktive Abfälle, CH 

21

22 

CATT 

COOPERATION AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ON LONG-TERM RADIOACTIVE 

WASTE MANAGEMENT FOR MEMBER STATES WITH SMALL NUCLEAR 

PROGRAMMES 

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER CAN EASE WASTE PROBLEM 

The overall objective of the 

CATT study is to investigate the 

feasibility of technology transfer 

between Member States so that those with less 

mature radioactive waste management pro - 

grammes could implement long-term solutions 

within their own national borders. The project 

runs in parallel to the SAPIERR-II FP6 project that 

is addressing a pilot initiative on European 

regional repositories for radioactive waste. 

Robust technology transfer 

The CATT project is exploring the viability of implementing 

robust technology transfer arrangements between 

technology-owning Member States and technologyacquiring 

Member States with respect to the technologies 

required for long-term deep geological disposal of high-level 

radioactive waste. These latter countries may not be currently 

able to develop their own long-term radioactive waste 

management solutions for various reasons such as insufficient 

financial, technical or human resources. The project has also 

examined staff training requirements for implementing the 

technical solutions in the recipient Member States. This aspect 

may require the development of regional staff teams. 

Finally the feasibility of developing the CATT project ideas 

further to develop a multinational co-operation programme 

in this area under FP7 is being assessed. If this extended 

project is deemed appropriate, then a detailed project 

specification will be produced. 

Gathering information 

The project has a number of distinct work packages. A key 

element is information gathering in which reports on 

radioactive waste management in all Member States with civil 

nuclear power programmes have been produced. The data 

gathered in the country reports were analysed so as to identify 

potential technology transfer options. These options were 

discussed at an interim workshop involving all project 

participants and other stakeholders. The dedicated CATT 

website was developed as a significant channel for both 

internal and external communications. 

The information and analysis derived from the reports and 

the workshop outcomes were then used to build a range of 

potential collaboration scenarios that were discussed at a final 

workshop. A final report will describe these scenarios and 

suggest a way of moving the collaboration process closer to 

implementation as part of Euratom FP7, possibly as a 

technology platform activity. 

Model report on shared solutions 

One of the results of the project will be a proposal for future 

collaboration under FP7. Various scenarios for collaboration 

can be envisaged and the project will develop models or 

protocols for these, taking account of technical, legal, financial 

and societal issues. The study has concentrated on high-level 

waste and spent nuclear fuel, both of which require deep 

geological disposal. The project developed an understanding 

of the basic waste management steps in all participating 

countries taking account of waste inventory information such 

as type of waste, timing, volumes etc. An analysis of these 

steps determined the likely benefits to be had from 

technology transfer collaborations. Understanding of the 

financial requirements necessary to implement solutions in 

potential technology acquiring states has been improved 

taking account of the characteristics of current and future 

funding mechanisms. 

Recommendations will be made so that collaboration can be 

built on existing, well-developed concepts for encapsulation 

and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste with 

the ultimate intention of deploying these concepts 

throughout the European Union. In addition, potential 

methods for funding through, for example, European Union 

and European Investment Bank programmes will be 

considered along with legal aspects, such as indemnification 

issues arising out of the collaboration models, and the 

requirements for safeguards and security, quality assurance 

and quality control. 

Safe disposal for all 

The major potential impact of this Specific Support Action will 

be the development of collaboration models that can 

facilitate implementation of a safe and effective geological 

disposal within any Member State with a nuclear programme, 

large or small. Realisation of the project will empower 



Member States with small nuclear programmes to fulfil their 

long-term radioactive waste management obligations whilst 

observing the proximity principle (that waste generated 

should be disposed of as close as possible to its site of origin) 

and without impacting other countries. 

There could be positive financial impacts including, for 

technology-owning states, the exploitation of intellectual 

property and provision of services and, for technologyacquiring 

Member States, the provision of technically defined 

and cost-effective solutions to long-term radioactive waste 

management alongside with reduced costs of development. 

In addition, this will bring benefit to the European Union 

through a return on previous investments in Euratom 

Framework Programme projects. 

Public events 

Two workshops have been held with stakeholders. 



© SKB (SE) 

Fully welded copper canister developed in Sweden for the deep 

geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Combined with a 

surrounding clay buffer, the canister is designed to retain its integrity 

for at least 10 million years 


Coordinator 

John Mathieson 

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (formerly UK Nirex Ltd) 

Curie Avenue 

Harwell, Didcot 

Oxon OX11 0RH 


john.mathieson@nirex.co.uk 

http://catt.jrc.nl 


Project type: Specific Support Action 





EC Project Officer: Thomas McMenamin 




CDMA 1/58 


Tel. (32-2) 296 02 77 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, UK 

State Enterprise for Radioactive Waste Management, BG 

DBE Technology GmbH, DE 

State Enterprise Radioactive Waste Management Agency, LT 

Agency for Radioactive Waste Management, SI 

SKB International Consultants, SE 

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Energy, NL 

23

24 

CIP 

Over a number of European 

research framework programmes, 

Community waste management 

(COWAM) projects (together with other 

EU-sponsored research) have significantly 

improved the understanding of radioactive 

waste management governance issues. After a 

first phase of identification of best practices in 

the field of radioactive waste governance, the 

essential question raised by decision-makers is: 

how to implement these decision-making 

practices and principles? This question is all the 

more relevant and pressing now that many 

countries are entering a new phase in the waste 

management process and attempting to 

implement innovative and inclusive governance 

approaches. 

National experiences 

COWAM IN PRACTICE 

INCLUSIVE GOVERNANCE INTO PRACTICE 

The COWAM projects have addressed questions such as 

local democracy, the influence of local actors on the national 

decision-making process, the quality of the decisionmaking 

process and long-term governance. Parallel efforts 

have been carried out at national and international level. 

These projects have produced recommendations and identified 

best practice with a clear convergence around some 

basic principles for the quality of the decision-making 

process. This has shown that the research community now 

holds some appropriate tools to offer to decision-makers. 

The objectives of the COWAM in Practice (CIP) project are to 

contribute to real, tangible progress in the public governance 

of radioactive waste management programmes. The 

project will follow up and analyse five national processes of 

radioactive waste management governance and offer 

support to a variety of stakeholders involved in the process, 

particularly local communities. The project team will work 

directly on the engagement of these stakeholders with the 

process and capture the learning from the five individual 

national experiences for use in similar processes throughout 

the European Union. 

The viability and robustness of the project are guaranteed 

by the contractual participation of skilled institutions and 

individuals that can provide intellectual, mediation, 

facilitation and managerial skills as well as participation by 

key stakeholders (for example local communities, NGOs, 

regulators, operators, waste producers, experts etc.) on a 

non-contractual basis in the five national stakeholder 

groups to be established. The originality of this project 

lies in a cooperative research approach, successfully 

experimented with and trialled in the COWAM 2 project 

(2004-2006). This approach pioneered the direct 

participation of stakeholders in the research groups and in 

the steering committee of the process. 

Five reviews 

The objectives of CIP will be achieved through the live and 

direct assessment by concerned stakeholders of the 

ongoing processes in five Member States. These states are 

France, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom. 

The stakeholders will be involved in two core and interrelated 

activities. For each country a national stakeholder 

group (NSG) will be established to review, from a local perspective, 

the inclusive governance approaches developed 

in its country, and to elaborate a prospective case study. 

Then based on the five national reviews, a central group of 

experts will draw out any lessons and bring together a set 

of European Union-level guidelines for inclusive governance 

of radioactive waste management. 

The key orientations of CIP include the empowerment of 

local communities in the process, mechanisms for 

facilitating dialogue amongst and between local and 

national stakeholders without the usual external pressures 

found in dialogues of this nature, and to deepen the 

national insights highlighted by the five national programmes 

whilst drawing on best international experience. 

Identifying key factors for implementation 

Through this structured dialogue process, alternating with 

an international mise en perspective, CIP will characterise 

the general strengths and weaknesses of the observed 

governance approaches. It will identify the key factors from 

the cultural, historical and institutional context of these 



countries which influence successful implementation of 

good practices. The follow-up process of the five national 

groups by governance experts in the methodological task 

force will support the elaboration of recommendations to 

improve existing country practices and strengthen the 

conditions of their successful implementation. 

Credible recommendations 

Recommendations supported by a wide-ranging stakeholder 

group, on the basis of a shared assessment (prospective 

case study), will be developed in each country context. 

The added value of conducting COWAM in Practice as a 

European project is twofold: each national stakeholder 

group benefits from the perspective provided by the 

European input from the methodological task force and 

country-based guidance from the spectrum of situations 

represented will be integrated in recommendations that 

target all Member States in the enlarged European Union 

(EU-27). 

Enhanced credibility and weight of authority may be lent 

to the CIP guidance produced in that it will emerge from a 

completely voluntary process of dialogue, amongst the 

people “on the ground” in each country who are dealing 

day-to-day with the issues of radioactive waste management 

governance. 



Coordinator 

Gilles Hériard Dubreuil 

Mutadis 

3, rue de la Fidélité 

F-75010 Paris 

Tél. (33) 148 01 88 77 

Fax (33) 148 01 00 13 

g.heriard-dubreuil@mutadis.fr 

www.cowam.com 











CDMA 1/61 


Tel. (32-2) 296 1670 

Fax (32-2) 295 4991 

Partners 

SYMLOG, FR 

CEPN, FR 

INR, RO 

ARAO, SI 

Enviros Spain, ES 

Westlakes, UK 

Galson Sciences Ltd, UK 

ICAM, FR 

Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire, FR 

SCK•CEN, BE 


25

26 

MICADO 

MODEL UNCERTAINTY FOR THE MECHANISM OF DISSOLUTION 

OF SPENT FUEL IN A NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY 

PREDICTING UNDERGROUND SOLUBILITY 

OF DISPOSED WASTE 

Direct geological disposal of used 

fuel from nuclear energy production 

is a waste management strategy 

for many European member states. If the 

highly radioactive used nuclear fuel is placed 

within a thick-walled metallic container directly 

into a repository, the corrosion of the container 

and access of slow flowing deep groundwater to 

the fuel is likely to occur after some thousands of 

years. But what happens if deep groundwater 

comes in contact with the fuel? For some 25 years 

research has been developing predictive 

procedures, accumulating experimental data and 

creating theoretical models. The coordinated 

action MICADO will assess the uncertainties in 

models describing the dissolution mechanism 

of spent nuclear fuel in a repository for geological 

time periods. 

Reliable models for resistance 

MICADO’s objective is to find out whether international 

research has now provided sufficient reliable models 

to assess the corrosion resistance of spent fuel in groundwater 

and to contribute to answering the question 

whether radioactive used fuel from nuclear reactors can be 

stored safely for hundreds of thousands of years in a 

geological repository. 

Coordinated by SUBATECH/ARMINES this coordinated 

action brings together the efforts of many European waste 

management agencies, technical support organisations 

for regulators, universities and research organisations 

in Europe. Together with the involvement of the US 

Department of Energy, this means that most of the 

world’s leading experts are participating in the project 

representing a variety of approaches to the prediction of 

the performance of disposed spent fuel over very long 

time periods. 

Spent nuclear fuel 

Assessing uncertainty, identifying needs 

The key actions undertaken by the project concern the 

assessment of uncertainties in the experimental database 

as well as in models used. Direct extrapolation of empirical 

data to the long-term is not currently possible due to the 

difficulty of simulating the radiation exposure history of 

spent fuel and the large time gap between an experiment 

conducted for few years in a laboratory and the real time 

horizon for disposal of hundreds of thousands of years. The 

mechanistic models, which translate the experimental 

observations to such long times, are also uncertain. 

The project will compare the different approaches and 

underlying hypotheses in the context of an evaluation of 

the quality of key experimental data. Two types of uncertainties 

will be assessed: uncertainties governed by the 

divergence between the various models and the experimental 

databases and uncertainties in predictions that 

arise from comparison of the outcomes of the various 

models. Detailed descriptions of the various models have 

already been produced and they will be compiled and 

compared in a common document. 

Knowledge on the various approaches and methodologies 

used in spent fuel performance analyses will be 

shared via events such as the ‘teaching workshop’ organised 

in February 2007 in Madrid. From these comparisons 

future research needs will be identified to reduce 

observed uncertainties. 

Reliable models and their limits 

It is known that certain fractions of the radionuclide inventory 

are very mobile and may be released almost instantaneously 

upon groundwater contact. This release may 

provide a very significant contribution to the expected 

© CEA (FR) 



dose from disposed spent fuel in the first 10 000 years. 

The size of these mobile fractions may depend on fuel 

evolution during the thousands of years prior to water 

access. The project will tell us how reliable our models and 

the underlying experimental data are in predicting these 

labile radionuclide inventories. Although the project may 

not tell us exactly how long it will take for complete 

dissolution or corrosion of the remaining irradiated fuel 

matrix, it will provide the expert-judgement to assess the 

uncertainties inherent in such estimates. 

Finally, the project will provide a clear distinction between 

real uncertainties (missing data, ill-defined models, uncertain 

boundary conditions etc.) and apparent uncertainties 

caused by various simplification schemes in the models. 

As an example is it possible to ignore the reactions of 

radiolytic radicals with the spent fuel surface without 

reducing the precision in the calculations? The exchange of 

knowledge in the project will increase the mutual 

understanding of the current state of knowledge and allow 

identification of gaps to be addressed during FP7. 

Confidence-building and transferring 

knowledge 

In the absence of a broadly agreed approach to the 

management and disposal of long-lived waste in 

geological repositories the project takes a very important 

step in confidence building by assessing the remaining 

uncertainties in spent fuel behaviour. 

The MICADO project provides a unique opportunity by 

facilitating knowledge transfer between research institutions 

and universities working on fundamental fuel stability 

data and model development, waste management 

organisations trying to assess long term spent fuel stability, 

and technical support organisations working for regulators 

to evaluate these assessments, as well as with other stakeholders, 

by creating a common well-reviewed database, by 

exchanging model approaches, by testing model applications 

with this database and by assessing the implications 

of these uncertainties on long-term safety evaluations. 




Coordinator 

B. Grambow 

SUBATECH (École des mines de Nantes, Université de Nantes, 

IN2P3 - CNRS) - ARMINES 

4, rue Alfred Kastler 

F-44307 Nantes 

Tel. (33) 251 85 84 70 

Fax (33) 251 85 84 52 

grambow@subatech.in2p3.fr 











CDMA 1/58 


Tel. (32-2) 296 02 77 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

Association pour la recherche et le développement des méthodes et processus industriels, FR 


Commissariat à l’énergie atomique, FR 

Centro de Investigaciones, Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas, ES 

Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos, S.A, ES 

Enviros Spain S.L., ES 

Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH, DE 


European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, DE 

Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, SE 

Nationale Genossenschaft für die Lagerung radioaktiver Abfälle, CH 

Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie/Centre d’étude de l’énergie nucléaire, BE 

Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, SE 

Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate, SE 

Studsvik Nuclear AB, SE 

Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, ES 


Association Vinçotte Nucléaire/Associatie Vinçotte Nucleair, BE 

Quintessa Limited, UK 

27

28 

OBRA 

EUROPEAN OBSERVATORY FOR LONG-TERM GOVERNANCE 

ON RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT 

MECANISMS FOR GOOD WASTE GOVERNANCE 

Due to continuing societal concerns 

that limit the application of deep 

geological disposal in many coun - 

tries, a wider societal involvement at a variety of 

governance levels in an open, inclusive and 

transparent manner is a top-level concern in all 

European and national organisations involved in 

radioactive waste management. The Co - 

ordination Action OBRA will assess the feasibility 

of creating an observatory for long-term 

governance on radioactive waste management 

in Europe. OBRA will contribute by providing 

mechanisms for all stakeholders to access the 

knowledge generated by successive EU research 

programmes both in scientific and social sciences 

fields. It will also promote the most appropriate 

forms of interaction between stakeholders and 

jointly define how results from research, training 

and development in radioactive waste 

management and disposal are formulated and 

how their dissemination is managed. 

Wide range of stakeholders 

The project presently has ten partners from seven European 

countries that represent national waste management 

organisations, research institutions, universities, small 

and medium-sized enterprises and non-governmental 

organisations. 

The project aims to benefit a wide range of stakeholders 

including local communities by improvement of the access to 

information, knowledge and expertise support, the academic 

and research community through multidisciplinary education 

and a networking platform, the European Commission by 

providing new approaches to governance at a European level, 

the national implementing authorities by increasing 

Partners of OBRA 

communication and transparency, and the general public by 

raising public awareness of governance issues and solutions. 

A sustainable observatory model 

© Enviros (ES) 

The key objectives of OBRA are to establish a European 

networking platform between universities, implementers, 

stakeholders and civil society in general. Via this network it will 

develop a sustainable model for a European observatory for 

long-term governance in radioactive waste management. The 

project will also test the efficiency of a pilot training package 

as a mechanism for the transfer and dissemination of 

knowledge gained. In addition, it will make recommendations 

on how the model of the observatory could be implemented. 

The objectives of OBRA will be implemented through five 

work packages. One package will set the baseline for the 

observatory concept while a second work package will set the 

strategic elements of OBRA by defining the mission, objectives 

and strategy for the observatory. This package will also address 

the approaches needed to access expertise and information 

through the observatory. The third package looks at the 

implementation and testing of OBRA’s pilot training package 

based on the production and trial of training and 

communication modules via a seminar. Finally two packages 

address knowledge management and assessment, and the 

consortium management respectively. 



Innovative governance 

Amongst the anticipated results from OBRA is the provision of 

a significant and innovative contribution to the current model 

of governance of radioactive waste management. In particular 

the project will develop a more harmonised approach for 

addressing societal concerns and the public’s perceptions of 

radioactive waste management. 

Most importantly OBRA will help the promotion of new and 

improved networking and coordination tools to improve the 

scientific and social activities with respect to radioactive waste 

management and disposal. 

Helping long-term decision-making 

The governance of radioactive waste is a controversial issue 

that needs to be fully addressed by society now and not 

passed on to future generations to find a solution. The OBRA 

project will help this process by defining and applying a 

reference model in the field of governance of radioactive waste 

management. The project will facilitate the promotion of a 

greater role for citizens at a variety of different territorial levels 

(local, regional, national etc.) of governance by improving the 

knowledge base for all stakeholders and, in particular, for 

regional and local communities. The creation of a network 

consisting of local and regional communities, implementers 

together with qualified researchers from universities will assist 

this process and will include the provision of active and 

appropriate training. 

Overall OBRA will work to maximize the value obtained from 

the output from many existing governance initiatives. The 

work will increase Europe’s competitiveness in radioactive 

waste management by leading a programme for networking 

in social and technical sciences and stimulating further 

collaborations between different stakeholders in the field. 

Local and regional communities often lack access to an 

authoritative yet independent platform of expertise that can 

help address their concerns and information needs in a 

systematic way. By providing these important stakeholders 

with a sufficient knowledge base, OBRA will enable them to 

participate in sound decision-making for the long-term 

solution of radioactive governance issues. 

Public events 

Public events will be publicised at the project website: 

www.obraproject.eu. 



Coordinator 

Meritxell Martell 

Enviros Spain S.L. 

Passeig de Rubí 29-31 

E-08197 Valldoreix, Barcelona 

Tel. (34) 935 83 05 00 

Fax (34) 935 89 00 91 

mmartell@enviros.biz 

www.obraproject.eu 












CDMA 1/61 


Tel. (32-2) 296 16 70 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

E-mail: christophe.davies@ec.europa.eu 

Partners 

ITC School of Underground Waste Storage and Disposal, CH 

Posiva Oy, FI 

Agency for Radwaste Management, SI 

Radioactive Waste Repository Authority, CZ 

Group of European Municipalities with Nuclear Facilities, ES 

Oeko-Insitute.V., DE 

Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radioactivos S.A., ES 

Lund University, SE 


29

30 

PAMINA 

The main objective of the Integrated 

Project PAMINA is to improve and 

harmonise integrated performance 

assessment (PA) methodologies and 

tools for various disposal concepts for long-lived 

radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in 

different deep geological environments. 

Comprehensive overview 

Starting from a comprehensive overview of PA methodologies, 

tools and experiences, the PAMINA project is 

investigating, evaluating or developing new methodo logical 

advancements for PA studies. This will include a framework 

for treating and managing uncertainty during PA and safety 

case development. It will also look at improvements for 

methods and tools regarding process understanding and 

conceptualisation and evaluate the needs for implementing 

more sophisticated modelling approaches in PA. 

The PAMINA Integrated Project brings together organisations 

from the major radioactive waste producing countries 

within the European Union in order to improve and 

harmonise methodologies and tools for demonstrating the 

safety of deep geological disposal of long-lived radioactive 

waste and spent nuclear fuel in different deep geological 

environments. The consortium of 26 partners includes 

national waste management organisations, a regulator, 

several technical safety organisations (TSO) that closely 

support regulators, universities and research organisations 

and two SMEs. From their different roles within their 

respective national radioactive waste programmes, the 

participants bring in complementary viewpoints and 

experiences to the project, which will allow exploitation of 

the project results by both national waste management 

organisations and regulators alike. 

Sound methodology 

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGIES IN APPLICATION 

TO GUIDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAFETY CASE 

HARMONISING PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT 

PAMINA aims to provide a sound methodological and 

scientific basis for demonstrating the safety of deep 

geological disposal. This basis will be of value to all national 

radioactive waste management programmes, regardless of 

waste type, repository design, and stage that has been 

Participants of the PAMINA kick-off meeting 

in October 2006 in Brussels 

reached in individual PA and safety case development. The 

results may be exploited by different stakeholders such as 

national waste management organisations, regulators and 

the public at large. 

The comprehensive overview of PA methodologies, tools 

and experiences will help to develop a common understanding 

that will include terminology, accounted features 

and processes as well as codes and models used. From this 

methodological advancements will be investigated, 

evaluated or developed, including a framework for treating 

and managing uncertainty during PA and safety case 

development, various aspects of scenario developments 

for different host rocks, improvements for methods and 

tools regarding process understanding and concept - 

ualization and the use of indicators for assessing the 

repository system or subsystems at various timescales. 

Handbook for harmonised PA 

© GRS (DE) 

A handbook describing the state of the art of safety 

assessment methods will be prepared. This will include the 

experiences of organisations directly involved in preparing 

safety assessments as well as of regulators and other 

organisations using such results. The topical work 

undertaken within PAMINA will bring a substantial degree 

of innovation in many areas including the understanding of 

how uncertainties are treated, better understanding in the 

use of safety indicators and time scales and comparison of 

experiences with stylised human intrusion scenarios. 

Understanding of gas migration scenarios will be improved 

and the relevance of more complex code solutions 



investigated. The framework in which PA studies are 

presented will be analysed and conclusions for future safety 

cases produced. 

Increasing confidence and acceptance 

The comprehensive set of arguments and analyses that are 

represented in a safety case are needed to justify the 

geological disposal of long-lived radioactive waste and 

spent nuclear fuel as a safe and reliable solution for nuclear 

waste. Notable differences in methodologies used to set 

up safety cases exist in the European Member States. This is 

due to country-specific regulation as well as to different 

geological boundary conditions and technical frameworks. 

The differences range from terminology over accounted 

features and processes to methodological assessment 

approaches and the codes and models that are used. 

Although PAMINA does not plan to develop national and 

nternational standards, the outcomes of the project aim to 

promote a common understanding of the techniques and 

methods for performance assessment and the development 

of a safety case. These results will be of direct relevance 

to radioactive waste management programmes. The results 

can be exploited on a national level by both waste 

management organisations and regulators alike. A more 

harmonized strategy towards performance assessment 

methods and safety case development may lead to a higher 

confidence in the approaches by the public and therefore 

can foster greater public acceptance. 




Coordinator 

J. Mönig 

Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) mbH 

Theodor-Heuss-Str.4 

D-38122 Braunschweig 

www.ip-pamina.eu 


Project type: Integrated Project 





EC Project Officer: Tom McMenamin 




CDMA 1/58 


Tel. (32-2) 296 02 77 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radioactivos S.A., ES 




ONDRAF/NIRAS, BE 

Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie – Centre d'étude de l'énergie nucléaire, BE 

United Kingdom Nirex Limited, UK 

Nuclear Research & Consultancy Group, NL 


Nuclear Research Institute Řež plc., CZ 

Nationale Genossenschaft für die Lagerung radioaktiver Abfälle, CH 

Posiva Oy, FI 

Technical Research Centre of Finland, FI 

Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, DE 



Galson Sciences Limited, UK 

Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, FR 

Universidade da Coruña, ES 

Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, ES 

Enviros, ES 


Facilia, SE 


Colenco Power Engineering Ltd, CH 

31

32 

SAPIERR-II 

STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION 

OF EUROPEAN REGIONAL REPOSITORIES: STAGE II 

A SHARED SOLUTION TO WASTE? 

SAPIERR-II builds on the feasibility 

studies produced in the previous 

SAPIERR-II project to develop 

practical implementation strategies and 

organisational structures for regional waste 

repositories in Europe. These will enable a 

formalised, structured European Development 

Organisation (EDO) to be established in 2008 or 

soon afterwards to work on shared EU 

radioactive waste storage and disposal 

activities. This EDO can work in parallel with 

national waste programmes. Participating EU 

Member States will be able to use the structures 

developed as, when and if needed for the 

furtherance of their individual national policies. 

Consensus on the way forward 

This project promotes and supports the networking and 

coordination of activities on shared EU radioactive waste 

storage and disposal by developing options for organisational 

frameworks and project plans that could lead to the 

establishment of a European Development Organisation 

(EDO). To clarify issues related to the structure and future 

programme of the potential EDO, a series of specific studies 

will be carried out on organisational structures, legal liabilities, 

economics, safety and security and public and political 

acceptability. The options distilled from these studies will be 

presented and discussed at a workshop for interested 

countries and organisations to identify potential end-users 

and to achieve consensus on a preferred way forward: the first 

steps of implementation or a further programme of 

preparatory work. 

The formal partners in the SAPIERR-II project are ARAO of 

Slovenia, Arius of Switzerland, COVRA of the Netherlands, 

Decom of Slovakia, ENEA of Italy, Enviros of Spain, RATA of 

Lithuania and SAM of the UK, but organisations from other 

European countries have been invited to participate in an 

associated working group. Through its partners and the 

Attendees at SAPIERR-II inaugural meeting in Switzerland 

invited organisations the project has access to national data 

and also to experienced European expert organisations. 

Studies on strategy, structure 

The main activities within the project include the preparation 

of a management study on the legal and business options for 

establishing an EDO. A study on the legal liability issues of 

international radioactive waste transfer within Europe will 

also be undertaken and the potential economic implications 

of European regional repositories evaluated. Initial 

considerations of the safety and security impacts of 

implementing regional repositories will be assessed and a 

survey of public and political attitudes towards regional 

repositories and of approaches to involving communities in 

decision making will be commissioned. 

All these activities will feed into the development of a strategy 

and project plan for the work of the EDO. The immediate tasks 

are agreeing a progressive, staged strategy that would lead 

in subsequent phases to the definition of potential host 

countries and eventually to potential repository sites. A 

parallel science and technology programme that could be 

addressed by the EDO after its initiation will also be defined. 

Options for the future 

© SAPIERR -I I 

By the end of this project, the SAPIERR-II shared storage and 

disposal concept will have been developed to a level where 

either future work could be handed over to the proposed 

multinational EDO, thus establishing a firm basis for progress, 

or the content and timing have been defined for further 

actions required before an EDO can be established. A third 

possible outcome is that the participants conclude that 

further efforts in this area are not productive at this time. 



A shared, safer solution 

SAPIERR-II and its predecessor project have no equivalent 

in the field of radioactive waste disposal. Currently virtually 

all EU countries, even those with very small nuclear 

programmes, are under pressure to follow purely national 

programmes, even though the Commission and the 

European Parliament have supported the concept of 

regional facilities. In addition the potential contribution of 

regional facilities to increasing safety, security and 

economics of disposal are ever more acknowledged by 

various international organisations and also by some 

national disposal programmes even if they themselves do 

not wish to participate in such facilities. Any of the three of 

the potential outcomes of the project will have a significant 

impact on subsequent European work on waste disposal 

and hence on public attitudes to nuclear power. If an EDO 

were to be established soon, then intensive co-operation 

leading to significant cost reductions could result. If further 

study is needed this will also be achieved through cooperation 

between countries. If it is decided that regional 

repositories are not realistic, pressure will increase on the 

smaller Member States to initiate or build up their own 

national disposal programmes. 

The project can also promote the harmonisation of 

standards governing the implementation of geological 

repositories and other facilities. A regional facility will have 

to satisfy the safety standards not only of its host country, 

but also of all of its user countries. 

Public events 

The results of SAPIERR-II activities will be presented at 

special workshops, included in conference contributions 

and published in the open literature. 

Attendees at SAPIERR II inaugural meeting in Switzerland 



© R II 

Coordinator 

E. Verhoef 

COVRA N.V. 

Spanjeweg 1 

4455 TW Nieuwdorp 

Nederland 

Tel. (31-11) 361 66 70 

Fax (31-11) 361 66 50 

ewoud.verhoef@covra.nl 

www.sapierr.net 






EC contribution EUR 699 930 





CDMA 1/58 


Tel. (32-2) 296 02 77 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

COVRA, NL 

ARAO, SI 

ARIUS, CH 

Decom, SL 

ENEA, IT 

Enviros, UK and ES 

RATA, LT 

SAM, UK 


33

34 

THERESA 

Nuclear power plants, which 

currently produce over 30 % of the 

electricity in EU countries, create 

radioactive waste in the form of spent fuel and 

other radiotoxic materials. This waste is 

hazardous, and consequently must be isolated 

from the biosphere for many centuries. Most 

European countries are committed to building 

deep underground repositories for this waste. 

According to the concept of underground 

geological disposal, the spent fuel is first 

encapsulated in metal canisters, which are then 

emplaced in underground repositories. In order 

to properly design these repositories and 

monitor their behaviour, it is necessary to 

develop highly specialised and sophisticated 

computer codes that can model the complex 

coupled thermal, hydrological, mechanical and 

chemical processes that will occur within and 

around these repositories. 

Evaluating the models 

COUPLED THERMAL-HYDROLOGICAL-MECHANICAL-CHEMICAL (THMC) 

PROCESSES FOR APPLICATION IN REPOSITORY SAFETY ASSESSMENT 

COMPREHENSIVE MODELLING OF WASTE BEHAVIOUR 

The main aim of this project is to develop a scientific 

methodology for evaluating the capabilities of the 

mathematical models and computer codes that have been 

developed to aid in the design, construction, operation, and 

post-closure monitoring of underground nuclear waste 

repositories. The project will focus on processes occurring in 

the rock mass around the canisters, and in the ‘buffer’ 

material that is placed within the space between the 

canisters and the host rock. 

Two types of potential host rocks will be studied: salt and 

crystalline rocks (such as granite). The processes that must 

be accounted for and modelled in these computer codes 

include the flow of groundwater, the transport of dissolved 

radionuclides in that groundwater, and chemical reactions 

between the heated groundwater and the rock. This project 

brings together sixteen universities, research organisations, 

nuclear waste organisations, and nuclear waste regulatory 

agencies, from seven countries, each with extensive 

experience in modelling the behaviour of nuclear waste 

repositories. 

Testing the code – in theory and practice 

© SKB (SE) 

Schematic diagram of the underground geological repository concept 

The project will focus on the evaluation of the capabilities 

of computer codes to simulate the coupled thermalhydrological-mechanical-chemical 

processes that occur in 

the vicinity of spent fuel canisters in underground 

radioactive waste repositories. The participating teams’ own 

codes and approaches will be evaluated in terms of system 

characterisation, conceptualisation, and parameterisation. 

In addition their flexibility in handling realistic in-situ 

geological conditions, their abilities to treat uncertainties, 

and their numerical accuracy will be assessed. 

The evaluation of the codes and methodologies will be 

organised around numerical simulations of small-tomedium 

scale laboratory tests, specially defined generic 

benchmark tests, and large-scale in-situ experiments 

conducted at the prototype underground repository 

situated in Äspö, Sweden. This facility is a fully functioning 

model repository based on Swedish proposals for waste 

disposal that can be used as a benchmark for other national 

proposals. 



Methodology for long-term disposal 

This project will yield a common European procedure for 

auditing the capabilities of mathematical codes for the 

evaluation and demonstration of the long-term safety of 

nuclear waste repositories. This exercise represents, for the first 

time, a coherent and logical pan-European effort, based on 

sound scientific principles, to assess and audit the ability of 

computer codes to properly simulate these complex and 

multiply coupled processes that are of crucial relevance 

to the successful underground disposal of high-level 

radioactive waste. 

Ensuring safety underground 

The outcome of this project will be a set of computer codes 

that have been verified as being capable of providing accurate 

predictions of the performance of underground radioactive 

waste repositories. This will aid in the design of repositories 

that will be capable of isolating harmful radioactive wastes 

from the biosphere. 

Such repositories represent a potential solution for the longterm 

disposal of high-level radioactive waste. They have been 

developed and their components tested over many years of 

research. They represent the best technical solution that is 

currently available for waste disposal. Disposal of radioactive 

waste is a significant issue for society no matter what the 

future for nuclear power – and it is an issue that society needs 

to tackle in a responsible and unified manner in the present 

era rather than hand it on to be solved by future generations. 



© SKB (SE) 

SKB’s underground research laboratory at Äspö, Sweden. Prototype 

Repository Experiment is located at the centre of the right edge of the picture 

Coordinator 

Robert Zimmerman 

Division of Engineering Geology 

Royal Institute of Technology 

S-100 44 Stockholm 

Tel. (46-8) 79 07 906 

Fax (46-8)79 06 810 

robertzi@kth.se 

www.theresaproject.org 











CDMA 1/61 


Tel. (32-2) 296 16 70 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 


Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company, SE 

Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, DE 


Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group, NL 


Institut für Gebirgsmechanik GmbH, DE 


Technische Universität Clausthal, DE 

Centre International de Métodes Numèrics en Enginyeria, ES 

Cardiff University, UK 

Posiva Oy, FI 

Marintel Ky, FI 

Quintessa Limited, UK 


35

36 

TIMODAZ 

The management of spent 

nuclear fuel and other long-lived 

radio active waste is an important 

environmental issue today. Disposal in deep clay 

geological formations is one of the promising 

options to dispose of this waste. An important 

item for the long-term safety of underground 

disposal is the assessment of the extent of the damaged 

zone induced by both the excavation 

process and the thermal impact of the repository. 

Combined effects 

THERMAL IMPACT ON THE DAMAGED ZONE AROUND A RADIOACTIVE 

WASTE DISPOSAL IN CLAY HOST ROCKS 

MODELLING DAMAGE UNDERGROUND 

The TIMODAZ project will study the thermo-hydromechanical 

and chemical (THMC) processes that occur 

around an underground repository. It focuses on the study 

of the combined effect of the excavation damaged zone 

(EDZ) and the thermal impact on the repository host rock. 

The knowledge gained will allow an assessment of the 

significance of the damaged zone (DZ) in the safety case for 

disposal in clay host rock and provide direct feedback to 

repository design teams. 

The TIMODAZ consortium is composed of a strong 

multidisciplinary team involving both radioactive waste 

management organisations together with nuclear research 

institutes and supported by universities, industrial partners 

and consultancy companies. 

Evaluating the damaged zone 

An important item for the long-term safety of underground 

disposal is the proper evaluation of the damaged zone in 

the clay host rock. The DZ is defined here as the zone of host 

rock that experiences THMC modifications induced by the 

repository, with potential major changes in the transport 

properties for radionuclides. These changes in transport 

parameters include the permeability of the clay, the slow 

diffusive transport combined with an absence of 

preferential migration pathways for solutes and some 

sealing capacity. 

The DZ is first initiated during the repository construction. 

Its behaviour is dynamic, dependent on changing 

conditions that vary from an open-drift period, to initial 

closure period and to the entire heating-cooling cycle of 

the decaying waste. The early THMC disturbances created 

by the excavation, the operational phase and the thermal 

load might be the most severe transient that the repository 

will undergo on the spatial scale and it happens in a 

relatively short period of time. Consequently the project 

priorities are to study the combined effect of the EDZ and 

the thermal impact on the host rocks around a radioactive 

waste disposal. 

Laboratory tests and expert modelling 

In order to strengthen our knowledge of fracturing and the 

sealing processes under evolving thermal conditions, 

specific laboratory tests will be performed. In particular, the 

effects of temperature on damaged clay as well as on clay 

properties will be investigated including the possibility of 

irreversible damage. The tests include the study of 

saturation processes at ambient and higher temperatures. 

Transmission/emission tomography will study hetero - 

geneities in the clay and the evolution of fractures, density 

and water content of samples during temperaturecontrolled 

geomechanical tests. Some tests will be 

complemented with a radionuclide migration test, in order 

to evaluate any possible preferential migration along the 

sealed fracture and a variety of different chemical 

conditions will be considered. Mineralogical analyses will 

be performed and linked to the hydromechanical 

observations. These test results will feed the numerical 

models to be used. 

Results from other THM in-situ tests are available for the 

project. An additional small-scale in-situ THM test will be 

conducted at Mont Terri in Switzerland as an extension of 

the SELFRAC test. The results of these experiments will 

provide the link between pure laboratory testing and full 

scale tests. Different numerical codes will be evaluated 

through benchmark tests for modelling of THM processes 

in clays including sealing and chemical processes induced 

by THM phenomena. The thermal impact on the stability of 

the gallery lining will also be investigated: an issue of 

particular importance for retrievability of the radioactive 

waste. The modelling work together with the results of the 



laboratory and in-situ tests should give clear indication on 

the evolution of the DZ with time and temperature. An 

important modelling objective will be to perform predictive 

simulations of the large-scale heater experiment PRACLAY. 

Better understanding, 

improved perceptions 

Public and political perceptions of the nuclear waste issue 

will play a major role in determining the future of nuclear 

energy. The results of this project will contribute to a better 

understanding of the processes occurring within the clay 

around a disposal system for heat-emitting waste during 

the thermal transient phase. As this transient should span 

several centuries, the development and testing of sound, 

phenomenology-based models is an essential step towards 

meeting safety case requirements. 

The knowledge gained by the TIMODAZ project will help 

assess the significance of the DZ in the safety case for 

disposal in clay host rock and provide direct feedback to 

repository design teams. In order to ensure an appropriate 

link between end-user needs and the project priorities an 

end-user group has been formed. 

Public events 

An international conference will be organised in early March 

2009. 

General design of the PRACLAY large-scale heater experiment 



© ESV Euridice GIE (BE) 

Coordinator 

Frédéric Bernier 

ESV Euridice GIE 

Boeretang 200 

B-2400 Mol 

Tel. (32-14) 33 27 79 

Fax (32-14) 32 12 79 

fbernier@sckcen.be 

www.timodaz.eu 











CDMA 1/61 


Tel. (32-2) 296 16 70 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

European Underground Research Infrastructure for Disposal of Nuclear Waste in Clay 

Environments, BE 

National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste, CH 

Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie/Centre d’étude d’énergie nucléaire, BE 



Centre Internacional de Méthodes Numerics en Enginyeria, ES 

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, CH 

Université de Liège, BE 

Université Joseph Fourier – Grenoble 1, FR 

École nationale des ponts et chaussées, FR 

Czech Technical University, Prague, CZ 

Itasca Consultants, S.A., FR 

Applied Seismology Consultant Ltd, UK 

ITC School of Underground Storage and Disposal, CH 

37

38 

CANDIDE 

COORDINATION ACTION ON NUCLEAR DATA FOR 

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN EUROPE 

NEW DATA FOR CLEANER POWER 

Research and development for 

future nuclear power reactors is a 

large-scale European activity. 

Such novel reactors could potentially use 

resources more efficiently, produce less waste 

and possibly even reuse the waste of present 

reactors as fuel. The successful development 

of these novel reactors relies on high-quality 

nuclear data, i.e. accurate information about 

the nuclear reactions taking place in such 

reactors. The CANDIDE project concerns nu - 

clear data for future reactors. 

Cost-effective and clean 

The primary importance of nuclear data is in reducing the 

cost of nuclear power plant operation. With precise nuclear 

data, future reactors can be designed to reach even higher 

safety standards in a cost-effective manner. The CANDIDE 

project team is composed of key actors in the field, ranging 

from industry to academia and research centres. The 

industry partners define the needs from an end-user 

perspective, and their participation guarantees that the 

work is application-oriented. The role of the non-industry 

partners is to assess the possibilities of providing data of 

sufficient quality to meet the application needs. The project 

involves reactor manufacturers (AREVA, France), electricity 

utilities (EDF, France, and TVO, Finland), nuclear fuel 

producers (BNFL/Nexia, UK) as well as universities (Uppsala, 

Sweden and Budapest, Hungary) and research centres and 

technical support organizations (CEA, France, JRC-IRMM, 

the EC, NRG, the Netherlands, NRI, the Czech Republic, 

SCK•CEN, Belgium, CIEMAT, Spain, and ITN, Portugal). 

Data assessment, recommendations 

The major scientific endeavour of the project is to assess the 

present state-of-the-art of relevant nuclear data and to 

identify important areas where improvements can be made. 

In particular, estimates will be made of the accuracy of data 

that might be achievable in the future. The types of data to 

be considered will include data that is relevant to 

transmutation processes in critical reactors, for example 

some of the concepts under consideration for Generation- 

IV reactors, as well as for sub-critical transmutation reactors 

in accelerator driven systems. 

Nuclear data needs will be assessed, the performance 

of current nuclear data libraries measured and the 

competences and practices used in current nuclear data 

production examined. 

The final outcome of the project will be a report providing 

recommendations for future research in this field. 

Moreover, training and networking is also an important 

aspect of the project. A course for young professionals in 

the industry and two open workshops will be organized as 

part of the project. Efficient dissemination of results is 

guaranteed by close contacts with the International Atomic 

Energy Agency (IAEA) and Organisation for Economic 

Cooperation and Development, Nuclear Energy Agency 

(OECD-NEA) databanks. 

Report, recommendations and training 

The result of the CANDIDE project will be a comprehensive 

scientific document that describes the present state of 

knowledge with respect to nuclear data. The report will also 

present a number of recommendations for future research. 

In addition, a training course for young professionals in the 

nuclear industry will be developed. 

Less waste, greater efficiency 

As mentioned above, the main importance of nuclear data 

is to assist in ensuring cost-effectiveness. With precise 

nuclear data, future reactors can be designed to reach high 

safety standards in a cost-effective manner. This in turn 

implies, however, a number of benefits that can directly 

impact on society. With more efficient use of the fuel in 

nuclear power reactors, lower amounts of raw material are 

needed to produce the same amount of electricity, thereby 

reducing the need for uranium mining. In addition, of 

particular importance for the CANDIDE project, the use of 

improved nuclear data can reduce the amount of 

radioactive waste produced per unit of electricity. This will 

further reduce the potential environmental impact on the 

“back-end” of the nuclear fuel cycle. 



Of key importance for the CANDIDE project is its aim to 

define critical nuclear data for the development of reactors 

with closed fuel cycles. These are reactors concepts that 

consume their own long-lived radioactive waste, and may 

be capable of incinerating the waste produced by other 

reactors as well. 

Public events 

A course for young professionals in the industry and two 

open workshops will be organised as part of the project. 

Although these activities are primarily targeting pro - 

fessionals, the public is welcome to attend them. 


Partitioning and transmutation 

Coordinator 

Jan Blomgren 

Uppsala University 

INF 

Box 525 

S-75 120 Uppsala 

Tel. (46-1) 84 71 37 88 

Fax (46-1) 84 71 38 53 

Jan.blomgren@tsl.uu.se 

www.nri.cz/candide 







EC Project Officer: Ved Bhatnagar 




CDMA 1/46 


Tel. (32-2) 299 58 96 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 


Joint Research Centre – Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, BE 

Nuclear Research and consultancy Group, NL 

Budapest University of Technology and Economics, HU 

Teollisuuden Voima Oy, FI 

Nuclear Research Institute Řež, CZ 

Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie – Centre d’étude de l’énergie nucléaire, BE 

Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, ES 

AREVA NP SAS, FR 

Nexia Solutions, UK 

Électricité de France, FR 

Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear, PT 

39

40 

EFNUDAT 

EUROPEAN FACILITIES FOR NUCLEAR DATA MEASUREMENTS 

AN INTEGRATED NETWORK FOR NEUTRON DATA 

The EFNUDAT project is a consortium 

of ten European institutions 

offering diverse research infrastructures 

for differential neutron data measurements. 

The objective of the project is to integrate all the 

scientific and technical efforts needed for high 

quality nuclear data measurements. Such 

measurements are required to support high-level 

radioactive waste transmutation studies and 

design studies for future generation IV nuclear 

reactor systems that aim to produce significantly 

less radioactive waste during operation. 

Nuclear measurement, integrated expertise 

The aim of EFNUDAT is to integrate all infrastructure-related 

aspects of nuclear data measurements across Europe and to 

provide access for external users to the participating 

facilities. The project is an Integrated Infrastructure Initiative 

with ten major European nuclear research institutions from 

France, Belgium, Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland 

and the Czech Republic comprising the EFNUDAT 

consortium. The project’s main objective is to promote the 

coherent use and integration of the infrastructure-related 

services of its partners via networking and transnational 

access. These services encompass both the facilities 

themselves and joint research activities. 

Quality infrastructure access 

The most important goal of the EFNUDAT consortium is to 

increase the quality and the quantity of access to the 

relevant nuclear data facilities that are involved in the 

consortium. To achieve this, EFNUDAT is structured as a 

consistent and complementary ensemble of 15 activities. 

These activities include three networking activities that are 

designed to optimise the use of the consortium facilities for 

nuclear data measurements as well as the analysis and 

dissemination of results. In addition, nine transnational 

access activities will procure approximately 4000 additional 

beam hours within the various facilities for external users to 

carry out nuclear data measurements. Finally, three joint 

research activities will be used to raise the performance of 

the facilities and the efficiency of their use. 

The final goal of all these networking activities is to 

strengthen Europe’s excellence in the nuclear data domain 

and to guarantee its future. In particular, they will focus the 

services that are provided by the experimental facilities in 

a direction that is vital for the design studies required for 

radioactive waste transmutation and for generation IV 

future nuclear reactor systems. The combination of the 

three types of activities will validate the importance of the 

different facilities and create a stable ‘customer base’ for 

their future use in the field of nuclear data measurements. 

A website will be established to help the rapid transfer of 

knowledge within and beyond the partnership. 

EFNUDAT should not be seen as a stand-alone project, but 

as part of the coherent package of projects on nuclear 

waste treatment within Euratom FP6 and previous 

framework programmes. The networking activities within 

EFNUDAT will promote information exchange and search 

for synergies with other related FP6 projects, such as 

EUROTRANS and CANDIDE. 

Solid partnership for improved coordination 

EFNUDAT will build a solid partnership between the various 

experimental facilities and between the facilities and their 

stakeholders. All relevant experimental facilities in Europe 

are involved. Because the infrastructures and user groups 

have an envisaged lifetime far beyond the duration of the 

project, the partnership will have a long-term impact. 

A large part of EFNUDAT resources will be used to trigger or 

improve collaboration, exchange of ideas and mobility of 

researchers. This will have positive effects that are also 

expected to last much longer than the project itself: for 

example a common system for coordination of experiments 

and promoting access to infrastructures. 

The essence of the work performed within EFNUDAT is to 

improve the coordination between experimental facilities in 

Europe that will provoke a better response to the 

measurement needs addressed by nuclear data users. 

The most urgent data needs are collated in the ‘High 

Priority List’ maintained by the Organisation for Economic 

Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency 

(NEA). Therefore, close cooperation with the NEA Data Bank 

and the Nuclear Data Centre (NDC) of the International 



Atomic Energy Agency will be established. This cooperation 

will be ensured by inviting representatives from different 

centres or evaluated data file projects (especially from the 

European fission and fusion file project, JEFF) into the 

project. All data measured with support from the EFNUDAT 

project will be submitted to the EXFOR database of the 

NEA databank. 

Quality data for future safer systems 

Global climate change and greater demand for energy have 

increased interest in nuclear energy. EFNUDAT aims at providing 

high quality and new nuclear data which are important 

for future nuclear systems design that will improve 

long-term public safety by reducing the radiotoxicity of the 

nuclear waste produced. 

Public events 

The kick-off meeting of EFNUDAT was held in January 2007 

at FZK Karlsruhe. Further information about any other public 

event will be given via the EFNUDAT website (see box). 

The EFNUDAT consortium 



Coordinator 

Gérard Barreau 

CNRS-CEN Bordeaux Gradignan 

F-33175 Gradignan 

Tel. (33) 5 57 12 08 85 

barreau@cenbg.in2p3.fr 

www.efnudat.eu 


Project type: Integrated Infrastructure Initiative 




EC Contribution: EUR 2 400 000 





CDMA 1/46 


Tel. (32-2) 299 58 96 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, BE 

Isotopkutato Intezet – Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia , Konkaly Thege, HU 

Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe Gmbh, DE 

Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, DE 

Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, DE 

Uppsala Universitet, SE 


European Organisation for Nuclear Research, CH 

Nuclear Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CZ 

41

42 

LWR-DEPUTY 

The LWR-DEPUTY initiative is part of 

a portfolio of projects devoted to 

decrease the burden of nuclear 

waste. It will study in an experimental way the 

development, behaviour and in-pile per - 

formance of novel fuels for deep burning of 

plutonium in existing nuclear power plants 

(NPPs). The project will also evaluate to what 

extent existing NPPs in Europe can create less 

nuclear waste by moving to inert matrix fuels. 

Experiment and theory 

LWR-DEPUTY intends to build upon the experience gained 

in a number of FP5 projects on advanced nuclear fuel. The 

project is active on two experimental axes as well as a 

cross-cutting theoretical activity. It will fabricate and 

irradiate four "ceramic-in-metal" (CERMET) plutonium 

oxide (PuO 2) containing fuel pins in a materials test 

reactor. In addition, thorium-based fuels that have been 

successfully irradiated in earlier projects will be subject to 

in-depth post-irradiation examination, radiochemical and 

back-end studies of the fuel cycle. 

Using these results an assessment will be made of the 

efforts needed to introduce novel fuel concepts into 

existing NPPs. Performance and safety assessment of 

thorium based fuels will be undertaken and numerical 

simulation benchmarking performed using experimental 

data from radiochemical analysis of the fuels. 

The LWR-DEPUTY consortium has expertise (programming 

codes, knowledge and know-how) and resources (inclu - 

ding fuel fabrication facilities, a materials test reactor, dedicated 

laboratories to handle irradiated material) to 

successfully complete the project. 

Innovative fuels 

LIGHT-WATER REACTOR FUELS FOR DEEP BURNING OF Pu IN THERMAL SYSTEMS 

NEW FUELS FOR LESS WASTE 

The general goal of LWR-DEPUTY is to push forward 

the introduction of innovative fuel cycles in existing lightwater 

reactors (LWRs) that are dedicated to the manage- 

ment and nuclear burning of plutonium and able to 

reduce the production of minor actinides during use. 

This will be achieved by demonstrating the fabrication of 

two metal-based inert matrix fuels and their compliance 

with LWR-operational environments. A data package on 

the nature of the critical radionuclides in irradiated 

thorium-based mixed oxide (Th-MOX) fuel will be 

established and a further data package will be generated 

to serve as the starting point for regulatory licensing 

procedures for inert matrix fuels in LWR fuel cycles. 

Screening and simulation 

Several candidate reprocessable CERMET fuels will be 

irradiated in conditions compatible with LWR conditions. 

The metallic matrices to be used are of two types: two 

ferritic (iron-chromium) matrices, and two molybdenum 

matrices (preferably using depleted molybdenum). 

For each fuel type, plutonium oxide will be inserted 

as large and small precipitates, this microstructure 

difference allowing the examination of the stability of the 

fuel under irradiation. 

Following a screening irradiation under LWR conditions of 

pressure, temperature and water chemistry intermediate 

examinations will study the performance of the fuel 

segments, in particular their mechanical stability. 

Final destructive examination of the fuels will be carried 

out later. 

An experimental database using the results of the 

post-irradiation analyses will be used to form the basis for 

the definition of a benchmarking exercise. The focus will 

be on the actinide inventory of plutonium-loaded, 

thorium-based fuel. This will allow fuel modellers to test, 

validate and compare different numerical simulation code 

applications. A comparison of theoretical with experimental 

data should lead to a better understanding of the 

burn-up behaviour of these oxide fuels in LWRs. Such 

knowledge underpins the in-reactor fuel performance of 

these fuels and has an impact on related aspects including 

burn-up behaviour and safety issues. 

The introduction of innovative fuels in NPPs requires 

detailed feasibility studies and reliable methodologies for 

their introduction into reactor cores. Preliminary 

numerical analyses in this field, performed under a 



number of FP5 projects, show promising safety features 

and transmutation-performance of novel fuels. Many outstanding 

issues related to reactor safety, burn-up behaviour 

and fuel performance under operating conditions will 

be dealt with in this project. The accuracy of numerical 

analyses and methods will be proved by simulation of irradiation 

experiments and benchmarking, basing on the 

results from post-irradiation examinations and radiochemical 

analyses. 

Burning waste and plutonium 

LWR-DEPUTY builds on research performed in FP5 and will 

ensure continuity and build strong European competence 

in this area of nuclear science and technology essential for 

current safety and future energy supply concerns. The 

project could offer a method to reduce nuclear waste production 

in current nuclear power plants with clear benefits 

for society. 

The LWR-DEPUTY contributes to the construction of a 

European research area in nuclear science. The involvement 

of training activities within LWR-DEPUTY is also 

an important contribution to the continuity of nuclear 

activities in Europe. 



Coordinator 

Marc Verwerft 

SCK•CEN 

FMA/NMS 

Boeretang 200 

B-2400 Mol 

Tel. (32-14) 33 30 48 

Fax (32-14) 32 12 16 

mverwerf@sckcen.be 

www.sckcen.be/LWRDEPUTY 











CDMA 1/46 


Tel. (32-2) 299 58 96 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

FZ-Jülich, DE 

FZ-Karlsruhe, DE 

FZ-Rossendorf, DE 

Joint Research Centre (Institute for Transuranium Elements), EU 


Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG), NL 

Paul Scherrer Institute, CH 

VUJE Inc., SK 

43

44 

NUDAME 

The NUDAME project is a 

transnational access programme 

based at the Joint Research 

Centre – Institute for Reference Materials and 

Measurements (JRC-IRMM) at Geel in Belgium. 

The project has facilitated access for outside 

research teams across Europe to the services 

and equipment of the Neutron Physics Unit, 

promoted the coherent use of this high-quality 

measurement infrastructure in order to meet 

their neutron data requests and generated 

some exciting new science. 

3000 beam hours 

JRC-IRMM is equipped with a unique scientific infrastructure 

for highly accurate neutron cross-section measurements at 

two accelerator facilities. With the support of Euratom FP6 

JRC-IRMM had opened these world-class scientific tools to 

the wider academic world by offering a total of 3000 

supplementary data acquisition hours to external users over 

a three-year period. 

In response, over 22 experiments were proposed by 

external users with a total beam time request that exceeded 

the available time by around 2.5 times. The programme 

advisory committee established under NUDAME approved 

18 of the proposed experiments but all were allocated 

a much reduced beam time. Some 94 % of the supported 

scientists were making use of the JRC-IRMM facility for the 

first time. 

Unique scientific tools 

NEUTRON DATA MEASUREMENTS AT IRMM 

JRC NEUTRON FACILITIES OPEN TO ALL 

Proposals for experiments were submitted and evaluated 

by the NUDAME Programme Advisory Committee for three 

experimental periods: September 2005 to March 2006; April 

2006 to March 2007; and April 2007 to March 2008. The 

typical duration of each experiment was two weeks during 

which the external scientific users could make use of the 

measurement infrastructure at JRC-IRMM and were 

supported by a local contact person. 

The GELINA facility, showing some of the 12 flight paths for neutron 

time-of-flight measurements 

The JRC-IRMM has a unique scientific infrastructure for 

accurate neutron data measurements. Two instruments are 

of particular interest. GELINA is a 150 MeV electron 

accelerator that serves as a strong ‘white’ neutron source 

for high resolution time-of-flight measurements. This 

facility covers the energy range up to 20 MeV with an 

unsurpassed time resolution of less than one nanosecond. 

GELINA serves an array of neutron flight paths up to 400 

metres long and can handle as many as 12 simultaneous 

experiments. The 7 MV Van de Graaff facility is an 

electrostatic accelerator that can produce continuous or 

pulsed proton, deuteron and helium ion beams. Six beam 

lines and experimental set-ups are available and quasi 

mono-energetic neutrons in the energy region 0-24 MeV 

can be produced for experimental analysis. 

After execution of the experiments, the data are analysed 

by the participating scientists at their home institutions. 

All experiments and results will be published in the 

open literature. 

A wide range of experiments 

© EC-JRC-IRMM 

A number of different experiments have been executed, 

ranging from high-resolution measurements at the GELINA 

time-of-flight facility to activation measurements, neutron 

flux measurements, detector calibration, and fission 

measurements at the Van de Graaff facility. 



Technology-oriented investigations were also performed, 

such as feasibility tests for the planning of long-term 

investigations, detector calibration, leakage spectrum 

measurements, or calibration of dosemeters. The scientific 

quality of all the proposals was high and some very 

fundamental questions were addressed, which will certainly 

be of interest to the nuclear data community as a whole. 

Knowledge exchange with new users of the JRC-IRMM 

facilities is also an important aspect of the NUDAME 

programme and has contributed to the development and 

improvement of the state-of-the-art data acquisition systems 

at the facility. 

Excellent support for small research groups 

The majority of the experimental proposals came from small 

European research groups. The approved 18 experiments were 

proposed by 96 researchers from 22 European institutions and 

most of the applicants were first-time users of the respective 

facility at JRC-IRMM. The chosen experiments addressed a 

wide area of research from fundamental scientific topics in 

nuclear physics to specific technical aspects of advanced novel 

measurement techniques. 

The large amount of beam time requested was a clear 

evidence for the usefulness of this support programme to 

enable small research groups to use the specialised facilities of 

JRC-IRMM. In addition, the project promotes the awareness for 

the work programme of the European Commission in the 

nuclear field throughout the academic and wider world. 

Public events 

A user workshop will be organised at JRC-IRMM in early 2008. 

Beam lines for measurements with quasi-monoenergetic neutrons 

at the Van de Graaff facility 



© EC-JRC-IRMM 

Coordinator 

Peter Rullhusen 

EC-DG JRC-IRMM 

Retieseweg 111 

B-2440 Geel 

Tel. (32-14) 57 14 76 

Fax (32-14) 57 18 62 

peter.rullhusen@ec.europa.eu 

www.irmm.jrc.be 



Project type: Transnational Access to Large Infrastructures 









CDMA 1/46 


Tel. (32-2) 299 58 96 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

45

46 

PATEROS 

PARTITIONING AND TRANSMUTATION EUROPEAN ROADMAP 

FOR SUSTAINABLE NUCLEAR ENERGY 

TOWARDS A EUROPEAN P&T STRATEGY 

The objectives of the PATEROS 

Coordination Action are to deliver a 

European vision for the deployment 

of partitioning and transmutation technology 

up to the pilot plant scale for all the components 

of this high-level radioactive waste minimisation 

process. 

A European waste vision 

Partitioning and transmutation (P&T) technologies cover a 

promising process for the separation (partitioning) of the 

most radiotoxic elements in high-level nuclear waste and 

spent fuel and the nuclear transformation (transmutation) 

of these long-lived elements to other elemental isotopes 

that are less radiotoxic and/or with much shorter 

radioactive half lives. A successful process could 

significantly reduce the time that radioactive waste remains 

hazardous. 

The PATEROS coordination action involves 17 partners from 

11 European countries. Within the consortium are research 

centres, universities and industrial partners. The ambition 

of the consortium is to build on what has been already 

accomplished to present a holistic vision of the deployment 

of P&T technology in Europe up to pilot plant scale. Inputs 

to the project will include studies from FP5 and the first and 

second calls of FP6 as well as the outcomes of national 

programmes throughout Europe, in the USA, Japan and 

Korea and by international organisations such as OECD’s 

Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic 

Energy Agency. This coordination action will work closely 

with the SNF-TP (Sustainable Nuclear Fission Technology 

Platform) coordination action. 

The rationale for value-added P&T 

The project will analyse the rationale and added value of 

P&T for waste management policies in various EU member 

states. Acting like a ‘think tank’, all the partners represented 

will deliver input data on waste inventory, number and 

capacity of the corresponding projected P&T facilities 

needed at the industrial scale. This data will be reviewed 

and the relevant and most promising national fuel cycle 

strategies in Europe will be selected. The analysis will be 

supplemented by pertinent regional context to define the 

required waste installations, milestones and developments. 

This regional approach is the most appealing from the 

technical point of view in order to accommodate varying 

national positions towards nuclear energy as well as from 

the proliferation resistance and the economical feasibility 

point of views. 

Research needs and related timescales for the development 

of high-efficiency pilot-scale equipment and processes will 

be determined covering both aqueous and pyroreprocessing 

technologies. In parallel the content and 

timescale for research related to fabrication of 

transmutation fuels up to pilot-scale operation will be 

considered and the demonstration of their ability to be 

appropriately licensed examined. 

Further definition of the key research and technological 

facilities, in particular irradiation facilities, required for the 

demonstration of high level waste transmutation before 

the final industrial transmutation facility can be considered 

at industrial scale will be determined. These may range 

from thermal to fast neutron spectrum and from critical to 

sub-critical reactor systems including coolant technology 

demonstration facilities. 

What, where and when 

All the findings of the various project components will be 

integrated and the required resources evaluated for the 

time span leading up to the industrial deployment of P&T 

with an indication of the critical milestones to be passed on 

the way. A final report will contain information on the 

anticipated waste flow that should be channelled to the 

P&T facilities, the number and capacities of projected 

facilities at industrial scale, the R&D fuel cycle facilities 

required, and the transmutation and associated tech - 

nologies described in terms of a time schedule for 

deployment at the European scale. 

Formal information exchange with the parallel SNF-TP 

project is envisaged at two main milestones (12 and 18 

months from kick-off) to provide the basis for further 

iteration with the objective to eventually merge PATEROS 

into the SNF Technology Platform. 



Sustainable, closed fuel cycle 

Almost two billion people around the world have no access 

to electricity and the problem will worsen as the global 

population continues to grow. The World Energy Council 

points out that although global reliance on fossil fuels 

and large hydro will remain strong until 2020, these will not 

be able to meet the world’s long-term electricity demand 

in a sustainable manner. As a consequence, the role of 

nuclear power must be stabilised with the aim of future 

expansion. 

A closed fuel cycle with a clear and agreed solution for 

waste issues is a prerequisite for making nuclear energy 

sustainable. This can be reached by deploying advanced 

P&T systems to reduce the burden of waste on geological 

storage facilities. This objective is relevant to both countries 

committed to nuclear energy in the future as well as to 

those countries not committed to a further deployment of 

nuclear energy. 



Coordinator 

Hamid Aït Abderrahim 

SCK•CEN 

Boeretang 200 

B-2400 Mol 

Tel. (32-14) 33 22 77 

Fax (32-14) 32 15 29 

haitabde@sckcen.be 

www.sckcen.be/pateros 











CDMA 1/46 


Tel. (32-2) 299 58 96 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

Ansaldo Nucleare SpA, IT 

Commissariat à l'énergie atomique, FR 

Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, ES 

Centre national de la recherche scientifique, FR 

Ente per le nuove technologie, l'energia e l'ambiente, IT 

AREVA NP, FR 

Forschungszentrum Karlrsuhe GmbH, DE 

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, BE 


Nuclear Research & Consultancy Group, NL 

Ustav jaderného vyzkumu ŘeŽ (Nuclear Research Institute ŘeŽ), CZ 


Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, ES 

Instituto Tecnologico e Nuclear, PT 

Nexia Solutions Ltd, UK 

University of Manchester, UK 

47

48 

PuMA 

Sustainability is a key issue in the 

definition of future nuclear energy 

systems in Europe. Sustainable 

management of transuranium elements (TRUs) 

by reducing the plutonium (Pu) and minor 

actinides (MA) stockpiles in the nuclear fuel 

cycle is of particular interest. The (very) hightemperature 

gas-cooled reactor ((V)HTR) can be 

used to incinerate Pu and MA materials due to 

its unique safety features and the nature of its 

coated particle fuel. The PuMA project aims to 

provide key results for the utilisation and transmutation 

of Pu and MA in (V)HTR systems as a 

promising tool for the development of safe and 

sustainable nuclear energy. 

Burning plutonium 

PLUTONIUM AND MINOR ACTINIDES MANAGEMENT IN THERMAL 

HIGH-TEMPERATURE REACTORS 

BASIS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUEL CYCLE 

Previous Euratom projects have shown the favourable Pu 

burning characteristics of thermal (V)HTRs and PuMA will 

further investigate the core physics of the process in order to 

demonstrate their potential as Pu/MA transmutation systems. 

The Pu coated fuel particle design will be optimised and the 

feasibility of MA fuel fabrication and application explored. 

Finally, as Pu/MA transmuters will operate in a global system 

of reactor designs and fuel cycle facilities, fuel cycle studies 

and socio-economic/environmental assessments will be 

carried out. These PuMA studies represent part of the Euratom 

contribution to the Generation IV International Forum (GIF). 

The PuMA consortium gathers together 16 organisations from 

nine countries, including research organisations, leading 

nuclear engineering and fuel cycle companies, a fuel 

manufacturer, a utility, universities and institutes, and 

consultancy SMEs. 

Core physics and future fuel cycles 

The core physics research aims at optimising the particle 

fuel and reactor characteristics, and assuring the nuclear 

stability and safety of a Pu/MA (V)HTR core. Opportunities 

will be investigated for retrieving relevant data from past 

irradiation studies on Pu HTR fuel, on which further code 

qualification exercises can be based. 

New fuel particle designs will be explored that can 

withstand very high burn-up rates and obtain optimal 

adaptation for disposal after irradiation. In particular, 

helium production in Pu- and MA-based fuel will be 

assessed and supported by experiment. Fuel irradiation 

performance codes will permit convergence on optimised 

design criteria. 

The impact of the introduction of Pu/MA-burning (V)HTRs 

on the fuel cycle and the future nuclear energy mix will be 

assessed, with a focus on fuel cycle symbiosis with future 

nuclear energy systems in Europe (e.g. LWRs, fast reactors 

etc.). This assessment involves the quantification of waste 

streams and radiotoxic inventories as well as the technical, 

economic, environmental and socio-political impacts of 

introducing this technology in the future. 

PuMA will also contribute to developing and maintaining 

competence in European reactor technology, in particular 

through a course held in conjunction with the RAPHAEL 

project. 

Optimised designs for 

transmutation performance 

Based on previous results, the core physics work in PuMA 

should establish optimised Pu/MA transmutation 

characteristics in (V)HTRs. Transient analyses will seek to 

demonstrate the nuclear stability and safety of optimised 

reactor and fuel designs. Other performance and safetyrelated 

parameters will be determined, such as the fast 

neutron flux in fuel particles and the level of helium 

production as a function of Pu/MA burn-up, as well as an 

assessment of proliferation resistance. Relevant data from 

the British, American and Russian programmes on HTR 

applications will be sought, and benchmarks set. Armed 

with this information, the PuMA project will produce a 

design for an optimised Pu/MA-loaded fuel particle kernel 

composition and layer configuration that will be produced 

and tested in a follow-up programme. 



Finally, the project will carry out characterisation and 

uncertainty/sensitivity analysis of the technical feasibility, 

economic viability and environmental friendliness of 

various detailed reference (V)HTR designs and their 

associated fuel cycles. The possibility of integrated 

symbiotic fuel cycles with different reactor systems will be 

investigated with a special focus on the potential role for 

(V)HTR systems serving a transuranium management 

mission. Transmutation performance indicators will be 

established enabling comparison with other management 

scenarios from other international assessment studies. 

Sustainable nuclear energy 

Finding solutions for managing radioactive waste is a key issue 

when addressing the future of nuclear energy in Europe. The 

assessment carried out in PuMA will contribute to define the 

potential future roles for (V)HTR systems in delivering energy 

products (electricity, hydrogen, process heat) while 

performing a transuranium management function. 

The qualification, design and optimisation activities of PuMA 

will set the path for future work, in particular for fuel 

fabrication. This will permit progress towards the emergence 

of (V)HTR technology as a solution to the management of 

plutonium and minor actinide stockpiles and to a more 

sustainable nuclear energy scenario in the future. 

Public events 

The PuMA project will be present at relevant international 

events and communication beyond the nuclear community 

will also be organised. 

PuMA LWR (UOX/MOX) + HTGR (OTC/deep burn) scenario 



Coordinator 

Jim C. Kuijper 

NRG 

Westerduinweg 3 

PO box 25 

1755 ZG Petten 

Nederland 

Tel. (31-22) 456 45 06 

Fax (31-22) 456 84 90 

kuijper@nrg-nl.com 

www.puma-project.eu 











CDMA 1/46 


Tel. (32-2) 299 58 96 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

AGH Univ. of Science and Technology of Cracow, PL 

Belgonucleaire S.A., BE 

CIRTEN, IT 


General Atomics, USA 

IKE – University of Stuttgart, DE 

European Commission – Joint Research Centre (Institute for Transuranian Elements), EU 

Royal Institute of Technology, SE 

LISTO bvba, BE 

Nexia Solutions Ltd., UK 

AMEC-NNC, UK 

LGI Consulting, FR 

Delft University of Technology, NL 

Forschungszentrum Jülich, DE 

Areva NP, FR 

49

50 

VELLA 

The VELLA (Virtual European Lead 

Laboratory) initiative is a Euratom 

FP6 project which has the am - 

bitious intent to create a virtual laboratory for 

lead technologies. In particular, VELLA aims to 

create a common research area among the 

European Union and its associate countries 

(such as Switzerland) in the field of lead 

technologies for advanced future nuclear 

applications. 

Best operational practise 

VELLA has the ambitious intent to both create a network of 

all the principal laboratories involved in this field and to 

connect firmly different groups of European experts. This 

will allow a common definition of good operational 

practices and promote the exchange of scientific results by 

means of appropriate and innovative tools and procedures, 

creating a common platform. It will also promote access to 

existing European facilities to different specialist groups, 

support technological development and qualification 

activities and create a homogenous European ‘scientific 

community’, organised to support all the required 

technological challenges and the necessary research requi - 

rements in this area. 

The consortium of participants includes institutions with 

different capabilities: universities, enterprises and research 

centres deeply involved in the field of lead technologies. 

The high-level profile of these organizations, their well 

proven experience in the various areas of interest and their 

co-operative capability are all important characteristics 

for success. 

A variety of activities 

VIRTUAL EUROPEAN LEAD LABORATORY 

VIRTUAL CORE TO HEAVY METAL RESEARCH 

VELLA comprises three different kinds of activities: 

networking activities (NA), transnational access activities 

(TA), and joint research activities (JRA). 

EU research area 

The scope of the NA is to create a virtual community of 

researchers, to define common standards and protocols for 

the use of the shared facilities and to interact with all the 

programmes and institutions operating in this field. The 

objectives of the TA are to promote access for researchers, 

universities and firms to the existing infrastructures and 

knowledge, in order to increase the competitiveness of the 

European industry as a whole, to train the researchers in the 

use of this existing EU infrastructures over the project’s 

three year duration and to help human resource mobility 

between the various laboratories. The JRA will create a base 

of knowledge on lead technologies, develop and operate 

heavy liquid metal (HLM) components and instru - 

mentation, and study HLM thermal hydraulics. 

Harmonising lead research 

The major expected result of VELLA is to harmonise the 

European research area in the field of lead technologies for 

nuclear applications in order to produce a common 

platform of work that will continues. 

Through the NA a real “virtual” community of researchers 

in the field of HLM technologies for nuclear applications will 

be created using a variety of ICT elements to enhance 

interaction between research teams across Europe. In 

addition dedicated workshops on specifics, thematic issues 

and good practice related to the HLM technology will be 

organised. An expert group will be set up to promote real 

integration amongst ongoing EU activities on HLM. 



The TA activities will increase the competitiveness of the 

European industry, while the JRA will help develop and 

justify the technologies needed for the operation of large 

facilities for future generation IV nuclear reactors and 

accelerator-driven systems cooled by HLM, help develop 

the required components and instrumentation, study liquid 

metal thermal-hydraulics and analyse the effects of 

irradiation in presence of lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE). This 

research programme will harmonise and complete results 

obtained in the other research programmes on HLM 

technologies for nuclear applications. 

Lead – big nuclear future 

Due to its attractive properties a wide use of pure lead, as 

well as its alloys (such as LBE and lead-lithium), is foreseen 

in several nuclear-related fields. These include as a coolant 

for critical and sub-critical nuclear reactors, as a spallation 

target for neutron generation and for tritium production in 

fusion systems. Given this potential extensive future use of 

lead technologies in nuclear systems, a deeper under - 

standing of its physical properties and engineering 

applications is highly desirable. VELLA is, therefore, of great 

relevance for the whole nuclear research community. 

The beneficial effect of VELLA will promote the integration 

of existing European infrastructures and develop synergies 

between the laboratories and the research groups, while 

acting in a concerted way with other FP6 programmes that 

have a greater focus on other technical-scientific aspects. 

Public events 

The fourth workshop on materials for HLM-cooled reactors 

and related technologies was sponsored by VELLA and held 

in Rome on 21-23 May 2007. 



Coordinator 

Gianluca Benamati 

ENEA 

Località Brasimone 

I-40032 Camugnano 

Tel. (39) 05 34 80 14 23 

Fax (39) 05 34 801 

gianluca.benamati@brasimone.enea.it 

www.3i-vella.eu 











CDMA 1/46 


Tel. (32-2) 299 58 96 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 


CIEMAT, ES 

Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche, Istituto per l’energetica e le interfasi 

IENI, Sezione di Genova, IT 

CNRS, FR 


Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, DE 

Institut Quimic de Sarria (Universitat Ramon Llull), ES 


Nuclear Research Institute ŘeŽ, CZ 


Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, BE 

Institute of Physics, University of Latvia, LV 

51

Quantification of risks associated with low and 

protracted exposures ERA-PRO 54 

Radiobiology GENEPI-ENTB 2 56 


GENRISK-T 60 

NOTE 62 

Protection of the environment and radioecology FUTURAE 64 

PROTECT 66 

Risk and emergency management TMT Handbook 68 


RADIATION PROTECTION 

53

54 

ERA-PRO 

PROMOTION AND UPDATE OF THE EUROPEAN RADIOBIOLOGICAL ARCHIVES 

NEW LIFE FOR OLD DATA 

The European Radiobiological 

Archives (ERA) contain data from 

numerous radiobiological animal 

experiments conducted between 1960 and 

1998. This data is of great value to current and 

future radiation risk assessment activities. The 

ERA-PRO project is working to maintain and 

promote this data in conjunction with other 

similar international databases. This involves 

ensuring the compatibility and comparability of 

the data and facilitating access to it. Open online 

access via an e.ERA website will allow the 

international scientific community to make best 

use of this valuable resource. 

Preserving animal data 

The assessment of radiation risks is based on the 

knowledge gained from epidemiological studies of 

radiation-exposed populations, in conjunction with data 

from experimental animal studies, and on fundamental 

information from biophysical, molecular biological and 

cellular in vitro studies. Recent developments in molecular 

and genetic research are providing major opportunities to 

further quantify radiation exposure at the individual level. 

The ability to perform retrospective analysis of earlier epidemiological 

and animal studies using information gained 

from these more recent studies is an important resource 

for modelling and evaluating new risk parameters. 

The European Union and the European Late Effects Project 

Group (EULEP) created a database containing data from 

almost all of the available animal radiation biology studies 

carried out in Europe, the USA and Japan between 1960 

and 1998, plus those of two human cohort studies. This 

database is called the European Radiobiology Archives 

(ERA) and includes 122 studies from 19 different 

laboratories. As well as information from research studies 

on individual and grouped animals the ERA database 

includes information from human cohort studies, namely 

the Spiess series and the German ankylosing spondylitis 

patients treated with Ra-224. This information is now 

maintained as a Microsoft Access 2000 database. 

Funding for the long-term maintenance of ERA is assured 

from a variety of sources. However, the goal of the ERA- 

PRO project is to maximise the exploitation of the resource 

by improving the quality of the database and by making 

ERA accessible to the greatest number of end-users. 

Sustainable and future-proof 

The project will put into effect an easy-to-use database for 

further exploitation by the international scientific 

community. The predominant objective of the project is to 

transfer the existing database into a sustainable form. 

Close collaboration with relevant Japanese groups, such as 

that established by the Japanese Late Effects Group (JRA), 

as well as the American National Radiobiology Archives 

(NRA) will also be continued. 

The present project aims to convert the existing database 

from a Microsoft database to an internet accessible version 

that will allow remote access. A major first step will be to 

standardise the pathological nomenclature and ontology 

used in the current ERA database in accordance with 

internationally accepted standards in the existing 

PATHBASE database. Links will be established with other 

comparable international databases, namely NRA and JRA 

and the awareness of ERA in the scientific community will 

be raised. 

Finally, the quality of the biological material, for example 

tissue samples, will be mapped and their viability 

for retention and storing will be assessed. This will include 

conducting a practical feasibility study on storing sample 

material. 

An invaluable online resource 

The project consortium involves two partners: the Federal 

Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) in Germany and the 

University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. In 

addition an advisory board consisting of seven members 

from different organisations, disciplines, and countries has 

been set up and an international pathology panel working 

on nomenclature established. 

The project has already successfully passed two decision 

points that allow the project to proceed. The first was 

related to the quality of the data included in ERA, and the 



second was aimed to check the feasibility of deriving 

a unified nomenclature for mouse pathology for the 

new database. 

The main project deliverable will be a unique on-line 

archive consisting of an easy-to-use database of invaluable 

data for further exploitation by the scientific community. 

This will be an e.ERA specific website with controllable user 

access. The final form of the website will be designed 

following feedback from the potential user community. 

Improved risk assessment 

The project will facilitate the dissemination of data 

collected in ERA to research groups within the European 

Union and beyond. In this way the project will contribute 

to issues in the risk assessment of low doses and low dose 

rates of radiation, the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) 

of different radiation qualities, the repair of radiation 

damage at low-dose rates, the genetic background for 

radiation sensitivity and resistance and the possibilities for 

extrapolation between different animal species and strains 

and man. The data will also reinforce the scientific basis of 

biokinetic and dosimetric models. 


Quantification of risks associated with low and protracted exposures 


Coordinator 

Bernd Grosche 

Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (Federal Office for Radiation Protection) 

Dep. Radiation Protection and Health 

Ingolstaedter Landstr. 1 

D-85764 Oberschleissheim 

Tel. (49-30) 18 33 32-260 

Fax (49-39) 18 33 32-205 

bgrosche@bfs.de 

www.bfs.de/era 







EC Project Officer: George Neale Kelly 




CDMA 1/78 


Tel. (32-2) 295 64 84 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partner 

University of Cambridge, UK 

55

56 

GENEPI-ENTB 2 

A key issue in the treatment of 

cancer by radiotherapy is the 

unpredicted response to some 

treatment courses. This can consist either in 

adverse responses to treatment due to 

patient hypersensitivity to radiation or in 

treatment failure due to an insufficient 

clinical effect on the tumour. The GENEPI- 

ENTB 2 project extends work begun during 

FP5 to establish a bio bank that can help 

efforts to understand the possible genetic 

basis for these medical outcomes and lead to 

more effective treatment. 

Why radiotherapy fails 

GENETIC PATHWAYS FOR THE PREDICTION OF THE EFFECTS OF IONISING 

RADIATION: THE EUROPEAN NORMAL AND TUMOUR TISSUE BANK II 

RADIOTHERAPY – THE HOLY GRAIL? 

Recent advances in imaging techniques allow accurate 

three dimensional information on the precise location and 

nature of tumours in the body to be obtained. Clinicians 

can compare and select the most effective radiation 

treatment strategies. These treatments are constrained 

by the radiation tolerance of normal tissues close to 

the tumour. Sophisticated equipment can deliver 

very precisely targeted treatment. However, radiation 

oncologists and their patients are regularly confronted 

with unexpected adverse responses to radiotherapy (in up 

to 10 % of treatments). Conversely treatment failure is seen 

in normal commonly curable cancers (more than 20 % of 

cases). Clearly the standard radiation doses based on a 

century of physics and radiobiological research together 

with extensive clinical observation are not adequate for 

over 10 % of cancer patients. 

There is growing evidence that minute mutations in the 

genetic make-up of individuals are the reason for these 

adverse treatment results. But which of more than 50 

genes activated by low or high dose radiation hold the key 

to this variation in individual response and can therefore 

be targeted for predictive tests? 

A genetic key 

Trying to find which aberrant nucleotide or combination 

of nucleotides in the suspected genes encode for the variation 

in individual radiosensitivity is like finding a needle 

in a haystack. To narrow down the research, a dedicated 

infrastructure needed to be created: a biological sample 

bank and database of tissues obtained from patients 

whose treatment data and response to treatment is accurately 

recorded. 

A possible avenue for realising this plan was found during 

Euratom FP5 when the GENEPI project was initiated. This 

project established the European normal and tumour 

tissue bank and database with a number of strong and 

motivated research partners. Over its three-year duration, 

tissues from more than 5000 patients were collected. 

These samples remain stored in the partner institutes with 

full information on treatment and follow up documentation 

available in the peripheral databases stored in the 

central GENEPI database. This allows investigators to scan 

whether and where tissues corresponding to their 

research objectives are stored. An easily accessible search 

engine also allows scientists to make quick queries on the 

availability of the data and material they are looking for. 

When opening the GENEPI tissue bank, a commitment was 

made to expand the facility in the future and to keep it 

open for a minimum period of 20 years. From the 

beginning it was clear that to enable the selection of 

homogeneous cohorts of patients with respect to 

variables such as age, sex, tumour histology, treatment 

and follow up regime, a database with full documentation 

on up to 12 000 tissues would be necessary. This is the 

stated objective of the current GENEPI-ENTB 2 project that 

is being funded via Euratom FP6. In parallel, the first 

research project using GENEPI has also been funded under 

FP6 (see project sheet GENEPI-lowRT). 

More samples, better information 

GENEPI-ENTB 2 aims not only at the quantitative but 

also at the qualitative development of the GENEPI infrastructure. 

Functionalities will be developed to store treatment 

plans with images and dose volume histograms and 

to submit complex queries. In addition, all radiotherapy 

centres, including those that have no laboratory or tissue 

bank of their own, will be asked to contribute data and 

obtain tissues from patients with a well documented 



extreme overreaction to radiotherapy. These precious 

samples may well provide valuable information to identify 

the genetic basis for this response. 

The scientific leadership for this project, coordinated by 

the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and 

Oncology (ESTRO), is ensured by UZ Leuven (Prof. Karin 

Haustermans). Leading partners in the project are the 

University of Maastricht (tissue collection), TU Dresden 

(database development) and UCL Brussels (Quality 

Assurance). Together with the project leader and the 

coordinating partner, they count on the further active 

support of the full European radiotherapy community to 

realise the shared GENEPI objectives. 

Effective cancer treatment 

The GENEPI initiative provides a valuable resource that 

could hold the key to more effective, personalised 

radiotherapy treatments that efficiently destroy cancer 

tumours with minimal damage to normal tissue. This 

would be a major advance in cancer treatment with 

significant impact on public health. 

Screen for public queries on the GENEPI website 


Radiobiology 

Coordinator 

Christine Verfaillie 

ESTRO 

Av. E. Mounier 83 


christine.verfaillie@estro.be 

www.genepi-estro.org 

Project leader 

Prof. Karin Haustermans 

K.U. Leuven 

karin.haustermans@uzleuven.be 











CDMA 1/78 


Tel. (32-2) 295 64 84 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

Universiteit Maastricht, NL 

Technische Universität Dresden, DE 

Université Catholique de Louvain, BE 

Silesian University of Technology, PL 

K.U. Leuven, BE 

Medlawconsult, NL 

EQUAL-ESTRO SAS, FR 


57

58 

GENEPI-lowRT 

GENETIC PATHWAYS FOR THE PREDICTION OF THE EFFECTS OF IONISING 

RADIATION: LOW-DOSE RADIOSENSITIVITY AND RISK TO NORMAL 

TISSUE AFTER RADIOTHERAPY 

ASSESSING INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE TO THERAPY 

A better understanding of how 

individual patients respond to 

radiotherapy at a genetic level 

would enable improved and more effective 

treatments for cancer. The GENEPI-lowRT 

project will use the GENEPI databank to 

select appropriate samples for analysis 

which, together with new samples, will be 

used to identify genetic markers that relate 

to differing clinical responses of normal 

tissue to radiotherapy. 

Improving radiotherapy response 

The issue of risk estimation at low radiation dose is of 

importance to medical uses of ionizing radiation. 

Radiotherapy remains one of the principal treatments for 

cancer, and is second only to surgery as the mode of treatment 

that contributes most to curing cancer. 

However, the effectiveness of radiotherapeutic treatment 

for many tumours is limited by the radiation dose restrictions 

needed to minimise normal tissue damage. This 

damage includes injuries such as fibrosis in vital organs 

causing chronic and disabling symptoms that emerge 

years after treatment. Clinical observations of adverse 

reactions to radiotherapy, seen in ~ 5-10 % of the patients 

treated, indicate large variations in normal tissue response 

between individuals. 

Tissue complications and genetics 

The biological factors underlying these normal tissue 

complications are currently not known. Attempts to 

link normal tissue responses in patients with 

various phenotypical cell and molecular responses to high 

(≥ 2.0 Gy) in vitro radiation doses have to date generally 

proven unsuccessful. 

The GENEPI-lowRT project aims to explore links between 

the development of severe, normal tissue complications 

following radiotherapy with various phenotypical 

responses and genetic pathways induced at low dose. 

The GENEPI bio-bank provides a valuable resource on 

normal and adverse tissue responses in a large population 

of radiotherapy-treated breast cancer patients whose 

treatment has been followed-up over several years. 

Linking the GENEPI database with the levels of 

genetic changes induced at low dose provides an ideal 

opportunity to address whether genetic differences 

between individuals are associated with the development 

of severe, normal tissue complications. 

Genetic effects from low dose 

The GENEPI-lowRT project brings together seven leading 

European clinical and fundamental research laboratories 

who will address whether changes in genetic and functional 

responses induced at low doses in either fibroblasts 

or T-cells derived from breast cancer patients correlate 

with the severity of normal tissue responses observed in 

these patients. The project will use the GENEPI database 

established under FP5 to identify two groups of breast 

cancer patients who have been treated with radiotherapy: 

one group with an adverse normal tissue response to the 

radiotherapy and one group showing normal tissue complications 

under treatment. 

Anonymous skin biopsies from a non-irradiated field and 

blood samples will be collected to establish fibroblast and 

T-cells which will be irradiated with low radiation doses to 

identify any inter-cellular differences in gene expression 

and functionality. The findings will be analysed to see if the 

genetic and functional changes determined are able 

to predict the severity of normal tissue complications of 

the patients. 

The project will provide new knowledge that will help to 

understand non-cancer health risks and identify potential 

genetic components of relevance to occupational, 

environmental and medical exposure to radiation. In 

addition the project will train young scientists to provide a 

pool of future researchers with a breadth of skills in 

radiation sciences. 

The results will be published in scientific journals and presented 

at research meetings. The patients involved in the 

studies will be informed of the findings in an appropriate 

manner. A number of meetings will be organised for 

health professionals through the European Society for 

Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) to ensure 

comprehensive dissemination of results. 



Understanding individual response 

Since one in two of European citizens will be personally 

confronted with cancer during their lifetime, the GENEPIlowRT 

project addresses important issues relating to public 

health. The project aims to identify genetic factors which 

pre-dispose individuals to increased radiosensitivity that 

manifests as normal tissue complications following radiotherapy, 

months or years after treatment. 

The outcome will contribute to assessing approaches 

to personalise radiotherapy treatments based on an 

individual’s genetic make-up. The possibility of tailoring 

dose prescription to the individual radiosensitivity of 

each patient could indeed be a significant step forward 

in decreasing adverse effects of radiation treatment. 

In addition, knowledge of individual genetic predisposition 

to late effects of ionising radiation will contribute to 

evaluation of health risk from low-dose radiation. 


Radiobiology 

© British Society of Radiographers (UK) 

Virtual simulation showing 'beams-eye view' of medial tangential 

6 MV photon beam to left breast encompassing showing the tip of the 

heart (in green) included within the high-dose volume 

Coordinator 

Christine Verfaillie 

ESTRO 

Av. E. Mounier 83 


Tel. (32-2) 775 93 49 

Fax (32-2) 779 54 94 

christine.verfaillie@estro.be 

www.genepi-estro.org 











CDMA 1/78 


Tel. (32-2) 295 64 84 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

MRC Radiation & Genome Stability Unit, UK 

University of Dresden, DE 

University of Tübingen, DE 

Silesian University of Technology, PL 

Leiden University, Medical Centre, NL 

Institute of Cancer Research, UK 


59

60 

GENRISK-T 

DEFINING THE GENETIC COMPONENT OF THYROID CANCER RISK AT LOW DOSES 

CAN LOW DOSE INDUCE THYROID CANCER? 

Although cancer incidence shows 

a clear relationship with higher 

radiation dose, it is uncertain if low 

doses (< 100 mSv) of ionising radiation increase 

the risk of developing cancer. Furthermore, it is 

not clear if the high level of genetic variation 

among individuals contributes to differences in 

susceptibility to the cancer-promoting effects of 

radiation, especially at low doses. A lasting 

legacy of the Chernobyl nuclear accident is an 

increase in the incidence of cancer of the thyroid 

gland amongst exposed individuals. The 

GENRISK-T consortium is working towards 

understanding how individual genetic factors 

influence the risk of developing cancers of the 

thyroid after exposure to ionising radiation. 

The role of genetic variability 

Certain cancers of the thyroid gland are induced by 

external irradiation and/or by radionuclides deposited 

within the thyroid tissues. Estimates of the radiological risk 

of developing thyroid cancer are derived from epidemiological 

studies performed in populations that have 

received high doses. However, extrapolation of this risk 

to exposures at much lower doses is compromised by 

the lack of an accurate model of the dose-response curve 

for thyroid cancer at these low doses. Moreover, such 

population-based estimates fail to take into account the 

contribution of individual genetic variability to the risk 

estimate. Individuals with an increased genetic predisposition 

to develop thyroid cancer are not identified, and it is 

precisely these individuals who will be at greatest risk from 

low-dose exposures. 

GENRISK-T brings together a consortium of experts in 

radiation biology, molecular genetics, mouse models of 

human cancers, pathologists, oncologists, and bio-mathematicians. 

This interdisciplinary knowledge will be used to 

define the genetic component influencing the risk of 

radiation-induced thyroid cancer. The project’s ex perimental 

strategy is to develop and use a series of mouse models 

of thyroid cancer to identify the contribution of genetic 

variability to the risk of developing thyroid cancer. 

Through complimentary studies comparing the genetic 

events accompanying the development of thyroid cancers 

in mouse and human tumours, the project will be able to 

determine how genetic variation affects risk and use this 

knowledge to develop strategies to determine if doses 

below 100 mSv can indeed influence risk of developing 

thyroid malignancy. The project will provide an experimental 

solution to resolving the uncertainties of the 

low dose-response curve for thyroid cancer. 

Reliable models 

Thyroid tumours arise in human populations after 

exposure to ionising radiation, but causality is not easily, if 

ever, established due to the significant incidence of spontaneous 

cancers. Consequently, genetic analysis of 

susceptibility is practically impossible in human popu - 

lations due to confounding non-radiation induced 

tumours. By using selected mouse models, the probability 

of causality is dramatically increased, raising the accuracy 

of genetic studies. Therefore, the project consortium is 

placing considerable effort in developing and refining 

mouse models of radiation-induced thyroid cancer. 

In a parallel, the GENRISK-T team will undertake a genetic 

analysis of human thyroid cancer with radiation 

association. This will give the opportunity to translate the 

animal data into human studies. The studies on thyroid tissue 

will be published in the open literature and presented 

to international meetings dealing with thyroid cancer and 

with radiation biology. Through an SME industrial partner 

(ASCENION), the potential for exploitation of intellectual 

property produced by the project in the clinical field will 

be explored. 

Genetic susceptibilities 

Although the project has only recently commenced, it has 

already established efficient protocols for induction of 

thyroid cancers. Moreover, genetically divergent inbred 

mouse strains show quite different susceptibilities to 

thyroid cancer after exposure to radioiodine. As the 

project continues, the project team will hope to identify 

which genes are responsible for the different susceptibili- 



ties and to study how these genes affect the incidence of 

thyroid cancer in radiation-exposed populations. 

Improved risk assessment 

By incorporating genetic risk factors into available 

estimates of cancer risk the project will be able to improve 

risk assessment for humans subject to low-dose radiation 

exposures. Consequently, dose limits that are currently 

applied to the entire population could be individually 

tailored to accommodate the contribution of personal 

genetic risk, and individuals with a genetically pre determined 

increased risk can be more efficiently protected 

from exposure. 

Public events 

The project will have a website available to the general 

public explaining the tasks of the GENRISK-T consortium 

and displaying topical news from the research laboratories. 

Mouse thyroid tumour induced by iodine 131 


Radiobiology 

© GSF (DE) 

Coordinator 

Michael Atkinson 

GSF Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit 

Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1 

D-85764 Neuherberg 

Tel. (49-89) 31 87 22 51 

Fax (49-89) 31 87 33 78 

atkinson@gsf.de 

Website: mid 2007 











CDMA 1/78 


Tel. (32-2) 295 64 84 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

Commissariat à l´énergie atomique, FR 

Imperial College of Science London, Faculty of Medecine, Technology and Medicine, UK 

Maria Sklodowska Curie Memorial Cancer Centre, PL 

Université libre de Bruxelles, BE 

Università degli studi di Napoli Federici II, IT 

Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie-Centre d'étude de l'énergie nucléaire, BE 


ASCENION GmbH, DE 

61

62 

NOTE 

NON-TARGETED EFFECTS OF IONISING RADIATION 

IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF LOW-DOSE EFFECTS 

Our understanding of the true 

health effects of low doses of 

ionising radiation requires more 

research. The NOTE project will help to 

expand our knowledge in this area. In 

particular, it will examine the effects 

that occur in cells adjacent to those targeted 

by radiation. NOTE will improve our under - 

standing of the biological mechanisms that 

occur due to low-dose radiation and could 

form the basis for a new paradigm for 

radiobiology and public protection. 

Low-dose health effects 

The NOTE project aims to expand the current 

understanding of health effects caused by low-level doses 

of ionising radiation. The key focus of the research 

programme is the possible health consequences of 

exposures to small radiation doses which have not been 

investigated sufficiently so far. Previous research has 

accumulated evidence on various non-targeted effects of 

ionising radiation, such as, for example, the so-called 

bystander effect. This is a phenomenon where cellular 

effects are expressed in non-irradiated neighbouring cells 

adjacent to an irradiated cell or cells. On the basis of the 

present knowledge, it is not possible to state whether this 

effect increases health risk or not. The objective of the NOTE 

project is to investigate the mechanisms underlying nontargeted 

effects. 

The project also aims to investigate if non-targeted effects 

modulate health risk at low doses and if ionising radiation 

can induce non-cancer diseases. The four-year European 

Integrated Project NOTE (Non-targeted Effects of Ionising 

Radiation) is coordinated by STUK – Radiation and Nuclear 

Safety Authority, Finland. 

A new paradigm required? 

The universality of the target theory of radiation-induced 

effects is challenged by observations on non-targeted 

effects such as bystander effects, genomic instability and 

adaptive responses. The essential features of these 

non-targeted effects are that they do not require direct 

nuclear exposure by radiation and they are particularly 

significant at low doses. This new evidence suggests a need 

for a new paradigm in radiation biology. The new paradigm 

should cover both the classical (targeted) and the nontargeted 

effects. 

New aspects include the role of cellular communication 

and tissue-level responses. A better understanding of nontargeted 

effects may have important consequences for 

health risk assessment and, consequently, on radiation 

protection. Non-targeted effects may also contribute to the 

estimation of cancer risk from occupational, medical and 

environmental exposures. In particular, they may have 

implications for the applicability of the Linear-No-Threshold 

(LNT) model in extrapolating radiation risk data into the 

low-dose region. This also means that the adequacy of the 

concept of dose to estimate risk may be challenged by 

these findings. Moreover, these effects may provide new 

mechanistic explanations for the development of noncancer 

diseases. Further research is required to determine 

if these effects, typically measured in cell cultures, are also 

applicable at tissue level, in whole animals, and ultimately 

in humans. 

20 research organisations from Europe (including Belgium, 

Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the UK) 

and Canada are taking part in the NOTE project. The 

organisations are involved in the discovery, characterisation 

and mechanistic investigation of non-targeted effects of 

ionising radiation in cellular, tissue and animal models. The 

NOTE research activities are organised in six work packages. 

Mechanism and function 

The NOTE project will investigate the mechanisms of nontargeted 

effects, in particular, bystander effects, genomic 

instability and adaptive response. It will also investigate if 

and how non-targeted effects modulate the cancer risk in 

the low-dose region, and whether they relate to protective 

or harmful functions. 



NOTE will investigate if ionising radiation can cause noncancer 

diseases or give protective effects at low and 

intermediate doses. These studies will examine individual 

susceptibility and other factors that modify non-targeted 

responses and assess the relevance of non-targeted effects 

for radiation protection. This will set the scientific basis for 

a modern, more realistic, radiation safety system and 

contribute to the conceptualisation of a new paradigm in 

radiation biology that would cover both the classical direct 

(DNA-targeted) and non-targeted (indirect) effects. 

Better protection 

New knowledge and understanding of the mechanisms 

that occur when cells are exposed to low-dose irradiation 

are important in establishing effective systems for the 

protection of the public. Medical and diagnostic 

applications of ionising radiation are the most common 

areas of exposure of the public and a better understanding 

of the potential effects and benefits of treatment is 

important for public health authorities and other regulator 

bodies. This research may establish a new basis for radiation 

protection. 

Public events 

NOTE plans to organise two workshops. The first will take 

place during 2008 and try to conceptualise the new 

paradigm for radiobiology. Towards the end of the project 

another workshop on the relevance of the work for 

radiation protection will be arranged as a satellite meeting 

of the 3rd European Congress of the International Radiation 

Protection Association, in Helsinki, Finland, in 2010. 

Operation of the STUK α-particle irradiation system (SISα) designed 

for studying non-targeted effects of ionising radiation 


Radiobiology 

© STUK (FI) 

Coordinator 

Sisko Salomaa 

Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority 

Laippatie 4 

PO box 14 

FI-00881 Helsinki 

Tel. (358-9) 759 88 495 

Fax (358-9) 7598 84 98 

sisko.salomaa@stuk.fi 

www.note-ip.org 


Project type: Integrated Project 









CDMA 1/78 


Tel. (32-2) 295 64 84 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

University of Dundee, UK 

Leipzig University, DE 

MRC Radiation and Genome Stability Unit, UK 

Imperial College, UK 

Gray Cancer Institute, UK 

Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, BE 

Dublin Institute of Technology, IE 

National Institute of Health, IT 

University of Leicester, UK 

McMaster University, CA 

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, CA 

National Research Institute for Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, HU 

National Research Centre for Environment and Health, DE 

University of Pavia, IT 

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, DE 

University of Duisburg-Essen, DE 

Norwegian Radium Hospital, NO 

Ottawa Heart Institute Research Corporation, CA 

Queen’s University of Belfast, UK 

63

64 

FUTURAE 

A FUTURE FOR RADIOECOLOGY IN EUROPE 

MAINTAINING EUROPEAN EXCELLENCE 

The FUTURAE project is reviewing 

the state of radioecology in Europe 

and conducting a study on the 

feasibility of a European Network (or networks) of 

Excellence in this field. Radioecology studies how 

radioactive substances interact with nature, 

including how different mechanisms affect the 

migration of radioactive species and their 

uptake in food chains and ecosystems. 

This research forms the basis for estimating 

radioactive dose and assessing the con s equences 

of radioactive pollution events on human health 

and the environment. 

Assessing competence and requirements 

The primary objective of the FUTURAE project is to 

evaluate the feasibility of a network (or networks) to 

maintain competence and enhance sustainable collaboration 

in the scientific field of the assessment and 

management of the impact of radionuclides on humans 

and the environment. 

To achieve this, the FUTURAE Coordination Action will 

undertake a number of tasks including the evaluation of 

the current situation for radioecology research in Europe 

and beyond. This will involve the assessment of scientific 

programmes, human resources, infrastructures, and 

funding. The project will interact with end-users 

representing national bodies, competent authorities, 

industry and scientists to assess their present and future 

needs in radioecology and will evaluate the capacity in 

Europe to support these future needs. This will include 

the identification and prioritisation of new challenges 

and new ways for better collaboration with broader areas 

of the environmental sciences. The output of the project 

will be an evaluation of the potential for establishing 

deeper and sustainable collaboration in radioecology 

with one option being the establishment of one or more 

Network(s) of Excellence. The suitable scope, extent and 

structure of such networks will also be explored. 

Consortium members of the FUTURAE project 

Enhancing scientific capacity 

The FUTURAE project is implemented through the coordination 

of five work packages. Information on the status of 

radioecological research in terms of funding, human 

and infrastructure resources and current research programmes 

in Europe and internationally will be updated 

and analysed. In particular information on the future 

of individual research groups and institutes will be integrated 

to clearly identify their research potential. In parallel 

the present and future needs of end-users, such as 

national authorities, industry, decision-makers, scientists, 

higher education and international organisations (for 

example the International Atomic Energy Agency and the 

International Commission on Radiological Protection) will 

be assessed and their requirements related with respect to 

the assessment and management of the impact of 

radionuclides on humanity and the environment. 

European radioecological scientific capacity to support 

these identified future needs will be evaluated, giving 

priority to previously identified requirements and 

highlighting new scientific challenges. In the light of this 

work consideration will be given to potential avenues for 

better collaboration with broader areas of environmental 

sciences. A separate work package will evaluate the need 

for, and feasibility of one or more Network(s) of Excellence 

to maintain and enhance competence and expertise in 

Europe. This activity will also propose a knowledge 

management structure at the European level. In particular 

© J.C. Gariel, IRSN (FR) 



an assessment will be made of how to maintain Europe’s 

acknowledged lead in the field of radioecology and how to 

promote dissemination of this European competence 

within new Member States. A proposal outlining the 

practical steps required to implement the Network(s) of 

Excellence will be produced. 

Network for excellence 

Four main deliverables are anticipated for the project. 

Firstly an assessment of the present situation for research 

in radioecology in Europe will be published. This will be 

contrasted with the societal expectations for scientific 

capability to deliver radioecological impact assessments 

that will be collected via the study of end-users’ views on 

selected European and international initiatives. 

The comparison of resources with expectations will 

produce an analysis of anticipated strengths and 

weaknesses in fulfilling future radioecological assessment 

studies. This in turn will drive the analysis of new ways 

of working together and networking to ensure that 

radioecological competence and excellence in Europe is 

maintained and enhanced. 

Collaboration to ensure safety 

The major impact of the FUTURAE project will be to 

propose mechanisms such as networking or other 

initiatives, which will ensure that Europe will, in the next 

decade, retain and enhance an adequate level of competence 

and expertise in radioecology relative to its present 

and future needs. Collaboration at the European level 

will contribute to harmonisation of national regulations 

and management which in turn will improve acceptance 

by industry and the public in matters relating to environmental 

radiation protection. 

A further impact from this project will be to give recommendations 

on the best way to ensure that Europe will 

keep, and perhaps strengthen, its world-leading position in 

the field of radioecology – an essential scientific service for 

ensuring public safety. 



Coordinator 

Jean-Christophe Gariel 

IRSN/DEI/SECRE 

BP3 

F-13115 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance 

Tel. (33) 442 199 532 

Fax (33) 442 199 145 

jean-christophe.gariel@irsn.fr 

www.futurae.org 







EC Project Officer: Henning von Maravic 




CDMA 1/81 


Tel. (32-2) 296 52 73 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, SE 

Natural Environment Research Council, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK 

Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, University of Antwerp, BE 

Research Centre in Energy, Environment and Technology, ES 

Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, FI 

Jozef Stefan Institute, SI 

Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, NO 

65

66 

PROTECT 

PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT FROM IONISING RADIATION 

IN A REGULATORY CONTEXT 

BETTER PROTECTION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT 

This Coordination Action will evaluate 

the different approaches to 

protection of the environment 

from ionising radiation and compare them with 

the approaches adopted for non-radioactive 

contaminants. This work will provide a scientific 

justification on which to propose numerical 

targets or standards for the protection of the 

environment from ionising radiation. 

Comparing different approaches 

The PROTECT project will evaluate the existing different 

approaches to protection of the environment from ionising 

radiation in various countries and will compare these with 

the approaches used for non-radioactive contaminants. This 

widespread review and analysis will provide a coherent 

scientific justification on which to propose new numerical 

targets or standards for protection of the environment from 

ionising radiation. 

To achieve this, the project will engage with the 

International Commission on Radiological Protection, the 

International Atomic Energy Agency, national regulatory 

authorities, industry and other interested parties. The 

outputs from the PROTECT project will help to inform a 

future revision of the Euratom Basic Safety Standards. 

Assessing protection approaches 

The PROTECT team will initially gather information on the 

current environmental regulatory approaches to both 

chemicals and radioactive substances in Member States. 

The information will be critically reviewed to determine the 

biological and ecological endpoints currently used for 

protection and the similarities and differences between 

approaches for chemicals and radioactive substances. 

The various assessment approaches will be evaluated for 

practicality, relevance and merits. These approaches will 

include the models and tools used for demonstrating 

protection of the environment from ionising radiation. 

A number of recommended numerical target values will 

be applied and the potential consequences of their 

use assessed. 

Using the protection goals or endpoints identified the 

project will propose standards for protection of the 

environment from ionising radiation that can ensure 

compliance with these protection goals. The proposed 

standards will be presented and discussed with relevant 

stakeholders to assess their wider implications. 

Requirements and recommendations 

The project is set to produce four deliverables. A review 

of the various approaches to protection of the 

environment from chemicals and ionising radiation will be 

published that will enumerate the requirements and 

recommendations for a common framework. In addition an 

evaluation of the practicability of these different 

approaches for protecting the environment from ionising 

radiation in a regulatory context and their relative merits 

will be produced. 

A three-part document will cover the aims, and associated 

secondary numerical targets, for protecting biota against 

radiation in the environment. The first part will list the 

recommendations for further action, while the second will 

describe the proposed levels or targets and the underlying 

reasoning that supports these figures. The third and final 

part will record the views of end users and other 

stakeholders on the feasibility of the proposed targets. All 

will be published via the dedicated PROTECT website 

www.ceh.ac.uk/PROTECT and other channels. 

Sound and pragmatic safeguards 

Many European nations are at a critical stage with respect 

to plans for the final management of spent nuclear fuel and 

other high-level radioactive waste. The PROTECT project 

may help in taking a sound, pragmatic and cost-effective 

approach to the environmental concerns surrounding this 

issue. Similarly, there are many nuclear power plants at 

various stages of decommissioning. The project will help 

inform the environmental impact assessment of 

radiological and non-radiological hazards which must be 

included in the decommissioning process. Harmonisation 

of risk assessment approaches (including nuclear and 

chemical, human and environmental aspects) will lead to 

the most cost-effective methodologies. 



The PROTECT project will assist in achieving a more 

balanced comparison of the effects of radionuclides with 

other environmental stressors. The potential demonstration 

of the comparatively low impact of radionuclides within the 

environment compared to many other anthropogenic 

hazards may help inform the re-emerging debate with 

regard to nuclear power option versus other power sources 

within Europe. 

Results from the project will help to inform a future revision 

of the Euratom Basic Safety Standards – one of the 

fundamental safeguards of nuclear safety for European 

citizens. 

Public events 

During the course of the project, a number of workshops 

for interested parties from regulatory organisations, NGOs, 

industry and the research community will be run. 

Should we regulate exposure of plants and animals to radiation? 



© Catherine Barnett 

Coordinator 

Brenda Howard 

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Lancaster 

LEC, Library Avenue 


Tel. (44-15) 24 59 58 55 

Fax (44-15) 24 61 536 

bjho@ceh.ac.uk 

www.ceh.ac.uk/PROTECT 







EC Project Officer: Henning von Maravic 




CDMA 1/81 


Tel. (32-2) 296 52 73 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, SE 

Environment Agency, UK 

Natural Environment Research Council, UK 


Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, FR 

67

68 

TMT Handbook 

TRIAGE, MONITORING AND TREATMENT OF THE PUBLIC AFTER 

A MALEVOLENT USE OF RADIATION -- HANDBOOK 

BEING PREPARED FOR THE WORST 

European national emergency 

response plans have long been 

focused on potential accidents at 

nuclear power plants. Recently, the potential 

threat posed by disaffected terrorist groups 

has shifted the focus to being prepared also 

for the malevolent use of radiation that is 

aimed at creating disruption and panic in 

society. The possible radiation exposure 

could range from very low to substantial, 

possibly combined with conventional in - 

juries. There is a need to develop practical 

tools to ensure an adequate response to such 

incidents and more specifically to address 

European guidelines for triage, monitoring 

and treatment of the exposed population. 

Responding to a terrorist threat 

The main objective of this project is to produce a practical 

handbook for the effective and timely triage, monitoring 

and treatment of people exposed to radiation following a 

terrorist act. In order to achieve this, the TMT consortium 

comprises seven organisations that can integrate 

their key skills and knowledge to produce an appropriate 

TMT Handbook. The consortium members represent the 

main European expertise and end-users in this area. They 

include research organisations, government bodies and 

international organisations to provide a well balanced and 

complimentary team. 

This synergistic alignment of skills means the end product 

far exceeds any individual organisations ability to deliver in 

all of the areas of work. The final product, the Handbook 

itself, will be made available to a wide spectrum of end 

users enabling the maximum uptake and implementation of 

the knowledge acquired through this project. 

Thyroid monitoring with portable monitoring system 

Evaluating scenarios and treatment 

To achieve the project's objective, several tasks will be 

undertaken. Firstly a number of different scenarios will be 

evaluated to set the project’s terms of reference. Subsequently, 

a set of guidelines will be drafted for monitoring and triage of 

exposed populations during and after an incident. The guidelines 

will also cover the treatment, management and long 

term follow up of the citizens affected by the incident and will 

outline best practise for public information and risk communication 

issues. These guidelines will be collated in a draft 

modular-format handbook that will be distributed to a wide 

range of end users. These end users will be asked to comment 

on the content and encouraged to test it in national emergency 

response exercises. 

A workshop will be arranged to enable the end users to 

provide feedback on the handbook and how it works in 

practise in these large-scale exercises. A final version of the 

handbook will be produced on the basis of this feedback. 

A wide distribution of the handbook to national emergency 

response institutions is envisaged and it will be incorporated 

into a variety of training programmes. 

From these tasks, the ability of European national authorities 

to respond to emergencies concerning malevolent use 

of radiation or radioactive material will be greatly enhanced. 

A wide dissemination 

© STUK (FI) 

The TMT Handbook that will be produced at the end of this 

project will assist health care organisations on the triage, 

monitoring and treatment of people exposed to radiation 

after a terrorist attack involving a deliberate release of 

radioactive material. It is expected that this handbook will 



e widely distributed among national emergency authorities 

and emergency response services, relevant European 

Union institutions and other international organisations 

dealing with nuclear and radiological matters or being 

responsible for public health issues. 

The results of the project will be disseminated through the 

organisation of seminars and training activities and 

synergies will be formed with local and national emergency 

response organisations and in particular with first 

responders and medical centres in charge of public health 

in case of a terrorist incident. The development and delivery 

of the handbook will be used to raise awareness of the need 

for adequate preparedness and training for such events at 

national and international levels. 

An effective European response 

The TMT Handbook will strengthen European ability to 

efficiently respond to malevolent terrorist acts involving 

radioactive substances in terms of protecting and treating 

exposed citizens. One part of the handbook is also devoted 

to public information and communication issues which 

should contribute to public reassurance during such 

emergency situations. 

The handbook will harmonise the approaches to handling 

such malevolent acts across Europe. This harmonisation will 

have an added value in inspiring public trust in authorities 

since differing approaches in neighbouring countries could 

lead to public confusion and mistrust. 

Public events 

A workshop will be arranged to allow feedback from the end 

users on the content, structure and usefulness of the 

handbook before a final version is produced. 

Response to the 210 Po incident in London, November 2006 


Risk and emergency management 

©Health Protection Agency (UK) 

Coordinator 

Carlos Rojas Palma 

Belgian Nuclear Research Centre 

Boeretang 200 

B-2400 Mol 

Tel. (32-14) 33 28 27 

Fax (32-14) 32 10 49 

carlos.rojas.palma@sckcen.be 

www.tmthandbook.org 







EC Project Officer: Michel Hugon 




CDMA 1/52 


Tel. (32-2) 296 57 19 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 


Enviros Consulting, UK 

Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, FI 

Health Protection Agency, UK 

World Health Organisation 

Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection, PL 


69

Innovative concepts ALISIA 72 

EISOFAR 74 

ELSY 76 


Education and training ENEN-II 80 

Safety of existing installations ANTIOXI 82 

MAGIC 84 

NULIFE 86 

Infrastructures MTR+I3 88 

NICODEME 90 


Cross-cutting SNF-TP 94 


OTHER ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD 

OF NUCLEAR 

TECHNOLOGIES 

AND SAFETY 

71

72 

ALISIA 

ASSESSMENT OF LIQUID SALTS FOR INNOVATIVE APPLICATIONS 

SALT TECHNOLOGY HAS STRONG POTENTIAL 

The ALISIA project represents the 

European effort to develop liquid 

salt technologies for a variety of 

innovative nuclear technology applications 

including the generation IV molten salt 

reactor (MSR). The main objective of ALISIA is 

to strengthen the existing European network 

of expertise in this area. This will enable 

harmonisation of actions and sharing of 

results from national programmes on MSR 

and other liquid salt applications. In the short 

term, ALISIA is the major part of the Euratom 

contribution to generation IV activities on the 

MSR system. 

Attractive characteristics of liquid salts 

Liquid salts offer very attractive characteristics with respect 

to heat transport and heat transfer due to their large heat 

capacity, high boiling point and good thermal conductivity. 

They score high among other fluids such as water, sodium 

and gaseous heat transfer media. As well as specific 

potential in the molten salt reactor (MSR) concept, either 

for fuel breeding applications or for actinide burning, there 

is a growing interest for the use of liquid salts as a coolant 

or a heat transport fluid. This renewed interest in liquid and 

molten salts has emerged because applications for 

high-temperature heat now exist, there are changing 

requirements for nuclear systems, and liquid salt 

technologies have improved. 

The ALISIA Specific Support Action is a European initiative 

to explore the technical, economic and sustainable 

potential of liquid salts for innovative nuclear applications, 

including the assessment of the viability of MSR concepts. 

The development of liquid salts is significantly constrained 

by the complexity of their behaviour, which is a result of 

their multi-component nature. The long-term perspective 

of the project is to better understand the behaviour and 

properties of liquid salts and to proceed towards a 

predictive approach to make the selection of appropriate 

salt compositions easier for any given application. 

MOST consortium expanded 

Molten salts were first investigated by ORNL (USA) in the 

1960s and 1970s in the frame of programmes dedicated to 

the development of the MSR breeder concept. The results 

accumulated by ORNL form a reference set of data on liquid 

salt properties and their behaviour in general. The MOST 

project, in the Fifth Euratom Framework Programme, 

revisited MSR technologies and confirmed their potential. 

MOST also identified the key R&D points to be addressed 

for the demonstration of a viable MSR concept. 

Following the MOST project, its partners have continued to 

work together. The ALISIA initiative continues and extends 

the effort initiated in MOST. The consortium involves 

15 partners in 9 countries and includes Russia with RRC-KI 

as a full partner, therefore keeping a tight link with the 

complementary International Science & Technology Centre 

(ITSC) project #1606. ALISIA also promotes joint training 

actions with this project. The consortium includes all major 

institutions involved in liquid salts R&D in Europe. 

Review of salt properties and MSR 

roadmap 

In order to make European cooperation in the area more 

tangible, the project will produce a common deliverable 

consisting of a review report making recommendations on 

the best and most appropriate salt compositions for 

different nuclear applications. 

In addition, ALISIA will issue an updated roadmap at the 

end of the project that is consistent with the generation IV 

MSR System Research Plan. The ALISIA project is placed 

within the screening and scoping phase of the current MSR 

roadmap. 

A wide variety of applications 

The MSR, with its nuclear fuel dissolved in the molten salt 

coolant, is receiving attention because of its advanced saltcoolant 

technology and the use of novel thermodynamic 

cycles that improve the economics of operation. Recent 

advances in salt chemistry enable the development of fast 

neutron spectrum MSRs with the safety advantages of large 

negative void coefficients. There is also interest in actinide 



urning where MSRs avoid the need to fabricate fuel elements 

containing highly active actinides outside the reactor. 

In the last five years, there has been a rapid growth in 

interest in the use of high-temperature (700 to 1000 °C) 

molten and liquid fluoride salts as coolants and for other 

functions in nuclear power systems. This interest is a 

consequence of new applications for high-temperature 

heat and the development of new reactor concepts. The salt 

coolants have melting points between 350 and 500 °C and 

are, therefore, of use only in high-temperature systems. 

Nitrate salts with a peak operating temperature of around 

600 °C are the highest temperature commercial liquid 

coolant available today. The development of highertemperature 

salts as coolants would open new nuclear and 

non-nuclear applications. These salts are being considered 

for intermediate heat transport loops within all types of 

high-temperature reactor systems (helium and salt cooled) 

and for hydrogen production concepts, oil refineries, and 

shale oil processing facilities amongst other applications. 

Finally, there is a growing interest in liquid-wall fusion 

devices that can achieve much higher power densities than 

solid-wall fusion devices. 

Public events 

It is planned that the ALISIA final meeting be widened to 

organisations that are not formally partners of the project 

including those based in the USA, other international 

organisations and non-nuclear industries. 

The MSR for breeding – a reference concept: MSBR (molten salt 

breeder reactor) 

© CEA (FR) 

OTHER ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES AND SAFETY 


Coordinator 

Claude Renault 

DEN/DDIN, CEA Saclay 

F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex 

Tel. (33) 1 69 08 63 95 

Mobile tel. (33) 6 07 81 57 40 

claude.renault@cea.fr 

www-most.cea.fr 







EC Project Officer: Georges Van Goethem 




CDMA 1/47 


Tel: (32-2) 295 14 24 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 



Joint Research Centre, ITU, EU 

Nuclear Research Institute ŘeŽ, CZ 

SKODA JS a.s, CZ 

Energovyzkum Ltd, CZ 

Nuclear Power Plant Research Institute, SK 


Forschungszentrum Rossendorf, DE 

Ente per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e l’ambiente, IT 

Politecnico di Torino, IT 

Budapest University of Technology and Economics, HU 

Delft University of Technology, NL 

Kurchatov Institute, RU 


73

74 

EISOFAR 

The EISOFAR Specific Support 

Action (SSA) addresses the fu ture 

of sodium-cooled reactor tech nology. 

It will enable the European nuclear community 

to define specific strategic research 

objectives for liquid metal-cooled fast reactors 

(LMFR). The project has the ambition to be a key 

component of a European strategic research 

agenda addressing research, development 

and technology demonstration (at the pre con - 

ceptual stage) for LMFRs. The key objective for 

this activity is the preparation of a preliminary 

self-standing roadmap for a European sodiumcooled 

fast reactor (ESFR). 

European competence 

ROADMAP FOR A EUROPEAN INNOVATIVE SODIUM-COOLED FAST REACTOR 

SODIUM FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 

Within the context of the management of radioactive 

waste, EISOFAR is an essential step to pursue the 

exploration of the technical, economic and societal 

potential of nuclear energy generation through sodium 

cooled reactor technology using a fast neutron spectrum. 

This technology will make better use of fissile fuel 

material and generate less waste. 

Three technical breakthrough objectives have been 

identified. Firstly the identification of a comprehensive 

set of preliminary requirements, approaches and strategies 

applicable, in general, to future LMFR systems and in 

particular to a fourth generation (Gen IV) ESFR. Secondly, 

the preliminary definition of operational regimes where 

appropriate technical solutions can be found to meet the 

stated requirements for these systems. This activity will 

include the identification of possible design options. 

Finally the identification of R&D topics for the ESFR 

and specific Euratom R&D studies will be made. To meet 

these objectives the EISOFAR project merges the 

contributions of 17 partners representing the vast majority 

of European competence on sodium cooled fast 

reactor technology. 

Sustainable, safe and competitive 

After several practical European realisations in recent 

years, such as Rapsodie, Phénix, PFR, Superphénix, and 

EFR, studies on liquid metal-cooled nuclear technology 

have slowed down. However, increased awareness of the 

need for energy sustainability, safety, proliferation resistance, 

physical protection and competitiveness is changing 

attitudes. LMFR technology is recognised among the 

selected Gen IV systems that have been proposed to 

specifically meet these future challenges. Therefore LMFR 

systems are undergoing a renaissance requiring a renewed 

effort and the need to generate appropriate training and 

educational activities. 

Besides organising work on the development and the 

deployment of this technology, the EISOFAR roadmap will 

be an ideal instrument to help communication with the 

scientific and technical community as well as with the 

public on nuclear power issues. The presence within the 

project of a variety of organisations (R&D organisations; 

suppliers; utilities; universities) is a guarantee of the 

comprehensive approach to the project’s issues. 

Linking requirements to technical potential 

The key result of the project is a preliminary self-standing 

Roadmap for an ESFR. The logic and the ambition of the 

project are essentially to achieve a synthesis between the 

different national requirements and the preferred technical 

solutions. The goal is to attain a common agreed view on the 

characteristics of a technology which will be essential to 

guarantee a future sustainable energy supply for Europe. 

The expected technical results of the project are to agree 

requirements, approaches and strategies that are essential to 

drive the work of researchers, designers and suppliers of 

future LMFR-ESFR nuclear power plants. The project will also 

work on feasibility domains that will bring the certainty that 

plant requirements remain compatible with the potential of 

the technology. Finally, EISOFAR will define a European R&D 

programme which will be, on the one side, compatible both 

with the widely agreed requirements and the identified feasibility 

domains and, on the other hand, complementary to 

the research work that has already been undertaken. 

Formulating the research pro gramme will give the opportunity 

to check the appropriateness of these efforts and to discuss 

and decide on their priority. 



Boosting long-term nuclear contribution 

In alignment with the objectives of the Gen IV nuclear systems, 

the main EISOFAR SSA impact will be the contribution 

directed to organise the acceptability by stakeholders 

of ESFR technology, to demonstrate the competitiveness 

of the concept and to prove the potential of the systems for 

long-term and sustainable energy production: essential 

pre-conditions to guarantee economic stability. 

Europe possesses some of the most important know-how 

and expertise on sodium-cooled reactor technology. 

EISOFAR, and the activities that will follow it, represents a 

unique opportunity to bring together and merge this 

knowledge within the context of a new common vision, 

and to create a European partner network of R&D in the 

field of sodium-cooled fast reactors. The project is complementary 

to a number of related FP6 projects on Gen IV 

systems. The EISOFAR project is also strongly related to 

worldwide activities on sodium-cooled technology for 

nuclear plants. 

Public events 

Information meetings are planned with organisations outside 

the consortium and an international dissemination 

workshop will be held at the end of the project. 

Integral-type ESFR 

Loop-type ESFR 

© CEA/DEN (FR) 




Coordinator 

Gian Luigi Fiorini 

CEA/DEN/DER 

Cadarache 

F-13108 St-Paul-lez-Durance 

Tel. (33) 440 25 46 02 

Fax (33) 442 25 48 58 

gian-luigi.fiorini@cea.fr 











CDMA 1/47 


Tel. (32-2) 296 14 24 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

Cesi Ricerca, IT 

Empresarios Agrupados, ES 


Energovyzkum, CZ 

AREVA NP, FR 

Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, DE 

European Commission, Joint Research Centre (ITU, IPSC , IE) 


Nuclear Research Institute, CZ 


AMEC NNC, UK 

ENEA, IT 

ENDESA, ES 

Paul Sherrer Institute, CH 

University of Karlsruhe, DE 

University of Rome – La Sapienza, IT 

75

76 

ELSY 

The ELSY project aims to 

demonstrate that it is possible to 

design a competitive and safe 

molten lead-cooled fast critical reactor that 

complies with all fourth generation (Gen IV) 

nuclear reactor goals and gives assurance 

of investment protection using simple 

engineered technical features. 

Gen IV lead-cooled reactor 

The GIF (Generation IV International Forum) members have 

evaluated nuclear power plant designs and systems on the 

basis of four goal areas and eight specific goals. The lead fast 

reactor (LFR) has been selected for its potential, but the 

consortium proposing the ELSY project considers that none of 

the LFR projects presented so far exploits the full potential of 

the LFR, although single LFR-specific features may be 

embodied in each of them. 

The ELSY consortium intends to design an LFR system that 

complies with all Gen IV reactor goals and gives assurance for 

investment protection. This will be achieved by specific 

engineered solutions that exploit the very favourable features 

of the molten lead concept. These features may facilitate the 

plant design, but they also require further innovation owing 

to the unique characteristics of molten lead compared to 

other better-characterised reactor coolants such as sodium or 

water. The experience acquired by the consortium in designing 

sodium- or water-cooled reactors and also the experience 

gained from the ongoing sub-critical reactor design 

developments, for example accelerator-driven systems (ADS), 

will be the basic premise for the analysis of the candidate 

technical solutions for molten lead-cooled fast reactors. 

Design and define 

EUROPEAN LEAD-COOLED SYSTEM 

HEAVY METAL FOR COMPACT REACTOR 

The ELSY design will draw heavily from the outline programme 

that the LFR Steering Committee of Gen IV has proposed for 

the development of an LFR concept. The first steps of this 

programme consist of a preliminary reactor design, basic R&D 

and technology confirmation and component testing. The 

ELSY activity covers the preliminary reactor design and a few 

key issues of the basic R&D. 

The consortium partners will produce conceptual and 

preliminary designs of an economical, safe, closed-fuelcycle 

LFR satisfying both Gen IV and European needs for 

waste management of minor, high-activity actinides. 

A limited R&D programme will be implemented to address 

the selected design options, focusing on a few critical areas. 

A significant feature will be the definition of a mid-term R&D 

programme to confirm the proposed features of the 

ELSY design. 

Burn capability demonstrated 

The main results of the ELSY project will be the 

demonstration of the capability of a LFR to “burn” the minor 

actinides that it generates during its own operation. 

The project will also demonstrate the possibility to design 

a LFR characterised by low investment risk and low capital 

cost. The activity to assess the capability of the LFR to burn 

its own minor actinides is currently ongoing. To reduce the 

potential investment risk, the design under development 

will be characterised by the potential to replace all the 

system components (with the exception of the main reactor 

vessel) if needed during the plant lifetime. 

Simplicity and compactness will be the basic features of the 

LFR plant to reduce its capital cost. The elimination of an 

intermediate cooling loop is the main basis for simplicity. 

Compactness is required especially for the reactor building 

and the primary reactor system. This has already been 

demonstrated by the small dimensions (typical the reduced 

size of the steam generator) of the power train and other 

components. Primary system compactness is being sought 

through innovative configurations currently under 

evaluation, the objective being to reduce the volume of the 

primary system per unit power by a factor of two with 

respect to the best available international LFR project of 

similar power rating. Preliminary assessments of the ELSY 

configuration indicate that the use of a 2D anti-seismic 

support for the reactor building is sufficient to meet seismic 

safety criteria in the European operational context, in spite 

of the high mass of lead required. 

Smaller, competitive nuclear power 

Power generation by means of nuclear plants is at present 

an important contribution to total electricity generation 

and continues to be an essential option for the future in 

Europe and worldwide. The crucial issue of nuclear power, 



however, is that it should simultaneously be competitive, 

reliable, sustainable, safe, and perceived as safe by the 

public. In particular it should be able to adequately manage 

any long-lived radioactive waste that it produces. 

The reactor to be developed during ELSY will be a fast, leadcooled, 

critical reactor with a number of innovative features 

that fully exploit the nuclear and thermal-hydraulic 

properties of molten lead. Such a reactor would be able to 

generate sustainable, environmentally compatible electricity 

and would represent a major step towards future, 

commercial nuclear generation. This has enormous potential 

impact in all fields concerned with nuclear and energy 

science and technology with a predictably large impact also 

on everyday public life. 

Public events 

Papers on the project were presented to the International 

Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants in Nice, 

France, in May 2007 and will be given to the European 

Nuclear Conference in September 2007 in Brussels. 

Primary system of ELSY with anchored safety vessel and 2D 

anti-seismic isolators 

© ELSY consortium 



Coordinator 

Franco Rosatelli 

Ansaldo Ricerche 

Corso Perrone, 25 

I-16152 Genova 

Tel. (39) 01 06 55 83 35 

Fax (39) 01 07 49 08 47 

franco.rosatelli@ari.ansaldo.it 

http://88.149.184.27/ELSYW 











CDMA 1/46 


Tel. (32-2) 299 58 96 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

AGH, Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza, PL 

CESI Ricerca SpA, IT 

Inter Universities Consortium for Nuclear Technological Research, IT 


Empresarios Agrupados Internacional S.A., ES 


Ente per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e l'ambiente, IT 


Institute for Nuclear Research, RO 

Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, EU 

Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, SE 


Ustav jaderneho vyzkumu ŘeŽ, a.s. (Nuclear Research Institute ŘeŽ, plc), CZ 

Paul Scherrer Institut, CH 

Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie/Centre d'étude de l'énergie nucléaire, BE 

Seoul National University, KR 

Del Fungo Giera Energia S.p.A., IT 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA 

Korea Electric Engineering and Science Research Institute, KR 

77

78 

HPLWR Phase 2 

Supercritical water is the state-ofthe-art 

coolant for modern coalfired 

power plants. By increasing 

the system pressure to supercritical conditions, 

the size of key components has been reduced 

and higher plant efficiencies obtained. This, in 

turn, has significantly reduced the construction 

cost of fossil-fuel power plants leading to lower 

electricity generation costs for the European 

market. The High-performance Light-water 

Reactor Phase 2 (HPLWR Phase 2) project will 

explore the specific advantages of supercritical 

water concepts and apply them to the latest 

light-water nuclear reactor technology. As for 

the coal-fired power plants, cost reductions are 

envisaged for a high-performance light-water 

reactor using supercritical water as coolant. 

Technical feasibility 

HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIGHT-WATER REACTOR PHASE 2 

EXTRACTING MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE 

FROM LWR TECHNOLOGY 

HPLWR Phase 2 builds on results obtained during the 

previous FP5 project HPLWR and is focused on assessing 

the main scientific issues and the technical feasibility of a 

high-performance light-water reactor operating under 

supercritical pressure. The HPLWR should be more 

economical than conventional light-water reactors due to 

a higher efficiency and better fuel utilisation. The concepts 

should also produce less radioactive waste per kWh of 

power generated. In addition, the design is intended to 

fulfil the very high safety standards of third generation 

nuclear plants. 

An independent HPLWR advisory board has also been 

established. Close links to research and development 

activities are maintained mainly through the Generation IV 

International Forum (GIF). In addition, links to relevant 

international and FP6 projects will be established. 

Evolution and efficiency 

The project represents an evolutionary step in light-water 

reactor technologies. The plant characteristics of a HPLWR 

includes a supercritical coolant pressure of around 25 MPa 

with the coolant heat increased from 280 °C to more than 

500 °C. Under these conditions, water changes its phase 

continuously from liquid to steam without boiling. This 

means that issues such as a boiling crisis in the core that 

can destroy the fuel pins, is physically impossible. As in a 

boiling-water reactor system, the high-temperature steam 

is fed directly to a high-pressure turbine. This means that 

the closed primary cycle used in a pressurised-water 

reactor can be omitted. Steam separators and primary 

pumps are also not required for the HPLWR. 

The high-steam heat content increases the power density 

of the steam cycle by more than 40 %. The envisaged net 

efficiency of 44 % for the HPLWR is far greater than conventional 

light-water reactor designs. Most of the engineering 

components of the HPLWR steam cycle can be 

taken from fossil-fuel-fired power plants, where they have 

been successfully in operation for many years. The design 

lifetime of the entire plant is proposed to be 60 years. 

The project is initially focused on assessing the reactor 

design and its nuclear core behaviour under both normal 

and accident conditions. Primary interest is on developing 

a thermal reactor, but an alternative study on a fast-neutron 

option will also be carried out. Safety systems will be 

assessed for compatibility with the current European 

Utility Requirements, and a concept for the balance-ofplant 

will be completed for the final assessment of feasibility 

and economics for the HPLWR concept. 

The design and analysis work will be supported by corrosion, 

creep and stress corrosion tests of candidate cladding 

alloys under expected operational conditions. Numerical 

studies of heat transfer of supercritical water will give confidence 

in predicting peak cladding temperatures. A later 

in-pile experiment on the radiolysis and water chemistry 

of supercritical water will also be prepared. 



A suitable concept of the HPLWR 

The project will provide: 

• conceptual layouts of the plant including core, reactor 

pressure vessel (RPV) components and balance-of-plant; 

• refined economic assessment; 

• analysis of the thermal core for neutronic, thermal 

hydraulic and mechanical aspects; 

• decision on the feasibility of the fast-core option; 

• concept of safety system needed to fulfil the European 

Utility Requirements and assessment of the safety system 

by simulations of accidents and transients with improved 

safety codes; 

• selection of tested materials and data for fuel rod 

cladding, core and RPV materials and specifications for 

the water chemistry; 

• numerical heat-transfer modelling and derived correlations; 

• evaluation of the concept for environmental impact, 

resource utilisation and proliferation resistance. 

HPLWR Phase 2 is cooperating in the GIF research 

programme on supercritical water reactors (SCWR) and 

constitutes the Euratom input to GIF activities in this area. 

Educational benefits 

Education of young scientists and doctorate students plays 

an important role in the project. HPLWR Phase 2 is one of 

the most relevant projects to maintain European competence 

in light-water reactor technologies. These skills are 

needed by vendors, utilities and licensing organisations to 

safely operate current light-water reactors both now and in 

the future. Doctorate students are directly involved in the 

research work as ‘training on the job’. A special workshop 

for students will be held in 2008 and special lectures are 

being prepared for students at universities with possible 

involvement of the European Nuclear Engineering 

Network. 

Public events 

The HPLWR Phase 2 project will be presented at a number 

of international conferences. 



Coordinator 

Jörg Starflinger 

Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe 

Hermann-von-Helmholz-Platz 1 

D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen 

Tel. (49-72) 47 82-3445 

Fax (49-72) 47 82-4837 

joerg.starflinger@iket.fzk.de 

www.hplwr.eu 











CDMA 1/47 


Tel. (32-2) 296 14 24 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

Commissariat à l'énergie atomique, FR 

AREVA NP, DE 

Universität Stuttgart, DE 

KFKI Atomic Energy Research Institute, HU 



Paul Scherrer Institut, CH 

Ustav jaderneho vyzkumu ŘeŽ, CZ 

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, FI 


79

80 

ENEN-II 

EUROPEAN NUCLEAR EDUCATION NETWORK II 

CONSOLIDATION OF EDUCATION, TRAINING AND 

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 

The ENEN-II project will consolidate 

the results and achievements 

obtained by the European 

Nuclear Education Network Association 

(ENEN) and its partners during the ENEN (FP5) 

and NEPTUNO (FP6) projects. It will expand 

ENEN into activities such as radiation pro tection, 

radiochemistry, radioecology and the 

geological disposal of radioactive waste with 

the aim of attracting universities and faculties 

active in these fields. The project will extend 

ENEN from academic education into professional 

training, stre ngthening cooperation 

with industry, regulatory bodies and other 

networks for nuclear education and training. 

Boosting education, training and mobility 

The ENEN-II project involves three groups of consortium 

partners. The first group consists of 22 members of the 

ENEN Association (18 universities and four research institutes) 

the majority of these organisations having contributed 

to the ENEN and NEPTUNO projects. The second 

group is composed of eight partners with international 

reputations for radiation protection, analytical radiochemistry 

and radioecology. The third group brings 

together nine universities with an interest in education 

and research on management, underground storage and 

geological disposal of radioactive waste and six organizations 

involved in research and management of 

radioactive waste. 

The major objectives of the project are the development 

of a Master of Science curriculum in these nuclear disciplines, 

their mutual recognition throughout the Eu - 

ropean Higher Education Area, and the testing of 

education and training modules in pilot sessions. 

Following on from developments in the NEPTUNO 

project, teacher and student mobility schemes will be 

further implemented and optimised. 

Consolidate, extend, expand 

ENEN-II will implement the education and training 

modules developed in the past few years and tested 

during the pilot sessions. It will apply course evaluation 

criteria to the actual course and training performance, taking 

into account feedback from the participants and other 

stakeholders. Consolidation of scattered websites, databases 

and course information in an accessible communication 

and knowledge management system including the 

NEPTUNO communication system will be undertaken. This 

also covers testing in practice, and in collaboration with 

accreditation authorities, the mutual recognition schemes 

for academic education in nuclear disciplines. 

The project will extend its activities outside the academic 

education area into professional and vocational training. 

This will strengthen the interactions between universities, 

research centres, training organisations and industry 

to make training offers that are responsive to industry 

needs and enhance mutual recognition of professional 

qualifications across Europe. Making better use of EU tools 

to increase mobility of students and professionals in 

nuclear disciplines is also covered in this area and 

strengthening the links with nuclear education and 

training networks outside Europe. A viable Erasmus 

scheme for a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering 

within the ENEN Association will also be developed. 

ENEN-II will expand beyond the disciplines related 

to nuclear power plant engineering into a broader 

area including disciplines in support of reactor safety, 

radiation protection, radioactive waste management, 

radiochemistry, decommissioning, and industrial applications 

of nuclear technologies. The needs for education, 

training and skills development in other areas will also be 

addressed. In particular, concerns from industry and regulatory 

authorities relating to perceived deficits at masters 

and doctorate levels within nuclear radiological protection, 

radioecology and radiochemistry will be addressed. 

These strategic skills are very important for the maintenance 

of European nuclear operations and safety. 

Reports, courses and quality 

The project has 56 project deliverables produced through 

seven work packages. Around half of the deliverables are 

progress reports on coordination activities. One quarter of 

the deliverables cover pilot and demonstration sessions 



for new courses and training packages, while 20 % consist 

of newly developed concepts. Five reports will deal with 

quality assurance aspects of the products and deliverables 

in the project. Finally, four reports will summarise the 

project and resources management. 

European area for nuclear training 

Due to the nature and scope of the ENEN-II project, the 

exploitation of its results affects the whole European 

‘nuclear’ community. European universities, students in 

nuclear fields, nuclear professionals, training centres, 

nuclear operators, regulators and research institutions, 

together with related international organisations are the 

potential customers and beneficiaries of the project. 

The project will result in consolidation of a sustainable 

European Area of Higher Education and Training covering 

nuclear engineering, nuclear safety, radiation protection, 

analytical radiochemistry, radioecology, and radioactive 

waste management and disposal. This will contribute to 

the preservation of nuclear knowledge in Europe and 

make it more accessible. 

Public events 

The ENEN website and the database www.neptuno-cs.de 

on courses and training sessions are available to the public. 

The European Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering 

and activities by ENEN have been covered on Spanish TV 

and at the International Youth Conference on Energy 2007 

in Budapest, Hungary, where there was a dedicated ‘ENEN 

session’. 

Seminar on 4 th Generation Nuclear Reactor Systems for the Future, 

8-12 October 2007, Saclay, France 

© A. Gonin, CEA, INSTN (FR) 


Education and training 


Coordinator 

Peter De Regge 

Secretary General 

European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN) Association 

Centre CEA de Saclay - Bât. 395 

F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex 

Tel. (33) 169 08 34 21 or (32-14) 33 34 47 

Fax (33) 169 08 99 50 

pdregge@sckcen 

www.enen-assoc.org 











CDMA 1/47 


Tel. (32-2) 296 14 24 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

European Nuclear Education Network Association (ENEN Association) • Middlesex 

University, UK • University College Dublin, IE • Norwegian University of Life Sciences, NO • 

Westlakes Research Ltd, UK • Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety, FR • Lund 

University, SE • European Underground Research Infrastructure for Disposal of Nuclear 

Waste in a Clay Environment, BE • Consorzio interuniversitario per la ricerca tecnologica 

nucleare, IT • Institut national polytechnique de Lorraine, FR • Agence nationale pour la 

gestion des déchets radioactifs, FR • Technische Universität Clausthal, DE • École polytechnique, 

FR • Radioactive Waste Repository Authority, CZ • Universidade da Corunia, ES • 

Posiva, FI • Gesellschaft für Nuklear Service, DE • Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Bau und Trieb 

von Endlagern für Abfallstoffe, DE • Institut national des sciences et techniques nucléaires, 

FR • Helsinki University of Technology, FI • University Politehnica Bucharest, RO • 

Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, ES • Jozef Stefan Institute, SI • Czech Technical University 

– Civil Engineering & Geotechnics, CZ • Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie/Centre d’étude de 

l’énergie nucléaire, BE • University of Ljubljana, SI • HMS Sultan, UK 

Third parties represented by ENEN Association: 

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, BE • Université catholique de Louvain, BE • Technische 

Universität Wien – Atominstitut, AT • Delft University of Technology, NL • Swiss Federal 

Institute of Technology, CH • Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, SE • Czech Technical University, 

CZ • Budapest University of Technology and Economics, HU • Slovak University of 

Technology in Bratislava, SK • Institute for Safety and Reliability, DE • University of Stuttgart, 

DE • Ustav jaderného vyzkumu, CZ • University of Liège, BE • University of Sevilla, 

ES • Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, ES 

81

82 

ANTIOXI 

A DETERMINISTIC MODEL FOR CORROSION AND ACTIVITY INCORPORATION 

IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS 

INCREASED SAFETY DURING REACTOR MAINTENANCE 

The overall objective of the 

ANTIOXI project is to construct a 

deterministic predictive model for 

radioactive activity build-up and corrosion 

phenomena in nuclear power plants (NPP). The 

model will be based on an improved 

mechanistic understanding and tested against 

real-life activity and chemistry data from 

selected light-water reactors (LWRs). The 

purpose of this model is to quantify activity 

build-up rates in present and future nuclear 

power plants in Europe and to predict trends 

in these rates. These data will provide a more 

comprehensive basis for the planning of 

support actions for maintenance personnel. 

Industry expertise for improved 

understanding 

Three organisations (VTT Technical Research Centre of 

Finland, ALARA Engineering AB and BG H2 Society) all 

working actively in the field of nuclear energy are involved in 

the ANTOXI project. VTT and BG H2 Society share the same 

interest in modelling oxide film behaviour in different process 

conditions, while ALARA Engineering has a long history in 

monitoring of nuclear reactor components and envi - 

ronments. The ANTIOXI project combines their current 

knowledge of nuclear power plant chemistry, activity buildup 

and material behaviour with extensive theoretical 

modelling in these environments to develop safer and more 

user-friendly tools for maintaining power plants. 

The achievement of an integrated activity build-up and 

corrosion model would represent an innovative concept for 

improved exploitation and safety of nuclear energy. The 

model will enable the deterministic prediction of activity 

incorporation and corrosion phenomena in real-time 

simulation during nuclear power plant operation. This will 

provide information on new and modified water chemistries 

that could be implemented in nuclear power plants and 

represents a superior and advanced solution compared to 

current empirical engineering approaches. 

Focus on primary circuit 

Activity incorporation on construction material surfaces in 

nuclear power plant environments is a potential safety risk 

for personnel during maintenance and shutdown periods. In 

order to estimate the amounts of activity present in different 

parts of the primary circuit in a nuclear power plant, the 

interaction between the coolant containing the radioactive 

species and construction materials has to be known. This 

knowledge is a prerequisite for safe and reliable maintenance 

of the primary circuit components. 

The new integrated activity build-up and corrosion model 

will lead to improved nuclear power plant management in 

terms of understanding ageing of components in contact 

with the coolant. It represents a tool for advanced numerical 

simulation that will lead to improved planning of support, 

service, decontamination and decommissioning actions by 

plant personnel. The success of its predictive abilities will lead 

to an enhanced and more economically viable schedule for 

service personnel during plant shutdowns and outages. This 

will ultimately contribute to improved safety of the existing 

nuclear power installations. 

Better model for maintenance and safety 

The main result of the project will be a model that can 

describe the material/oxide film/coolant system in various 

parts of the primary circuit of different reactor types 

(see diagram). 

In ANTIOXI theoretical oxide film modelling is combined with real 

nuclear power plant processes in order to understand the phenomena 

affecting activity incorporation and corrosion. 

© VTT (FI) 



The model will take into account the behaviour of different 

construction materials at different locations within the 

primary circuit in a deterministic way. The advantage of this 

approach is that in the case of maintenance the activity levels 

in specific parts of the reactor circuit can be better estimated 

and the appropriate precautions adopted when the material 

and chemistry conditions are known. Also the effects of 

changes in chemistry parameters on corrosion and activity 

incorporation can be better evaluated. 

Extending reactor life safely 

Nuclear power is one of the most important sources of 

electricity in Europe. Plant lifetime and safety issues play a 

crucial role in determining the future usage of this energy 

source. A considerable effort has been made to ensure safe 

and reliable control of power plants which includes better 

understanding of the processes related to radiation and 

activity build-up. 

The results of the research project will have a high chance of 

implementation in real power plant environments to ensure 

their safe operation. As ANTIOXI will adapt and modify 

existing and forthcoming results from national research 

projects in Finland and Sweden, the connection between 

ANTIOXI and national programmes is clear. In return, the 

results from the ANTIOXI project will be delivered to the 

appropriate steering groups of national research pro - 

grammes. ANTIOXI results will also be disseminated via 

scientific and conference publications as well as public 

reports directed to the national nuclear safety boards. The 

activities of ANTIOXI will be of interest to national regulatory 

organisations that play a crucial role in determining actions 

for decreasing activity incorporation in nuclear power plants 

across Europe. 


Safety of existing installations 

Coordinator 

Petri Kinnunen 

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland 

Kemistintie 3 

FI-02044 Espoo 

Tel. (358-20) 722 53 75 

Fax (358-20) 722 58 75 

petri.kinnunen@vtt.fi 

www.vtt.fi/proj/antioxi/index.jsp 







EC Project Officer: Marc Deffrennes 




CDMA 1/55 


Tel. (32-2) 296 00 62 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

ALARA Engineering, SE 

BG H2 Society, BG 


83

84 

MAGIC 

The MAGIC project is a two-year 

coordination action that mainly 

focuses on long-term ageing 

mechanisms of instrumentation and control 

(I&C) equipment installed in European nuclear 

plants. In particular, MAGIC will collate utilities’ 

requirements and study opportunities to 

develop diagnostic tools that could measure 

these ageing mechanisms. MAGIC will also 

develop training materials in order to maintain 

an adequate knowledge of the issues for plant 

staff with respect to I&C long-term ageing. 

Instrumental to availability 

I&C systems represent a critical part of the equipment in a 

nuclear power plant. Many I&C systems are directly safetyrelated, 

for example the reactor protection system. The reliability 

of I&C equipment has a major impact on the 

availability of plant for power production. A number of 

power utilities have experienced plant shutdowns after 

electronic failures due to ageing of I&C components. 

Moreover, if ageing phenomena are not properly 

anticipated, repair and refurbishment costs may be 

prohibitive due to increased plant downtime and a lack of 

preparation for any renovation works. There is therefore a 

common need to understand, monitor and anticipate 

generic I&C ageing mechanisms as soon as possible. 

Sharing knowledge 

MANAGEMENT OF AGEING OF I&C EQUIPMENTS IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS 

UNDERSTANDING AGEING OF ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS 

The MAGIC coordination action gathers together nuclear 

utilities and experienced instrumentation engineers with the 

objective of helping maintain the desirable reliability level 

of I&C systems in current nuclear power plants during their 

remaining lifetime. This will support the critical objectives of 

maintaining safety and availability of plants. 

In order to achieve this objective the MAGIC consortium will 

try to develop a homogeneous understanding and sharing 

of knowledge amongst European nuclear utilities and 

Whisker 1 

concerned scientists about the prevailing ageing 

mechanisms of I&C equipment. A web-based database will 

be developed and will contain details of the main generic 

ageing mechanisms that have been observed during the 

normal use of equipment. The I&C components analysis 

will be achieved by considering the following families of 

components: cables, sensors, servo-drivers, electronic 

components and connectors. 

Understanding the ageing process 

For cable ageing, some of the main mechanisms identified 

are oxidative radiation and thermal degradation activated 

by the radiation and temperature inside the reactor 

building. To monitor this ageing mechanism, research 

efforts will be undertaken to develop new advanced diagnostic 

tools. One useful advanced tool is oxidative induction 

time or temperature, which has been recently used by a 

number of European utilities. 

Electronic equipment has various types of components including 

semiconductors, optoelectronics, capacitors, 

resistances and printed circuit boards. Some of these components 

are considered as consumables and maintenance 

policies plan to replace periodically such components, for 

example the capacitors. But what about long-term ageing 

for all the other components? MAGIC will address this 

question including gaining better understanding of ageing 

mechanisms such as the ‘tin whiskers’ mechanism (see 

photo). In particular the project will investigate how such 



mechanisms are activated. Finally, in order to manage the 

ageing process of I&C equipments within normal use 

conditions in nuclear power plants, MAGIC will create a 

European network of partners. Its mission will be to share 

utilities’ know-how and scientific knowledge about I&C 

ageing mechanisms, follow-up indicators and appropriate 

methodologies and tools to measure these indicators. 

Existing and advanced tools will be shared, and feasibility 

studies for new developments for diagnostic tools and 

monitoring will be performed. The actual development of 

these new tools will be undertaken outside this coordination 

action. MAGIC will also develop a pilot training programme 

to ensure that the knowledge of operational and 

maintenance staff in nuclear power plants is maintained 

and that issues on I&C ageing are managed using best 

practise techniques. 

Safe and secure 

The research work undertaken in MAGIC is of importance to 

the continuing safe operation of Europe’s nuclear power 

plants. Nuclear power represents a significant portion of 

European electricity and the continuing availability of this 

non carbon dioxide producing, base-load source is vital to 

reach European commitments on greenhouse gas emission 

targets and to ensure security of energy supply to business 

and domestic consumers. 

Public events 

A MAGIC project workshop is to be held in Paris in 

March 2008. 

Whisker 2 



Coordinator 

Laurent Doireau 

EDF 

Av. des Renardières 

F-77818 Moret-sur-Loing Cedex 

Tel. (33) 1 60 73 79 69 

Fax (33) 1 60 73 5 43 

laurent.doireau@edf.fr 

www.edf.com 











CDMA 1/55 


Tel. (32-2) 296 00 62 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

NRI Řež plc, CZ 

British Energy, UK 

TVO, FI 

VTT, FI 

ENSEIRB, FR 

SIIT, LT 

AREVA, FR 


85

86 

NULIFE 

The NULIFE Network of Ex - 

cellence has a clear focus 

on integrating safety-oriented 

research on materials, structures and systems 

and exploiting the results of this integration 

through the production of harmonised 

lifetime assessment methods for nuclear 

power plants. NULIFE will help provide a 

better common understanding of the factors 

affecting the lifetime of nuclear power plants 

which, together with associated management 

methods, will help facilitate extensions to the 

safe and economic lifetime of existing nuclear 

reactors. In addition, NULIFE will help in the 

development of design criteria for future 

generations of nuclear power plants. 

Plant life prediction 

NUCLEAR PLANT LIFE PREDICTION 

A NETWORK FOR ALL ASPECTS 

OF PLANT LIFE MANAGEMENT 

NULIFE (Nuclear Plant Life Prediction) is a Network of Excellence 

funded through Euratom FP6 together with in-kind 

contributions from its participants. The network is made up 

of 10 work package leader organisations (contractors) 

together with 27 associate contributors. The project is led by 

VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland) and the project 

has a total budget of more than EUR 8 million. 

The project’s partners are drawn from leading research 

institutions, technical support organisations, power companies 

and manufacturers throughout Europe. NULIFE 

started in October 2006 and will work over a 5-year period 

to create a single organisational structure that is capable of 

providing harmonised R&D at the European level to the 

nuclear power industry and its related safety authorities in 

the area of lifetime evaluation methods for structural 

components of nuclear power plants. These methods are 

applicable to both existing operational nuclear plant 

and to establish design criteria for future generations of 

reactor systems. 

The path towards the vision 

Best practise and procedures 

© VTT (FI) 

The demand for lifetime evaluation methods in Europe is 

driven by the need to maintain safety margins for nuclear 

power plants over extended operational lifetimes. NULIFE is 

an innovative approach to coordinate currently fragmented 

European research in this complex, multidisciplinary area. 

Such research requires a complete understanding of 

how the interaction between ageing mechanisms, environmental 

effects, loading effects and other factors, such as 

reactor water chemistry, impacts on safety relevant systems, 

structures and components. 

The ability of the network to deliver procedures and best 

practice documents on ageing issues will be an important 

measure of the network’s impact. 

At the highest level, the NULIFE network will support the 

development of a European Common Safety Justification 

Framework. Since lifetime management tools are only one 

element in such a framework, the development of this 

important framework will also require support from other 

stakeholders, however the broad composition of the 

network is a major advantage for this aspect of the work. 

Better decisions by utilities and regulators 

The NULIFE vision is to create a virtual pan-European institute 

that works as an integrated research technology development 

platform embracing all European stakeholders. This 

organisation would also facilitate the improved and efficient 

use of public and private research funding. 



The NULIFE platform will be a sustainable forum for realising 

harmonised technical procedures for the nuclear energy 

industry and European regulators and should act as a 

central service provider and a source of qualified expertise 

and excellence. 

The planning of the R&D programme has already been started 

by a dedicated end-user group and the research topics of 

preliminary interest have been determined. By providing 

research excellence and fostering common approaches in 

nuclear power plant lifetime prediction, NULIFE will 

contribute to the electric power utilities’ decision-making in 

terms of plant operation and investments. Safety authorities 

will also benefit from the knowledge in their duties to grant 

plant licenses for the continued operation of plants. 

Safer plant - now and in the future 

A unified approach to nuclear power plant lifetime predictions 

will help further improve the safety cases for plant 

lifetime extension and assist reliable design for future power 

stations. The joint understanding by utilities and safety 

authorities will enable improved decision making and boost 

investment confidence in the nuclear industry. It should 

also boost public confidence in the safety of existing and 

planned nuclear power plants. 

Accurate and safe determination of plant lifetime extension 

has implications for improving current and future security 

of energy supply in Europe and for action on climate 

change through target achievement on greenhouse gas 

emissions through reduced reliance on fossil-fuel-based 

power generation. 

Public events 

NULIFE will organise training courses and summer schools 

and participate in conferences. 

Advanced testing facilities of materials performance 

© VTT (FI) 



Coordinator 

Rauno Rintamaa 

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland 

Vuorimiehentie 3 

PO box 1000 

FI-02044 VTT 

Tel. (358-20) 722 68 79 

Fax (358-20) 722 70 53 

rauno.rintamaa@vtt.fi 

http://nulife.vtt.fi 


Project type: Network of Excellence 









CDMA 1/55 


Tel. (32-2) 296 00 62 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie/Centre d'étude de l'énergie nucléaire, BE 

Ustav jaderneho vyzkumu ŘeŽ a.s./Nuclear Research Institute ŘeŽ plc, CZ 

Commissariat à L'énergie atomique, FR 


AREVA NP, DE 


British Energy Generation Ltd, UK 

Serco Ltd, UK 

Forsmark Kraftgrupp AB, SE 

87

88 

MTR+I3 

INTEGRATED INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVE FOR MATERIAL 

TESTING REACTORS INNOVATION 

REINFORCING EUROPE’S MATERIALS 

TESTING CAPABILITIES 

Assessing the behaviour and 

characteristics of material and fuel 

under irradiation conditions is a key 

field for supporting existing nuclear power 

reactors and future reactors. Results from this 

research helps to demonstrate safety cases, forms 

the basis for the extension of operational lifetimes 

and economic optimisation of operation for 

power plants amongst other tasks. Material testing 

reactors (MTRs) are needed to carry out such 

studies. The MTR+I3 project is an Integrated Infrastructure 

Initiative to reinforce European 

experimental capabilities for testing material and 

fuel under irradiation. 

Improving capability and competence 

The key goal of the project is to build durable cooperation 

between material testing reactor (MTR) operators and 

relevant laboratories that can maintain European leadership 

with up-dated capabilities and competences. The project 

will improve and structure services for researchers with 

coordinated developments and optimised uses of existing 

MTRs. It will prepare for the future by implementing 

the Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR) and subsequent complementary 

research reactors. 

The MTR+I3 consortium is composed of 18 partners with a 

high level of expertise in irradiation-related services for all 

types of existing and future European nuclear plants as well 

as those with an interest in transmutation research for waste 

management. 

Innovative test devices 

MTR+I3 will cover networking activities that foster 

integration of the MTR community involved in designing, 

fabricating and operating irradiation devices through 

information exchange, know-how cross-fertilisation, 

exchanges of interdisciplinary personnel, structuring 

of key-technology suppliers and professional training. 

The material testing reactor OSIRIS 

The network will produce best practice guidelines for 

selected irradiation activities. Transnational accesses 

to the MTRs within the consortium will be organised 

through joint research activities (JRAs) with these tests being 

technically and financially assessed by a transnational 

access committee. 

JRAs focusing on the development and fabrication of 

innovative test devices that improve existing MTR 

experimental capabilities are envisaged. The JRAs will 

address safety issues, management of ageing and optimisation 

of current power plants, fast-neutron reactors 

with associated fuel cycle (sustainability, actinide management), 

and technologies for high-temperature reactors 

(hydrogen economy). 

Loops for materials behaviour 


MTRs are flexible research infrastructures able to reproduce 

different reactor environments that mimic many plant configurations. 

In addition to high neutron flux capability that 

accelerates ageing of materials, they offer the ability to 

manage several highly instrumented experiments simultaneously. 

They are widely used for screening and/or qualifying 

materials and fuel for existing power reactors and for future 

reactors. 

The main outcome of the JRAs will be the preparation for 

implementation of future joint irradiation programmes with 

common tools and practices using a second generation 



European MTR such as the JHR. The joint activities will be 

disseminated to end-users proactively using the opportunity 

to join a networking activity (such as qualification test 

definition and funding in the consortium’s existing MTRs). In 

parallel, training on the new MTR’s capabilities and services 

will be offered. 

The JRA will produce knowledge on MTR loop designs and 

will develop some components and instrumentation for 

these loops. In particular loops will be developed for 

studying materials behaviour under controlled mechanical 

loads and corrosion; for optimisation and improvement of 

reactor fuel; for the development of future reactors with 

novel coolants (including helium, supercritical water, lead or 

sodium) that produce reduced waste with better fuel utilisation; 

and instrumentation for safety testing. Some of these 

developments will be tested out-of pile. In-pile qualifications 

of JRA prototypes, which fall outside the scope of the existing 

MTR+I3 budget, will require end-user commitment for 

additional financial support to develop the proposed innovations. 

Strategic capacity improved 

MTR+I3 will improve existing European MTR services and 

prepares the next generation of research infrastructures by 

enlarging the MTR community, improving networks, supporting 

joint technological developments, and optimising 

the use of existing MTR. It overcomes the present situation 

of fragmented resources and low investments in hardware 

and competences and reinforces existing European experimental 

capabilities. 

This will boost Europe’s strategic capacity for safety, plant life 

management and economical optimisation of existing and 

future power plants, innovative fuel and material developments 

for future reactors including less waste/better use of 

resources. This long-term initiative will also help to attract a 

young generation of scientists and engineers that will 

become the future European experts and managers. 

Public events 

A public web portal is under construction and a specific 

MTR+I3 brochure will be created at the end of the project. 



Coordinator 

Frédéric Serre 

Commissariat à l’énergie atomique 

Bât. 212 

F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance 

frederic.serre@cea.fr 

www.mtri3.eu 











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Tel. (32-2) 296 57 19 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 


Partners 

Atominstitut der Österreichischen Universitäten, AT 



Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) mbH, DE 


Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear, PT 

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, DE 

Universität Karlsruhe (Technische Hochschule), DE 

Hungarian Academy of Sciences, KFKI Atomic Energy Research Institute, HU 

National Centre for Scientific Research ‘Demokritos’, EL 



Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie – Centre d’études de l’énergie nucléaire, BE 

Studsvik Nuclear AB, SE 

Regia Autonoma pentru Activitati Nucleare/Sucursala Cercetari Nucleare, RO 

Ustav jaderneho vyzkumu ŘeŽ/Nuclear Research Institute, CZ 

Technical Research Centre of Finland, FI 

89

90 

NICODEME 

TEST FACILITIES IN PRESSURISED WATER OR STEAM FOR ASSESSMENT 

AND IMPROVEMENT OF NUCLEAR SAFETY 

NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO ACCESS KEY INFRASTRUCTURE 

The NICODEME project is an 

initiative that opens access to the 

extensive research facilities at 

EDF Group near Fontainebleau in France. 

Specifically it will allow researchers and 

manufacturers from across Europe to work 

with two large-scale thermal-hydraulic faci - 

lities that allow the execution of some unique 

test configurations. This will boost knowledge 

and confidence in the behaviour of current 

nuclear plant components and help the 

development and qualification of new plant 

elements. 

Important components 

EDF Research and Development is offering a new opportunity 

to European research teams or manufacturers through 

financial assistance from the European Commission. EDF 

R&D will offer open access to its research infrastructure to 

help third parties to carry out experimental tests for 

assessment and improvement of nuclear safety. The 

NICODEME initiative launched in January 2007, allows 

trans-national access to the EDF research infrastructure 

under the Euratom FP6 programme. 

By means of the NICODEME project, researchers and 

manufacturers will be able to carry out a large range of 

experiments in conditions close to those that are experienced 

in current pressurized water reactors. Experiments will 

be performed at the EDF thermal-hydraulic test laboratory 

which consists of two different test loops called CYPRES 

and CYTHERE. These two test facilities simulate operation in 

pressurised water or steam. 

Extending access to research infrastructure 

In the context of nuclear safety and technologies, energy 

producers have made great efforts to improve the safety of 

existing nuclear power installations. To reach this goal, large 

test facilities were built in the 1980s in order to qualify 

operational components for commercial pressurisedwater 

reactors. These components include valves, safety 

relief valves, diaphragms, etc. Today, most of these components 

have been fully qualified and the current research 

programme at the EDF test facilities has progressively 

focussed on the evaluation of the potential offered by new, 

advanced components to further improve the safety of 

existing nuclear installations. 

The CYPRES test facility performs endurance open/close 

tests under high differential pressure up to 160 bar and full 

flow rate up to 100 m 3 /h, with a maximum temperature of 

300 °C. In addition, a pressuriser allows the performance of 

one-shot discharge tests with steam through a drum or 

water through a line. The CYTHERE test facility performs 

endurance tests under thermal shock cycling (differential 

temperature up to 260 °C, pressure up to 176 bar and full 

flow rate up to 100 m 3 /h) on valves and fittings and other 

components. Both test facilities can also be combined to 

obtain more advanced characteristics. 

The Materials and Mechanics of Components section at 

EDF R&D brings together around 180 researchers and technicians 

in the field of material science, including mechanics, 

chemistry, corrosion, metallurgy, numerical simulation, etc. 

Users taking advantage of the facilities will have the opportunity 

to be in close contact with the whole research 

team. The department is certified to ISO 9001 in the field of 

materials and mechanics studies. The whole research site 

where the test facilities are located is certified to ISO 14001 

for environmental aspects. 

High performances of test facilities 

CYPRES and CYTHERE test loops are used by European 

component manufacturers in order to demonstrate the 

safety features and technical characteristics of components 

to appropriate regulatory safety authorities. 

In addition to the normal test activities performed by EDF 

R&D it is proposed that the test facilities are adapted to be 

able to provide the widest range of full-size specific tests 

using cold or hot pressurised water or steam. These new 

tests will include testing on isolating valves, control or check 

valves, measurements of leakage rates in steam generator 

tubes, the study of thermal fatigue in plant elements such 

as mixing tees and study of phenomena like thermal strat- 



ification and thermal shocks, etc. The facilities can also be 

used to study the behaviour of line systems with singularities 

(i.e. diaphragms and valves etc.) subjected to vibration, 

the study of valves with power actuators, and the study of 

the behaviour of a relief valve operating in water. 

These example experiments are just a fraction of the 

possibilities that can be undertaken at the thermal-hydraulic 

laboratory to yield interesting scientific results. All the 

possibilities could be used to open new fields of application 

for the CYPRES and CYTHERE test facilities. 

Concrete results for end-users 

The EDF team has a long experience of European and 

international collaborations, through involvement in a large 

number of European projects and international partnerships. 

The scientific expertise of its MMC Department is fully 

recognised at the international level. 

By opening the CYPRES and CYTHERE facilities to other 

European researchers it is sharing resources and expertise 

that will further improve nuclear safety across Europe and 

help to increase public confidence in nuclear power systems. 



© EDF R & D (FR) 

Thermal-hydraulic test 

laboratory: CYPRES and 

CYTHERE test loops 

Coordinator 

Eric Sanchez 

EDF 

R&D Division 

Materials and Mechanics of Components (MMC) Dept. 

Av. des Renardières 

F-77818 Moret-sur-Loing Cedex 

Tel.(33-1) 60 73 63 26 

Fax (33-1) 60 73 65 59 

eric.sanchez@edf.fr 

http://rd.edf.com/tali 












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Tel. (32-2) 296 00 62 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

91

92 

PLINIUS FP6 

This initiative offers transnational 

accesses to scientific users 

throughout the European Union 

and Associated States who wish to perform 

experiments in the PLINIUS corium ex perimental 

platform at CEA Cadarache. 

Experiments at this facility allow scientists to 

research, and therefore help prevent, ‘worst 

case’ severe nuclear accidents. This PLINIUS FP6 

project continues a programme initiated 

under FP5. 

A model meltdown 

PLINIUS PROTOTYPIC CORIUM PLATFORM 

STUDYING AND PREVENTING SEVERE ACCIDENTS 

PLINIUS is the only European experimental platform 

dedicated to the study of severe accidents using large masses 

of prototypic corium. Prototypic corium consists of a hightemperature 

molten mixture containing depleted uranium 

oxides that is characteristic of the reactor core ‘meltdown’ 

material that could arise during a hypothetical very severe 

nuclear accident. The facility is based at CEA Cadarache in 

France and is named after Pliny the Younger who wrote a 

scientific description of the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. 

The transnational access project will allow three to five 

research teams to use this unique European research facility 

during a four-year period. The users will be selected by an 

international panel after open calls for research proposals. This 

selection procedure is designed to promote scientific 

excellence and will ensure the widest possible access to 

this facility. 

Promoting nuclear safety 

The main activity within the PLINIUS FP6 project will be the 

realisation of high-temperature (2000-3000 °C) experiments 

with nuclear materials. These tests will form part of the main 

R&D programme for nuclear safety. In particular, the tests can 

be linked to the Severe Accident Research Network of 

Excellence (SARNET) and will also be used in relation to the 

development and design of future generation III and IV 

nuclear reactor systems. 

This project also has a clear training aspect as most of the 

potential users will come from countries where such an 

infrastructure does not exist and will require training before 

participating in the experiment. The results of the tests will 

be made publicly available through reports in the open 

literature and publications in conferences and journals. 

These documents will also be made available through the 

project website. At the end of the project, a workshop with 

all users from the PLINIUS transnational access (both FP5 

and FP6 projects) is also planned. 

Understand, validate and manage 

Gaining a better understanding of corium behaviour is 

needed to define and validate improved severe accident 

management procedures in current and future nuclear 

reactor plant. The research will also increase confidence in 

nuclear plant containment performances during a severe 

accident. 

The project helps to promote the mobility of researchers 

that come to Cadarache to perform their experiments, 

which in turn will contribute to the effective creation of the 

European Research Area on Severe Accidents, in coordination 

with the SARNET Network of Excellence. 

Reinforcing collaboration between nuclear R&D org - 

anizations and promotion of cross-disciplinary fertilisation 

and wider sharing of knowledge and related technologies 

across research fields and between academia, government 

(including safety authorities) and industry (utilities and 

plant constructors), through the performance of common 

experiments at the PLINIUS platform is also an important 

outcome. 

Research teams from new Member States will be able to 

conduct experiments dedicated to the specific design and 

operational characteristics of their Russian-designed VVER 

and Canadian-designed CANDU-type reactors. The facility 

also offers the possibility to test the behaviour of new 

materials and novel devices for generation IV reactors at 

temperatures above 2000 °C. 

Overall the PLINIUS project will help to optimise the use of 

available European resources through the dissemination of 

experimental know-how. It will also optimise the 

investments required for the assessment of severe 

accidents and generate a competitive advantage for 

Europe’s nuclear industry through improved safety. 



Improved safety and competitiveness 

Nuclear safety organisations, power utilities, industries and 

research laboratories are the major targets for access to the 

PLINIUS infrastructure, although proposals by scientists or 

engineers working in other fields are also highly welcome. 

The main objective of the PLINIUS platform is to perform 

experiments that simulate different phases of potential 

nuclear reactor accidents. The knowledge gained during 

these tests will contribute to the improvement of nuclear 

reactor safety for existing or new reactors in Europe. 

Improved nuclear safety is not only of obvious benefit to all 

in society but also a competitive argument in the worldwide 

market for nuclear reactor technologies. 

Public events 

In addition to the workshop with all PLINIUS participants 

mentioned above, the project will participate in inter - 

national scientific conferences and EU-sponsored 

conferences such as FISA. 

Corium experiment in the PLINIUS platform (COLIMA facility) 



© CEA (FR) 

Coordinator 

Christophe Journeau 

Commissariat à l'énergie atomique 

Cadarache, Bât. 708 

F-13108 St-Paul-lez-Durance 

Tel. (33) 442 25 41 21 

Fax (33) 442 25 77 88 

christophe.journeau@cea.fr 












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Tel. (32-2) 296 57 19 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

93

94 

SNF-TP 

SUSTAINABLE NUCLEAR FISSION TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM 

PREPARING A PLATFORM 

FOR THE FUTURE OF FISSION R&D 

The Coordination Action Sus - 

tainable Nuclear Fission Tech - 

nology Platform (SNF-TP) aims at 

presenting a coherent European strategy, providing 

the mechanisms for consolidating and 

deciding future research programmes within 

the Euratom Treaty. SNF-TP would also help to 

consolidate the European and Euratom positions 

within the Generation IV International 

Forum (GIF) initiative, including innovative 

waste management related to closed fuel cycles 

involving fast-neutron reactors. 

Sustainable technology 

The SNF-TP coordination action has four specific goals. It 

will establish a sustainable, closed fuel cycle for electricity 

production using innovative (generation IV) fast-neutron 

reactor systems in conjunction with partitioning and 

transmutation (P&T) technologies. It will also establish a 

commercially viable very-high-temperature reactor (VHTR) 

for applications including process heat and hydrogen 

production. SNF-TP teams will work to improve the 

performance of current (generation II) and future near-term 

(generation III and III+) light-water reactors (LWR) while 

maintaining their high degree of safety. This will include 

performing studies on the feasibility of novel designs such 

as the supercritical water reactor (SCWR), and establishing 

a unified approach to LWR lifetime extension methodology. 

Assuring adequate training to preserve and enhance 

European human competence in the nuclear field is a vital 

goal, as is maintaining and renewing the research and 

training infrastructure necessary for achieving sustainable 

nuclear energy. Extensive cooperation with other EU 

projects, in particular the hydrogen technology platform, 

geological waste disposal projects, and nuclear fusion 

activities are foreseen. SNF-TP involves the major European 

national research centres, industrial institutions, and leading 

universities actively involved in nuclear energy, sciences 

and engineering. 

Strategic research agenda 

SNF-TP is structured into two sub-projects. The first deals 

with the strategic research agenda (SRA) for the future 

technology platform and in addition how the platform 

should be organised and operated. This activity is 

coordinated by CEA. The second sub-project deals with the 

platform’s deployment strategy and is coordinated by EDF. 

Within the first sub-project are a number of research and 

technological development plans. These are Materials & 

Fuel Development coordinated by PSI; Simulation Tools for 

Reactor Design and Safety coordinated by the University of 

Karlsruhe; Fast Reactors with Closed Fuel Cycles, including 

Partitioning & Transmutation, and Waste Processes 

coordinated by SCK•CEN, Nexia Solutions, and the 

University of Rome; Training and R&D Infrastructures 

coordinated by CEA; Light-water Reactors coordinated by 

VTT; and finally High-temperature Reactors and Processes 

coordinated by AREVA. 

The final document produced by SNF-TP will be distributed 

to a wide spectrum of European energy sector decisionmakers 

and R&D policy-makers in order to help the process 

for political and public acceptance of nuclear fission energy. 

Trans-European synergy 

The successful completion of the SNF-TP action will provide 

the foundation for the development of a SRA, coordinated 

at the European level, which can ensure that nuclear fission 

energy is generated in a manner that meets the criteria for 

sustainable development. The project will also set the 

course for implementation of the SRA and it will provide 

expert advice and recommendations for strengthening the 

European scientific base aiming towards the creation of a 

true European Research Area. 

Mechanisms will be created for supporting trans-European 

synergy emphasising the creation of a coordinated training 

and educational system for maintaining nuclear 

competence. This will also involve strengthening the 

European science base and expertise in nuclear 

engineering and technology through the optimal 

integration of research teams and RTD tools, optimising the 

use of existing research infrastructures, and creating new 

infrastructures when needed. This should include the 

integration of scientific and technological advancements 

dedicated to generation III+ and IV systems. 



The sustainable basis created by these integration 

processes will prepare a technology platform dedicated to 

world-class nuclear fission energy research, development 

and deployment. It will also provide a platform for 

dissemination of the important results and activities to 

appropriate policy-making bodies, to ensure a common 

vision going forward. 

Sustainable energy security 

The SNF platform can form a coherent basis for a truly 

sustainable nuclear fission energy contribution to the future 

European energy portfolio. Nuclear power generation with 

a closed fuel cycle producing maximum power with 

minimal waste generation can provide an important 

proportion of future European electricity supplies. It has 

also a potentially large role to play in a future hydrogenbased 

energy economy. 

As a power generating resource that does not emit 

greenhouse gasses, nuclear energy also has a major role in 

ensuring that European commitments to future climate 

change agreements can be achieved. 

Public events 

The launch of the nuclear fission energy technology 

platform is scheduled to take place on 21 September 2007. 

SNF-TP structure 


Cross-cutting 

Coordinator 

Dan Gabriel Cacuci 

Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA) 

Centre de Saclay, Bât. 121 

F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette 

Tel. (33) 169 08 11 87 and 169 08 61 73 

Fax (33) 169 08 58 61 

cacuci@aquilon.cea.fr; cacuci@ikr.uni-karlsruhe.de 











CDMA 1/52 


Tel. (32-2) 296 57 19 

Fax (32-2) 295 49 91 

Partners 

CEA , FR 

CNRS, FR 

JRC/ITU, EU 

PSI, CH 

SCK•CEN, BE 

FZR, DE 

FZK, DE 

KFKI-AEKI, HU 

UJV (NRI), CZ 

JSI, SI 

NRG, NL 

CIEMAT, ES 

ENEA, IT 

VTT, FI 

UPM, ES 

Universität Karlsruhe, DE 

Università di Roma, IT 


ANP-F, FR 

Ansaldo nucleare, IT 

Vattenfall, SE 



95

96 

Glossary 

The texts in this glossary are reproduced with the courtesy 

of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA – 

www.iaea.org). 

Ageing 

General process in which characteristics of a structure, 

system or component gradually change with time or use. 

Although the term ageing is defined in a neutral sense – the 

changes involved in ageing may have no effect on protection 

or safety, or could even have a beneficial effect – it is most 

commonly used with a connotation of changes that are (or 

could be) detrimental to protection or safety, i.e. as a 

synonym of ageing degradation. 

Non-physical ageing 

The process of becoming out-of-date (i.e. obsolete) owing 

to the evolution of knowledge and technology and the 

associated changes in codes and standards. 

❚ Examples of non-physical ageing include unavailability 

of qualified spare parts for old equipment, incompatibility 

between old and new equipment, and outdated 

procedures or documentation (e.g. which do not 

comply with current regulations). 

❚ Strictly, this is not always ageing as defined above, 

because it is sometimes not due to changes in the 

structure, system or component itself. Nevertheless, the 

effects on protection and safety, and the solutions that 

need to be adopted, are often very similar to those for 

physical ageing. The management of non-physical 

ageing is therefore often addressed within the same 

programme as that for the management of physical 

ageing. 

❚ The term technological obsolescence is also used. 

Physical ageing 

Ageing of structures, systems and components due to 

physical, chemical and/or biological processes. 

❚ Examples of physical ageing include wear, heat or 

radiation damage, and corrosion. 

❚ The term material ageing is also used. 

Accident management 

The taking of a set of actions during the evolution of 

a beyond design basis accident 

❚ to prevent the escalation of the event into a severe 

accident; 

❚ to mitigate the consequences of a severeaccident; and 

❚ to achieve a long-term safe and stable state. 

Decommissioning 

1. Administrative and technical actions taken to allow the 

removal of some or all of the regulatory controls from a 

facility (except for a repository which is closed and not 

decommissioned). 

• The use of the term decommissioning implies that 

no further use of the facility (or part thereof) for its 

existing purpose is foreseen. 

• The actions will need to be such as to ensure the longterm 

protection of the public and the environment, 

and typically include reducing the levels of residual 

radionuclides in the materials and the site of the facility 

so that the materials can be safely recycled, reused 

or disposed of as exempt waste or as radioactive 

waste, and the site can be released for unrestricted 

use or otherwise reused. Decommissioning typically 

includes dismantling the facility (or part thereof), but 

in the Agency’s usage this need not be the case. It 

could, for example, be decommissioned without dismantling 

and the existing structures subsequently 

put to another use (after decontamination). 

• For a repository, the corresponding term is closure. 

2. All steps leading to the release of a nuclear facility, 

other than a disposal facility, from regulatory control. 

These steps include the processes of decontamination 

and dismantling. 

Disposal 

1. Emplacement of waste in an appropriate facility without 

the intention of retrieval. 

• Some countries use the term disposal to include discharges 

of effluents to the environment. In many 

cases, the only element of this definition that is 

important is the distinction between disposal (with 



no intent to retrieve) and storage (with intent to 

retrieve). In such cases, a definition is not necessary; 

the distinction can be made in the form of a footnote 

at the first use of the term disposal or storage (e.g. 

“The use of the term disposal indicates that there is 

no intention to retrieve the waste. If retrieval of the 

waste at any time in the future is intended, the term 

storage is used.”). 

• In some states, the term disposal is used administratively 

in such a way as to include, for example, 

incineration of waste or the transfer of waste 

between operators. In Agency publications, 

disposal should only be used in accordance with the 

more restrictive definition given above. The term 

disposal implies that retrieval is not intended; it 

does not mean that retrieval is not possible. 

• Contrasted with storage. 

Direct disposal: Disposal of spent fuel as waste. 

Geological disposal: Disposal in a geological repository. 

Near-surface disposal: Disposal, with or without 

engineered barriers, in a near-surface repository. 

Sub-seabed disposal: Disposal in a geological repository in 

the rock underlying the ocean floor. 

2. The emplacement of spent fuel or radioactive waste in 

an appropriate facility without the intention of retrieval. 

3. The act or process of getting rid of waste, without the 

intention of retrieval. 

The terms deep-sea disposal and seabed disposal do 

not strictly satisfy definition (1) or (2), but are consistent 

with the everyday meaning of disposal and are used as 

such. 

Deep-sea disposal: Disposal of waste packaged in containers 

on the deep ocean floor. 

Dose 

1. A measure of the energy deposited by radiation in a target. 

2. Absorbed dose, committed equivalent dose, committed 

effective dose, effective dose, equivalent dose or 

organ dose, as indicated by the context. 

Committed dose: Committed equivalent dose or committed 

effective dose. 

GLOSSARY 

Engineered barrier system 

The designed, or engineered, components of a repository, 

including waste packages and other engineered barriers. 

Exposure 

1. The act or condition of being subject to irradiation. 

External exposure: Exposure due to a source outside 

the body. Contrasted with internal exposure. 

Internal exposure: Exposure due to a source within the 

body. Contrasted with external exposure. 

Natural exposure: Exposure due to natural sources. 

Natural exposure is often excluded exposure, but in 

some cases may be occupational exposure or public 

exposure. 

2. The sum of the electrical charges of all of the ions of one 

sign produced in air by X-rays or gamma radiation when 

all electrons liberated by photons in a suitably small 

element of volume of air are completely stopped in air, 

divided by the mass of the air in the volume element. 

Unit: C/kg (in the past, röntgen (R) was used). 

Fission product 

A radionuclide produced by nuclear fission. 

Used in contexts where the radiation emitted by the 

radionuclide is the potential hazard. 

Geological repository 

A facility for disposal of radioactive waste located 

underground (usually several hundred metres or more 

below the surface) in a geological formation to provide 

long-term isolation of radionuclides from the biosphere. 

High-level waste (HLW) 

The radioactive liquid containing most of the fission 

products and actinides present in spent fuel - which forms 

the residue from the first solvent-extraction cycle in 

reprocessing - and some of the associated waste streams; 

this material following solidification; spent fuel (if it is 

declared a waste); or any other waste with similar 

radiological characteristics. 

97

98 

Typical characteristics of high-level waste are thermal 

power above about 2 kW/m 3 and long-lived radionuclide 

concentrations exceeding limitations for short-lived waste. 

Ionising radiation including α, ß, γ, etc. 

For the purposes of radiation protection, radiation capable 

of producing ion pairs in biological material(s). 

Ionising radiation can be divided into low-LET radiation 

and high-LET radiation (as a guide to its relative biological 

effectiveness), or into strongly penetrating radiation and 

weakly penetrating radiation (as an indication of its ability 

to penetrate shielding or the human body). 

Minimisation, waste 

The process of reducing the amount and activity of 

radioactive waste to a level as low as reasonably achievable, 

at all stages from the design of a facility or activity to 

decommissioning, by reducing waste generation and by 

means such as recycling and reuse, and treatment, with 

due consideration for secondary as well as primary waste. 

Nuclear fuel cycle 

All operations associated with the production of nuclear 

energy, including: 

❚ mining and milling, processing and enrichment of 

uranium or thorium; 

❚ manufacture of nuclear fuel; 

❚ operation of nuclear reactors (including research reactors); 

❚ reprocessing of nuclear fuel; 

❚ any related research and development activities; 

❚ all related waste management activities (including 

decommissioning). 

Nuclear safety 

The achievement of proper operating conditions, prevention 

of accidents or mitigation of accident consequences, 

resulting in protection of workers, the public and the environment 

from undue radiation hazards. 

Partitioning 

Separation, usually by chemical methods, of minor 

actinides from the reprocessing stream, for the purpose of 

appropriate further processing, storage and/or disposal. 

Performance assessment 

An assessment of the performance of a system or sub system 

and its implications for protection and safety at a planned or 

an authorised facility. 

This differs from safety assessment in that it can be applied to 

parts of a facility and does not necessarily require assessment 

of radiological impacts. 

Radiation protection 

The protection of people from the effects of exposure to 

ionising radiation and the means for achieving this. ICRP 

and others use the term radiological protection, which is 

synonymous. 

The accepted understanding of the term radiation protection 

is restricted to protection of humans. Suggestions to 

extend the definition to include the protection of nonhuman 

species or the environment are controversial. 

Radioactivity 

The phenomenon whereby atoms undergo spontaneous 

random disintegration, usually accompanied by the emission 

of radiation. 

A nucleus (of an atom) that possesses properties of spontaneous 

disintegration (radioactivity). Nuclei are distinguished by their 

mass and atomic number. 

Repository 

A nuclear facility where waste is emplaced for disposal. 

❚ Geological repository: A facility for radioactive waste 

disposal located underground (usually several hundred 

metres or more below the surface) in a stable geological 

formation to provide long-term isolation of radionuclides 

from the biosphere. 

❚ Near-surface repository: A facility for radioactive waste 

disposal located at or within a few tens of metres of the 

Earth’s surface. 



Reprocessing 

A process or operation, the purpose of which is to extract 

radioactive isotopes from spent fuel for further use. 

Severe accident 

Accident conditions more severe than a design-basis accident 

and involving significant core degradation. 

Spent nuclear fuel 

1. Nuclear fuel removed from a reactor following irradiation, 

which is no longer usable in its present form 

because of depletion of fissile material, build-up of 

poison or radiation damage. 

2. Nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in and permanently 

removed from a reactor core. 

The adjective ‘spent’ suggests that spent fuel cannot be 

used as fuel in its present form (as, for example, in spent 

source). In practice, however (as in (2) above), spent fuel is 

commonly used to refer to fuel which has been used as fuel 

but will no longer be used, whether or not it could be 

(which might more accurately be termed ‘disused fuel’). 

Storage 

The holding of spent fuel or of radioactive waste in a facility 

that provides for its containment, with the intention of 

retrieval. 

Transmutation 

The conversion of one element into another. Transmutation 

is under study as a means of converting longer-lived 

radionuclides into shorter-lived or stable radionuclides. The 

term actinide burning is used in some countries. 

Underground research laboratory 

Tests conducted within a geological environment that is 

essentially equivalent to the environment of a potential 

repository. A special underground laboratory, called an 

underground research laboratory (URL), may be built for 

in-situ testing or tests may be carried out in an actual 

repository excavation. Only in such a facility can the full 

range of repository environment properties and waste 

repository system interactions be measured. 

GLOSSARY 

Vitrified waste 

The vitreous product that results from incorporating waste 

into a glass matrix. 

Waste, radioactive 

For legal and regulatory purposes, waste that contains or is 

contaminated with radionuclides at concentrations or 

activities greater than clearance levels as established by 

the regulatory body. 

99

Index of projects 

ALISIA 72 

ANTIOXI 82 

ARGONA 18 

CANDIDE 38 

CARD 20 

CATT 22 

CIP 24 

EFNUDAT 40 

EISOFAR 74 

ELSY 76 

ENEN-II 80 

ERA-PRO 54 

FUTURAE 64 

GENEPI-ENTB 2 56 


GENRISK-T 60 


LWR-DEPUTY 42 

MAGIC 84 

MICADO 26 

MTR+I3 88 

NICODEME 90 

NOTE 62 

NUDAME 44 

NULIFE 86 

OBRA 28 

PAMINA 30 

PATEROS 46 


PROTECT 66 

PuMA 48 

SAPIERR-II 32 

SNF-TP 94 

THERESA 34 

TIMODAZ 36 

TMT Handbook 68 

VELLA 50 

101


EUR 22385 – Euratom FP6 Research Projects and Training Activities 

Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 

2007 — 101 pp. — 21.0 x 29.7 cm 

ISBN 978-92-79-05047-3

SALES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS 

Publications for sale produced by the Office of Official Publications of the European Communities are available from 

our sales agents throughout the world. 

You can find the list of sales agents on the Publications Office website (http://publications.europa.eu) or you can apply 

for it by fax (352) 29 29-42758. 

Contact the sales agent of your choice and place your order.

This brochure describes the third batch of research projects funded under 

the specific programme for ‘Research and Training on Nuclear Energy 

(2002-2006)’ under the Sixth Euratom Framework Programme for Nuclear 

Research and Training Activities (FP6). The projects described here all 

involve research activities in the general area of nuclear fission, including 

the management of nuclear waste, radiation protection, and other activities 

in the field of nuclear technologies and safety, such as innovative concepts, 

education and training, and the safety of existing nuclear installations. 

Euratom activities on research and development for nuclear fusion are not 

covered here. 

KI-NA-22385-EN-C

Euratom FP6 Research Projects and Training Activities Volume III

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