e-Article
EU research in “operational safety of existing installations” under the nuclear fission programme 1998–2002
Document Type
Article
Source
Subject
*NUCLEAR reactors
*RISK management in business
*
Language
ISSN
0029-5493
Abstract
In this paper, an overview is given of the most important aspects of the research activities organised by the European Union (EU) in the area of reactor safety under the current 5th Euratom Framework Programme 1998–2002 (FP-5). This area is focussing on “Operational Safety of Existing Installations”. The fundamental safety objective for nuclear power plants (NPPs) consists in protecting the public and the environment from the harmful effects resulting from ionising radiations. Community research with this objective is carried out through both “indirect actions” (organised by DG Research) and “direct actions” (carried out by DG Joint Research Centre/JRC). The mid-term achievements of this area were discussed at the symposium FISA-2001 (EC Luxembourg, 12–14 November 2001/750 pages, EUR 20281 EN, OPOCE Luxembourg 2002). This research area is actually part of the FP-5 Key Action NUCLEAR FISSION, which consists of the following four areas: reactor safety, waste management (including partitioning and transmutation), future systems (including high temperature reactors), and radiation protection.More specifically, this paper deals with the strategy, the organisation and the main achievements of the 73 multi-partner projects cosponsored by the European Union as “indirect actions” (shared-cost and concerted actions). These projects are organised in three clusters, each devoted to one key safety issue. Each cluster is treated in a separate section of this paper, namely: (1) Plant Life Extension and Management (PLEM cluster), (2) Severe Accident Management (SAM cluster), and (3) Evolutionary Safety Concepts (EVOL cluster). The total cost of the “indirect actions” of this Community research area is approximately €82.5 million, out of which €43 million is contributed by the EU budget. At FISA-2001, only the “indirect actions” that started before 1 January 2001, were formally presented, i.e. a total of 41 projects—the 32 more recent multi-partner projects were discussed whenever it was felt appropriate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]