Strategic autonomy of the EU and EURATOM research: Jean-Christophe Niel presents the safety issues for SMRs to the European Commission

Jean-Christophe Niel, Director General, spoke at the seminar on the EU's strategic autonomy and EURATOM research, organised in Brussels on 4 April 2023 and chaired by Commissioner Gabriel, in charge of research and innovation.

In front of officials from the Commission, research and European industry, Jean-Christophe Niel presented the challenges in terms of nuclear safety, linked to innovation and new technologies (SMRs, ... ).

He insisted on the importance of having expertise capacities based on scientific competence, independence, feedback and research. Jean-Christophe Niel also recalled that safety must be technically justified. He illustrated his remarks with a presentation of IRSN's research project on SMRs (PASTIS).

The debate was an opportunity to recall the importance of European safety research platforms and the need to renew them in order to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

For her part, Commissioner Mariya Gabriel expressed the Commission's determination to support research and innovation in the field of nuclear safety through the Euratom research and training programme, in order to ensure the EU's leadership in the fields of energy and medicine. She also recalled the importance of the trust of civil society and the maintenance of skills in particular in the younger generation.

Finally, the event was marked by the signing of a joint declaration by the Commission with ENEN, ENS, Nuclear Europe and SNETP on the role in the European Union of research, innovation, education and training for the safety of SMRs.