On 5 December 2013, the european research platforms MELODI, European Radioecology Alliance (ALLIANCE), NERIS and EURADOS have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to confirm their joint commitment towards the consolidation and implementation of a strategic vision of radiation protection research in Europe. This ceremony took place at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, in presence of Bruno Schmitz, Head of Unit K4 “Fission” at the Directorate General for Research and Innovation.

Over the last few years, the idea has slowly grown of forming networks and stable associations between European research partners, to promote joint research needs, establish strategic priorities, and develop cooperation in the implementation of research, in particular through a better integration of national R&D programmes within such a holistic European approach.

The aim is to resolve major scientific questions which condition the further enhancement of radiation protection practice in Europe and beyond, such as for example better understanding individual radio-sensitivity, or the nature of dose/effects relationships for low dose exposures, which requires the enhancement of radiobiology and radio-toxicology knowledge in particular. This knowledge then needs to be transferred and developed into doctrines and operational tools to manage issues such as those related to the presence of radioactive contaminants in the environment, or to the management of radiological emergencies and the remediation of the contaminated sites.

For this reason, MELODI, ALLIANCE, NERIS and EURADOS were established, each grouping specific research areas:

• MELODI focuses on low dose ionising radiation research,
• ALLIANCE groups research initiatives on radioecology,
• NERIS is about emergency preparedness and response as well as governance of post-accidental situations,
• EURADOS specialises in dosimetry.

The intention to establish a joint research agenda was then taken to the next level, not in the least by initiatives from the European Commission, but also by leading European research institutes, resulting in the signature of this MoU.

The cooperation between MELODI, ALLIANCE, NERIS and EURADOS was initiated under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7) and more in particular in the form of a project called “OPERRA” (Open Project for the European Radiation Research Area). OPERRA aims at establishing the necessary structures for managing long-term European research programmes in radiation protection.

The signatory organisations decided to establish a Joint Radiation Protection Research Roadmap Committee, with the aim to coordinate as necessary their respective strategic research agendas and priority roadmaps. Further joint working groups will be set up in areas of common concern, for the benefit of European radiation protection research. MELODI will be responsible for the administration of the coordination.

The Memorandum of Understanding is open to adhesion for other European organisations with interests in radiation protection research.

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More information:

MELODI website

European Radioecology Alliance website

NERIS website

EURADOS website

IRSN and GRS are jointly developing the ASTEC software system dedicated to nuclear meltdowns in the different types of reactors currently in operation. A January 2013 meeting of the ASTEC Users Club in Aix-en-Provence in southeastern France bolstered its position as an international reference and consolidated its scope of applications, which has progressively been extended to include most types of reactors, existing and future.

Over the past decade, ASTEC has earned its status as an international reference in the simulation of core meltdown accidents in pressurized water reactors – including the Russian-designed VVER – with the help of the SARNET network [1] in particular.

Today, no fewer than 36 organizations use ASTEC, and three major events have just strengthened its position as the leading reference in this type of software:

• the selection of ASTEC by JRC/IET [2] for use in its core meltdown accident research laboratory,
• China Nuclear Power Engineering’s decision to acquire a five-year commercial user license for ASTEC,
• the beginning of the Code for European Severe Accident Management [3] project of the 7th FRDP.

The modular nature of ASTEC allows its scope of application to be extended to a wide range of reactors such as boiling water reactors, to enable a detailed analysis of the Fukushima Daiichi accidents and of the IPHWR [4] for collaboration with India’s BARC [5]. ASTEC is already being applied to naval propulsion reactors, but will benefit from certain improvements following IRSN-led development work as part of an agreement with the CEA/DAM [6].

For accidents in other types of reactors, ASTEC is being used to model accidents involving the ingress of air or water into the vacuum vessel of fusion facilities such as the ITER and is being adapted for sodium-cooled fast reactors as part of the 7th FRDP project entitled "Joint Advanced Severe Accidents Modelling and Integration for Na-Cooled Fast Neutron Reactors" coordinated by IRSN.

Notes:

1. Excellence network specialized in research on severe nuclear reactor accidents.
2. Institute for Energy and Transport of the Joint Research Centre of the European Union, located in Petten (the Netherlands).
3. Coordinated by GRS working closely with IRSN, this project brings 17 partners together to improve the modeling and functionality  of the ASTEC software for severe accident management.
4. Indian Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (developed by India).
5. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
6. Military applications division of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission.

For several years, IRSN has been conducting researches on the economical costs of nuclear accidents involving radioactive releases in the environment. A short presentation of these studies took place during the Eurosafe Forum in November 2012.

Preparing for a nuclear accident implies understanding potential consequences. While many specialized experts have been working on different particular aspects, surprisingly little effort has been dedicated to establishing the big picture and providing a global and balanced image of all major consequences.

IRSN has been working on the cost of nuclear accidents, an exercise which must strive to be as comprehensive as possible since any omission obviously underestimates the cost. It therefore provides (ideally) an estimate of all cost components, thus revealing the structure of accident costs, and hence sketching a global picture.

On a French PWR, it appears that controlled releases would cause an “economical” accident with limited radiological consequences when compared to other costs; in contrast, massive releases would trigger a major crisis with strong radiological consequences. The two types of crises would confront managers with different types of challenges.

More information:

Download the paper by Patrick Momal and Ludivine Pascucci-Cahen presented during the Eurosafe Forum: Massive radiological releases profoundly differ from controlled releases (pdf)