EURATOM Research and Training in Generation IV Systems with Emphasis on V/HTR

In this overview paper, the following questions are addressed: 1) what are the challenges facing the European Union nuclear fission research community in the short (today), medium (2010) and long term (2040)? 2) what kind of research and technological development (RTD) does Euratom offer to respond to these challenges, in particular in the area of reactor systems and fuel cycles? In the general debate about energy supply technologies there are challenges of both a scientific and technological (S/T) as well as an economic and political (E/P) nature. Though the Community research programme acts mainly on the former, there is nevertheless important links with Community policy. These not only exist in the specific area of nuclear policy, but also more generally as the “Knowledge Triangle” underlying the European “Growth and Jobs Initiative”. It is shown in the particular area of nuclear fission, to what extent Euratom research, education and innovation (“Knowledge Triangle” in Figure 1) respond to the following S/T challenges: (1) sustainability, (2) economics, (3) safety, and (4) proliferation resistance. Research and innovation in nuclear fission technology has broad and extended geographical, disciplinary and time horizons. Three generations of nuclear power technologies (called II, III and IV) are involved, with the timescales extending from now to around the year 2040. To each generation, a couple of additional challenges are associated: Ø Generation II (today): security of supply and environmental compatibility; Ø Generation III (around 2010): enhanced safety and competitiveness (economics); Ø Generation IV (around 2040): cogeneration of heat and power, and full recycling. At the European Commission (EC), the research related to nuclear reactor systems and fuel cycles is principally under the responsibility of two Directorates Generals (DG): Ø DG Research (RTD, located in Brussels), which implements and manages the programme of “indirect actions”, i.e. multi-partner projects undertaken by consortia made up of national laboratories, industrial bodies and other research organisations in the EU, usually on a shared cost basis (http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/themes.htm); Ø DG Joint Research Centre (JRC, headquarters in Brussels and 7 scientific institutes in 5 Member States) which carries out “direct actions” in their own laboratories. In the frame of the enlargement of the European Union, the JRC facilities and competences are made available to a large number of countries (http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/). In this HTR-2006 introductory paper, the emphasis is on the indirect and direct actions of the 6th Euratom research framework programme / 2003-2006 / FP-6.JRC.F.3-High Flux and Future Reactor