Report from the Commission - JRC Annual Report 2000
Date: 2001-05-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Joint Research Centre, action programme, activity report

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 07.05.2001
COM(2001) 239 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION

JRC ANNUAL REPORT 2000

CONTENTS

FOREWORD ....................................................................................................................... 4

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 5

OBSERVATIONS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS.................................................. 9

THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE IN 2000 .................................................................. 11

THE WORK PROGRAMME 2000 IN SUPPORT OF EU POLICIES...................... 11

Institutional research activities .................................................................... 13

Clusters – an interdisciplinary approach ...................................................... 18

Nuclear research activities (outside the 5th Framework Programme) ............ 18

Co-ordination of space activities ................................................................. 20

A year of evaluations and future recommendations...................................... 20

JRC AND THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA................................................... 22

THE JRC AS A PARTNER IN NETWORKS........................................................... 23

PARTICIPATION OF ACCESSION COUNTRIES ................................................. 24

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS............................................................................ 24

The nuclear field ......................................................................................... 25

Food security and consumer protection ....................................................... 26

Environmental protection ............................................................................ 26

General security .......................................................................................... 27

COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES ................................................................................. 27

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER .................................................................................. 28

The European Technology Transfer Initiative (ETTI).................................. 28

Expertise for the setting-up of innovative firms (EXSIF)............................. 29

Protection and exploitation of JRC research results ..................................... 29

Innovation project competition.................................................................... 29

COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY ........................................................................ 29

Events......................................................................................................... 30

JRC site visits ............................................................................................. 31

Media relations ........................................................................................... 31

Publications ................................................................................................ 31

JRC corporate website activities.................................................................. 32

2

Providing information to the public ............................................................. 32

YOUNG SCIENTISTS PRIZE 2000 ........................................................................ 32

THE JRC IN FIGURES............................................................................................ 33

SCIENCE AND GOVERNANCE ............................................................................ 35

WOMEN AND SCIENCE........................................................................................ 35

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT...................................................................... 36

SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES OF THE INSTITUTES IN 2000 ......................................... 36

Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) - Geel ........................ 36

Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU) - Karlsruhe............................................. 46

Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) - Petten ....................................................... 53

Institute for Systems, Informatics and Safety (ISIS) - Ispra....................................... 61

Environment Institute (EI) - Ispra ............................................................................. 67

Space Applications Institutes (SAI) - Ispra ............................................................... 74

Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP) - Ispra .................................... 80

Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) - Seville................................ 87

GLOSSARY ....................................................................................................................... 92

JRC BOARD OF GOVERNORS ...................................................................................... 99

ORGANISATIONAL CHART........................................................................................ 102

3

FOREWORD

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is one of the Directorates General of the European
Commission and is made up of eight individual institutes. These carry out basic and applied
research, and provide technical know-how in support of European Union (EU) policies. JRC
also participates in networks with Member State institutes, and plays an active part
in
harmonising data, testing and validating new scientific methods and techniques. Its status as a
Commission service, which guarantees independence from private or national interests, is
crucial to the pursuit of this role.

The JRC implements its mission through specific research programmes decided by the
Council on advice from the European Parliament. Falling within the EU Framework
Programmes for research and technological development (RTD), this work is funded by the
EU budget, with additional funding from associated countries. It includes customer-driven
scientific and technical services for specific Community policies – such as those on the
environment, food and health, the information society, agriculture and nuclear safety.

In addition, the JRC is involved in competitive activities, as a means of validating its
expertise and increasing its know-how in core competencies. Its remit is to ‘add value’ where
appropriate, rather than to compete directly with establishments in the Member States.

Eight institutes spread over Europe

The eight JRC institutes are distributed over five separate sites around Europe. Each has its
own focus of expertise.

The Institutes are:

– The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), in Geel (BE);
– The Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), in Karlsruhe (DE);
– The Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM), in Petten (NL);
– The Institute for Systems, Informatics and Safety (ISIS), in Ispra (IT);
– The Environment Institute (EI), in Ispra (IT);
– The Space Applications Institute (SAI), in Ispra (IT);
– The Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP), in Ispra (IT); and
– The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), in Seville (ES).

Management of the organisation

The JRC headquarters are in Brussels and include the Programmes Directorate, which serves
as the link between the institutes and policy-makers. The Directorate co-ordinates the research
performed by the institutes, and helps to ensure its quality by interacting with the international
scientific community and industry. An important function is to promote technology transfer of
the JRC’s own research results, both to create industrial added value and to support the
Community’s innovation policies.

€

The JRC employs around 2,100 staff under various schemes. Its funding of about
300
million per year stems from the research allocation of the EU budget and from income
generated by competitive activities. Each of the eight institutes produces its own annual
report, where more comprehensive information can be found. The JRC also publishes
numerous technical reports, contributes to scientific journals, frequently presents papers to
conferences, and organises workshops, seminars and conferences to disseminate its scientific
output.

Further information can be obtained from the JRC website: http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/.

4

INTRODUCTION

The year 2000 of the JRC was a period of evaluation and many initiatives were launched to
assess how to best develop the JRC’s mission as a research centre in support of EU policies.
An independent external scientific audit of its resources and scientific skills was concluded; a
five-year assessment of its activities was carried out; a High Level Panel chaired by Viscount
Davignon delivered a report on the implementation of the JRC’s mission, and a Commission
Peer Group issued, in the framework of the Commission Reform, instructions on activity
prioritisation. The wealth of recommendations collected during these exercises will shape the
future orientations of the JRC.

The JRC’s future is outlined in the Commission’s initiative Towards a European Research
Area presented in January 2000 and which is intended to contribute to the creation of better
overall framework conditions for research in Europe. In this context, the JRC will contribute
where appropriate to the development of a common scientific and technical reference system
for policymaking. Toward this goal, the JRC will pool expertise from research organisations
both inside and outside Europe to provide the best possible set of competencies for such
support. During the year, the JRC continued to develop a more strategic approach to its role as
a partner in networks. It also pursued specific activities designed to integrate the Central and
Eastern European dimension in its work, through a detailed Work Programme.

Much effort was devoted throughout the year to improving the interface with European
policy-makers. A workshop with its users, the Commission services, was held to set priorities
according to customer needs; improvement teams on Total Quality Management were set up;
and a debate was launched on science and governance.

The JRC promotes the technology transfer of its own results, thus supporting Community
innovation policies. New activities added during the year included the set-up of an external
seed capital fund and an incubation function at Ispra for JRC spin-off projects.

The JRC attaches a great importance to its international relations and refocused its activities
in key areas. Co-operation with Japan and USA on the control of nuclear materials was
technologies and a memorandum of understanding on
widened to include nuclear
technologies for mine clearance was signed between the European Commission (represented
by the JRC), the USA, Canada and five Member States. Several international agreements
were also initiated in the areas of food safety and environmental protection.

The Work Programme 2000

The JRC’s Work Programme in 2000 was arranged according to the four competence areas;
• Safety of food and chemicals;
• Environment;
• Dependability of information systems and services; and
• Nuclear safety and safeguards.

In addition, two horizontal characteristics of JRC expertise are spelled out:

(1)

A forward-looking insight into current technology trends (including life sciences and
employment,
the
sustainability, EU-enlargement and the Mediterranean partnership area); and

information society)

and socio-economic

(such as

issues

5

(2)

Networking with other RTD players in Europe to produce science and technology
references (methods, data, materials and measurements) guaranteeing transparency of
the internal market and international trade. Central to this activity is JRC participation
in the development of EU standards in close co-ordination with the European
standards committee CEN, with which JRC signed a collaboration agreement
during 1999.

This new structure is used to give a clear indication of the JRC core competencies, as a basis
for further concentration of efforts and future strategic planning.

Meeting the customer DGs

To strengthen communication with its customers,
the JRC organised an inter-service
workshop with customer DGs, presenting selected areas of current work. The programme was
structured around the four JRC core competencies.
The main objective of the October 2000 workshop was to discuss EU policy priorities guiding
the JRC Work Programme 2001, the concentration process of the JRC and future activities
implementing the European Research Area (ERA). In addition, a final session was dedicated
to the prospective activities of the IPTS, and to the JRC’s role in the context of ERA. The
workshop brought together 232 people from the Commission services, of which 151 were
from other DGs and 81 from the JRC. The input from the Commission services has been used
as a basis for changes to be introduced in the JRC Work Programme of next year.

***

**

Highlights of the year

All institutes have participated in activities to increase the visibility of the JRC to the research
community and the general public. Highlights include:

- Inauguration of on-site laboratory
the La Hague nuclear
A new on-site laboratory was inaugurated on 6 June 2000 at
reprocessing plant in France. At the request of the Euratom Safeguards Office, this laboratory
was designed, installed and commissioned by ITU staff. In the past, radioactive samples from
the reprocessing plant would have had to travel long distances to be analysed at an accredited
laboratory. This on-site facility cuts out the need for transportation as analysts from ITU in
Karlsruhe will travel to the site at La Hague on a weekly basis to carry out the necessary
work.

- Demonstration of pyrochemical reprocessing of nuclear fuels by electrorefining
Non-aqueous (molten salt) reprocessing of irradiated spent nuclear fuels is being studied
between the ITU and CRIEPI. This process is considered a major part of a partitioning and
transmutation strategy for nuclear waste management. Its goal is to demonstrate the feasibility
of recovering actinides from irradiated fuel and high level waste, e.g. waste from the PUREX
plutonium uranium extraction process. A hot cell facility for up to 1 kg of melt has been
constructed and its performance successfully tested. The installation operates under a highly
pure argon atmosphere and first demonstrations of the electrorefining process have generated
deposits of up to 10 g of metallic uranium.

- A notification system for GMOs
SNIF (summary notification information format) software has been developed for an
electronic notification system that will help the Environment DG implement
two EC
directives, one on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms and another on
the deliberate release of GMOs into the environment.

6

- Antibiotics in food
the presence and
An important current concern of the EU is to detect and control
concentration of antibiotics in foodstuffs of animal origin. IRMM has accepted the task of
developing analytical methods to determine the misuse of several
important classes of
antibiotics.

- Genetically modified organisms
In collaboration with the Health and Consumer Protection DG and in support of the Novel
Food Regulation (EC) 258/97, the IRMM has continued to provide scientific support for the
enactment of EU labelling requirements by providing reference materials and methods
urgently needed for detecting genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food. In 2000, a
second generation of certified reference materials for RR (Roundup-ready)-Soya was
produced, as well as BT-samples (Bacillus Thuringensis) for GMOs in processed food.
Mixing, characterisation and genetic expression (zygosity) tests for the third generation
certified crop MON810 was performed and the study of DNA quality in RR Soya was
completed, making it possible to launch this material onto the market.

- PCB and dioxin reference materials
The preparation of dioxin standard solutions, fly ash and sewage sludge was completed in
collaboration with the Environment DG. In addition, the preparation of candidate material for
the renewal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sewage sludge was completed in
collaboration with the Research DG in 2000.

- Three-dimensional reconstructions
As part of the effort to improve the efficiency of surveillance, documentation and inspector
training, ISIS has developed software for ‘3D reconstruction’. Distance measurements and
digital cameras are combined to create a photo-realistic computer model of a real object or
building – such as a three-dimensional reconstruction of the French National Assembly in
Paris. Models are coded into the Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML), which makes
them Internet compatible.

- Performance testing by ELSA
ISIS is part of an international partnership investigating the use of systems for the control of
vibration in structures. Its European laboratory for structural assessment (ELSA) has been
used for performance testing of structural systems in large suspension bridges, and studies are
underway for an application which can be used for railways.

- Biogenic emissions in ozone and particulate matter
A year-long measurement campaign at the JRC site in Ispra produced a unique data set to
study the links between ozone and particulate matter (PM) formation. A seasonal trend was
observed in both total aerosol mass and aerosol chemical composition. During winter months,
PM levels were found to be three times higher than during summer months. This is despite the
fact that in summer months higher biogenic emissions and photochemical activity (causing
high ozone level) were observed. The high PM concentrations during winter are probably due
to domestic heating. Chemical analysis of fine aerosol revealed that organic compounds and
elemental carbon have a higher relative contribution to aerosol mass during winter than
during summer, making them probably more hazardous for human health in winter.

- European Observational Network
The European Observational Network became operational in 2000. It has been set up to assess
the impact of EU policy and legislation on the quality of soil and water resources of inland
and coastal watersheds. Network points have been established in Finland, France, Greece,
Italy, Spain, the UK and Eastern Europe, in collaboration with the Environment DG and with
regional and national institutions.

7

- Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES)
SAI has contributed at all levels to the further evolution of GMES, closely involving
European space and user organisations. GMES uses cutting edge space technology to provide
precise information on a range of global environmental parameters, from meteorology to
terrestrial and marine resource assessment. In May 2000, Commissioner Ph. Busquin said that
"GMES could be the next theme for a cross-European co-operation". A GMES conference
was organised in Lille during October at which SAI delivered a keynote speech. A follow-up
conference is in preparation. GMES has now become the representative for Earth Observation
in the strategy for space put forward jointly by the European Union and the European Space
Agency.

- Validated in-vitro methods
Guidelines for three in-vitro toxicity tests – one for phototoxic potential and two for skin
corrosivity – have been accepted by EU Member State authorities. They will be included in
technical annex V of the EU Directive on dangerous substances. The JRC-run ECVAM's
(European Centre for Validation of Alternative Methods) scientific advisory committee
endorsed two non-animal tests – one for skin-sensitisation using local lymph nodes, and the
EpiDerm skin corrosivity test – as validated methods. An ECVAM study showed that three
in-vitro tests for embryotoxicity had met validation criteria for study.

- Science and Governance
A high-level workshop on the relationship between Science and Governance was organised
on 29 and 30 March 2000 in order to develop an understanding of how to develop a common
system of scientific and technical reference for policy implementation. This high-level
workshop was followed on 16 and 17 October by a conference on “Science and Governance
in a knowledge society: the challenge for Europe” jointly held by the JRC and DG Research.
The role of the European Research Area for the development of new European citizenship
was debated.

8

OBSERVATIONS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

The Board acknowledges the JRC management’s concern of assessing how best the centre
could achieve its mission, facing the challenges of the new century and making better use of
its resources. The consolidation of the new mission of the JRC, to provide customer driven
scientific and technical support
implementation and
monitoring of European Union policies, has driven all activities of the JRC during this
year 2000.

to the conception, development,

The Board supports the JRC management efforts in evaluating the JRC both at the scientific
and strategic level and at the administrative level and looks forward to analysing the results.

As regards the external evaluation exercises, the Board notes that The Scientific Audit report
by ”Visiting Groups”, assessing the scientific strengths and weaknesses of JRC Institutes’
resources, has contributed to the 5-Year JRC Assessment exercise carried out this year.

The Board appreciates the report of the High Level Panel, chaired by Viscount Etienne
Davignon, on implementing the JRC’s mission, and the Commission’s Peer Group review,
that will both serve to better define the orientation which the JRC should adopt in the future.
The Board acknowledges the suggestions made, especially those concerning the proposed role
of the JRC in the European Research Area to be developed in the frame of the new
Framework Programme under preparation. The JRC should indeed concentrate its activities
and further contribute to the development of a common European Reference system in
support of EU Policymaking. To this end, more managerial flexibility would be required to
better adapt the JRC resources to implementing its mission.

The Board appreciates the efforts devoted to integrate the users in the JRC policy formulation
process with a view to setting the JRC priorities according to customer needs and EU policy
priorities. To this end, the creation of an inter-service Users Group, allowing for a permanent
systematic mechanism as interface with European policy-makers, is welcome; so is the
collaboration with National Research organisations in specific fields, to increase the JRC’s
know-how and ‘add value’ to its competencies to better develop its role as partner in
networks. In this respect, the Science and Governance conference improved the JRC‘s
understanding to developing a common system of scientific and technical reference, in order
to provide independent and high-quality support for policy implementation.

The Board notes that the internal audit has continued its work with a view to improve the
efficiency of the JRC.

The introduction of the Total quality management (TQM) process, launched for the whole of
the JRC with a systematic long-term approach, has completed its first cycle this year with the
reporting of the various improvement teams.

The Board follows with interest the JRC Work-Programme’s implementation and the efforts
to integrate the Central and Eastern European partner countries in the JRC’s work. It
appreciates Institutes’ achievements as scientific reference, and their contribution to solving
European problems such as the dioxin crisis and the “mad cow” disease. It welcomes the
JRC’s performance on competitive activities.

The Board notes the promotion of JRC technology transfer in support of Community
innovation policies, and the setting-up of an external seed capital fund and an incubation
function at JRC Ispra site for JRC spin-off projects. It further encourages managerial efforts
with respect to the improvement of its external communication and of the JRC’s public
image.

9

The Board supports the development of international collaboration also outside Europe in key
areas, mainly the control of nuclear materials food safety and environmental protection.

to nuclear

activities outside

With respect
the
“Decommissioning” programme carried out at the JRC, for the management of waste and
obsolete facilities, which commenced this year. While welcoming the normal running of
operations of the 4-year Supplementary Programme of the High Flux Reactor –HFR- in JRC
Petten site, the Board notes the setting up of a users strategy aiming at further involving the
HFR in the European Research Area.

the Board welcomes

the FWP,

The Board appreciates the work carried out at the JRC for co-ordinating the Space activities
and for the setting up of joint ESA/Commission strategy for Space which should be developed
by a task force.

The Board notes the report on how the JRC complies with the Council Resolution on
“Women and Science”, of 20 May 1999 and with the European Parliament Resolution of
9 March 1999.

of
The Board
Mr. Herbert J. Allgeier, who retired on 31 October 2000.

acknowledges

contribution

the

the

former Director General,

Finally, the Board wishes to express its recognition to Commissioner Philippe Busquin for his
efforts to create an environment aiming at optimising the efficiency of European research
results in the frame of the European Research Area.

10

THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE IN 2000

THE WORK PROGRAMME 2000 IN SUPPORT OF EU POLICIES

Mission

The mission of the Joint Research Centre is to provide customer-driven scientific and
technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of
Community policies. As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a
reference centre of science and technology for the Community. Close to the policy-making
process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being independent of
commercial or national interests.

Carrying out specific high-level research in close contact with industry and other bodies, the
JRC support the policy maker in addressing the concerns of the individual citizen, improving
the interaction between man and the environment and promoting sustainable development.

In line with its mission, the JRC Work Programme 2000 focuses on research topics relevant to
important EU policies. The JRC resources were allocated to 97 projects distributed between
the following four pillars:

food and chemicals and health-related issues focuses on improving the
- Safety of
understanding of hazards, exposure and risks posed by food contaminants, chemicals and
chemical products (e.g. vaccines and pharmaceuticals) as well as on health and biomedical
issues in the context of preventive strategies to protect consumer health. The bulk of the
activities concentrate on the development and validation of advanced methods and certified
the improvement of the quality of measurements and the study of
reference materials,
important processes involving food and chemical products.
In addition services like
information systems, data banks, advice and training will be provided in support to relevant
EU policies. Prospective and socio-economic analyses represent an important part of the
approach. The JRC maintains a close attention to scientific developments in life sciences and
to the evolution of the legislative programme in food, chemical safety and health;

- Environment which focuses on issues of policy relevance in the field of environment and
resources management.
Its objective is to develop knowledge and provide reference
information and a range of environmental processes and conditions. To do so it will foster the
development of methods for measuring and monitoring environmental changes, evaluate and
validate its impacts and harmonise scientific approaches at the Community level. Activities
are designed to contribute to the sustainable development of the European and global
environment;

- Dependability of information systems and services with the objective to support EU policies
for the protection of the citizen in the emerging Information Society, and to provide the
Commission with an in-house centre of expertise in dependable information and
communication technology to support EU policies in general;

- Nuclear safety and safeguards which supports the Commission Services in charge of tasks
defined by the Euratom Treaty in the field of Safeguards, Radiation Protection, nuclear waste
management and focuses on policy issues such as harmonisation in the field of reactor safety
and fuel cycle safety. Its objective is to develop and assemble knowledge through co-
operative projects leading to a wide consensus on a range of issues relevant with nuclear
safety and security at European level and often world-level. The application of Safeguards by
the Euratom Safeguards Office and the IAEA requires R&D support and direct assistance. In
view of the EU enlargement, special attention will be given to the co-operation with future
EU Member States.

11

There were also two groups of horizontal activities. One covered current technology trends,
such as life sciences and the information society, and socio-economic issues – including
employment, sustainability, EU enlargement and Mediterranean co-operation. The second
related to networking with other RTD actors in Europe, to produce science and technology
references and to guarantee transparency of the internal market and international trade.

A considerable part of the Work Programme 2000 was devoted to direct services in support of
EU regulations, such as the activities carried out by the European Laboratory for Air Pollution
(ERLAP), the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Bureau (IPPCB) and the European
Chemicals Bureau (ECB).

The following table presents the institutional research activities carried out by the eight JRC
Institutes within the Work Programme 2000.

12

1. Safety of food and chemicals, and health related issues

Institutional research activities

JRC WORK PROGRAMME LINES

IRMM ITU

IAM

ISIS

EI

SAI

IHCP

IPTS

Control of quality and safety of food and
related items (development, validation
and
analytical
methods)

harmonisation

of

Contamination of nutrition and consumer
products due to material release (COCO)

Reference materials for agricultural, food
and consumer products

Reference measurements for agricultural,
food and consumer products and data
bases

Support
to the implementation of the
Community policy on biotechnology,
including the detection of genetically
modified
in
(GMO)
organisms
environmental and in food samples

Environmental
health

integrity

and

human

Endocrine disruptors; development and
validation of methods

The validation of alternative methods

Chemical products, risk assessment

International comparability of chemical
measurements

Chemical
measurements
certification

reference methods

and
for normalisation and

X

X

X

X

X

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT)
for the treatment of cancer and other
diseases

X

Alpha-Immunotherapy

X

Medical
Radio-Tracers – MITRA

Imaging and Therapy using

Reliability
(REMED)

of

bioMEdical Devices

Functional
systems
consumer protection

for

health

and

Biomedical certified reference materials
for clinical diagnostics

X

Life science and impact on society

13

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

2. Environment

JRC WORK PROGRAMME LINES

IRMM ITU

IAM

ISIS

EI

SAI

IHCP

IPTS

Civilian de-mining

Computational mechanics
structural safety

applied to

Structural crash safety enhancement of
vehicles and road equipment by precision
impact tests

in

to

support

the
Research
the
implementation and validation of
diagnostics
EUROCODES;
and strengthening/repair techniques for
building
stress
(SEISPROTEC)

structures

structural

under

Natural hazards

Environment and society

European
for

The
information
environmental monitoring

landscape:
development

geo-
and

The European
Prevention and Control Bureau (EIPPC)

Integrated

Pollution

Water quality - as a contribution to LEPE
(European
for Water
Laboratory
Pollution)

Impact of Waste Emissions on Soils
(IWES)

Coastal monitoring and management

Integrated air quality assessment

Reference materials for pollution control

X

Energy and climate change

Global Monitoring for Environment and
Security (GMES)

Atmospheric
regional and global changes

processes

related

to

Photovoltaic and solar thermal electricity
(SOLAREC)

Advanced Electricity Storage (ADELS)

Efficient Power Generation (EPG)
advanced fossil fired power plant

/

Efficient Power Generation (EPG) / Gas
turbines

Safety
Temperature Systems (SAFTS)

reliability

and

of

high

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

14

JRC WORK PROGRAMME LINES

IRMM ITU

IAM

ISIS

EI

SAI

IHCP

IPTS

Sustainability in transport and mobility

European Reference Laboratory
on
Waste Incineration and Vehicle Emission
(ERLIVE)

X

X

Technologies for Emission Abatement in
Transport
Sectors
(TEMAT)

Non-road

and

Clean
transport (ECRIT-air)

transport

technology

- Air

European Soil Bureau

Population dynamics and Security

EPERC/HYDANET merged Project

X

X

X

X

X

3. Dependability of information systems and services

JRC WORK PROGRAMME LINES

IRMM ITU

IAM

ISIS

EI

SAI

IHCP

IPTS

X

X

X

Telematic
pharmaceutical
(ETOMEP)

systems

for

regulatory

the

EU
activity

Electronic business

Consumer protection Laboratory for the
study, experimental testing and
monitoring of Electronic Payment and
Electronic Commerce (LEPEC)

Dependability of information technology
systems

Networks, multimedia and education

Medical and health telematics

Statistics support: European statistical
laboratory (ESL)

S&T Support to implementation and
monitoring of anti-fraud policy

Safety and emergency management
systems for man-made and natural
hazards

Information systems
mining

in civilian de-

European Co-ordination Centre
Aircraft
(ECCAIRS)

for
Incident Reporting Systems

Integrated assessment and decision
support

The MARS Project (Monitoring
Agriculture with Remote Sensing)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

15

JRC WORK PROGRAMME LINES

IRMM ITU

IAM

ISIS

EI

SAI

IHCP

IPTS

Advanced statistics for clearance of
accounts (ASCA)

Animal Tagging (the IDEA project)

Building the information society

Applications on the synergy of satellite
telecommunications, earth observation
and navigation (ASTRON)

and GIS: Harmonisation

GI
interoperability

and

New technologies for monitoring fishing
vessels

Galileo Technical Support

4. Nuclear safety and safeguards

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

JRC WORK PROGRAMME LINES

IRMM ITU

IAM

ISIS

EI

SAI

IHCP

IPTS

X

X

X

Reference measurement for neutron –
materials interaction

Neutron reference measurements for
environmental protection

Reference measurements
data standards

for neutron

European Network for Inspection
Qualification (ENIQ)

Ageing Materials Evaluation and Studies
(AMES)

Network for Evaluation of Structural
Components (NESC)

Safety of Nuclear Fuel

Basic Actinide Research

Partitioning and Transmutation

Exploitation of Neutron Data

X

Spent Fuel Characterisation in View of
Long-Term Storage

Study of Severe Accidents

Safeguards Research and Development
at Ispra

Safeguards Research and Development
at Karlsruhe

Metrology and Quality Assurance for
Nuclear Safeguards

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

16

X

X

JRC WORK PROGRAMME LINES

IRMM ITU

IAM

ISIS

EI

SAI

IHCP

IPTS

Support
Directorate

to

Euratom

Safeguards

Support
Energy Agency (IAEA)

to the International Atomic

Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring
(REM)

Measurement of Radioactivity in the
Environment

X

High Temperature Reactor (HTR)

X

Historical Liabilities (Decommissioning)

Horizontal activities

X

X

X

DEC

JRC WORK PROGRAMME LINES

IRMM ITU

IAM

ISIS

EI

SAI

IHCP

IPTS

BCR and industrial certified reference
materials

Metrology in chemistry and traceability

Radionuclide metrology

The "Futures" project

X

X

X

Knowledge and skills: perspectives for
Europe

Enlargement:
prospective activities

building

linkages

on

Mediterranean and regional perspectives

European
Observatory (ESTO)

Science & Technology

Co-ordination of space activities

Technology assessment and validation,
demonstration,
and
partner
transfer

search

X

X

X

X

X

SC

TT

17

Clusters – an interdisciplinary approach

Interdisciplinary attitude

The JRC has established a series of programme clusters to group projects that contribute to a
well-identified scientific, technological or social issue. The aim is to foster an
interdisciplinary approach by bringing together research teams from the various JRC
Institutes, raise the profile of the JRC and strengthen the interface with its customers.
Clusters can act as the point of reference on the issues under consideration. So far, clusters
have no budgetary implications

The following clusters established at JRC during 1999, continued during 2000 with the
addition of a new cluster devoted to issues related to water:

– Electronic commerce:

focus on dependability and consumer aspects in electronic

commerce (IHCP, ISIS and IPTS).

– Emissions and related impacts on human and environmental health: focus on emission
in transport and for waste incineration, emission

processes, clean technologies
characteristics in relation to health effects (EI, IAM, IHCP and IPTS).

– Global change: modelling carbon sinks and monitoring carbon in the atmosphere and
biosphere, clean technologies, and implications for energy policy (SAI, IPTS, EI and
IAM).

– Food: focus on food safety, anti-fraud measures, support to biotechnology directives and
development of standards for reinforcing industrial competitiveness (IHCP, IRMM and
IPTS).

– Agri-environment: geospatial information, integrated assessments and verification of agri-

environmental measures (SAI, EI, ISIS and IPTS).

– MAREL: Co-ordinates the JRC projects relevant with the existing reactors safe operation:
integrity of the fission circuit, accident analysis, risk

fuel safety and performance,
assessment (IAM, ITU and ISIS).

– Water: Focus in interdisciplinary analysis of water issues including quality, multiple uses,

and socio-economic dimension (EI, SAI, IAM, IRMM and IPTS).

Nuclear research activities (outside the 5th Framework Programme)

• The High Flux Reactor (HFR)

Implementing a Euratom agreement

The Commission operates the High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten (NL) in accordance with the
1961 Euratom/Netherlands agreement. The Netherlands, Germany and France jointly regulate
the HFR, with each partner guaranteeing a percentage of the finance required.
The JRC carries out research at the HFR for Euratom on the basis of four-year supplementary
research programmes. The HFR programme remains active in the area of the safety of the
existing reactors, as well as for the development of safer reactors and new fuels.
While the current four-year programme remains the basis of the operation of HFR until 2003,
a strategy is now being developed by a group of experts to involve HFR in a more European
circle of users and R&D projects, in the context of the European Research Area.

18

Support to medical activities

The HFR is used for the development of products and technologies in support of medical
activities:

– The HFR produces isotopes for more than 60% of the ten million medical diagnoses
executed each year in Europe. The quality and reliability of its operation make HFR
indispensable for the European pharmaceutical companies in this field. Moreover, the
reactor’s location allows its medical products to be despatched rapidly to European
medical centres – which is vital given the short life of most currently used isotopes.

– An association of European centres working on a new treatment for encephalic cancers

based on boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) techniques is also using the HFR.

– Other medical-related research includes production of new isotopes, development of other
technical BNCT-applications and new alpha-immunotherapy products, and studies on the
materials for medical prosthesis.

Assuring easy fuel availability

In order to assure easy fuel availability in the future, the JRC decided to convert the HFR
from highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium.

Four transfers of spent fuel from the reactor pool sector to the Dutch national repository were
organised in 2000.
• Decommissioning of nuclear installations

Dealing with obsolete facilities

Within the Euratom Treaty, site agreements concerning nuclear plants facilities were signed
during the period 1960 to 1962 between the Community, Belgium, Germany, Italy and the
Netherlands. In the two latter cases, national nuclear installations were transferred to the
Community and infrastructure for nuclear development was put in place. The installations in
Karlsruhe and Petten are still in full use today and some nuclear activities remain in Geel and
Ispra. Others have been shut down, in some instances more than 20 years ago, and have
mostly become obsolete.

The JRC has established a long-term action plan for decommissioning its obsolete nuclear
facilities. The plan is divided into three parts:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Management of waste resulting from JRC activities since 1960. This phase also
includes the safe conservation of obsolete installations and the improvement of
facilities needed for the manipulation, decontamination, treatment and storage of solid
and liquid wastes.
Dismantling of shutdown facilities, such as reactors and laboratories; a procedure that
will generate new waste, which also needs to be processed.
Evaluation of resources necessary for future dismantling of nuclear facilities still in
operation, such as the cyclotron at Ispra (IT), the hot cells at the ITU in Karlsruhe
(DE), and the HFR at Petten. Although some dismantling is required at these facilities,
their shutdown is not envisaged in the actual action plan.

A group of independent experts was set-up to advise JRC on the strategies to follow. Work is
proceeding as expected at Ispra, Karlsruhe and Geel (BE). An important test of the work was
accomplished at the IRMM with the intention of downgrading the Geel licence and hence
reducing surveillance costs.

19

Co-ordination of space activities

A challenge for the EU is to find ways of providing European support to mostly nationally
driven space activities. The Commission helps in defining Europe’s ambitions, taking into
account
the growing importance of space for socio-economic policy objectives in the
information and communication services, as well as for science, technology, space-access and
security.
• European strategy developed for space

Through the Commission’s Space Co-ordination Group, chaired by the Director-General of
the JRC in his personal capacity, the Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA)
have devised a joint strategy for space and recommendations for actions, in consultation with
Member States and industry. The final communication1, drafted together with ESA, was
adopted by the Commission on 27 September 2000. This proposes setting up a joint
ESA/Commission task force to implement and develop the European strategy for space.
• Global monitoring for environment and security (GMES)

Following discussion with the Space Advisory Group (SAG) in July 1999, the concept of
global monitoring for environment and security has continued to be developed by the
Commission under JRC stewardship. A study2 was undertaken to develop the political
arguments and reinforce links with Commission services. It concluded that the broader issue
of environment and security is growing in political importance, and that global monitoring
can provide effective support for information gathering.
At the technical level, the SAI continued to provide support in collaboration with European
space agencies. A GMES office and partnership were established, involving these agencies,
EUMETSAT (the European organisation for the exploitation of meteorological satellites), and
industry. A memorandum of understanding was signed with the German space agency DLR,
similar to that concluded in 1999 with the French agency CNES, and support was given to the
French EU Presidency in organising a colloquium on GMES at Lille in October 2000. A
seminar held at the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) congress in October 2000 on
GMES explored co-operation aspects with an international panel from the EU, Brazil, Russia
and the USA.
• EU-Russia partnership and co-operation agreement

Discussions continued with the Russian Federation on space and on GMES in particular. In
September, a visit by Commissioner Busquin to Moscow led to an agreement to establish a
EU-Russian working group, allowing experts from the two sides to develop and promote co-
operative space observation projects, particularly in the domain of GMES.

A year of evaluations and future recommendations

Four formal external evaluations of the JRC were carried out in a short period. These were the
1999 Scientific Audit, the Five-Year Assessment (1995-1999), the High Level Panel Report,
and the Commission Peer Group evaluation – each responding to separate requirements and
targeting different objectives. They have generated a wealth of recommendations to help to
steer the JRC’s future and shape its strategies.

1

2

Europe and Space: Turning to a new chapter, COM(2000)597.
The use of global monitoring in support of environment and security, Final Report, August 2000.

20

• 1999 scientific audit

The first exercise was the scientific audit of the JRC institutes in the second half of 1999. The
JRC Director-General launched this non-statutory evaluation immediately after the approval
by the Commission of the JRC Work Programme 1998-2002. It was designed to provide early
feedback to JRC management on the scientific standing of the institutes, and to assess their
scientific strengths and weaknesses in terms of staff and other resources. A major objective
was to ensure that the European Commission Fifth Framework Programme requirements
could be fulfilled with the requisite scientific quality.

The audit was carried out by ‘visiting groups’ of external experts. All the reports were
finalised and published by early 2000, allowing institute management to take advantage of the
specific observations, as well as drawing conclusions valid for the JRC as a whole.

Some 40 recommendations in the reports were discussed in detail with each institute director
and the panel of experts. The recommendations were incorporated into the institutes’
medium- and long-term plans. Staff were briefed on the outcome and, in most cases, any
feasible suggestion immediately initiated. Monitoring of
these
recommendations was eventually merged with that of the five-year assessment.

the implementation of

The overall audit conclusions confirm the soundness of JRC’s scientific strategies:

– The new JRC mission is supported by management and staff, and well received by the EU
research community. An essential element linked to the mission, networking with Member
State laboratories, is strongly encouraged.

– The science base underpinning the JRC mission is vital and must be kept strong. Attention

is to be given to the balance between services and research.

– JRC's effort in supporting nuclear technology is recognised and encouraged – but its

sustainability depends on maintaining the current level of funding.

• Five-year assessment

The five-year assessment (5YA) exercise is legally necessary before the Commission can
make proposals for the Sixth Framework Programme. It covers both the impacts of the Fourth
Framework Programme and progress on the Fifth Framework programme. The main focus for
the JRC was on the management aspects of its activities, the impact of its support to EU
policies and delivered results in relation to adopted programmes. JRC input involved a report
of activities over the five-year period, with individual evaluations of the eight institutes,
backed by an overall report from a high-level R&D personality.

In June 2000, after four months of meetings, visits to the institutes and deliberations of a
panel of 12 independent experts of high scientific repute, Professor S. Barabaschi delivered a
report carrying a wide range of constructive recommendations. Its overriding statement is that
the new mission of the JRC must be maintained and its implementation assured in all aspects
and consequences. To help this process, the JRC should:

– Allocate more resources to managing interfaces with its institutional customers, pay more

attention to their needs, and translate results into user-friendly language;

– In planning support to policies, not limit effort to the R&D part alone, but remain involved

in the whole project life-cycle, including post-delivery assistance;

– Increase management perception of outside opportunities and collaboration potential,

identify internal knowledge gaps and bridge them with external capabilities; and

– Improve the awareness of the need for networking, both internal and external, which must

become second nature to the JRC researcher.

21

The valuable recommendations collected in these two exercises have been combined in an
action plan. A large majority of the recommendations has been accepted and agreed by JRC
management, and checkpoints for six-monthly verification of progress established.
• High level panel

In January 2000, Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin established a high level panel,
chaired by Viscount Etienne Davignon,
to review and make recommendations on the
workings of the JRC. A report presenting the unanimous view of the panel was issued in
July 2000, containing a number of recommendations concerning:

– In which areas should the JRC concentrate its activities taking account both of its areas of

excellence and the Commission’s political priorities?

– What are the operational consequences of its mission in terms of its relationship with the

European Parliament, scientific committees and various agencies?

– What are the needs in terms of establishing partnership networks with national centres in

the Member States and at international level, and how can this best be achieved?

– How can the JRC be adapted to the changing relationship with national centres and EU

institutions, while taking into account the status of the JRC as a Commission DG?

– How should JRC activities be funded?

The panel endorses the mission assigned to the JRC by the Fifth Framework Programme, and
finds the JRC has a clear long-term role. It proposes opening the JRC up to the other
Community institutions, and offers a number of organisational suggestions. It recommends
that the JRC should not dissipate its efforts, but should focus activities and promote intense
networking with other European centres of excellence. Finally, the panel attaches particular
importance to nuclear activities.

After presenting the conclusions of the report to the Commission, Commissioner Busquin
offered to follow it up with a communication on the JRC’s role in the context of the European
Research Area, and with a decision on improving the governing and advisory structure of the
JRC.
• Commission peer group evaluation

On 26 July 2000, the Commission published the communication Matching the Commission
activities with its human resources – the means to achieve our objectives, undertaken in the
framework of the Commission Reform initiative. A peer group comprising five Commission
members had been appointed earlier in the year to make a political overview of the
institutions’ activities and bring them into line with the available human resources.

The peer group concluded that a total of 298 research posts could be phased out. Of these,
200 were to be achieved by reductions in JRC staff, either by closing down the IAM Petten
site or by reducing activities overall. A study on the potential closure of Petten concluded that
this would not be feasible, so the JRC is identifying possible areas for reduction of activities
across its structure. This task is scheduled for completion in early 2001.

JRC AND THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA

On 18 January 2000, the European Commission adopted the Communication Towards a
European Research Area3, envisaged by Commissioner Philippe Busquin as a means of
contributing to the creation of better overall framework conditions for research in Europe.

3

COM(2000)6 - 18 January, 2000. See also the web-site: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/area.html.

22

The document was discussed during the informal meeting of research ministers in Lisbon and
endorsed by the Lisbon Summit at the end of March 2000. The European Parliament, the
Economic and Social Committee and the Council of the Regions took part in the debate,
together with the scientific community and industry.

An important dimension of the European Research Area initiative is the need to strengthen
and develop the relationship between science and policy-making. This includes supporting
scientific infrastructure, selecting and evaluating research programmes, as well as developing
policies that rely on scientific excellence – from public health to vehicle safety.

A European scientific and technical reference system is required to analyse diverse opinions,
fully assess the implications of the different options and provide objective information for
democratic debate and decision-making. Such a reference system must be capable of reacting
quickly in emergencies.

The JRC can play an important role in the development of the scientific and technical
reference system by helping to provide support
to policy-makers on the scientific and
technical dimensions of their decisions.

Key activities of the JRC in this respect could include:

– Evaluating test methods and standards to help remove barriers to international trade;

– Providing independent verification of methodologies to promote EU-wide consensus on

conflicting scientific issues; and

– Anticipating changes in society’s demands over the coming decades.

The JRC is already engaged in these activities through various projects: the system for
reference materials, which is essential in achieving comparable and traceable measurements;
the European reference laboratory for air pollution (ERLAP); the work of the JRC-managed
European Chemicals Bureau (ECB); the European integrated pollution prevention and control
bureau (EIPPC); and the JRC’s function as a world-wide reference for nuclear safeguards.

THE JRC AS A PARTNER IN NETWORKS

local authorities,

Networking with research organisations and industry has long been recognised by the JRC as
indispensable to fulfilling its mission of providing the best scientific and technical support to
EU policies. It has collaborated with partners in research centres, universities, regulatory
the EU and
bodies,
beyond. Within the context of the European Research Area initiative, a timely reflection was
launched by the JRC throughout 2000 to explore the establishment of a scientific reference
system that could provide independent and high-quality support to the Commission and
Member States.

industrial associations and companies throughout

A first international workshop on science and governance was organised by the JRC in March
2000, bringing together policy-makers, scientists and academics from Europe, the USA,
Canada and Japan. From these, the working group CERCLE (chief executives of research
centres and laboratories in Europe) was formed to consider in detail the concept of a European
scientific reference system. This body addressed the practical components and functions of
such a system – how it would operate, the type of results it should deliver and how it could
support its customers, namely the European Commission,
the European Parliament and
Member States.

Following the workshop, a two-day conference was jointly organised on science and
governance by the JRC and the Research DG in October 2000, attracting some 450 delegates.
Strong support emerged for the creation of a scientific reference system that would enable
experts and organisations to network in delivering sound scientific advice.

23

The JRC continued its policy of collaborating with strategic partners to this end, and
concluded a memorandum of understanding with the Spanish national research centre CSIC.
Agreed areas for collaboration include research to identify, control and establish common
standards on GMOs; food technology and quality control; biomaterials; and environmental
monitoring. On the socio-economic level, CSIC and the JRC will work together on issues
relating to Mediterranean candidate countries and on the European Science and Technology
Observatory (ESTO). Collaboration will primarily materialise through joint projects, sharing
facilities and staff exchanges. It will complement agreements reached with other leading
research organisations.

PARTICIPATION OF ACCESSION COUNTRIES

Since mid-1999, 11 accession countries have joined the Fifth Framework Programme as
associate members and are benefiting from full participation in all EU research programmes
(seven countries have also subscribed to the nuclear section).

The report of the panel of independent experts chaired by Viscount Davignon (July 2000)
spurred the JRC to draw up an integrated strategy covering science and technology issues to
aid the enlargement process. In particular, the panel emphasised the increasingly important
role for the JRC in helping Central and Eastern European countries to improve the
performance and safety standards of their nuclear installations.

In 2000, the JRC started a specific action in support of the enlargement process. This will
strengthen the collaboration with research organisations in the pre-accession countries,
through various measures such as:

Progressive opening up of the JRC work programme
Within the JRC Fifth Framework Programme work programme, 18 projects have been
accorded higher priority to address specific needs of the pre-accession process in the areas of
environment, nuclear safety and safeguards, harmonisation of measurements, agriculture,
food and chemical products, prospective analysis and modelling.

Encouraging submission of joint proposals to the Fifth Framework Programme
the JRC plays an important role in drawing research
Through its core competences,
organisations from pre-accession countries into European project networks. In 1999, 43
shared-cost projects were selected, in which the JRC joined with 60 research organisations
from these partner countries.

Organising joint events
information days for senior representatives of the research community were
In 2000,
organised in major pre-accession countries (Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland),
to raise
awareness of the opportunities offered by collaboration with the JRC. In addition, several
joint workshops and conferences have taken place, or have been scheduled.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

In the context of its new mission, the JRC had announced to the joint Group Research/Atomic
Questions in spring 1999 that it intended to undertake a dramatic revision of its international
relations to focus on the aims set by its mission.

The past year has seen the effects of this transition and a realignment of the international
activities of the JRC – both in its own fields of jurisdiction and in its interaction with the USA
and Japan, who are essential EU partners. Certainly, improvement is still required and some
sectors of activity reflect too great a diversity in the interventions of the JRC. But, on the
whole, significant progress was made.

24

An individual partner: Japan

Links between the JRC and Japanese research institutes form the principal Community-level
co-operative activity between the EU and Japan. This is largely explained by the structure of
research in Japan. This co-operation covers the aspects of science and technology at the centre
of common interest.

While all four pillars of JRC activity have benefited from this change, it is in nuclear safety
and food security that the effects are most pronounced.

The nuclear field

the US Secretary of Energy,

• With the USA
to be
Bill Richardson,
associated with the ideas and initiatives launched by the former. Following a meeting held in
Washington at
the end of October 1999 between the Director-General and the Under
Secretary in the US Department of Energy (DoE), the decision was taken to widen the field of
co-operation, currently limited to the control of the nuclear materials. A draft Euratom/US-
DOE agreement covering nuclear technologies is now being examined.

invited the JRC Director-General

In addition, under the existing agreement, these meetings helped reaffirm the wish of the two
parties to continue co-operation, particularly in assistance to Russia and the newly
independent states (NIS) in the field of controlling nuclear materials (nuclear safeguards).
• With Japan
A visit by the JRC Director-General to Japan in spring 1999 had resulted in similar
conclusions. Co-operation with the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) has been
widened to nuclear technologies, in the same way as with the USA. In addition, the R&D
agreement concerning the control of nuclear materials should be renewed very soon.

Within the framework of a profound restructuring underway in Japan, which should be
completed in 2001 with the disappearance of the Science and Technological Agency (STA),
control of nuclear materials will be entrusted to the Nuclear Material Control Centre
(NMCC). The NMCC has already stated that it would welcome JRC technical support and
experience, both for training its inspectors and developing the most suitable techniques. A
draft agreement, comprising possible contractual clauses to allow the payment by the
Japanese for the services of the JRC, is being examined.
• With Brazil/Argentina
The Brazilian-Argentinean Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Material
(ABACC) is the only regional organisation – other than Euratom – responsible for the control
of nuclear materials. While its operating rules are different from those of Euratom, its
objectives and technological needs are similar. It was therefore natural that a co-operation
agreement be concluded between the two bodies. Modelled on the Euratom/US-DOE
agreement, this was duly signed on 10 February 1999.
• With Russia
Co-operation with Russia under TACIS continues, while that with the EU enlargement
candidate countries is being intensified.

25

Food security and consumer protection

• With the USA
Discussions were carried out mainly with the USA on food security and consumer protection.
At the ‘New Vistas’ meeting held in Stuttgart on 15 June 1999, it had been agreed that the
questions of food security (including that of GMOs) should be the subject of genuine co-
operation. It was agreed in Washington in February 2000 that the optimal approach would be
to draft a memorandum of understanding between the JRC and the JIFSAN (joint institute for
food safety and applied nutrition) research centre at the University of Maryland.
• With Australia
During an international conference on GMOs in Sydney in spring 1999, close contacts were
made with the Australians.
• With Canada
Formal collaboration was established with the objectives of obtaining scientific data
concerning safety and food quality, plus the establishment of co-operation in the more
specific fields of chemical contamination and fraud prevention, with particular respect to
GMOs.
• With the World Health Organisation
At the end of 2000, the World Health Organisation (WHO) approached the JRC to examine
the possibility of the JRC leading research projects intended to improve food security and
environmental safety aspects of human health protection. Such projects will come within the
broader agreement currently under discussion between the Commission (the Health and
Consumer Protection DG) and WHO.

Environmental protection

• With applicant countries
Numerous actions are in hand in the field of environmental protection, particularly with the
applicant countries for enlargement. The EI takes part in monitoring the Danube basin, and in
the fight against pollution there. The countries concerned called for support following the
accidental discharge of highly toxic products.
• With Japan
EI is acting in three priority areas with Japan that interest both partners: urban pollution and
the question of emissions, overall climate change and the implementation of the Kyoto
protocol, and solar energy. In the latter field, CRIEPI (the joint research organisation of the
Japanese electricity producers) and the Japanese Quality Association wish to develop joint
projects with EI.
• With the USA
EI has been collaborating with the US DoE 's Environmental Chemistry Division at
Brookhaven National Laboratory,
in determining the role of atmospheric aerosols (e.g.
particulate matter derived from fuel combustion) in the radiation budget of the Earth. The two
groups are currently collaborating to integrate ten years of international research in this area,
as requested by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).

Jointly with the Environment DG, EI set up collaboration with the US Environmental
Protection Agency (US-EPA) in order to develop and implement aligned global standards
relating to emissions from non-road machinery.

Finally, in the area of human and environmental health, a common EU-US framework is
being established to promote transatlantic co-operation in endocrine disruptor research.
Preliminary contacts include US EPA and other US institutions (National Academy of
Sciences, universities…) and private companies.

26

• With Canada
Three areas of co-operation are underway with Canada:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Monitoring of radioactivity in the environment, with the Meteorological Centre of
Canada and the University of British Columbia;

Use of remote sensing for soil monitoring, with COLUTEQ (Consortium of the
Teledetection Laboratories of Quebec); and

Sustainable development, with the Canadian ministries of industry and environment.
In this context, the IPTS co-presides the OECD’s task force on biotechnology for
sustainable industrial development with the Canadian Ministry of Industry and MITI
(the Japanese Ministry for International Trade and Industry).

• With Russia
SAI and the International Forestry Institute (IFI) in Moscow have established collaboration
for the monitoring of forests and fires covering the whole of Siberia.
• Under the Kyoto Protocol
The SAI TREES project in support of the Environment and Development DGs covers the
countries of the tropical area in Africa, South East Asia and Latin America confronted with a
deforestation problem. This work is carried out in collaboration with the space agencies in
Japan (NASDA) and the USA (NASA). Agreements drawn up with these two bodies, and
with the ESA, comprise a contribution to the definition of new instruments for ground
observation, as well as to their use.

The SAI World Fire Web (WFW) project provides for systematic monitoring of forest fires at
world level, in co-operation with national institutions of 15 countries, including Canada,
USA, Brazil, Australia and Russia.

General security

In fields more generally connected with security in its broad meaning, the following are
worthy of mention:

– Signature of an arrangement between the JRC and the US National Science Foundation
(NSF) in the field of seismic engineering. This agreement, similar to that existing between
the JRC and the Building Research Institute (BRI) of
the Japanese Ministry of
Construction, concerns co-operation with three American university laboratories financed
by the NSF.

– Signature of a memorandum of understanding on 17 July 2000 on the technologies
intended for mine clearance for humanitarian purposes. The International Test and
Evaluation Programme (ITEP) for humanitarian mine clearance proposes a framework for
co-operation between the European Commission (represented by the JRC in accordance
with its Work Programme), the USA, Canada and the five Member States undertaking an
R&D programme in this field (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the
United Kingdom).

COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES

While the majority of the JRC budget supports its core research Work Programme,
approximately 15% is earned from other sources. Competitive activities is the umbrella term
given to all other income earned – from participation in the collaborative projects of the Fifth
Framework Programme, additional paid work to support European Commission services and
work for third parties, typically regional authorities or industry.

27

Participating in such activities brings several advantages. In addition to benchmarking against
other research centres, the JRC also gains access to new expertise and shares its own
competences and facilities. In accordance with JRC’s own regulations, projects must
complement the JRC’s mission and must respect the subsidiarity principle.

Throughout 2000, the JRC enjoyed a success rate of approximately 40% in its applications for
shared-cost projects, resulting in a further 90 new projects awarded. The majority of these
were from the ‘Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development’ and the ‘Competitive and
Sustainable Growth’ Programmes’ of the Research DG, although the JRC was also
represented in other programmes.

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

The European Technology Transfer Initiative (ETTI)

The JRC often produces results with potential industrial applications as a by-product of its
core research programme. In addition to on-going activities to protect and exploit research
results with commercial applications, the JRC is developing a number of specific projects to
promote technology transfer by the creation of spin-offs. These activities are grouped under
the European Technology Transfer Initiative (ETTI).

Approved by the Commission in 1998, ETTI aims to provide access to, and maximise, the
exploitation of JRC’s research results to the benefit of European industry. The initiative is
composed of three strands:

1. Entrepreneurship courses
Following the successful pilot course in 1999, a second course in entrepreneurship training for
JRC researchers – particularly those on short-term contracts – ran between March and
September 2000 at the JRC Ispra site. Candidates selected for the course on the basis of a
business proposal attended 18 weekend workshops, consisting of approximately 150 hours of
training delivered by professionals from Member States. All phases of business planning –
from feasibility studies via financing to practical steps for start-ups – were covered during the
course, giving it a strongly pragmatic flavour.

2. Technology Transfer Fund
The concept behind the Technology Transfer Fund was to stimulate the set-up of a seed
capital fund that would be both trans-European and trans-technology. In June 2000, following
a call for interest published in 1999 and subsequent negotiations, a contract was signed
between the JRC and German venture capital company Industrie Management Holding (IMH)
GmbH to raise the fund. A
20 million fund is being raised on the market, with no financial
or legal involvement on the part of JRC. Half of the fund is dedicated to JRC projects, but it
will also invest in other spin-off projects throughout the Member States and Associated
States.
Throughout the second half of 2000, a selection of results with commercial potential was
presented to the fund managers on a ‘first right of refusal’ basis. Of these, four projects were
selected for development of a detailed business plan with a view to possible investment.

€

3. European Centre for Innovation and Spin-offs (ECIS)
This new centre is intended to provide an incubation function for selected JRC spin-off
projects. ECIS will typically assist with assessment of intellectual property rights, market
studies, design consulting, business plan development and so on, before a new legal company
is formed. Two to three such spin-offs are expected every year. Facilitating technology
transfer from JRC to innovative SMEs in less-favoured regions of the Member States is a
second objective. It is anticipated that the ECIS incubator management team, assisted by a
network of consultants, will help to identify and contact such companies. Two to three

28

projects of this kind are anticipated each year. ECIS will be located at JRC’s Ispra site, but
access will be open to all JRC researchers. The centre is expected to be operational in 2001.

Expertise for the setting-up of innovative firms (EXSIF)

Complementing the above activities is JRC’s involvement in the collaborative EXSIF project,
funded by the Enterprise DG. A consortium of European R&D organisations – including CEA
(FR), CERN (CH), CNRS (FR), CSIC-CNM (ES), DERA (UK) – representing some 40,000
researchers is pooling resources to promote high-tech spin-offs. The expected results are the
establishment of pools of experts, as well as the definition of a set of best practices validated
in case studies and pre-packaged for dissemination throughout the EU.

Protection and exploitation of JRC research results

Results produced at the JRC are the property of the European Communities. JRC researchers
are encouraged to protect research results by the most appropriate means (e.g. patent or
copyright) prior to publishing or other disclosure. The JRC’s technology transfer unit works
closely with the Enterprise DG and a network of technology brokers to ensure that JRC
results are protected and exploited. Fourteen patent applications and four requests for
software registration were filed throughout 2000. Licensing a technology to the appropriate
industrial partner is the most common means of exploitation. The JRC has more than 800
partners in both industry and academia through its collaborative work, and welcomes new
contacts.

Innovation project competition

An internal competition was organised to encourage innovation within the JRC institutes.
More than 30 proposals were submitted, reflecting the broad range of results arising from JRC
core research. Four projects were selected for full funding; a further three received partial
support. In addition, market studies were commissioned in order to assess the commercial
potential of
fuel cell and the
commercialisation of a biotech cell screening kit are among the projects supported.

two projects. The development of a new type of

COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

The JRC communications strategy, defined in 2000, provided for a number of objectives
intended to increase the visibility of JRC activities to the outside world. A major objective
was to promote JRC's image towards its stakeholders, including the European policy-makers
(the European Parliament, European Commission DGs and services, and Member States), the
scientific community, the media – and, ultimately, the general public.

Media relations and the popularisation of scientific information were accorded high priority.
The media is considered a valuable partner for the JRC; the press and radio/television are not
only vehicles for the relay of information, but also a target audience.

To attain these goals, a large number of significant events were organised in 2000, targeting
the European decision-makers both in the European Parliament and Member States, as well as
the media – resulting in increased media coverage and visibility for JRC activities.

Another objective was to streamline communications activities in order to foster JRC-wide
cohesion. This was achieved by setting common guidelines and a house style for publications,
and by tailoring key media messages to the relevant target audiences.

Considerable effort was dedicated to the expansion and reinforcement of JRC networks,
notably by organising a launch event for the JRC Alumni Network.

29

In 2000, integration of communications activities into mainstream JRC policy and scientific
work also had to adapt to the refocusing of JRC activities, taking into account new priorities.

Events

During the year, major JRC-organised events included conferences, exhibitions, seminars and
workshops – many of which also involved media relations. These included:

– JRC@EP was a large exhibition held from 31 January to 4 February 2000 at the European
Parliament in Brussels, with the aim of increasing the visibility of key JRC activities to
members of the European Parliament, as European policy-makers and JRC stakeholders.
Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin inaugurated the exhibition and gave a press
briefing to some 20 journalists. Very positive results ensued. The event generated strong
interest, and contributed to enhanced recognition for the JRC, its role and its possible
support to the European Parliament. It also provided an opportunity to establish new
contacts between MEPs and the JRC.

– A JRC Information Day was organised in Lisbon on 4 May 2000 to recognise the
Portuguese Presidency of the EU and target
the Portuguese scientific community.
Featuring project presentations, visits to research centres and a press dinner, this was
successful in helping to establish good links with Portuguese research organisations and
paving the way for further collaboration. It also obtained extensive media coverage.

– A major conference on ‘Science and Governance in a Knowledge Society: the
Challenge for Europe’ was organised on 16 and 17 October 2000 in Brussels. This served
as a follow-up to a workshop held in March 2000 on the same subject, at which the
interaction between science and society was debated. The October event was attended by
more than 500 participants from industry, research organisations, European and national
decision makers, universities from all over Europe and other continents – as well as many
in the various sessions, and the closing
journalists. Some 40 speakers took part
presentation by Commissioner Busquin was broadcast live on the Internet.

– A high level international workshop on vehicle emissions and the inauguration of the
ERLIVE laboratory took place on 11and 12 July 2000 in Ispra. This event brought together
the Commissioner for Research, Philippe Busquin, Italian Minister of Research Ortensio
Zecchino, industry partners, plus representatives from the European Parliament and other
DGs of the European Commission. A group of journalists also participated in a press
conference on globalisation of emissions standards, and the JRC contribution to this drive.

The signature of several memoranda of understanding afforded further opportunities to raise
awareness of JRC activities:

– A memorandum of understanding with the European Council for Automotive Research and
Development (EUCAR) and CONCAWE (the oil companies' European organisation for
environment, health and safety) on polluting emissions was signed on 12 May 2000;

– A memorandum of understanding on humanitarian demining with the International Test

and Evaluation Programme (ITEP) was signed on 17 July 2000.

Commissioner Busquin participated in the latter event, both of which generated good press
coverage.

The Commissioner also participated in a number of JRC external events, such as the GMES
Space Symposium in Lille (FR) on 16 and 17 October 2000, and the new technology
exhibition SITEF 2000 in Toulouse (FR) from 18 to 21 October 2000.

30

JRC site visits

As in 1999, JRC sites received a large number of visitors, including such prominent members
of the European Commission as President Romano Prodi, Vice-President Neil Kinnock,
Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström, and Health and Consumer Protection
Commissioner David Byrne.

The Commissioner responsible for the JRC, Philippe Busquin, visited JRC sites on several
occasions during the year, inaugurated a number of projects and held meetings with staff as
well as their representatives.

Many MEPs were welcomed to Ispra, including European Parliament Vice-President Alejo
Vidal-Quadras on 25 February 2000, a STOA (the European Parliament scientific and
technological options assessment unit) visit and meeting on 5 May 2000, and an ITRE
working group (the European Parliament committee on industry, external trade, research and
energy) visit and meeting on 25 May 2000.

National policy makers visiting the Ispra site included Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
on 12 September 2000, the Italian Minister for Research Ortensio Zecchino on 11 July 2000,
Swedish Secretary of State for Research Agneta Bladh on 30 and 31 May 2000, and
Portuguese Secretary of State Luis Parreirao on 5 June 2000. Representatives of the scientific
community, journalists and members of the general public further swelled the list.

By mid-December, a total of 10,986 persons – including 1623 for visits to institute facilities
and laboratories – had passed through the Ispra site for 209 events such as meetings,
conferences, workshops and seminars. In addition, Ispra held its first open day for the general
public on 13 May 2000 to celebrate Robert Schuman Day.

Media relations

A large number of specific press events were organised in 2000, for which the JRC distributed
23 press releases, as well as information packs and other material. These led to very positive
results in terms of media coverage, notably by the Member State press and press agencies:
some 450 press articles and interviews specifically dedicated to JRC activities were collected,
together with more than 30 TV clips.

Publications

The strategy for JRC newsletters – both internal (JRC in (month)), common to all JRC
institutes, and external (Letter from the JRC) – was consolidated in 2000. The two newsletters
are now published on a monthly basis and cover a wider range of subjects.

Distribution of the Letter from the JRC has been increased to 10,000, notably to European
policy-makers. Its contents are more thematic and project-oriented, with the various institutes
contributing to their compilation.

Documents such as the Annual Report and the thematic brochure Serving the Citizen were
published and disseminated, while work began on a new set of four general brochures to be
published in 2001.
In addition to specialised scientific publications, a total of 45 project leaflets and more than
250 posters illustrating JRC projects of close interest to the citizen were produced for use at
exhibitions, conferences and workshops. And, an historical book entitled JRC – 40 years of
service for Europe was distributed for the first time on the occasion of the ‘JRC Alumni
Event’ in June 2000.
In 2000, a corporate video on the JRC was duplicated and 3,000 copies were disseminated,
and the production of a ‘view-card’ (a type of mini CD-ROM) was launched.

31

JRC corporate website activities

A new JRC corporate website, launched on the occasion of the JRC@EP event in January
2000 attracted very positive feedback. The contents of the site are updated frequently – and
the implementation of various enhancements,
including a search engine, began in
December 2000.
A large number of queries are received through the website, which won favourable reviews in
the specialised press. A survey carried out by Politik-Digital (http://www.politik-digital.de/), a
major German portal website for politics, has ranked it as the fourth best – together with that
of OPOCE (Office for Official Publications of the European Communities) – among the
Commission DGs’ websites.
During the last quarter of 2000 there were an average of about 800,000 hits, 50,000 visits and
150,000 successful information requests a month – in general, one visit corresponds to many
hits and may result in the download of several files.

Providing information to the public

The JRC received many requests for information and publications from various publics –
journalists, scientists, students, institutional bodies, etc. In 2000, the Information and Public
Relations unit handled some 1713 requests – including 936 for the Annual Report.

YOUNG SCIENTISTS PRIZE 2000

For the first time in 2000, the JRC Young Scientists Prize prizes were awarded to recognise
the impact of work undertaken in support of EU policies. The prize was announced during
spring 2000, calling for proposals or applications for awards to scientists less than 36, serving
or having served at the JRC. Up to three awards were available. There was a total of 54
applications/proposals concerning work at all JRC institutes and covering a very wide
spectrum of scientific activities.
The prizes were an initiative of Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin, and intended to
recognise ‘a significant contribution to the scientific life of the JRC with emphasis on a
scientific accomplishment having contributed to the implementation of the JRC mission’. An
additional qualification was that the scientific accomplishment should have added to the links
between the JRC and other partners on the European research scene.
On the occasion of the Alumni Event ‘JRC in the 21st Century – Science and Governance’
held in Varese and Ispra (IT) on 29 and 30 June 2000, the JRC Director General bestowed the
JRC Young Scientists Prize on:
– Dr. Julia H. Fentem of Unilever, formerly with the JRC ECVAM (European Centre for
Alternative Methods) at the EI (now at the IHCP) at Ispra (IT) for her work on alternative
(non animal) tests for skin corrosion.

– Dr. Ioannis Papadakis of the IRMM in Geel (BE) for his work on co-ordination of and

research on reference values of trace elements.

– Dr. Gabriele Tamborini of the ITU in Karlsruhe (DE), formerly with the EI, for his work
on secondary ion mass spectrometry method for analysis of radioactive micro-particles.
Each award winner received a diploma, a medal and an invitation to participate on behalf of
the JRC in a scientific seminar or congress of his/her choice. The three winners also presented
their work at the Alumni Event.

32

THE JRC IN FIGURES

Staff
The Staff of the JRC (M-male, F-female) is composed of the following categories:

Statutory Staff

1999
M
566
671
102
182
1521

1999
F
135
186
71
55
447

2000
M
600
612
78
110
1400

2000
F
159
187
44
106
496

Officials
Temporary agents on 5-year renewable contracts
Temporary agents on 3-year non-renewable contracts
Auxiliary staff (1-year contracts)
TOTAL
Of the above-mentioned total, about 1500 staff members can be considered as scientific staff
out of which about 250 are employed on short term contracts (1-3 years).
During the course of the year, the total number of staff (excluding auxiliary agents) fell by
around 50,
the number of departures exceeding the number of new recruits. The
implementation of the Commission policy for staff financed on the research budget (NPPR)
was continued. The objective of this policy is to reach 40% of the total statutory staff as
officials, with a flexible portion of temporary agents (35% of the statutory staff on 5-year
contracts, 25% on 3-year contracts). In 2000 the percentage of officials reached 36% of total
staff.

Taking into account short-term statutory staff (3-year temporary and auxiliary agents), and the
short-term non-statutory staff (national detached experts, visiting scientists, grant-holders and
trainees), approximately 30% of JRC staff are recruited on three-years, or less, non-renewable
contracts.

Equal Opportunities

In 2000, the JRC continued implementing the Commission’s equal opportunities policy with
the aim of encouraging the recruitment and promotion of a greater number of women. The
year was marked by the establishment, in February, of the JRC Network for Women in
Science in the framework of the Commission communication on Women and Science, where
each institute and directorate of the JRC is represented.

Staff Distribution*

DG and programme management
Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements
Institute for Transuranium Elements
Institute for Advanced Materials
Institute for Systems, Informatics and Safety
Environment Institute
Space Applications Institute
Institute for Health and Consumer Protection
Institute for Prospective Technological Studies
Administration
Ispra Site Infrastructure
* Officials and temporary agents.

1998
M
30
156
160
156
214
160
102
100
28
72
275

1998
F
27
33
27
10
36
51
39
50
14
58
25

1999
M
24
135
159
143
194
148
102
97
32
68
237

1999
F
31
31
33
21
40
41
37
46
11
70
31

2000
M
26
133
167
132
196
135
82
86
34
67
232

2000
F
28
38
38
24
47
38
28
42
12
67
28

33

Visiting scientists, seconded experts, trainees, grant-holders

Visiting scientists
Post-Graduate grant-holders
Post-Doc grant-holders
Trainees
Seconded national experts
TOTAL

Budget (Budget and expenses - institutional activities)

1999
M
15
52
70
65
20
222

1999
F
2
31
27
77
5
142

2000
M
19
69
55
42
23
208

2000
F
2
34
23
52
5
116

The available credits to the JRC are sub-divided in staff expenses, means of execution
insurance, consumables, etc.) and
(maintenance of buildings and equipment, electricity,
operational credits (scientific acquisitions). The credits come from the institutional budget,
made available directly form the European budget to the JRC, from associated countries and
from competitive activities. On the institutional budget the following sums were committed:

€
)
(in M

Staff expenses
Means of execution
Operational appropriations
TOTAL (rounded)
€
5.7 M

were engaged for decommissioning.

1998
160
51
48
259

1999
157
59
46
262

2000
160
49
50
259

Competitive activities

figure for shared-cost actions reflects the conclusion in the year 2000 of 116

€
The 13.3 M
new contracts.
Competitive activities outside the FWP were defined through the conclusion of 16 new
€
contracts for a total amount of 9.5 M
was
committed for a range of 68 major clients.

€
. Third Party Work up to a value of 8.9 M

Shared-Cost Actions
Competitive Activities outside the FWP
Third Party Work
TOTALS

Publications

Inscribed in 2000 accounts
13.3
9.5
8.9
31.7

Institute

EUR
reports

Conferences* Articles**

Publications TOTAL

Special

General Management
IRMM
ITU
IAM
ISIS
EI
SAI
IHCP
IPTS
TOTAL
* Conferences include oral and poster presentations and proceedings.
* * Articles include also conference papers published in periodicals.

2
101
105
46
154
121
158
100
9
796

4
15
3
27
30
32
26
13
24
174

2
63
57
13
39
46
65
49
5
339

27
1
-
12
31
7
25
21
15
139

35
180
165
98
254
206
274
183
53
1448

34

SCIENCE AND GOVERNANCE

Given the accelerating pace of technological change, the increasing importance of scientific
matter to policy decisions and the speed with which Europe’s institutions are evolving, the
JRC organised a high-level workshop on the relationship between science and governance on
29 and 30 March 2000. The workshop was well attended by directors of research
establishments, civil servants responsible for research policy, members of the European
Parliament, industrialists, NGOs and academics who had studied the relationship between
science and policy.

The workshop was a first step in understanding how to develop a common system of
scientific and technical reference for policy implementation. This forms an important part of
the Commission’s European Research Area initiative. European policy-makers and citizens
should, in fact, be able to rely on information that is precise, as complete as possible,
scientifically up-to-date and continuously validated.

These questions were considered further during a conference entitled ‘Science and
Governance in a knowledge society: the challenge for Europe’ which was jointly held by the
JRC and the Research DG on 16 and 17 October 2000 in Brussels. The potential role that the
JRC would play in this area was also touched upon during the discussions. Three sessions –
respectively on science, citizens and the decision-making process;
risk control and
precautionary research; and towards a scientific and technical European reference system –
were held on the first day. During the closing session, the role of the European Research Area
for the development of new European citizenship was debated.

Overall conclusions of the October conference were that:

– In terms of structure, the EU science and technology reference system should be launched,
based on networks of centres of excellence providing a common knowledge base for
science and technology reference, and facilitating the dialogue between stakeholders,
scientists and policy-makers. Benchmarking will help to identify differing practices across
countries. The Commission’s European Research Area initiative will make possible the
first step in this process, the building of the networks.

– The science and governance interaction can contribute a new dimension to the Commission
President’s initiative on overall governance and the corresponding White Paper on the
topic, expected in 2001.

WOMEN AND SCIENCE

Gender perspectives in research are being addressed by the European Commission, as
reflected in its Communication on Women and Science4 and more recently by the
Communication on the European Research Area. The JRC, as the Commission’s in-house
research centre, has responded with the formation of a ‘Women & Science’ working group,
composed of representatives from its research institutes and directorates.
A first report5 was compiled and produced in spring 2000 on the gender distribution in the
JRC as a snapshot of the organisation. The report illustrates the composition of staff by
gender and grade for the overall JRC and by institute. For the total staff, there is a ratio of
65% male to 35% female. Men make up 87% of the scientific staff, and account for 96% of
all project leaders. At managerial level (i.e. heads of unit, advisers, directors), men occupy
90% of the total positions. Figures for scientific committees reflect the JRC’s scientific staff
numbers, with an average female representation of 14%.

4

5

Women and Science – Mobilising women to enrich European Research, COM(1999)76 final.
Gender Perspective in the Joint Research Centre.

35

Data on staff distribution per institute is available in the report. Considerable disparities are
evident amongst institutes. In the IAM, women make up 6% of the scientific staff, whereas in
the IHCP, 27% of the scientific staff are female. The situation reflects both the JRC’s
historical legacy and the fields of discipline.

The JRC also hosts grant-holders (post-graduate and post-doctoral researchers), established
senior scientists (visiting scientists) and seconded national experts. Currently all visiting
scientists at the JRC are men, whereas women make up 36% of the younger grant-holders.
This parallels the situation in most European universities and research establishments.

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

A quality management self-assessment exercise was completed in 2000, within the Total
Quality Initiative started in 1999. Activities and results were reviewed at all levels of the JRC
to identify strengths and areas for improvement. The action made use of the European
Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model, which is based on best practice,
supports sustainable growth and applies several criteria, such as leadership, people, policy and
strategy, partnership and resources and processes – as well as the consequences in terms of
people, customers, society and key performance.

The outcome of the self-assessment exercise was presented to the personnel of the JRC
institutes and headquarters. As a result, improvement teams were established to propose
improvement actions. Areas for improvement were identified for each institute and for the
headquarters, improvement teams meet regularly and initial agreed actions have already been
implemented.

SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES OF THE INSTITUTES IN 2000

Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) - Geel

Institute Director

1. Management support

2. Reference materials

3. Analytical chemistry

4.

Isotope measurements

5. Neutron physics

6. Radionuclide metrology

7.

Informatics and electronics

Manfred GRASSERBAUER

Michael-Francis FAHY

Jean PAUWELS

Adela RODRIGUEZ FERNANDEZ

Philip TAYLOR
Hermann WEIGMANN6
Franco CORVI7

Dietmar F.G. REHER

Richard ROSS8

8. Commercialisation of materials and reference

Doris FLORIAN

methods and scientific liaison

6

7

8

Until 30th September 2000.
Acting.
Until 31st October 2000.

36

Mission

The IRMM mission is to promote a common European measurement system in support of EU
policies, especially internal market, environment, health and consumer-protection standards.
IRMM’s prime objectives are to develop and perform specific reference measurements, to
produce certified reference materials, to organise international measurement evaluation
programmes, to establish trans-national databases, and to carry out pre-normative research.

Forming an integral part of the JRC mandate to establish a common system of scientific and
the Institute for Reference Materials and
technical reference for the European Union,
Measurements (IRMM) has today become the trans-national measurement institute of the
European Commission. This is analogous to the national measurement
institutes in the
Member States.

Given its institutional proximity to the development of European Union policies and its
independence of national and private interests,
the research profile of the IRMM is
spearheaded by the EU's political agenda. The Institute supports the Member States by
providing state-of-the-art reference materials and measurements.

The IRMM's scientific activities are categorised according to the three scientific pillars of the
JRC:
• Safety of food and chemicals
• Environment
• Nuclear safety and safeguards

Selected scientific highlights are documented in the following pages, which also provide a
brief insight into IRMM's horizontal activities.

SAFETY OF FOOD AND CHEMICALS

Reference materials

The IRMM has continued to renew, maintain, produce, distribute and manage over 450
different Bureau Communautaire de Référence (BCR) and IRMM certified reference
materials. 70% of these materials support the safety of food and chemicals.

Genetically modified organisms

In collaboration with the Health and Consumer Protection DG, and in support to the Novel
Food Regulation (EC) 258/97, the IRMM has continued to provide scientific support for the
enactment of EU labelling requirements to provide reference materials and methods urgently
needed for detecting genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food. Since 1997, the IRMM
has produced no less than 15 new reference materials for soya beans and maize — as well as
preparing and providing a range of proficiency testing samples for method validation studies
carried out at the JRC Institute for Health and Consumer Protection.

In 2000, a second generation of certified reference materials for Roundup-ready (RR) soya
(i.e. six new GMO certified reference materials) were produced, together with PT-samples for
GMOs in processed food. The mixing, characterisation and zygosity tests for the third
generation certified reference materials for PMON810 were performed. A study of DNA
quality in RR soya was also completed, so this material was launched onto the market as
IRMM-410R.

37

Alleviating the Dioxin/PCB crisis

With the advent of the dioxin crisis in 1999, the Belgian authorities urgently required
calibration solutions for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins,
the
installation of proper control measurements and thereby avoid further entry of these highly
toxic chemicals into the food chain. The IRMM immediately responded to this request; within
weeks, 1,765 ampoules containing 1-ml PCB calibration solutions were prepared and
delivered. Additionally, pork was targeted as a meat category that required control. The
IRMM therefore prepared blanks and samples for PCBs in pork fat, and organised two
proficiency testing campaigns involving a total of 60 analyses for Belgian laboratories. The
results of these inter-comparisons meant that 7% of the laboratories involved were declared
unfit to continue performing such analyses.

to permit

Nutrients and minerals in pig and dairy feed

In collaboration with the Health and Consumer Protection DG, and in fulfilment of EC
Directive 93/28/EEC, reference materials are needed to check that pig and dairy feed
materials contain the minimum required amounts of nutrients and minerals (including
copper). To meet this requirement, the IRMM produced and bottled 3,422 units of BCR-708
(pig feed) and 3,725 units of BCR-709 (dairy feed) in March 2000. These materials are
presently undergoing the certification process.

Establishing reference systems for in vitro diagnostic measurements

The stated purposes of the European in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) Directive (98/79/EC) are to
eliminate trade barriers within Europe and to ensure improved measurements for healthcare
decision-making by creating a single channel of approval for all IVD products within the
European Union. This requires manufacturers of in-vitro diagnostics who wish to sell their
products in the EU to demonstrate that they are ‘traceable to reference systems (i.e. reference
materials and/or reference methods) of a higher order’.

This ruling has brought to light an enormous need for internationally recognised certified
reference materials. At present, however, neither certified reference materials nor reference
methods are available for quite a number of the analytes measured in clinical laboratories.
Accordingly,
the IRMM has collaborated with the International Federation of Clinical
Chemistry (IFCC) in certifying four IRMM/IFCC certified reference materials for enzyme
activity at 37oC – as well as an IRMM/IFCC reference panel of 34 sera for cortisol.

CRM

Description

IRMM/IFCC-451

Cortisol reference panel of fresh frozen human sera IRMM/IFCC-452:
gamma-glutamyltransforase partially purified, from pig kidney

IRMM/IFCC-452 Gamma-glutamyltransferase partially purified from pig kidney

IRMM/IFCC-453 Human lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme 1

IRMM/IFCC-454 Alanine aminotransferase partially purified, from pig heart

IRMM/IFCC-455 Creatine kinase CK-MB from human heart

Reference Methods and Measurements

The IRMM has developed and performed reference measurements to support the safety of
food and chemicals.

38

Antibiotics in Food

One prime EU concern at present is to detect and control the presence and concentration of
antibiotics in foodstuffs of animal origin. The IRMM has accepted the task of developing
hyphenated analytical methods to determine the misuse of several
important classes of
antibiotics. In accordance with Directive 70/524/EC and Regulation 2821/98, the Institution is
presently developing a new reference method for the determination of several antibiotics in
food, for which the maximum residue limits have been established. During the course of the
year a multi-residue extraction procedure was developed and applied to 400 kidney samples
from pigs and cows.

IMEP applied to food and chemicals

The International Measurement Evaluation Programme (IMEP), running under the auspices of
the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), European Analytical
Chemistry (EURACHEM), European Organisation of Metrology (EUROMET) and Co-
operation on International Traceability in Analytical Chemistry (CITAC), shows the true state
of chemical measurements on a global scale. IMEP rounds were carried out during this year to
support the safety of food and chemicals:

– IMEP-8 (C/O ratios in CO2 – for food authentication, emission monitoring and global

change) involving 27 laboratories from 14 different countries, was completed.

– IMEP-9 (metals in water – for monitoring water quality) involving 201 participants from
35 different countries was also completed. The samples in this round were selected for a
Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) key comparison and for a EUROMET
pilot project.

– Two new IMEP rounds have commenced for cadmium in rice and lead in wine (130
laboratories from 30 countries), with a high percentage of participating laboratories located
in pre-accession countries.

– On behalf of the Agriculture DG, IRMM co-ordinated an inter-comparison of various
methods among expert laboratories to determine the water content of sugar and dairy
products. The results of these inter-comparisons enable the Agriculture DG and the
International Dairy Federation (IDF) to evaluate and select the most suitable reference
method for the determination of water content in these foodstuffs.

Providing scientific support to combat BSE

In 1999,
spongiform
the IRMM successfully co-ordinated a post-mortem bovine
encephalopathy (BSE) evaluation project – sample preparation and distribution, laboratory
supervision and result evaluation – involving 14,000 BSE-infected and non-infected samples.
The results of this test have enabled the scientific community to distinguish with 100%
certainty animals clinically infected with BSE from healthy animals – which will lead to a
Europe-wide screening of 65 000 cattle.

Today the IRMM, again in collaboration with the Health and Consumer Protection DG, is
engaged in four new BSE projects:

– Evaluation of newly developed post-mortem BSE tests;
– BSE test performance in pre-clinical cases;
– Production of an international standard for BSE infectivity testing (using primates); and
– Assessment of relationship between infectivity titre and prion concentration.

39

While the above projects are being executed, future research avenues under discussion
include:

– Provision of tissue samples from non-infected and scrapie/BSE infected sheep;
– A proficiency testing campaign covering European control laboratories that apply post-

mortem BSE tests;

– The effect of other neurological diseases on post-mortem tests currently applied; and
– Distribution of PrPres in bovine brain stems.

Oxidative compounds in hair dyes

Changing the colour of human hair has introduced a wide range and variety of cosmetic
formulations onto the market. Reference methods therefore need to be in place to check that
these formulations conform to EU cosmetic directives.

Supporting EC Directive 76/768/EEC and in collaboration with the Enterprise DG, the IRMM
has developed a new reference method for analysing oxidative compounds in hair dyes.
In 2000, first results were obtained for real commercial samples. These results have been
presented to the working group on methods of chemical analysis for cosmetic products. An
international inter-comparison campaign will follow, to validate this analytical method.

Additional activities

– The IRMM is developing a new reference method for selenium speciation in feed/food (EC
Directives 70/524/CEE, 89/398/CEE and in collaboration with the Agriculture DG). This
year, a new procedure employing enzymatic extraction has successfully been applied to
yeast material, giving an 80% yield.

– An advanced measurement method for sugar in industrial syrups has been developed with
the Agriculture DG for use in routine laboratories (customs labs). Test results for this
method were submitted to the Agriculture DG.

– An exploratory project on metal-binding protein characterisation and analysis is beginning.
A method for milk authentication, as stipulated in Directives 83/417/CEE and 91/32/CEE,
is being developed in collaboration with the Agriculture DG. The separation of the major
milk proteins has successfully been carried out and the method was applied to 10 different
types of commercial milk.

– Finally,

a

reference method using Reverse Phase-Liquid Chromatography-Mass
Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry was developed for the detection of 11 polar pesticides in
oranges.

The future

Future priority areas will focus on BSE research, detection and quantification of GMOs, and
the control of xenobiotics (dioxins and PCBs) and natural contaminants such as mycotoxins in
food. The IRMM will complete the production of reference materials for quantifying enzyme
activities and produce new reference materials for cardiac markers and thyroid disorders. It
will also develop analytical methods for the diagnosis of proteins.

The IMEP programme will focus more on health, food and chemical safety issues – such as
lead in wine or cadmium in rice – and will eventually be expanded to include organic
compounds in important matrices – e.g. PCBs in food. Ultra-low level radioactivity
measurements in the HADES underground laboratory in Geel (BE) will be applied to
radionuclides in food matrices such as milk, as well as to lead-210 measurements for
assessing the effects of radon gas on bone tissue. Reference methods for selenium speciation
and oxidative hair dyes will further be developed and validated.

40

ENVIRONMENT
The IRMM continued to renew, maintain, produce and distribute certified reference materials,
as well as performing, developing and validating reference measurements needed for
environmental monitoring and protection. Results in 2000 included:

PCB and dioxin reference materials

The preparation of dioxin standard solutions (BCR–614), fly ash (BCR- 615) and sewage
sludge (BCR–667) was completed in accordance with EC Reg. 26/94 (CEN-TC 264W61) and
in collaboration with the Environment DG. Additionally, the preparation of candidate material
for the renewal of BCR-392S (PCBs in sewage sludge) was completed with the Research DG
in 2000.

EUROSOIL certified reference materials

On 20 March 2000, a project on EUROSOIL certified reference materials commenced in
fulfilment of Directive 79/831/EEC. This new project (taken over from the JRC Environment
Institute in Ispra) will lead to the production and certification of six different soil types for
adsorption coefficient, pH, carbon, nitrogen and particle size.

Neutron data measurements for environmental protection, reactor safety and waste
transmutation

Neutron data measurements requested by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), the Joint European Fusion File (JEFF) and the nuclear industry
progressed significantly. Cross-section measurements were conducted for 99Tc (n,p) and
(n,a ), as well as activation cross-section measurements for long-lived products. Additionally,
in support of reactor safety, cross-section measurements were conducted for Al(n,n’),
52Cr(n,n’) and 58Ni(n,n’).

International measurement evaluation rounds

The IRMM’s IMEP programme provided strong support to environmental policy through the
completion of IMEP-9 (metals in water),
involving 201 laboratories from 35 different
countries, and IMEP-11 (metals in car exhaust catalyst), involving 36 participants from 16
different countries. On-going IMEP rounds for heavy metals in water (IMEP-12) and in
sediment (IMEP-14) progressed significantly; together they involve some 300 laboratories.

Environmental measurements underground

Using the HADES underground laboratory (223m below ground level), the IRMM performed
radioactivity measurements on environmental samples taken in the vicinity of nuclear
Inspectorate in
facilities by the EURATOM (European Atomic Energy Community)
Luxembourg.
In collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the IRMM
is participating in the radioactivity characterisation of an ocean shellfish material for use as a
new environmental reference. Samples collected downstream from a German uranium mine to
yield information on sedimentation rates and the burden on the environment were also
measured and evaluated. Finally, the IRMM measured samples to assess the neutron flux dose
in buildings near the JCO site in Tokai-mura, Japan, where there was an uncontrolled nuclear
chain reaction on 30 September 1999.

41

Additional activities
• Sediment for a BIPM-CCQM (Comité consultatif pour la Quantité de Matières) key
comparison required homogeneity control and measurements of lead and cadmium. The
concentrations of both metals were determined, and the homogeneity control studies were
performed, evaluated and finalised.

• New heptane and iso-octane reference materials were certified and made available for sale

as IRMM-441 and IRMM-442 respectively.

• To measure metal pollution in particulate matter in ambient air (aerosol), according to EC
Directive 96/62 and in collaboration with the Environment DG and CEN-TC 264 WG14,
validation work to determine arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, manganese, molybdenum,
nickel, uranium and zinc was carried out on loaded aerosol filters.

• To measure metal pollution on air filters, validation work was performed for barium,

copper, lead, manganese, molybdenum, potassium, titanium, uranium and zinc.

• The IRMM has produced the world's first primary isotopic gas standards (PIGS) for
measuring carbon, oxygen, and sulphur isotope ratios – valuable for present and future
environmental monitoring techniques. This year’s results were produced for surphur (via
sulphur rexa fluoride6) and carbon (via carbon tetra fluoride4).

• By the end of 2000,

the IRMM will have finished the homogeneity control and
certification measurements for the replacement of a certified reference material for heavy
metals in fly ash (BCR CRM-176R).

The future
Future priority areas will be the completion of tasks concerning heavy metals and PCBs in
sediments and sewage sludges. Reference materials and methods for heavy metals in aerosol –
Directives 96/62/EC and COM(97)500 – will be developed, as well as reference materials for
trace metals in fresh and waste water. The rapidly expanding IMEP programme will continue
to address important environmental issues (e.g. sulphur in fuel, and metals in water) with
special focus on the pre-accession countries.

NUCLEAR SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS

Nuclear safeguards

With special focus on metrology and quality assurance for nuclear safeguards, the IRMM is
working to maintain and expand an independent European metrological capability in the area
of nuclear analysis. It is doing so in collaboration with the Euratom Safeguards Directorate,
the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), the official US Safeguards Laboratory in
New Brunswick (NBL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

Isotope reference materials for nuclear safeguards

In 2000, the IRMM continued to produce and distribute certified element and isotope
reference materials, in response to customer requests coming mainly from British Nuclear
Fuels Ltd (BNFL), Compagnie Générale des Materiaux Nucléaires (COGEMA), on-site
Laboratories
a
plutonium/gadolinium/neodymium alloy large spike was completed and preparation work for
the production of both uranium isotopic reference materials and filament reference materials
was carried out. These reference materials will be used for the calibration of high-tech mass
spectrometers.

and La Hague)

Japan. The

preparation

(Sellafield

and

of

42

Additional activities

Measurements on uranium reference materials for environmental monitoring in the vicinity of
nuclear installations were performed, and the certification of uranium in doped glass
(Certified Test Samples to be used for environmental monitoring) was completed. The
preparation of a dilute spike for the calibration of mass spectrometers (IRMM-073) made
significant headway, while the organisation of a second IMEP round for nuclear signatures in
the environment Nuclear Signatures IMPEP (NUSIMEP-2) commenced in 2000. Finally,
isotopic
dissolved MOX (mixed
plutonium/uranium oxide nuclear fuel) samples – and for the Pu-2000 project, sample
measurements were completed by four laboratories.

abundances were measured

plutonium in

for

The future

Future priority areas will include the preparation and certification of a new uranium-233
spike,
the organisation of five international measurement evaluation programmes (two
Regular European Interlaboratory Measurement Evaluation Programme (REIMEP) and three
NUSIMEP rounds) and the preparation of particle reference materials for environmental
safeguards. Ultra-low level radioactivity measurements in the underground laboratory will be
performed on swipe samples, and environmental neutron fluence measurements will be
carried out. In view of the IRMM’s monopoly position in metallic spike preparation (for
reprocessing plants), further research will be carried out, leading to the eventual organisation
of a world-wide inter-comparison for these materials.

Nuclear safety

Neutron data cross section measurements requested by the OECD, JEFF file and nuclear
efficiency, waste
reactor
industry were
minimisation/transmutation and environmental protection.

in support of

carried out

safety and

Doppler broadening studies to examine the temperature dependence of reactivity

Doppler broadening studies at low temperatures for hafnium progressed significantly in 2000,
with measurements completed on a 1-mm sample at 20K and 300K respectively.
Measurements on plutonium dioxide are currently under preparation. For Doppler broadening
studies at high temperatures, a graphite oven is being transferred from the Institute Laue
Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble (FR) to the IRMM.

Activation cross-sections for short-lived products

This work progressed with new irradiations and activity determinations being completed for
several isotopes of copper, molybdenum, strontium, zinc and zirconium.

Reference measurements on actinides

These measurements provide important data for feasibility studies of the Thorium fuel cycle.
Capture cross sections on thorium-232 have been measured with high energy resolution; these
are being continued at energies up to 100 keV. Fission cross sections on protactinium-233 are
under preparation in collaboration with the University of Uppsala and the Sudsvik
Laboratory. 234U(n,f) cross sections were measured at
the 150MeV linear accelerator,
complemented by thermal neutron measurements carried out at ILL.

Cross sections of neutron-absorbing materials
Capture cross sections have been measured with high energy resolution up to 100 keV on
82,84,86Kr. Total cross section measurements have been completed on krypton-84.

Neutron data for waste transmutation
Transmission data for technetium-99 from 3 eV to 150 keV have been completed. The
average capture cross section of technetium-99 has been analysed up to 100 keV. The neutron
resonance parameters of neptunium-237 have been determined up to 500 eV.

43

Neutron data for accelerator driven systems (ADS)
Activation cross sections for the reactions 99Tc(n,p), 99Tc(n,a), and 94Mo(n,p) have been
measured up to 20 MeV.

Neutron data standards
Reference measurements for neutron data standards progressed, with the analysis of 239Pu(n,f)
and the experimental work with ILL being performed. The European Commission renewed
the International Science and Technology Centre, Russia (ISTC) collaboration with Russian
institutes and experimental preparation work was undertaken. Approximately 5Mbytes data
on 237Np(n,f) measurement results were sent to the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)
databank, and a special initiative was taken for the integration of pre-accession countries into
the JRC neutron data measurement and evaluation activities.

The future
Future priorities will be to produce data needed for the study of reactor temperature
dependence on reactivity, for radiation damage calculations and for feasibility studies into the
thorium fuel cycle. The study of long-lived fission products for waste transmutation will
continue, as will the examination of structural materials and coolants for accelerator-driven
systems, plus the provision of data needed to improve neutron data reference standards.
Finally, the IRMM will continue to provide the basic data needed for reactor calculations.

HORIZONTAL ACTIVITIES

The IRMM's reputation and extensive experience in metrology (mass metrology and
radionuclide metrology) forms an integral part of its scientific profile and thereby supports the
three scientific pillars of the JRC.

Mass metrology

The IRMM, as the transnational measurement institute of the European Commission, is
working towards the development of a structured measurement system in chemistry through:
• Conceptual input to international forums such as the BIPM, European collaboration on
measurement standards (EUROMET), EURACHEM (a focus for analytical chemistry in
Europe), Co-operation on International Traceability in Analytical Chemistry (CITAC) and
European Accreditation (EA);
• The reference material programme;
• Targeted development of chemical reference methods; and
• International Measurement Evaluation Programmes.

The IRMM has created the Joint European Programme for Primary Isotopic Measurements
(JEPPIM) network with Europe’s leading institutes in the field, as well as a central and
eastern European (PECO) network to ensure the transfer of expertise to future EU member
states. The IRMM’s pioneering work in producing the world’s first PIGS, in the Avogadro
project and in realisation of the Becquerel as the world primary standard for radioactivity
measurements further complement its role in developing this system. This work impinges
very strongly upon all three of the aforementioned JRC pillars and will continue to grow,
the IRMM represents the European Commission in EUROMET,
especially now that
EURACHEM, CIPM/CCRI and CIPM/CCQM, and has assumed an advisory role to the Trade
DG.

44

The IRMM is also collaborating with US and Japanese metrology organisations to harmonise
importance to steel
measurements of Charpy impact
producers and exporters. A metallic tensile property reference material has also been
produced for verification of tensile testing machines.

toughness, which is of significant

Radionuclide metrology

The radionuclide metrology work at the IRMM directly addresses primary standardisation of
radionuclide solutions to the highest level of accuracy and with direct traceablity to the
Système International. This work also supports the international metrology organisations –
EUROMET, CIPM/CCRI, (ICRM) – for example, in co-ordinating the "Calibration and
Measurement Capabilities
the Mutual Recognition
in Europe" for Appendix C of
Arrangement of the Metre Convention (CIPM).

Unique support to industrial and research sectors

A wide range of reference materials was produced and certified in 2000 – ranging from the
certification of isotopic calibrants produced by Merck GmbH to new heptane and iso-octane
chemical certified reference materials that are now available for sale as IRMM-441 and
IRMM-442 respectively.

For thin film reference samples, certification data for a common IRMM-BAM (Bundesanstalt
für Materialprufung) implanted reference layer (IRMM-302) ‘dose of antimony in silicon’
were obtained with Ratherford Back Scattering and Neutron Activation Analysis with
excellent agreement (< 1%) between BAM and the IRMM. This material complements the
very few thin-layer reference samples that are traceable to the SI units of mass or amount of
substance. They are used for both surface and interface analysis in advanced industrial and
research sectors.

As regards micro-structured reference materials, a novel example has been developed by the
IRMM to augment the quality of microbeam analysis. This consists of permalloy (81% nickel,
19% iron) strip patterns of different widths on silicon substrates. The material has been
certified (11 representative lengths on the individual chip) and is now available as
IRMM-301.

Finally, for the certification of fine zinc materials (322-325R), the measurements for spiked
material impurities were finished and evaluated. A certification report is being prepared, and
this series of certified reference materials will be available in early 2001.

45

Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU) - Karlsruhe

Institute Director

1. Management support

2. Hot cell technology

3. Materials research

4. Nuclear fuels

5. Nuclear chemistry

6. Actinides research

7. Nuclear safety and infrastructure

Mission

Roland SCHENKEL

Jean-Pierre MICHEL

Jean-Paul GLATZ

Hans-Joachim MATZKE

Didier HAAS

Lothar KOCH

Gerard LANDER

Werner WAGNER

The mission of the ITU is to protect the European citizen against risks associated with the
handling and storage of highly radioactive elements. ITU’s prime objectives are to serve as a
reference centre for basic actinide research, to contribute to an effective safety and
safeguards system for the nuclear fuel cycle, and to study technological and medical
applications of transuranium elements.

During 2000, a five-year assessment and an advisory group meeting were organised, both to
evaluate the Institute for Transuranium Elements’ past achievements and to assist in defining
the future strategy. Some of the advisory group’s suggestions have already been integrated
into the on-going work programme.

The ITU’s ISO 9001 certification was extended in May 2000 to cover the institutional
activities. The project management practices were further developed and benefited from an
internal JRC assessment in June 2000. the ITU strives for continuous improvement and, in
the Total Quality
2000, created four
Management programme.

teams within the framework of

improvement

ITU’s customers in 2000 included:

- Belgonucleaire
- Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC)
- British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL)
- CEA (the French atomic energy commission)
- COGEMA
- ENEA (Ente per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e l’ambiente, Roma)
- ENRESA (Empresa Nacional de residuos radioactivos, S.A.)
- European Safeguards Office
- Framatome
- German Cancer Research Centre
- International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA)
- Japanese Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI)
- Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
- NRG (private company, Petten (NL)

46

- Siemens
- SKB (Swedish nuclear fuel and waste management Co.)
- US Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
as well as a number of Eastern European research centres and authorities involved in nuclear
safety and security.

Alpha-immunotherapy

As a spin-off from the Institute’s experience in radiochemistry and radionuclide separation,
safe and reliable quality-controlled production and separation techniques are being developed
for several alpha- and beta-emitting radionuclides with application in nuclear medicine
(mother nuclides actinium-225 and strontium-90 and daughter products bismuth-213 and
yttrium-90 respectively). The high interest in the cancer-killing potential of these isotopes
when coupled to specific targeting carriers led the ITU to elaborate dedicated production
processes, and focus on the development of high performance radionuclide generators and on
the efficient chelation of the compounds.

Validating the production of significant quantities of alpha-emitting isotopes for use in
nuclear medicine

The irradiation of 30mCi of radium-226 in the FZK cyclotron, producing around 15 mCi
actinium-225, was a major breakthrough for the large-scale isotope production. This was
made possible through a series of technological achievements:

– handling large amounts of radium-226 in the ITU hot cells;
– automated leak-tight welding of the Ag capsule, using a new,

tailor-made welding

machine; and

– commissioning a flexible containment at the FZK cyclotron (with on-line surveillance of

possible radon release in the cooling circuit).

Pre-clinical testing of these isotopes continues in collaboration with a network of European
hospitals. In April 2000 a first patient was treated in Europe. In the Kantonspital Basel, a total
of 10 mCi Bi-213 was administered to a patient with glioblastoma, in four subsequent doses.
Due to the nature of the test and type of cancer, no prognosis can be made on the healing –
but the administration of Bi-213 coupled to a peptide was judged by the neurosurgeon to be
encouraging. The latter case was reported during an international symposium on alpha-
immunotherapy, organised by ITU in Karlsruhe on 15-16 June 2000. Over 50 specialists in
nuclear medicine and oncology, drawn from various countries (including US, Canada,
Australia...), participated in this event. They confirmed their need and interest to see the ITU
continuing to play a leading role in the fostering of the upcoming clinical trials.

Basic actinide research

A good knowledge of the fundamental physical, chemical and material properties of the
actinides and actinide-containing products, such as nuclear fuels and nuclear waste, is a
prerequisite for the study of nuclear issues at the ITU.

ITU scientists aim to understand the properties of actinides and actinide compounds,
including the electronic structures. Activities range from preparing and purifying the
elements’ to studying single crystals and thin films by dedicated physical techniques – some
of which involve the use of intense synchrotron beams, neutron or muon beams.

47

Theoretical research into the electronic properties of the actinides supports experiments and
suggests new avenues for investigation. With discussions underway regarding new fuel
materials for advanced reactors, materials science data are urgently required. The supply of
data such as phase diagrams, thermal properties, and behaviour under pressure and irradiation
is a genuine task for basic actinide research. Findings also help to answer questions arising in
connection with the management of highly active waste.

Surface and thin film research

The 5f electronic states in plutonium are on the border between localised and delocalised
(bonding) character, and are thus very susceptible to any external variable. Using a newly
developed method for preparing thin actinide layers by sputtering from a microsample, ITU
researchers were able to prepare a plutonium monoatomic layer. Photoelectron spectroscopy
analysis of the 5f localised states around 1.7 eV below the Fermi energy shows that, due to
the reduced presence of neighbouring atomic layers, only the preferentially oriented orbitals
take part in the bonding. The study of these effects contributes to a more comprehensive
interpretation of interface phenomena. It finds application, for example, in the investigation of
fuel/cladding interactions and the leaching behaviour of spent fuel.

Safety of nuclear fuel
The extended use of nuclear fuel in existing reactors (i.e. high burn-up) is a major element in
the sustainability of nuclear energy production. It contributes to the optimal use of energy
resources, a minimisation of the interventions and associated risks, a lowering of the dose for
the workers and an overall reduction of nuclear waste production. With respect to the safety
of nuclear fuel at higher burn-up, especially under transient conditions, the ITU concentrates
on mechanical and chemical interactions at the fuel/cladding interface, and on enhanced
fission gas release and related modifications of the microstructure of the fuel.

Modelling is an integral part of these safety studies. The use of the Transuranus (fuel
modelling) code, both by safety authorities and by other research centres is progressing. The
ITU is interacting intensively with the European users of the code, and has started three new
projects in collaboration with Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia. These focus on the validation
of existing data sets, thus providing additional training and expertise to future Member States
of the European Union.

Successful start of new European network collaborations

In 2000, a number of new projects were started with European partners in the context of the
Research DG shared-cost actions. Running over the next three to four years, they include
fabrication of MOX with a new microstructure, production of coated particles for the HTR,
evaluation of thorium fuel for plutonium incineration, and a study of nitride inert matrix fuel.

In these projects, the ITU covers both the manufacturing of new types of nuclear fuel (using
innovative methods such as sol-gel) and the analysis of such fuels after irradiation (by
employing the equipment of the ITU hot cells). The gathered data enables researchers to
understand and optimise the fuel behaviour, and to analyse e.g. the safety in transient
conditions in a power reactor.

Two programmes of the EU Fourth Framework Programme were successfully completed,
respectively addressing the interaction between molten nuclear material and structural
materials in a severe nuclear accident, and the behaviour of the fission products when released
in the primary system and in the reactor building. These led in 2000 to a new project studying
the behaviour of the nuclear materials in the event of a loss of core cooling in a power reactor.

48

Based on its experience in this area, the ITU offers assistance to other DGs – for example in
the burning of plutonium stockpiles.
the evaluation of the possibilities/strategies for
Participation in International Science and Technical Centre (ISTC) projects also provides for
technology transfer and knowledge sharing with Eastern Europe and Russia.

Spent fuel characterisation for long-term storage

The behaviour of irradiated fuel under conditions of direct long-term disposal requires further
investigation with regard to the basic processes involved. Safety-relevant data on the
corrosion and dissolution behaviour of waste under realistic conditions are of utmost
importance in determining the radiotoxic potential and assessing the consequences of storage
over extended periods of time.

After about 500 years of storage, the radioactivity of the spent fuel stems mainly from alpha
decay. Alpha radiolysis then plays a key role, damaging the structure of the fuel and
influencing its dissolution behaviour.

To explore the influence of radiolysis on spent fuel dissolution, the ITU prepares and studies
samples of uranium oxide containing different concentrations of short-lived actinides (e.g.
specimens with uranium-233). The studies in 2000 were extended to the case of higher fuel
surface areas exposed to water. Property changes caused by the accumulation of alpha-decay
damage in the structure of the fuel were investigated. The influence of agglomerates rich in
plutonium oxide on the dissolution mechanisms of mixed oxide fuels was also investigated.

Alpha-radiolysis studies for spent fuel characterisation in view of long term storage

Leaching experiments on alpha-doped uranium oxide under anoxic conditions, with
continuous monitoring of pH and redox potential, allowed a direct measurement of effects
associated with the alpha-radiolysis of the water. With increasing leaching time, progressively
higher redox potential values, i.e. more oxidising conditions, occur in the solutions for the
alpha-doped samples, due to the radiolytic production of oxidising species. Correspondingly,
higher fractions of uranium were dissolved in the case of alpha-doped uranium oxide
compared with undoped oxide. A clear dependence of this process on the alpha-activity of the
materials was observed by adopting relatively low values of the S/V (sample surface/solution
volume) ratio. However, a relatively small alpha-activity, led to dramatically increased leach
rates under experimental conditions characterised by a high S/V ratio, as could be expected in
some real storage scenarios.

Partitioning and transmutation

Lowering the radiotoxicity of waste by reducing the quantity of actinides and other long-lived
radioactive elements in the fuel cycle means also reducing potential long-term hazards arising
from growing stockpiles of spent fuel and separated civil and military plutonium. Separating
long-lived nuclides from the waste and recycling them in reactors for transmuting – or
‘burning’ them by neutron capture or fission – are therefore considered to be important waste-
management options. Under its partitioning and transmutation programme, and in close co-
operation with its European partners, the ITU will tests and evaluates processes that permit an
efficient separation (partitioning) of radiotoxic elements from spent fuel with a minimum of
losses. Advanced aqueous and dry reprocessing techniques will both receive particular
attention.

49

Demonstration of pyrochemical reprocessing of nuclear fuels by electrorefining

In a co-operation between the ITU and CRIEPI, non-aqueous (molten salt) reprocessing of
irradiated spent nuclear fuels is being studied. This process is considered a major part of a
partitioning and transmutation strategy for nuclear waste management. Its goal
is to
demonstrate the feasibility of recovering actinides from irradiated fuel and HLW (high level
waste), e.g. waste from the PUREX plutonium uranium extraction process. In the ITU
laboratories, a hot cell facility for up to 1 kg of melt has been constructed and its performance
successfully tested. The installation operates under a highly pure argon atmosphere (<10ppm
O2 and <10ppm H2O). First demonstrations of the electrorefining process have generated
deposits of up to 10 g of metallic uranium.

The ITU studies the appropriate techniques for producing irradiation targets from the
reprocessed material. It aims at optimising fuel fabrication technology for novel, minor-
actinide-containing fuels for the transmutation or ‘incineration’ of long-lived actinides and
fission products. It is, therefore, testing existing and new fabrication techniques for fuels and
targets used in irradiation experiments. The ITU is member of the High Temperature Reactor
Technology Network and is chairing the working group on fuel design for the Accelerator
Driven System Team.

As part of the work on inert matrices, zirconia beads infiltrated with plutonium were produced
for the first time in 2000. Production of alpha-doped material, both for in-house experiments
and for external customers, continues to gain interest. The characterisation of existing samples
of inert matrix materials doped with americum and the measurement of their properties have
continued, as well as the study of radiation damage with fission products.

The construction of the Minor Actinide Laboratory continued, with installation of the water
walls and delivery of the major equipment now completed. A workshop team was dedicated
to the construction of the first series of glove boxes. These efforts will be pursued in the
coming years, since a significant workload for this laboratory is planned from 2002 onwards.

Radioactivity in the environment

“We agree to prevent pollution of the maritime area from ionising radiation through
progressive and substantial reductions of discharges, emissions and losses of radioactive
substances ….” is the objective of Art.15 of the SINTRA (Ministerial meeting in Sintra (PT))
statement released by the Ministerial meeting of the Oslo Paris (OSPAR) Commission on 23
July 1998 for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Northeast Atlantic. In
response, the ITU is applying its expertise in trace analysis to tasks of verification of
radioactive discharges and emissions from nuclear installations, and the identification and
characterisation of radioactive scrap material and sources.

Major improvements were achieved in 2000 in the preparation of particles for trace analysis
(in synergy with the institutional programme on safeguards) and on the automated evaluation
of the SIMS results. Control particles of uranium oxide (1µ m size) have been produced
starting from reference material having certified uranium isotopic composition. A procedure
for the production of particles of U/Th oxides has also been developed. These particles will be
used for the implementation of methods for the localisation of radioactive particles in
environmental samples, as well as for safeguards.

In collaboration with DG Environment, ITU supported the MARINA project and the
environmental remediation of the Karachay lake and contributed to the meeting “Protection of
International Perspectives”,
the Environment
organised by the IAEA.

from the Effects of

Ionising Radiation:

50

Nuclear safeguards

Preventing proliferation of nuclear material is a worldwide task shared by the European
Commission’s Euratom and the IAEA inspectorates. They are responsible for implementing
safeguards measures to control the use of nuclear materials within the European Union and
worldwide. As a long-time partner, the ITU continues to provide assistance with expertise on
plutonium handling facilities, such as reprocessing or MOX fuel fabrication plants. As the
Commission’s analytical reference laboratory in safeguards, the ITU develops and perfects
new analytical tools to analyse and characterise different nuclear materials, to permit forensic
analysis and identification of seized, illicit material.

In 2000, the ITU fulfilled its commitment to design and install in-situ laboratories for
measuring safeguards. In addition, it began to operate on-site laboratory at BNFL’s Sellafield
reprocessing plant in the UK and at COGEMA’s La Hague plant in France.

Inauguration of La Hague on-site laboratory
A new on-site laboratory, the so-called ‘Laboratoire Sur Site’(LSS) was inaugurated on 6
June 2000 at the La Hague Reprocessing Plant. This second laboratory was designed,
installed and commissioned by ITU’s staff at the request of the Euratom Safeguards Office.
Now in routine operation, it efficiently safeguards the COGEMA plant on a timely basis. The
throughput of samples foreseen is 1,600 per year, covering the whole process from input to
product samples. A team of four analysts travelling on a weekly basis from Karlsruhe to La
Hague will run three laboratories housing four analytical sections including hot cells.
Analytical techniques were developed in order to reduce operators’ workload and operational
costs. A high degree of automation was introduced, leading for instance to a waste reduction
of 1/3 in the hot cells. Following the installation of the on-site laboratory at Sellafield, the
implementation and operation of on-site
ITU now has a unique experience in design,
safeguards analytical laboratories.

The ITU is closely involved in the international efforts to detect clandestine activities and to
combat the illicit trafficking of nuclear materials. The Institute’s activities in this area are co-
ordinated through participation in the P-8 (Group of seven major industrial nations (G7) and
Russia) international technical working group. Together with IAEA, the ITU contributed
significantly in 2000 to the development and implementation of a model action plan for the
seizure of diverted nuclear material in the future Member States to the European Union and
the former Soviet Union.

The ITU nuclear materials databank is continuously extended by integrating data received
from industry in the Member States. Analytical skills in nuclear forensics science were further
expanded in 2000 e.g. by age determination of particles.

Age determination for nuclear forensics

Whenever diverted nuclear material is seized, it is analysed in order to determine its origin
and intended use. In this context, exact determination of the age of nuclear material is of key
interest. A methodology for age determination in bulk samples and particles was developed,
making use of the radioactive decay of several plutonium isotopes. The method was validated
against NBS reference materials and applied to seized plutonium-containing materials
available at
forensics, namely for verification
measurements in the context of the fissile material cut-off treaty, will be investigated.

the ITU. Applications beyond nuclear

51

In view of the implementation of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the Fissile
the ITU focuses on the
Material Cut-off Treaty (including wide area monitoring),
environmental monitoring of nuclear materials and radioactive substances. The same
approach is used in the areas of illicit trafficking of nuclear materials, illicit waste dumping
and environmental impact of radioactive releases.

The ITU continued to adopt trace and particle measurement technology as a means of
identifying, as far as possible, the potential ‘polluter’. In 2000, the main emphasis was put on
the recovery of particles from swipes, e.g. from enrichment plants. Studies have been started
into the localisation of hot particles in soils, using alpha and beta autoradiography.

52

Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) - Petten

Institute Director

1. Management support

2. Energy production and conversion

3. Safety of industrial components

4. Clean technologies

5. High flux reactor

6. Scientific and technical support

Kari TÖRRÖNEN

Kari TÖRRÖNEN (f.f.)

Johan BRESSERS

Roger HURST

Juha-Pekka HIRVONEN

Joël GUIDEZ

Edward BULLOCK

Mission

The mission of IAM is to support the sustainable development and competitiveness of
European industry through research on the structural integrity and performance of materials
in components and processes in areas of concern to the public. The prime applications are in
the sectors of energy, transport, and chemical processes. The IAM manages the High Flux
Reactor (HFR) for the benefit of the European nuclear industry and supports nuclear and
radiation applications in medicine.

The Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM)
focused its research on safe and clean
technologies in energy and transport application areas. It contributed expertise on emission
reduction technology for transport and increased efficiency in energy production. Further
work was carried out on nuclear and radiation applications in medicine within boron neutron
capture therapy (BNCT) facility at the High Flux Reactor (HFR). The IAM consolidated the
HFR supplementary programme and extended its support for the Technical Assistance for the
Community of Independent States and Georgia (TACIS) and Poland, Hungary: Aid for the
Reconstruction of the Economy (Phare) programmes.

IAM's institutional research programme was carried out in ten projects, grouped in three main
clusters:
• Safety and integrity of nuclear and non-nuclear industrial components;
• Emission reduction technologies and increased efficiency in energy and transport; and
• Nuclear and radiation applications in medicine.

This clustering was designed to steer the development of IAM competence towards issues and
areas of public interest that have been identified as needing support, both in the definition of
EU policy-making and in the promotion of industrial competitiveness.

SAFETY AND INTEGRITY OF NUCLEAR AND NON-NUCLEAR
INDUSTRIAL COMPONENTS

All projects in the safety and integrity cluster combine experimental and theoretical research
actions with the co-ordination, management and operation of European networks. The
networks include the establishment and maintenance of European reference laboratories and
are primarily targeted at providing an international platform for achieving consensus on
technical and safety matters, and developing accredited testing methodologies for lifetime
assessment of components used in critical industrial applications.

53

Highlights of activities from the projects within this cluster include:

- The Network for the Evaluation of Steel Components (NESC): Over 100 delegates
attended the seminar Structural Integrity Assessment - How Safe Is It?, held in Paris at the
end of March – which showcased the results of the unique NESC-1 spinning cylinder study,
designed to evaluate the integrated approach to structural integrity assessment of industrial
plant suspected to contain defects.
The focal point was a large-scale test that showed that defects of up to 74-mm depth in
material related to that of an ageing reactor pressure vessel would not propagate to cause
catastrophic failure under a severe pressurised thermal shock. This outcome underlines the
benefits of the network approach to tackling multi-disciplinary problems. It was fully in line
with the pre-test analysis forecasts, which combined the defect sizing information supplied
from blind inspections trials, a comprehensive materials data set and a range of structural
analysis tools.
The NESC-1 results can benefit non-nuclear as well as nuclear industries, by providing
benchmark data relevant to a wide spectrum of structural integrity applications.

internationally recognised European Methodology for

- The European Network for Inspection Qualification (ENIQ) is particularly concerned with
underpinning the
Inspection
Qualification. Following the successful first pilot study with its numerous recommended
practices, a second study has been launched in order to explore the potential of technical
justifications, aiming at reducing the need for expensive qualification test blocks.
In March 2000, ENDEF, the networks extension concerning Eastern Europe, held a meeting
with Ukrainian experts to discuss Non-destructive Evaluation–related training, qualification,
and equipment maintenance issues in Ukraine. In June 2000, a joint European Plant Life
Assessment Forum/European Non destructive Evaluation Forum (EPLAF/ENDEF) meeting
was organised in JRC Petten to discuss two new Tacis/Phare projects prepared by the IAM as
part of a technical assistance contract with External Relations DG.

- AMES: During 2000 AMES continued with the Definition of new Task Groups and R&D
tasks including: the successful start of 4 new SCA projects on Irradiation embrittlement
mechanisms, NDT for steel ageing monitoring, Validation of Master Curve, VVER-440
surveillance temperature.
Studies on model alloys have been successfully completed and interesting results were
obtained on 32 Fe-based alloys with parametric contents of Ni, Cu, P. The alloys were
irradiated at the HFR and tested by Charpy-impact and NDT methods. The results represent
the basis for the understanding of the influence of P, Cu and Ni on neutron embrittlement and
vessel lifetime management.
The Development of the STEAM Techniques (Seebeck and Thomson Effects on Aged
Materials) for ageing monitoring was continued, with in parallel
the development of
instrumentation for electrical resistivity measurements, and encouraging results are obtained.
The Involvement of non-EU partners is progressing to Bulgaria, the Slovak Republic and
Turkey. Involvement of Russia and Ukraine has been further developed.
IAM Irradiation facilities for embrittlement studies were updated to improve their loading and
operational capabilities.

- The European Pressure Equipment Research Council (EPERC) has performed a study
aimed at establishing guidelines for applying design by analysis to typical pressure vessel
structures. This was one of series of measures to promote the Pressure Equipment Directive
(97/23/EC). A manual has been issued and distributed to EPERC members at the beginning of
2000. Dissemination of these important results through seminars is now organised throughout
Europe.

54

In January 2000, the decision was taken to create a new technical task force (TTF7) on
hydrogen damage. The main target of TTF7 is to support safe and sustainable industrial
development in those fields where hydrogen-related processes are involved, or damage and
hazards can arise from hydrogen-related problems. This research theme is therefore an
important issue to various industrial sectors such as energy production, petroleum refining,
chemical, petrochemical, transport, steel production and others. The launch of TTF7 was
arranged for 26 and 27 October 2000 at Petten.
Finally – in response to automotive, gas and tank manufacturing industries –the IAM initiated
in May 2000 the procedure to identify European key R&D issues in the field of storage tank
technologies for alternative-fuels vehicles (hydrogen, natural gas). This new activity in the
transport sector will be supported by the two new IAM facilities: High Pressure Gas Cycling,
and Gas Permeation of full-scale vehicle tanks for alternative fuels, to be installed in the IAM
reference laboratories at the end 2000/early 2001.

- EPG-Fossil: In a concerted effort to improve the efficiency of fossil-fired steam plant within
Europe, the IAM has secured key roles in two multinational networked projects:

1. The first of these is COST 522, geared towards increasing the steam temperatures of plant
least 50oC – hence increasing efficiency by some 5%, with concomitant major
by at
economical and environmental benefits. Here, the IAM has been able to take on the role of
co-ordinating and executing the high pressure verification testing on newly developed large-
scale components constructed by welding advanced high temperature alloys. These tests will
commence before the end of 2000, lasting between one and two years and are expected to
provide confidence in the approach of the international network.
2. An even more ambitious networked project, sponsored largely by the Energy and Transport
DG, promises a potential rise in steam temperatures of 150oC above the most efficient
European plants of today. Bringing an efficiency increase of up to 15%, this could lead to the
construction of a pilot plant by around the year 2015. Yet again, the IAM is involved in
verification testing of newly developed austenitic and nickel- based alloys, which will be
required to survive the very high temperatures and pressures envisaged.

- Plant Life Assessment Network (PLAN): In a network embracing both nuclear and non-
nuclear applications,
the 70-member PLAN was launched under IAM co-ordination to
initiate, maintain and monitor a fruitful co-operation process between completed and on-going
Commission-funded projects promoting industrial exploitation of R&D results.
In addition to many useful deliverables, the network has developed further in forging strong
links with the innovation process via the horizontal marketing theme. The goal was to provide
project leaders and the Commission with a guide for marketing project results.
The activity has grown from strength to strength via surveys and presentations, as well as
through interaction with the EC LIFT initiative (linking innovation with finance), and with the
Enterprise DG (encouraging innovation among SMEs). Now awaiting approval is a proposal
submitted by PLAN for a major EC-sponsored innovation project developing the
methodology needed to link research results with the market place in strong co-operation with
SMEs.

55

EMISSION REDUCTION TECHNOLOGIES AND INCREASED EFFICIENCY
IN ENERGY AND TRANSPORT

The Emission Reduction Technologies cluster comprises two projects related to energy
production, two related to transport and one related to waste treatment. The major highlights
for this cluster in 2000 were the signature of a Memory of Understanding (MoU) between the
European Council for Automotive Research and Development (EUCAR), CONCAWE (the
oil companies' European organisation for environment, health and safety) and the JRC
supporting the establishment of the Performance, Reliability and Emissions Reduction in
Waste Incinerators (PREWIN) network.

includes engine technologies,

- Technologies for emission abatement in transport and non-road sectors (TEMAT)
Increasingly stringent regulations for the reduction and control of vehicle emissions aim at
environmental and health protection. To be able to better meet the challenges that these
regulations raise for the car and oil industries, EUCAR and CONCAWE have decided to
collaborate pro-actively with the JRC. This collaboration, ultimately leading to reduced
vehicle emissions, will thus support both industrial competitiveness and European legislation.
On 12 May 2000, Mr. H.J. Allgeier (Director General of the JRC), Mr. F. de Charentenay
(Chairman of EUCAR), and Mr. B. van Holk (Chairman of CONCAWE) therefore signed a
MoU that defines the main elements of the collaboration. The IAM was the body within JRC
responsible for the preparation of this MoU.
The collaboration of JRC, EUCAR and CONCAWE concentrates on technologies for
reducing emissions. It
types and qualities of fuels and
lubricants, and their interactions. The partners will develop capabilities for measuring low
emissions in order to monitor progress and meet future vehicle requirements. Co-operative
technical efforts will focus on evaluation of the performance of alternative fuels, and on
advanced future gasoline and diesel fuels in connection with future engines technologies
(including fuel cells). All these evaluations will be compared with existing vehicle/fuel
systems.
This co-operation brings together three key players in the field of emissions: EUCAR and
CONCAWE as research and technical representatives of the industries involved, and the JRC
as a centre of scientific and technical reference for the EU. The ultimate objective is to create
a common knowledge base on issues of engine and vehicle emissions. This will help both the
involved industry and the EU policy makers to manage a topic that is increasingly challenging
to society.
As well as drawing on the expertise of other European laboratories, the tripartite agreement
will make use of the Engine and Vehicle Testing Laboratory, which is to be set up in Petten in
2002. This facility will be the European reference laboratory for emission reduction
technologies. It will be equipped with a capability to use the thin layer activation (TLA)
method in studies of component performance and its impact on emissions. The TLA facility
will be commissioned at the end of the year 2000, leading to a combination unique in Europe.

- Safety and reliability of high temperature systems (SAFTS)
The main objective of the SAFTS project has been to assemble industrial and research
organisations involved in waste incineration, for the purpose of addressing technical problems
that exist within the industry. The aim is not to promote the incineration of waste per se, but
to ensure that – where waste incineration is used within the total scope of waste management
– emissions are minimised (and in any case kept below legal limits) while plants operate in a
reliable and efficient manner for the purpose of ensuring the clean and efficient operation of
incinerator plant.

56

Following two exploratory meetings in 1999, the European PREWIN network was launched
characterisation, materials
in May 2000 with four
characterisation, repair and maintenance methods and emissions reduction) and a membership
of about 35 organisations.

task groups

technical

(plant

- Gas turbines for efficient power generation and for aircraft propulsion
The sectors of energy production and transport are major sources of pollutant emission and
greenhouse gases (GHG), the reduction of which has been identified as a priority action for
the Commission. Fossil-fuel-based power generation in the EU accounts for nearly 30% of all
GHG emissions. This is one of the reasons for the rapid shift from high carbon-intensive fuels
like coal to low carbon-intensive natural gas, with a concomitant change to gas turbines for
power generation. Emissions from gas turbines in air transport are projected to grow to 15%
of the total transport emissions by 2020.
The IAM’s work on gas turbines supports two main thrusts of the EC Environmental Action
Programme. The first is that environmental policy must concentrate on the root causes of
environmental damage, and that more technological efforts are warranted for emission
abatement. The second is that greater attention has to be paid to the introduction of more
energy-efficient and clean technologies.
Within this framework the projects Efficient Power Generation - Gas and Emissions
Reduction in Air Transport projects provide the scientific and technical infrastructure, as well
as reference laboratory facilities, for specific testing and measurement aspects of advanced
materials systems such as thermal barrier coatings and ceramic matrix composites, with
higher temperature capability than those currently used in turbine engines. Their application
in stationary power generation and air transport will enable step increases in temperature
capability and emission reduction.
The experimental efforts are accompanied by support to standardisation activities, the setting
up of appropriate databases and lifetime modelling based on damage mechanism information.
Cross-border networking linking original equipment manufacturers, material suppliers, gas
turbine users, research institutes and universities within COST 522, and a watch-and-alert
function on technological developments, complement institutional work.
The latter has expanded into an Energy Technology Observatory (ETO) that acts as the main
interface to the policy maker by providing factual information on a continual basis to DGs on
both environmental and industrial competitiveness aspects of technical developments in the
energy and transport sectors.
Participation in eight related shared cost actions, some of which are led by the IAM, firmly
anchors the projects in a web of networks.

- High flux reactor - supplementary programme
The Commission manages the High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten in accordance with the
Euratom (European Atomic Energy Community)/the Netherlands agreement of 25 July 1961.
The Council adopted the 2000-2003 programme for the High Flux Reactor operation in
December 1999. It is supported by three countries: the Netherlands, Germany and France.
The first year of operation of this programme ended without operating problems and with a
high availability of the plant (>280 days). That allows a year-on-year increase in the
production of medical radioisotopes – especially for the short-life products used in diagnosis,
of which HFR remains the main European producer.
The major highlights in the year 2000 were a series of successful events in the fuel cycle:

– In January, diplomatic notes were signed with US authorities, confirming a commitment to
convert the reactor from highly enriched Uranium (HEU) to low enriched Uranium (LEU)
in four years;

57

– In August, an export license was obtained for four years of HEU fuel supply;
– In September,

transportation of HEU from USA to French fuel element

the first

Manufacturing Plant could begin;

– The Dutch National Nuclear Waste Repository (HABOG) facility building for a permanent

storage of 1400 HFR elements began and should be completed in 2003;

– Prior to this availability, a provisory storage with four MTR2 containers has been arranged
and four transportations from Petten to Covra site were made between September and
November; and

€

– An extra budget of ~

3 Mio has been allocated for a shipment to USA of 120 elements in

2001.

Another important highlight is the increase of the European programs around the HFR.
Following the examples of the AMES network, BNCT (for research on cancer treatments by
neutrons) and EFFTRA (transmutation tests for nuclear waste), two new networks were
created.

1. The first, on high temperature reactors (HTR-TN) involves 18 main companies. It has nine
task groups and its kick-off meeting was held in April 2000 in Petten.
2. The second, on nuclear medicine (EMIR) will cover the main subjects of research and co-
ordination in this field, including research on radioisotopes, transport license standardisation,
reactors planning co-ordination and rules of operation. The launch meeting was held in
December in Brussels.
- The IAM reference laboratory for ageing materials evaluation and studies (AMES)
AMES developed a comprehensive strategy for projects including shared cost actions. It
conducted a key action study on the influence of the chemical composition on irradiation
embrittlement. A matrix of 32 different model alloys, with parametric variation of copper,
nickel and phosphorus, has been investigated before and after irradiation in the HFR. The
results demonstrate the role of the copper, nickel and phosphorous on embrittlement, and can
serve as a basis for the modification of the Russian Guide for plant life prediction for high-
nickel steels.
Furthermore STEAM and destructive measurements (Hardness, Charpy, etc.) were correlated,
demonstrating the potential for monitoring of ageing. The AMES project organised a
successful workshop in Madrid on plant life management and together with IAEA, another in
Petten on non-destructive methods for monitoring ageing.

NUCLEAR AND RADIATION APPLICATIONS IN MEDICINE

BNCT is based on the ability of the isotope boron-10 to capture thermal neutrons, producing
two highly energetic particles, – a He (a particle) and Li ion – which, if occurring selectively,
can ultimately destroy the cell in which the event occurs. It is thus a very promising and
effective modality for cancer treatment.
During the handling of the second cohort for the treatment of glioblastoma, the procedures
developed and used in the first cohort had been slightly modified to improve the study. With
this improvement, which enabled the staff to perform their tasks more efficiently, it was even
possible during one of the treatment weeks to treat two patients per day, which had never
previously been achieved anywhere in the world. Of the five patients that were treated in the
second cohort, three came from Germany, one from France and one from Austria.
Within the ‘Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources’ programme in the Fifth
Framework Programme, an application to perform two new clinical trials at the HFR in
support of boron imaging development was successful. The two trials are designed to study
the toxicity of boron by means of increasing the boron concentration in blood and therefore in

58

the tumour. The second trial will perform BNCT for brain metastases of malignant melanoma.
This is intended to be prepared in common with the European Organisation for the Research
and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) BNCT Group and the EORTC Melanoma Co-operative
Group. The Principal Clinical Investigator will again be Prof. Wolfgang Sauerwein of the
University of Essen. Participating hospitals and institutes are the Universities of Münster,
Reims and Essen, together with VU Amsterdam, Nice, Graz and München.

Support for Tacis/Phare programmes

Within the framework of administrative agreements in place since 1997, the IAM is providing
the External Relations and Common Service for External Relations DGs with JRC technical
and scientific advice on the implementation of
the Tacis and Phare nuclear safety
programmes. These programmes aim to bring dramatic improvements in the safety of ageing
reactors in Central and Eastern Europe and the Community of Independent States.

The policy of JRC technical and scientific support to the External Relations and Common
Service for External Relations DGs has been underlined in the Commission Communication
on nuclear safety assistance to CEEC and NIS to the Parliament and Council approved on 6
September 2000.

The JRC technical expertise for on-site assistance to the Tacis (EU support programme for
transition in the new independent states) nuclear power plants in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia
and Kazakhstan involved the participation of IAM experts in all procurement processes for
safety-related equipment. Several nuclear power plants in Russia, Ukraine and Armenia were
also visited, to assess and facilitate the implementation of Common Service for External
Relations DG projects. Furthermore, the IAM participated as the European Commission
representative to the evaluation committee of
the Chernobyl Industrial Complex for
Radioactive Waste Management – which is the largest project of the Common Service for
External Relations DG, with a value of

40 mio.

€

In 2000, the IAM signed an agreement with the Common Service for External Relations DG
for the execution of a project on dissemination of Tacis project results. The works are carried
out at the IAM and at the Russian Nuclear Institution VNIIAES in Moscow.

Finally, the IAM prepared, in close co-operation with European industry experts and members
of the AMES network, the project description sheets of a large new project on embrittlement
of the Russian Pressurised Water Reactor (VVER) vessels, which will start in 2001.

the European Commission services during all
These actions allow the JRC to assist
preparation and implementation phases of the Tacis/Phare (EU support programme for pre-
accession countries in central and eastern Europe) programmes in nuclear safety, as well as to
assess the results of the individual projects for the beneficiaries.

Management aspects

Following the achievement of the ISO 9001 certification in 1999, efforts were concentrated
on the implementation of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM)
Excellence Model within the IAM.

The Institute conducted an intensive self-assessment in April. This led to the identification of
six major areas for improvement, which are now being elaborated by dedicated teams.

Competitive activities

The projects grouped into the three 'Institutional Programme' clusters account
for
approximately 85% of IAM's budget. A further 21 projects supported by competitive funding
have been proposed this year. These competitive activities take the form of direct contract
work for third parties, partnerships in shared-cost actions and other competitive actions.

59

Shared-cost actions were continued under the Fifth Framework Programme’s Quality of Life,
Nuclear Fission, Growth, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, and
Copernicus programmes. Other competitive actions mainly cover work for DGs in response to
direct requests or calls for tender outside the research programmes.

Only competitive activities that are relevant to the institutional projects or to the future
evolution of the IAM are accepted. Most competitive actions complement or supplement on-
going institutional research.

60

Institute for Systems, Informatics and Safety (ISIS) - Ispra

Institute Director

David WILKINSON

Head of unit acting as Institute Deputy Director

Marc CUYPERS

1. Quality and management support

David WILKINSON f.f.

2. Reliable information technologies

3. Risk management and decision support

4. Safeguards and verification techniques

5. Nuclear safety

6. Safety in structural mechanics

7. Methodology for information analysis

(*) Jean-Pierre AUBINEAU: Adviser ad personam.

Mission

Fernand SOREL

Alfredo LUCIA

Marc CUYPERS

Horst WEISSHAÜPL

Michel GERADIN

Martyn DOWELL

ISIS supports EU policies with systems-oriented research in areas where the safety and
security of the citizen is of concern including:
•
•
•

safeguards, non-proliferation and international security;
cyber-security, knowledge access and assessment, the fight against fraud;
natural and technological risks and emergencies.

Its prime objectives are to develop techniques for the assessment of risk in complex systems
and to apply information, communication and engineering technologies for improving their
reliability, safety and security. The strong cross-fertilisation between its nuclear and non-
nuclear activities strengthens the expertise it can bring to the benefit of customers in both
domains.

SAFEGUARDS, NON-PROLIFERATION AND
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

With its well established role as a reference centre for the technology of safeguarding fissile
material and its growing presence as a European focus for initiatives to provide more efficient
ways of reducing the threat from anti-personnel
the Institute for Systems,
Informatics and Safety (ISIS) is able to provide a solid support to the EU’s efforts to develop
an effective Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

land mines,

Nuclear safeguards

The Euratom Treaty of 1957 gives responsibility to the European Commission to satisfy itself
that fissile materials within the EU are not diverted from their
intended use. These
responsibilities were extended when collaboration agreements with IAEA were signed in
1977 and further challenges are expected in the future from the entry into safeguards of
material released from excess weapons and from the enlargement of the Union. The ISIS
provides direct support to both EURATOM and to IAEA and undertakes longer-term research
into techniques for meeting future requirements.

61

In 2000 the main achievements were:
• The development of a prototype for integrating and structuring site declaration data (both
from traditional accountancy-based declarations and declarations under the additional
protocol) and analysing these data against open source data (including high resolution
satellite images and geographical information);

• Co-ordination of the European Safeguards Research and Development Association
including organisation of the annual

(ESARDA) network of safeguards laboratories,
symposium and two workshops;

• Within the PERformance LAboratory (PERLA) non-destructive assay laboratory, an
analysis of gamma spectra of
reference samples, a feasibility study for passive
measurements on bulk uranium samples and performance testing of a small-sample
calorimeter for plutonium measurement;

• Accreditation of the thermal, electromagnetic and physical equipment stress testing
(TEMPEST) calibration laboratory under quality standards EN 450001 and ISO 9002;
• Research and development of seals and tags, including study of ultrasonic sealing for
underwater MOX fuel assemblies, investigation of radio frequency transponders and study
of automatic verification of E-metal seals using colour cameras;

• Development and test in the Taux Measurement laboratory (TAME) tank measurement
laboratory for volume measurement of a prototype pressure instrument module and
improved diagnostic software for volume measurement;

• Development of a prototype for 3D modelling of nuclear facilities of medium and large

dimensions;

• Study and assessment of advanced tele-operation techniques in a nuclear storage mock-up
using the robotics facility (RIALTO). This included the use of remote real-time monitoring
through computer simulation tools; and

• Authentication and accreditation of video surveillance systems.

The landmine threat

The ISIS continues to be a European focus in supporting EU efforts to eliminate the landmine
threat.

the international

In order to promote a better-informed procurement process,
test and
evaluation project (ITEP) has been set up. This is a global network of test and evaluation
capabilities for scientifically measuring performance, evaluating effectiveness and assessing
suitability of all forms of humanitarian demining equipment, systems and methods under
conditions that are as realistic as possible. The USA and the European Commission joined
first, followed by Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, the UK and Germany. The
secretariat will be based at Ispra.
Meanwhile a longer-term effort to use more advanced technology is focused on the ARIS
(action for research and information support in civilian demining) network of excellence. This
is a forum for information exchange between users, researchers, developers and producers of
detection devices and systems, coordinated by ISIS on behalf of over 150 members
worldwide.
In order to improve the visibility, transparency and efficiency of EU mine actions, the ISIS
maintains the EU mine action website and has linked it to databases of EU mine actions and
geographical information systems. A prototype decision support tool has been developed to
guide the development of operational requirements for demining technology in south-eastern
Europe.

62

CYBER-SECURITY, KNOWLEDGE ACCESS AND ASSESSMENT,
THE FIGHT AGAINST FRAUD

The explosive growth of information and communication technology is bringing undoubted
benefits to society. But there are concerns about risks of fraud, threats to privacy, worries that
a society increasingly dependent on global communications might be vulnerable to systematic
malicious attacks on its infrastructure, and concerns that citizens who are poorly educated,
disabled or monolingual might be excluded from the benefits. As well as supporting EU
policy on these issues, the ISIS has been applying the new technologies as weapons in the
fight against fraud.

Cyber-security

The ISIS continued to provide technical support to the Information Society DG's on-going
effort to improve trust and confidence in e-commerce. Studies and workshops on issues of
public concern were held to integrate and assess scientific knowledge. The first area to be
covered was out-of-court dispute settlement systems for e-commerce,
to provide an
understanding of how effective cross-border and on-line redress mechanisms could be
developed. Secondly, the requirements for technologies to support and implement privacy of
personal data within the context of EU data protection legislation were examined. An on-line
e-confidence forum was set up to stimulate discussion among all stakeholders: Commission
services, industry and consumers.

A number of projects are concerned with developing infrastructure and methodology for
benchmarking and testing – for interoperable security applications, for medical imaging, for
smart cards and web-filtering techniques. The secure communication of medical images
through ISDN telephone lines has successfully been tested and a start has been made in
developing the knowledge base necessary for defining effective measures to combat
cybercrime. Open source information on Internet abuse is being collected and classified, and
the vulnerability of large, complex, unbounded systems is being studied.

Knowledge access and assessment

The ISIS is providing the technology to promote EU educational policy. This includes the
development of a Gateway to the European Learning Area and on-line tools
for
PROMETEUS – an EU initiative encouraging collaboration and standards between 400
companies and organisations in developing educational multimedia.

Efforts to improve the quality and timeliness of European statistics are increasingly focusing
on financial and economic issues. ISIS’s main contribution is through sensitivity analysis and
time-series analysis.

The ISIS led the effort to develop a strategy for knowledge management at JRC and provided
input for JRC’s science and governance initiative.

The fight against fraud

The ISIS supports efforts to improve compliance with EU regulations and reduce fraud on
both income and expenditure on behalf of the Agriculture DG, the European anti-fraud office,
OLAF and the Fisheries DG. Techniques used include data fusion and data mining, satellite
remote sensing, multilingual language engineering, advanced statistics and tamper-proof
electronic seals.

The feasibility of checking the movements of livestock by giving them unique tamper-proof
identifiers is being studied in the three-year pilot Identification électronique des Animaux
(IDEA) project, covering one million animals. During 2000, ISIS's TEMPEST testing
laboratory issued 80 certificates and more than 240 certificate updates. The central data base
for the IDEA project and the related data collection and transmission systems were

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implemented and maintained. On average, the system collected around 20,000 data records
per day from the ten participating organisations in six countries.

A preliminary evaluation of results between 1998 and 2000 has shown that losses of ruminal
bolus and electronic eartags are less than 1%, which marks a significant performance
improvement over traditional plastic eartags.

The ISIS is continuing to use advanced statistical methods to improve the efficiency of the
procedure whereby agricultural subsidy accounts, together with the certifiers’ reports, are sent
from Member States to the Agriculture DG for ‘clearance’. Analysis has begun to prepare the
way for the planned application of Bayesian methods for incorporating prior experience into a
relatively objective framework for estimating total overpayment.

Work to support
the European anti-fraud office, OLAF, has the general objective of
improving the office's effectiveness and efficiency by enabling it to visualise, sift and analyse
the huge amount of available information so as to detect and identify trends and anomalies.
The work focused on four areas: information systems support; data analysis and risk analysis;
computer communications and security; and education and training. Increasing use is being
made of the technology of the Internet and the world wide web. For instance, web-interfaces
have been implemented to a Geographic Information System for Early Warning Systems,
web-crawler agents have been set searching on-line newspaper articles; and techniques have
been developed for automatic data downloading from commercial web-sites to aid
understanding of the past movements of containers.

Work continued on determining the feasibility of integrating space-borne synthetic aperture
radar imagery with present systems for monitoring the position of fishing vessels. New
software was developed for vessel detection and identification. Applying this in the North
West Atlantic, the North Sea and the Azores showed that more than 95% of vessels were
detectable using relatively coarse imagery and that results could be available two and a half
hours after the satellite overpass.

NATURAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL RISKS AND EMERGENCIES

The ISIS has developed a considerable expertise in the management of natural and
technological risks and, in a number of important areas, is the main adviser to those services
of the Commission responsible for managing these risks. ISIS work can be divided into three
broad areas:
• Harmonised European reporting systems;
• Nuclear reactor safety; and
• The application of structural mechanics to improve safety.

Harmonised European reporting systems

The major accident hazards bureau (MAHB) supports the implementation and monitoring of
EU policy on the control of major hazards and the prevention and mitigation of major
accidents – in particular the Seveso II Directive (96/82/EC). It manages and maintains the
distributed information exchange and analysis tool with which Member States report data on
major accidents – the major accident reporting system (MARS) – and also the community
documentation centre on industrial risks (CDCIR).

During 2000, a new integrated version of the MARS accident-reporting database was
produced incorporating the Seveso Plant Information Retrieval System (SPIRS), and the
substance database DSDMS. An updated local version is distributed to each National
Competent Authority every six months.

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The natural and environmental disaster information exchange system (NEDIES) is being built
the Member States in the area of natural and environmental disasters.
up to support
Implementation of a new version of the NEDIES website includes an interactive part for
disaster reporting and disaster database interrogation, restricted to authorised users. Reports
have been produced on lessons learned in recent European avalanche disasters,
train
accidents, flood disasters and earthquakes.

The ISIS is continuing to develop a European co-ordination centre for aviation incident
reporting system (ECCAIRS) This makes available a standard reporting system software for
all aviation authorities in the EU and integrates the resulting data in a single information
system, accessible from all Member States. The Nordic, German, Italian, French and Dutch
authorities, as well as Eurocontrol (the European organisation for the safety of air navigation),
will be basing their future systems on ECCAIRS.

A system is being designed on behalf of the Italian Environment Ministry that is capable of
integrated environmental monitoring and the management of risk and emergency situations in
industrial areas. Work on the development of software allowing the public to participate better
in the assessment of risk has begun to broaden from issues of environmental sustainability
towards a more general application.

Nuclear reactor safety

Within the nuclear safety area, there has been more emphasis on integrating European
research, ensuring the dissemination of knowledge and on issues related to enlargement.

To meet these objectives a web-based information system has been set up for the storage and
retrieval of experimental data acquired in the ISIS experimental programmes Fuel Melting
and Release Oven/Small scale steam explosion facility – Italy (FARO/KROTOS) and (LOBI).
This is being extended to include the thermal-hydraulic data bases acquired in other European
integral system test facilities.

Work to disseminate and add value to the results of the ‘benchmark exercise on expert
judgement (EJ) techniques in level 2 probabilistic safety assessment’ continued. A new
international benchmark exercise for dependability assessment of safety critical software is
under preparation.

ISIS work on severe accidents concentrated on support to the French test Reactor (Cadarache,
FR) (Phebus-FP) tests and on the improvement of the computational tool for hydrogen
combustion, REACFLOW. The main achievement during 2000 was the successful completion
of the Phebus FPT-2 test.

Structural mechanics research for mitigation of technological risks

The European laboratory for structural assessment (ELSA), with its reaction wall facility, is a
centre of reference for European earthquake engineering. It has become the main link in a
network of earthquake engineering laboratories working towards common agreed goals.

In addition to the pre-normative work in support of European design specifications for new
buildings, there has been some emphasis on developing and assessing new technologies to
improve the seismic resistance of existing ones – especially those with some cultural,
historical or architectural importance. Two full-scale buildings were retrofitted using carbon
fibre composite materials and tested at ELSA in 2000. Experimental research on old brick
masonry buildings is now underway following the completion of an analytical feasibility
study.

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A combined effort involving computational modelling and tests in the Large Dynamic Test
Facility has started, with the objective of understanding how structural components of cars
and crash barriers behave under accident conditions. A study on improving pedestrian safety
has been made and it is expected that this will be the foundation of future work in the area.

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Environment Institute (EI) - Ispra

Institute Director

1. Management support

2. Environmental impact

3. Air quality

Jean-Marie MARTIN

Emanuela ROSSI

Peter PÄRT

Dimitrios KOTZIAS

4. Atmospheric processes in global change

Frank RAES

5. Soil and waste

6. Water research and monitoring

7. Renewable energies

Giovanni BIDOGLIO

Peter PÄRT f.f.

Heinz OSSENBRINK

Mission

The mission of the EI is to carry out research in support of EU policy for the protection of the
environment and the citizen. The prime objectives of the EI are to investigate the level and
fate of contaminants in the air, water and soil, to assess the effects of those contaminants
upon the environment and individuals and to promote a sustainable energy supply.

In 2000, the Environment Institute (EI) focussed on air quality, atmospheric processes in
global change, soil and waste, water research and monitoring, renewable energies and
research on environmental impact with emphasis on radioactive environmental monitoring
and environmental integrity and human health.

Air quality

The air quality unit is working on two major projects:

• Integrated air quality assessment (IAQA)

The IAQA project includes all essential methodologies needed for exposure-based urban air
quality assessment – from sources
identification, micro-environmental and personal
monitoring to the development of modelling tools for the analysis of data, the assessment of
abatement scenarios and the development of measures. The key elements in this concept are
total human exposure assessment (indoor and outdoor) and the identification of sources and
source apportionment for a range of priority pollutants.

IAQA includes the work of the European reference laboratory for air pollution (ERLAP), as
well as a range of studies on urban air-quality impact assessment (AUTO-OIL). The project
links regional, urban and micro-scale air-quality analysis, in order to develop strategies and
models for assessing total human exposure to indoor/outdoor pollutants.

During 1999/2000, In view of the implementation of the Air Quality Framework Directive,
ERLAP organised a series of three inter-comparison exercises for sulphur dioxide, NOx,
ozone and carbon monoxide. Their purpose was to harmonise calibration procedures in the
Member States and to control the accuracy of national reference standards. New monitoring
techniques such as diffusive sampling have been developed and validated, and are used in
measuring campaigns in four major European cities to examine the AUTO-OIL results with
experimental data.

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The AUTO-OIL II project was finalised in 2000. Eleven European city domains of differing
characteristics form the core of the database for AUTO-OIL II: Athens, Berlin, Cologne,
Dublin, Helsinki, London, Lyon, Madrid, Milan, Reggio nell'Emilia and Utrecht. These
domains represent 47% of the urban population living in the 15 Member States. Current air-
quality standards and emission-reduction objectives of these European cities were reviewed
and the functional relationships between emissions and air quality were established for all the
pollutants of interest, as well as the tools for projecting regional and urban emission
inventories up to 2010.
• European reference

incineration and vehicle

laboratory on waste

emission

measurements (ERLIVE)

ERLIVE provides reference studies in support of the preparation,
implementation and
assessment of new EU-directives and standards on emissions from both stationary (industry)
and mobile (on-road transport) sources. ERLIVE consists of a pilot incinerator equipped with
all the necessary instrumentation for gaseous and particulate emission control at the stack, and
a full-scale vehicle laboratory for the simulation of urban and non-urban driving conditions.
Philippe Busquin, the European Commissioner for research, and Ortensio Zecchino, the
Italian Minister for Research, officially inaugurated the vehicle laboratory in July 2000.

In particular, the research programme carried out during the year 2000 focused on the
following scientific problems:

– Chemical-physical analysis of regulated and unregulated particulate matter (PM) pollutants

emitted from new fuels and advanced engine technologies;

– Harmonisation/standardisation of measuring methods; and

– Assessment of advanced measurement and cleaning techniques during waste incineration

process.

The AIRPECO project

Another project of the air quality unit concerns the PECO countries. The AIRPECO project
aims at the harmonisation of ambient air quality assessment methods and techniques in
PECO countries. Through the organisation of workshops, measuring campaigns in Central
and Eastern European cities and the participation of laboratories to European quality
assurance programmes, the PECO countries will improve their knowledge in view of the
implementation of the existing EU Directives on air quality. During one week in October
2000, the first inter-comparison exercise for the measurement of the priority pollutants
sulphur dioxide, NOx, ozone and carbon monoxide was carried out by ERLAP in Ispra with
the participation of laboratories from Estonia, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech
Republic.

Atmospheric processes in global change

In the atmospheric processes in global change unit, investigations are focused on the study of
physical, chemical and biological processes controlling the tropospheric concentrations of
reactive gases (e.g. ozone) and stable greenhouse gases, as well as aerosols. They aim at
understanding the interactions between these three issues in order to provide an integrated
scientific basis for EU environmental regulatory actions, including the assessment of the
outcome of the Kyoto Protocol.

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The EI carries out
its own research, co-ordinates European projects, and promotes
international networks on research and systematic observations. These activities are relevant
to the Environment DG, complement Research DG shared-cost-action programmes on
environment and climate, and contribute to international environmental programmes – e.g.,
the international geosphere biosphere programme (IGBP).

Several activities have been carried out within PHAMA (links between photo-oxidants,
aerosols, and specific meteorological patterns through experimental and modelling studies in
the Mediterranean area):

– A detailed laboratory study of the atmospheric photo-oxidation of emissions from
vegetation showed that these compounds are an important source of particulate matter and
carbonyl compounds in the troposphere.

– Project members wrote highly publicised review papers in a chapter on aerosols in the
‘integration and synthesis of 10 years of international global atmospheric chemistry
(IGAC/IGBP) research’ and a ‘millennium’ review paper on aerosols, for the journal
Atmospheric Environment. In addition, 20 papers in international peer-reviewed journals
were published during 2000.

Studying the link between ozone and particulate matter

A year-long measurement campaign at the JRC Ispra site produced a unique data set to study
the link between ozone and particulate matter formation, and the role of biogenic emissions in
ozone and PM formation. First results showed a clear link between the hygroscopicity of
aerosols and the ozone level.

The Atmospheric processes in global change unit has become increasingly involved in
supporting the EU policymaking process. An example was the setting-up of a single JRC
system for air pollution modelling on urban-to-regional/global scales. The system is ready for
application in the Environment DG’s, Clean Air For Europe (CAFE) programme.

Soil and waste

European inland and coastal watershed observational network

The European observational network of inland and coastal watersheds, intended to assess
impacts of EU policy and legislation on the quality of soil and water resources and establish a
correlation between goals and measures, has become operational. Nodes of the network have
been established in Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, UK and Eastern Europe,
in
collaboration with the Environment DG and with regional and national institutions.

During 2000, the main focus has been on the continuing development of the project on
impacts of waste emissions on soils (IWES). The aim of IWES is to conduct research in
support of EU policies on soil protection by establishing relationships between soil pollution
and pressures from industrial, urban and agricultural waste-producing activities.

The unit has significantly expanded its activities in the field of environmental modelling, in
order better to assess the risks associated with the problems of chemicals in soils and
groundwater. In particular, the Unit is focusing on the use of fertiliser, pesticides and sewage
sludge applications in agricultural lands. Part of this activity has been started to support the
Environment DG in the upcoming revision of the European Directive on sewage sludge.

Modelling activities at
the observational network of research watersheds included the
validation of the harmonised quantification and reporting procedures for nutrients (HARP)
guidelines on well-instrumented watersheds in Finland and France. The HARP guidelines
provide grounds for estimation of normalised values of nitrogen and phosphorus losses from

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both point and non-point sources, and help in assessing the effectiveness of the pollution
reduction strategy.

An activity to assess the regional component of greenhouse gas emissions from European
soils using GIS-based models was also started. This project will build on experimental work
carried out in the unit and will draw from a variety of ground observations and remotely
sensed data sets. The unit is also providing support to the Health and Consumer Protection
DG by developing an information system to support the validation and improvement of risk
assessment models for pesticides in groundwater (FOCUS).

A research action on the environmental
impact of mining waste was developed in
collaboration with the Environment DG and the European Environmental Agency (EEA), also
with the involvement of pre-accession countries. The aim is to compare criteria for safe
disposal of mining waste in candidate countries with the existing EU legislative framework in
the area of waste, and to contribute to the assessment of the consequences of mining accidents
(e.g. Baia Mare, Aznalcóllar) in a perspective of ecosystem protection. In this context, a
second field campaign was organised with the JRC Space Applications Institute (SAI) along
the Guadiamar River, following the discharge of toxic slurry from the Aznalcóllar mine
(South Spain).

The high-resolution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HRMS) laboratory for the
measurement of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and other
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) entered into operation. This facility has been providing
support to the ERLIVE project as well as to the JRC Institute for Health and Consumer
Protection (IHCP) on PCDD/Fs in fish and on preparation of standard reference material for
PCDD/Fs in animal tissue. An activity to develop methods of waste characterisation in order
to estimate the flux of dangerous substances associated with selected waste streams was
started. One aspect of this study will be an investigation of the role of waste recycling in the
contamination of animal feed by dioxins and other POPs.

Water research and monitoring

During 2000, the regulators group on construction products in contact with drinking water
to promote microbial growth,
(CPDW) agreed that harmonised tests on the potential
cytotoxicity and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for non-target compounds and the
potential to form disinfectant by-products research had to be developed before the European
acceptance scheme (EAS) could be implemented. The European testing laboratory for CPDW
took charge of the scientific co-ordination of this research.

In addition, contributions were made to the workshops on EAS protection level for
consumers, EAS on paper and EAS metallic products. Since metals can occur in various
oxidation states, and toxic effects are related to speciation, work is in progress on the
speciation of metals by hyphenated techniques such as high-pressure liquid chromatography-
inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS). A facility has been set up
for the analysis of polar compounds in water.

Criteria were compared to identify eutrophicated or threatened fresh water used in the
Member States, and a possible strategy suggested for developing nutrient criteria in standing
and running waters. This study was done in the framework of the urban wastewater treatment
Directive and the nitrate Directive, which allow Member States to select their own criteria.

In the framework of sustainable wastewater management, the laboratory of micro-calorimetry
and respirometry proceeded in studying activated sludge physiology. The fate of selected
organic micro-pollutants such as phthalates and commercial detergents were studied in sub-
surface flow reed beds. So far, two contaminated sites in Italy have been characterised.

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In the area of data quality, a series of collaborative laboratory performance studies has been
prepared. The matrices and related determinants were: tobacco, compost, incineration ash,
road dust powder and sewage sludge powder for metal analysis; plants and sewage sludge
powder
the analysis of persistent organic chlorine compounds and polycyclic
hydrocarbons.

for

For the European scientific coastal observational network, the main efforts focused on setting
up the proposed network. A number potential test sites have been identified and contacts
made with local authorities and institutes to discuss collaboration. A list of relevant
monitoring parameters has been developed.

Renewable energies

The solar electricity (SOLAREC) project
is designed to support the implementation of
photovoltaic solar energy by providing the technology reference for quality assurance in
renewable-energy research, manufacturing, implementation and services; particularly in the
areas of:

– Reference measurements;

– Materials supply and cost reduction;

– Systems integration in the built environment and rural electrification; and

– Synergies between renewable and electricity efficiency programmes.

As part of maintaining the direct traceability of solar radiation by its two absolute cavity
radiometers to the World Radiometric Reference (WRR), EI participated in the five-yearly
inter-comparison held at the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos (PMOD),
Switzerland. This inter-comparison ensures worldwide homogeneity of solar measurements.

In support of European research and development on improved cell
the
European solar test installation (ESTI) now offers precise cell calibration to universities and
research groups.

technologies,

To meet
the ever-growing demand for solar electricity, which cannot be satisfied by
crystalline silicon alone, a number of thin-film technologies have progressed from research
programmes and are now commercially available. In order to provide consumer confidence in
these new technologies, various experimental
techniques have been developed for the
characterisation of the resultant structures, both in terms of their power outputs and their
projected lifetimes.

Wide-scale integration of solar electricity in the built environment requires the development
and implementation of quality codes for photovoltaic (PV) products, which are a combination
of existing PV standards with European construction industry codes. An outdoor test facility
has been constructed for this purpose.

The production of electricity from renewable sources is one way of reducing man’s impact on
the environment. Hand-in-hand with this approach is the efficient use of electricity. The group
has characterised electrical appliances and electric-motor systems in terms of their efficiency,
and has produced the EuroDEEM database to promote energy-efficient use. Similarly,
research, demonstration and dissemination on advanced lighting/daylighting technology is
performed (including technical follow-up of the EU Greenlight Programme).

Within the advanced electricity storage (ADELS) project, a battery test facility for the
conditioning and analysis of batteries has been set up. The facility performs precise
measurements of battery voltage, current and temperature under controlled charge and
discharge conditions. Moreover, it is used for performing and developing test procedures to
predict the long-term performance of batteries.

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Indoor and outdoor tests have been carried out on six solar home systems (SHS) as part of an
international
international effort
performance standard. This activity thus contributes to the establishment of standardisation
and certification procedures that match those already existing for Photovoltaics (PV) modules.
Consequently, it will boost consumers’ confidence in the use of decentralised PV systems.

to increase the quality of SHS by validating a draft

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) have
been produced by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and modified CVD methods.
Characterisation of the materials produced by several methods has provided technical data on
the sample quality (especially nanotube yields and their diameter distribution). The focus has
been directed towards improving the production and purification of the material as the main
means for increasing its hydrogen storage capacity.

New IEC standard for photovoltaic stand-alone systems

After two years, a procedure has been concluded for the design qualification and type
approval of small domestic DC photovoltaic power systems,
the so-called ‘solar home
in collaboration with laboratories from Europe and the US (GENEC, TÜV-
systems’,
Rheinland and NREL). This procedure has been accepted by the relevant IEC TC82 working
group (Photovoltaic (PV) stand-alone systems - Design qualification and type approval, IEC
62124 82/243/CD). This means that local accredited institutions in developing countries will
be able to evaluate the main characteristics of a solar home system by performing this test in
outdoor conditions, recording the battery voltage and current,
irradiance and ambient
temperature with a simple data acquisition system.

Environmental impact
• Radioactivity environmental monitoring

In support of the EU environment policy, the radioactivity environmental monitoring (REM)
project is focused on establishing an automatic information system for collecting, evaluating
and exchanging information (measurement data and model predictions) on radioactivity levels
in normal (REMdb, EURDEP) and in emergency (EURDEP, ECURIE, MESOCOM and
ENSEMBLE) conditions.

– Radioactivity environmental monitoring data bank (REMdb)
The Easy-Proteo software (data input processor) was further improved and the new release
has been made available to all Member States. The Easy-Proteo manual was also updated and
will shortly be published.

– European Community urgent radiological information exchange (ECURIE)
Three working group meetings were organised with DG Environment and a selected group of
MS experts to explore how ECURIE and EURDEP procedures can be integrated. This
resulted in a number of actions, amongst which the most important ones are a new EURDEP
data exchange format and a study on how to establish a consistent European radiological
monitoring network. The CoDecS (coding decoding software) was installed and its operation
explained at the IAEA.

– European Union radiological data exchange platform (EURDEP)
Currently 22 European countries send daily gamma dose rate measurements by means of this
system. A first version of the EURDEP website was created for graphical access and
presentation of this information.

– MESOCOM
MESOCOM, which was finalised in 2000, aimed at understanding the reasons for, and
quantifying the differences in, mesoscale modelling in simple and controlled conditions.

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– ENSEMBLE
ENSEMBLE was launched during 2000 and is designed to support decision-makers during
nuclear accidents, by making results of various long-range atmospheric dispersion models
available in a comprehensive manner and in real-time. Currently 15 real-time modellers from
Europe and the USA are involved.

Environmental integrity and human health

The toxicity of groups of environmental pollutants has been assessed in vivo and in vitro on
sensitive target species. Research on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) has progressed.
Screening for priorisation of EDCs from selected chemicals by means of the in vitro E-screen
assay in MCF-7 cells and the in vivo uterotrophic assay in immature rats have been carried
out. This research activity has also contributed to the EDAEP (endocrine-disrupting ability of
environmental pollutants) project, whose final report has been submitted to the Research DG.
Moreover, the EI has engineered mammalian cells with new DNA constructs (SF-1 as
promoter and GFP as reporter gene) for the detection of EDCs. Aquatic toxicology facilities
have been assembled and research on biomarkers (i.e. vitellogenin) of endocrine disruptors
(ED) in fish species has also begun. Finally, toxicological assessment of environmental
mixtures (drinking water, vehicle emissions) has been done in co-operation with other EI
units. The Institute’s leading role in the JRC's cluster on hormone and endocrine disruptors
and the implementation of the endocrine web site (http://endocrine.ei.jrc.it) enlarges EI
activities in seeking fruitful collaborations with other JRC units and external research bodies.

The EI has an active role in several European and worldwide co-ordination activities, in
particular in the field of EDCs. In particular, it has worked in the areas of EU-US science and
technology collaboration in the field of EDCs (together with the Research DG), contributed to
the strategy paper on EDCs, and given input for the implementation of the Commission
strategy in this area (mainly through the Environment DG). Moreover,
it has prepared
documents on ED for the Commissioner and for the European Parliament hearing on ED (18
April 2000), as well as a presentation of EDs, pharmaceuticals and microbiological
contamination in water for the STOA (scientific and technological options assessment) panel
of the European Parliament. The EI has also been particularly active in the inter-service group
on EDs co-ordinated by the Environment DG.

Involvement in WHO chemical safety programme

In the field of new approaches to risk assessment, the EI is involved in the WHO-IPCS
(World Health Organisation’s international programme on chemical safety) Group on
integrated risk assessment. The EI is planning an international workshop on this subject to be
held at the JRC site in Ispra in Spring 2001.

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Space Applications Institutes (SAI) - Ispra

Institute Director

Rudolf WINTER

Head of unit acting as Institute Deputy Director

Jean MEYER-ROUX

1. Management support

Albert JERABEK

2. Technologies for detection and positioning

Alois SIEBER

3. Environmental geo-information

Jean MEYER-ROUX

4. Agriculture and regional information systems

Jean MEYER-ROUX (f.f.)

5. Global vegetation monitoring

Alan BELWARD

6. Marine environment

Peter SCHLITTENHARDT

7. Strategy and systems for space applications

Peter CHURCHILL

Mission

The primary mission of SAI is to develop and promote the use of space-derived data in the
service of EU policies, especially those relating to agriculture, fisheries, transport and anti-
fraud. SAI also seeks to make the best use of information from space systems, to maximise the
return from European investments in space and to help the Union reinforce its role in
international action on the environment and sustainable development.

During the reporting year, the project portfolio of the Space Applications Institute (SAI) was
refocused as a consequence of budgetary and strategic changes within the JRC. The most
significant change affecting the SAI was the closure of the centre for earth observation
the Sampling for Information on Genetically Modified Organisms
project. In addition,
to air quality monitoring using space
(SIGMO) project was cancelled, and the support
techniques project was integrated into another project
in order to reduce management
overheads and hence increase overall efficiency.

Three new projects have been created, either in order to enhance the visibility of already on-
going activities, or to react to emerging policy priorities within the JRC:

– European Soil Bureau;

– Population dynamics and security; and

– Galileo technical support.

Last but not least, the global monitoring for environment and security (GMES) project was
redefined and renamed as global environmental information systems (GEIS), addressing the
creation of information systems related to the implementation of treaties such as the Kyoto
Protocol.

The SAI has contributed significantly to the rapid advancement of GMES, closely involving
European space and user organisations. Although SAI’s input concentrated on the evolution
of the technical aspects, the institute also supported the political and organisational progress
of GMES. Regular consultations with GMES partners in the EU Member States have resulted
in consolidated GMES products, which form the technical basis for the progress achieved on
the political level.

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Individual projects have also reached some significant milestones, including:

– The adoption of the urban monitoring methodology and products by the EEA and the

Regional Policy DG;

– Signing of an international agreement on civilian demining between the US and the EU by

Commissioner Busquin;

– Launch of the pre-operational European forest fire risk forecasting system in support to the

Environment DG, acknowledged in a recent EP Resolution

– Provision of a pan-European 1-km forest proportion database

– Invitation by the Environment DG to contribute to the drafting of guidelines for the Kyoto
Protocol monitoring; the delivery of a European soil erosion risk assessment map to EEA
and the Environment DG

– Provision of technical support to Galileo, based on the signing of the MoU between the

JRC and the Energy and Transport DG; and

– Delivery of Geographic Information System (GIS) for Natura 2000 prototypes to the

Environment DG, among others.

Monitoring natural and man-made hazards

The Institute has further developed its activities in the fields of natural and man-made
hazards, using space- and ground-based techniques focusing mainly on civilian demining,
forest fires and floods.

Following recent events, the External Relations DG identified South-East Europe as a priority
area for actions intended to re-establish stability (Stability Pact) in demining. At the request of
External Relations DG,
the SAI established contacts with the regional network of
organisations responsible for mine action (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia,
Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo) as a means of gaining detailed understanding of the needs.
This approach should not be viewed as a single initiative, but as part of a co-ordinated
process, designed to enhance and develop regional co-operation and collaboration during the
life of the mine action programmes. The goal is to provide a foundation portfolio that creates
a platform for further development and future funding on a wide range of inter-linked
activities.

In the field of specifying and contracting the supply of mine-like objects, the outline test
methodology has been defined. It was reported that the Italian ministry of defence would
support
for electromagnetic assessment. The
electromagnetic assessment of real mines will allow the SAI to compare the characteristics of
the surrogate mines with real mines – after which, the test procedures will be finalised.

this activity by providing live mines

The overall objective of the natural hazards project remained unchanged. There have
nevertheless been calls for urgent improvement of civil protection action at Community level.
The European Parliament has also adopted several Resolutions inviting the Commission to
take such initiatives. The main common elements in these forceful expressions of the need for
improvement are demands for a strengthened structure for interventions and for a more
efficient co-ordination of the intervening civil protection teams from Member States in case
of disasters occurring both within and outside the Union.

The reactions also take account of the Presidency Conclusions from the Santa Maria da Feira
European Council, 19-20 June 2000, in which was noted that the Commission would shortly
submit an operational inventory of actions already led by the Union, as well as proposals in
the civil protection area.

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Moreover, in the context of the GMES initiative, natural hazards have gained increasing
importance for the citizens of Europe. Beside the technical work already under development,
links will be created with other SAI projects in order to work out synergies between the
ongoing applications, and telecommunication and navigation studies. This could lead to a new
crisis-support element within the natural hazards project.

Supporting regional development

At the beginning of the reporting year, the Institute launched a new population dynamics and
security project with the objective of producing quantitative information on specific
phenomena related to: human settlement and population dynamics; human health and air
quality; resources degradation; and crisis management and humanitarian aid. Work focused
on the analysis of environment dynamics, ranging from land-use evolution to atmospheric
pollution – and in a broad range of situations such as urban growth, population migrations,
trans-border interchange and pressure, the setting-up or decline of infrastructures for transport
and energy, regional disparities, and emergency situations.

The EURO-LANDSCAPE project – which aims at the development of criteria and indicators
for sustainable development, environmental conditions and bio-diversity – was modified with
the creation of a new sub-project called Studying Complex Landscapes Structures (SCALE).
This examines complex land-use issues such as urban development, forestry, and agriculture.
Algorithms have been developed for the extraction of spatial information from a variety of
satellite imagery, including: IRS-1C, IKONOS and Landsat-7, and for the improvement of
classification procedures using both spectral and spatial information. In addition a pan-
European forest proportion database, a 200-m resolution image mosaic for forest mapping in
Europe, and a pan-European catchment and river network database were concluded, resulting
in a significant number of scientific publications.

The European Soil Bureau, a previous SAI activity, was re-launched as an Institute project
during the reporting year. The objectives were clearly re-identified during the last meeting of
the European Soil Forum (Berlin, November 1999), where customer DGs, the EEA and
Member States discussed future strategies concerning soils in Europe. The joint JRC-EEA
strategy on soil identifies as the major objective the establishment of an effective interface
between policy makers and the scientific community in order to collect policy-relevant soil
information for Europe.

The major instrument for achieving this task is the network of soil-related national institutions
currently co-ordinated by the European Soil Bureau. Three major areas of action have been
identified, namely soil erosion, organic carbon, and heavy metals. Consequently,
the
European Soil Bureau focused on the preparation of a pan-European soil erosion risk
assessment; on assessment of the organic carbon content in European soils, and on evaluation
of the background levels of heavy metals in European soils. There has also been a shift in
priorities from the geographic extension of the European soil information system to the newly
independent states (NIS) and Mediterranean Development (MEDA) countries.

Developing environmental information systems

The Coastal Monitoring and Management (COAST) project, demonstrating an end-to-end
utilisation of Earth observation data from satellites in an operational context, continued its
activities. Its work concentrated mainly on new/modified requirements emerging from the
new Water Framework Directive (a European Parliament and Council Recommendation
concerning the implementation of integrated coastal zone management in Europe) and on the
work programme of EEA’s European Topic Centre “Water”.

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To avoid confusion with the GMES initiative. the global monitoring for environment and
security project was renamed as the global environmental information systems. Its prior
objective remained unchanged; i.e. to provide the services of the Commission with relevant,
timely and accurate information on changes in the location and condition of global vegetation
types and oceanic primary production.

The information requirements for the implementation and verification of environmental
treaties/conventions on climate change, biodiversity, and desertification were specifically
addressed. Key actions were:

– Development of methods to reduce uncertainties in inventory, mapping and monitoring of

global land-cover types, especially forest resources;

– Development and testing of methods to identify significant events heralding land-cover

change, such as fires and short term climatic variations, and determine their impact;

– Development and testing of methods to identify oceanic sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse

gases; and

– Participation in the development of an operational Earth Observations (EO) capability in

Europe, with particular reference to the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol.

The on-going Geographic Information and Geographic Information System (GI&GIS) project
has reflected the increasing awareness of the importance of spatial aspects in European
policies (e.g. European Spatial Development Perspective, Common Agricultural Policy,
Integrated Coastal Zone Management) and decision-making – focusing on technical aspects
related to spatial information and spatial information systems).

Geographic information is now recognised as a key element of the Information Society. The
GI&GIS project continued its support to the actions taken to create a European geographic
information infrastructure (EGII), recognised as priority for the year 2001 by the Information
Society DG.

At the request of the main customer DGs (Eurostat, Information Society, Environment,
Agriculture) and Committee of Geographical Information (COGI), some new priorities were
taken into account without changing the general objectives. The project can thus act as
reference centre for GI&GIS, addressing problems such as European spatial reference system,
GI metadata standard and European geographic projection systems, including links with
international standards organisations (e.g. liaison with ISO).

A survey financed by Eurostat was performed to determine the availability of pan-European
geographic information fulfilling the Commission department's needs. The project further
supported the European contribution to global initiatives such as: Climate Change, Global
Monitoring for Environment and Security, GSDI, OGC, ISO, and JTC. Its geographic area
was extended to include the countries affected by EU enlargement. Last but not least, the
GI&GIS project co-managed the European Project I&CLC2000 (IMAGE2000 and Corine
Land Cover (CLC2000)).

Supporting the common agricultural policy

The well-known monitoring agriculture with remote sensing (MARS) project continued to
provide technical support and expertise to the Agriculture DG for the implementation,
management and follow-up of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Know-how developed
within MARS has embraced the operational use of remote sensing (satellite/airborne data),
information systems (GIS), global positioning system (GPS), and more
geographical
generally geomatics and area frame techniques. The main application areas of MARS over the
reporting year were the fight against fraud, i.e., technical control of farmers’ declarations for

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area-based subsidies; and the production of pan-European statistics and information systems
related crop yield monitoring forecasts (MARS bulletin).

During the year, MARS undertook a number of initiatives to explore and develop its expertise
in the GMES field. Pilot projects were carried out over Kosovo, and there are plans to gather
datasets on four pilot regions in the world in order to develop prototypes.

In the meantime, new partnerships are underway with organisations such as Food &
Agricultural Organisation (FAO), and contacts are now established with the External
Relations and Development DGs. Another large part of the MARS activities has been fully
integrated within the fight against fraud campaign. Moreover, future synergies have been
clearly identified with the development of orthophotos and digital land-parcel identification
systems. Foreseen by the new regulation for the CAP, this data will in the medium term
revolutionise the availability of large-scale maps and of web-accessible land registry data in
rural areas. On the initiative of the JRC, and with the support of the Agriculture DG, a
proposal for a MARS PECO project on the fight against fraud has been submitted, approved
and readjusted.

Supporting Europe’s space strategy

also continued to promote

The SAI has strongly supported European space strategy, mainly by providing technical
contributions in the fields of Earth observation (GMES) and satellite navigation (Galileo). It
has
technologies with
telecommunications under applications on the synergy of earth observation with satellite
telecommunications and navigation Applications on the Synergy of Telecommunications
Earth Observations and Navigation (ASTRON) project.

synergy of

space

these

the

ASTRON demonstrates innovative services and applications based on the convergence of
digital information from satellites and terrestrial technologies. Presentations showing the
potential for synergistic use of the various satellite technologies were selected in accordance
with the results of a series of market studies carried out during the reporting year. The first
demonstration was in the field of Info-mobility Moreover, a satellite navigation monitoring
station was installed and operated within the framework of the project.

Through the newly launched Galileo technical support project, the Institute provided technical
backing to the Galileo programme during its definition phase. The support provided can be
grouped into three main areas: applications and pilot projects; systems definition and
this
implementation, and service definition and market-related assessments. Effectively,
included:

– Project management of Task 8 (Pilot Projects) of the Overall Architecture contract

(GALA);

– Co-operation with on-going Trans-European Network (TEN), and other FP5 activities; and

– Liaison with the Galileosat project; and continued assistance to the technical management
of the Service Definition contract (GEMINUS), including project management of tasks –
business models, service definition, market analysis.

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES)

MAJOR SUCCESSES IN 2000

The most significant single success of the SAI has been its contribution to the rapid
advancement of GMES. As project leader, the Institute has contributed at all levels to the
further evolution of the programme, closely involving European space and user organisations.

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At the Fifth SAI Annual Users’ Seminar in Stresa (IT) in May 2000, Commissioner Philippe
Busquin stressed for the first time that “GMES could be the next theme for a cross-European
co-operation”. Triggered by this endorsement, GMES has progressed rapidly on the political
level. A GMES conference was organised in Lille under the auspices of the French EU
Presidency in October 2000, at which the SAI was invited to provide a keynote speech. A
high-level follow-up conference under the Swedish EU Presidency is in preparation, and
Commissioner Wallström, responsible for the environment, is expected to attend. In addition,
GMES has become the representative for Earth observation in the joint European Space
Agency (ESA)-EU European strategy for space, which is currently in its final consultation
process before being put forward to the respective ESA and EU Councils for decision.

European forest fire risk forecasting system

Within the forest fire work-package of the natural hazards project, the required fire risk
indices were delivered on time and are available to the customers via the Internet. In June
2000, the delivery of daily fire risk forecasts for the Mediterranean countries was launched. In
the meantime, Germany, Luxembourg, Finland and Austria have also requested to be linked
to the system. The overall activity is co-ordinated with the Environment DG.

Burnt-area mapping started at the end of last year. Reports on important fires, such as those in
northern Spain and southern France were already sent to the national authorities and the
Agriculture DG. The fire mapping methodology was tested in Portugal for the entire
Mediterranean basin.

World fire web

The world fire web is a system for globally mapping fires in vegetation. It is being developed
in response to a call from scientists and policy-makers for globally consistent information on
the distribution and behaviour of fire in the environment.

Satellite images National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Advanced Very
High Resolution Radiometer (NOAA AVHRR) are acquired by a worldwide network of
receiving stations. Each station operates a data-processing chain for detecting fires in the
satellite imagery. Daily global fire maps are built up at each station from this regional data by
automatically sharing regional fire maps over the Internet. Global fire information is then
made available on-line from each station, in near real-time.

A pilot network with partial coverage of the globe is in its implementation phase. The
network now provides a virtually complete global coverage of vegetation fire.

City navigation

A personal assistant screen emulator was developed within the framework of the ASTRON
project covering the JRC Ispra site. This was based on a development carried out over
Stockholm. The JRC site emulator is a proof-of-concept demonstration in the field of city
navigation.
(Earth
observation, navigation and telecommunications) and ground-based technologies.

It shows the potential arising from the synergistic use of space-

In particular, the personal assistant can be used further to support users with information on
demand, providing personal guidance in unknown environments such as an unfamiliar city. It
can, for example, provide help to find the next underground station, or guide a backpacker to
the nearest camping site in a rural area. The prototype is available for demonstration at the
Institute.

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Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP) - Ispra

Institute Director

1. Management support

2. Food products and consumer goods

3. Validation of biomedical testing methods

4. Toxicology and chemical substances

5. Support to pharmaceutical regulation

6. Biomedical materials and systems

Barry McSWEENEY acting

Giacinto TARTAGLIA

Elke ANKLAM

Michael BALLS

Ernst VOLLMER

Flavio ARGENTESI

Hermann STAMM

Mission

The mission of the IHCP is to support EU policies for health and consumer protection. IHCP
carries out research to improve the understanding of the hazards, exposure and risks posed
by food contaminants, drugs, chemicals, products, services and systems and to develop,
validate and apply advanced methods and strategies of a high scientific quality.

The year 2000 was the second year of operation for the Institute for Health and Consumer
Protection – the newest institute of the JRC. the IHCP continued to progress with a natural
evolution of its working areas under the influence of elements such as the rapid development
of life science, the Commission’s legislative programme and the future chemicals policy.
The appointment of Barry McSweeney on 1 March 2000 as the Institute’s first Director
accelerated the focusing and prioritisation of activities. Prior
to Mr McSweeney’s
appointment, JRC Director-General Herbert J. Allgeier had also acted as the IHCP’s Director.
The focusing exercise, among other factors, led to a significant expansion of the GMO
(genetically modified organism) activity.

Demand for food safety and quality activities continued at a high level, and actions in this
area were also expanded in the context of the Commission White Paper on Food Safety and
the proposal to establish a European Food Authority. A close and co-operative working
relationship between the Health and Consumer Protection DG and the JRC (under the
leadership of the IHCP) and the planning process of the food authority will ensure the
avoidance of unnecessary duplication between the authority and related activities of the JRC.

The IHCP has been central to the development of the JRC competence pillar on food,
chemical products and health, the most relevant growth area in the JRC future strategies. This
is a good example of how the Institute collaborates across the JRC, particularly with the
Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) and the Institute for Prospective
Technological Studies (IPTS).
The European centre for the validation of alternative methods (ECVAM) and the European
Chemicals Bureau (ECB) continued their work related to the safety of chemicals and
chemical products. ECVAM has seen three of its validated methods incorporated into
European legislation – a historic first for any in vitro methods – while ECB continued as the
central activity in the European regulatory system of chemicals. The emerging White Paper
on chemical safety will have a significant influence on the future development of these
activities.
The IHCP continued its work on telematics, related to the regulation of pharmaceuticals. The
support given to the European medicine evaluation agency (EMEA) was strengthened, as well
as the development of the medicine information network for Europe (MINE).

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The biomedical research activities have been re-oriented and focused on the reliability of
medical devices, including implants. Exciting interdisciplinary work is now concentrated on
hips, knees and cardiac stents. The present situation and the future evolution in this area are
based on the requirements of an ageing European population and consumer demand for better
medical tools.

A key horizontal activity in 2000 was the development of the IHCP networking and training
activities. The establishment of the European network of GMO laboratories, and the manner
in which the European validation of methods relating to the release of phthalates (plasticisers)
were undertaken, served as key examples. Additionally, the IHCP has approximately 200 on-
going collaborative research partners, throughout Europe and beyond.
Training is concentrated on the transfer of key competences to scientists from candidate’
countries for EU membership and developing countries, and on research mobility training of
young researchers. The existence of an excellent research infrastructure, a high potential for
multi-disciplinary activities and the involvement in many ‘hot’ issues should ensure an active
development of this work.

Food products and consumer goods

Analysis of food products and other consumer goods aims to respond adequately and
independently to consumer concerns regarding food safety and quality. Technical support is
provided for the implementation of EU policies in the field of food and related items –
including feedstuffs – as well as other consumer items such as childcare products and
cosmetics. Harmonisation and validation of analytical methods in the fields of food safety and
quality are carried out through networking with Member States’ laboratories.

Natural toxicants

A simple and environmentally friendly method based on thin layer chromatography (TLC)
was developed and validated for the quantification of aflatoxins in food and animal feed.

• Food contact materials

A study on the effects of the composition of can coatings on migration of ether – BADGE
(bisphenol-a-diglycidylether), - degradation products was completed, as a part of monitoring
of contaminants from food packaging (i.e. can coatings, baby bottles, baby food jar sealants,
etc.). Comparison of methods for the migration of bisphenol A in baby bottles was also
completed.

In connection with the dissemination of information and database, 10 new substances were
received from suppliers for the reference collection of monomers and additives. The website
was correspondingly updated (http://cpf.jrc.it/webpack/).

Validations for plasticisers and pesticides

Validation of two methodologies to test the migration of certain plasticisers from toys and
childcare articles was carried out. Two rapid screening methods for the determination of
pesticides in food (also suitable for animal feed) were also developed and validated.

Further activities have continued in relation to food quality, which is one of the growing
concerns of consumers, critical to determining the perception, acceptance and attraction of a
product.
For the control of European wines by the European Office for wine, alcohols and spirit drinks
(BEVABS), development of the database on authentic European wines continued and the
software was updated. Moreover, the work on the development and validation for carbon-13
measurements is progressing.

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Various methods were investigated for the quantification of foreign oils in olive oils.
Additionally, a method for the detection of cocoa butter equivalents (CBEs) in cocoa butter
(CB) has been developed.
• Genetically modified organisms

technological and industrial sectors
Biotechnology is one the most
(including trade issues) of European society, and is of primary importance on the European
policy agenda. The principal objectives of the GMO project are to:

important scientific,

– Reply to challenges related to biotechnology regulatory actions for environmental

development, consumer protection and technological/industrial development;

– Provide assistance to the Commission, to the relevant competent authorities and to the
European and national expert Committees in their work on the implementation of the
Biotechnology Directives;

– Provide a demand-driven active food control by the harmonisation and validation of
analytical methods for the detection of GMOs in food products through networking with
Member States’ laboratories;

– Propose and validate sampling plans;

– Organise training courses for control laboratories, so that appropriate methods for GMO

detection will be used; and

– Elaborate technical feasibility studies to comply with legal provisions.

This area received a tremendous boost in the year 2000, under the impulse of the Commission
legislative programme. A recruitment campaign and the construction of new laboratories are
underway. The IHCP is increasing its activities in the range of certified reference materials
and in the establishment of a molecular register relevant to the identification of GMOs.

Through the IHCP, the JRC will co-ordinate the established network of GMO laboratories,
which held the kick-off meeting at the JRC site in Ispra on 13 June 2000, involving a total of
38 experts
laboratories and 18 European Commission
representatives.

from national enforcement

SNIF notification system

Notification system/electronic SNIF has been developed as a specific scientific and technical
support offered to DG Environment for implementation of Directive 90/219/EEC on the
contained use of GMOs and Directive 90/220/EEC on the deliberate release into the
environment of GMOs, including all amendments and adaptations to the technical progress.

To date, 104 dossiers dealing with deliberate field trials for research and development have
been received, processed and checked for compliance with the European Biotechnology
Directives. The website (http://food.jrc.it/gmo/), updated at weekly intervals, now contains
the overview of all notifications received so far.

The development of an extranet initiated in 1999 to link Member States and the EC in a
secure network has continued. A prototype version is ready, allowing Member States to have
direct on-line access to the summaries of the dossiers that report on the notified deliberate
field trials, as well as to the full dossiers that are submitted to request commercialisation of a
GMO.

A qualitative screening method was validated for the detection of GMOs in various processed
food matrices (cooked maize grit, infant formula, biscuits, acidified soybean meal). This has
proved to be suitable for the screening of GMOs even when extreme temperature conditions
are applied or when multiple components are present.

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The GMO laboratory has been put
into operation. GMO-containing reference materials
produced by the IRMM were extensively analysed by direct polymerase chain reaction
(PCR), by nested PCR and by the application of a large variety of PCR primers. This enabled
the design of new production protocols and the start of collaboration in the production of new
types of material.

A total of three training courses have been organised in collaboration with the World Health
Organisation. Applications for a further ten courses are being processed.

Toxicology and assessment of chemical substances

The ECB provides scientific and technical support
to the conception, development,
implementation and monitoring of EU policies on dangerous chemicals. It represents the focal
point for collecting information on new and existing chemicals, and manages the assessment
of risks posed to workers, consumers and the environment. It supports the implementation and
updating of Directives and Regulations concerning dangerous new and existing chemicals,
biocides, plant protection products and related environmental influences. Aspects such as
legal classification and labelling, notification of new substances, and development and
harmonisation of testing methods are included.

In 2000, the ECB organised and hosted several working group meetings in the classification
and labelling area, dealing with health matters and effects on the environment. As major
specific achievements, ECB has introduced 11 new or revised testing methods into Annex V
of Directive 67/548/EEC.

IUCLID – global reference database

The international uniform chemical information database (IUCLID), already adopted in 1999
by the International Council of Chemicals Associations (ICCA), has become the world
chemical industry’s de facto reference database for the collection and distribution of chemical
data. It has now been enlarged and contains the finalised section on biocides. The second
IUCLID CD-ROM was released in August 2000. In its present form, it contains data on 2604
volume-production chemicals, including all available information on the toxicological and
eco-toxicological effects of these substances – together with summaries of risk assessment
reports, where available, and other background information.

Moreover, 100 existing chemicals and 150 new chemicals have been classified and labelled as
dangerous. More than 40 risk assessment reports on existing substances have been finalised
and 400 notifications on new substances distributed. A consistent effort was made to
disseminate information, while the construction of the web page with information on the
biocides review regulation was completed. In collaboration with United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), more than 20 national profile homepages have been created and
published on the Internet.

Validation of biomedical testing methods

ECVAM is today the reference centre, at international level, for the development, scientific
and regulatory acceptance for alternative testing methods –e.g. in vitro studies using cell
tissue cultures, computer-based testing and use of non-invasive technologies in human
volunteers. This work, intended to replace, reduce or refine the use of laboratory animals, is
applicable to various fields of biomedical science.

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It involves a number of different measures:

– Co-ordinating the pre-validation/validation of alternative test methods at the European

level, by performing research and new test development;

– Implementing and maintaining the ECVAM database – Scientific Information System
(SIS) – a specialised tool concerning the state of the art of alternative test development and
validation;

– Organising workshops and task forces to review the current status of alternative tests in

specific areas; and

– Making recommendations about the best way to promote the integration of in vitro tests

and other testing methods into the regulatory process.

In vitro methods accepted

Three scientifically validated in vitro methods (two for skin corrosivity and one for
phototoxic potential) were accepted by the EU Member States, as Annex V test guidelines in
relation to the Directive 67/548/EEC. The ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee endorsed
the local lymph node assay for skin sensitisation and the EpiDerm skin corrosivity test as
validated methods. An ECVAM formal validation also showed that three in vitro tests for
embryotoxicity had met the validation criteria for the study.

Other highlights during the year include:

– The development of a prototype for an innovative, medium-throughput HPLC/MS system

for measuring metabolism-related enzyme activities;

– A prize for the best paper published in ATLA (Alternatives to Laboratory Animals) was
awarded to the members of the group working on reprotoxicity and cardiotoxicity, who
participated in successful validation of the embryonic stem cell test;

– The Tecnomouse system for long-term in-vitro studies was successfully transferred to
ECVAM by contract, and a multi-system for transepithelial resistance measurement has
been optimised. HPLC and luminescence methods for nucleotide measurement have been
developed in-house, and an external contract has been awarded to optimise Caco-2 cell
methods for studying intestinal absorption in vitro;

– Active collaboration has been established on the absorption by the Caco-2 cell and on the

embryotoxicity of metals;

– In-vitro assays for pesticide haematoxicity in both human and animal cells are successfully
being applied. Techniques for the establishment of long-term cultures of human bone-
marrow cells have been refined. Standard operating procedures for the use of human spinal
cord blood cells in clonogenic assays have also been produced;

– An important contribution to the derivation of structure-activity relationships for predicting

the corneal permeability of chemicals and pharmaceuticals has been published;

– Collaboration to provide standardised protocols for the safe and ethical use of non-invasive
measurements in human volunteer studies has begun, as a basis for comparing in-vitro test
data and human in vivo test data; and

– In the field of information systems, progress has been made on the production of a
thesaurus of terms to be used in relation to alternative methods to laboratory animal use
and has been incorporated into the database.

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Support to pharmaceutical regulation

Through its support to pharmaceutical regulation (SPR) unit, the IHCP provides management
information/communication systems to the regulatory process for pharmaceuticals. These
activities are of enormous help for the safety validation of medicinal products such as
radio-pharmaceuticals and homeopathic
pharmaceuticals, vaccines, blood derivatives,
medicines, as well as biotechnological derivatives, to ensure protection of citizens’ health.
Regulators are supplied with all required information tools to monitor the evaluation of the
scientific, efficacy and safety aspects of medicinal products and to track the marketing
authorisation processes of medicinal products throughout the EU.

The aim is to develop the unified tracking system (UTS) integrating the presently distinct
marketing authorisation procedures with up-to-date telematic solutions – EudraTrack mutual
recognition (EMR) and application tracking system (ATS). UTS is a telematic system that
enables all marketing submissions of medicinal products in Europe to be tracked, and is
capable of monitoring improper submissions. In addition the activities in this area include the
design and implementation of a centralised database service (named MINE), which gathers all
scientific, efficacy and safety information on medicinal products authorised within the EU.

A new classification into five levels of MA application has been introduced (i.e. new active
substances, initial application, full dossier, herbal and prescription). The procedure header is
now editable allowing the update of the contents of the following fields: CMSs, MA holder,
Product name, Active substances, Pharmaceutical form, ATC code and RMS contact.

The EudraNet network (EudraNet II) is being upgraded. It is composed of virtual private
network (VPN) modules, including public key infrastructure (PKI), and aims to increase the
use of the current EudraNet I dedicated network services.

EudraSafe, which provides secure transfer capability for confidential documents between
users who are not directly connected to the private EudraNet network, has been improved.
Desktop video conferencing (DVC) capabilities are being implemented within the system, to
increase the interactivity between the VPN users.

A European socio-economical system dedicated to consumer health and protection

A new web-based prototype version of MINE1 has been defined. This is related to both
human and veterinary medicinal products, and is equipped with adequate access control tools.
As soon as the MINE system is linked automatically to the UTS databases, and when the
tracking covers all medicinal products authorised in the EU market, then MINE will become
the first Europe-wide socio-economical system dedicated to consumer health and protection.

All activities related to electronic commerce carried out at the IHCP have been transferred to
the JRC Institute for Systems, Informatics and Safety (ISIS).

Biomedical materials and systems

The biomedical materials and systems (BMS) unit groups experts in materials science, surface
engineering, nuclear and optical techniques applicable to a broad range of health-related
issues – particularly in the areas of biocompatible implants and medical imaging technology.
This orientation responds to the needs of an ageing European population and consumer
insistence on tools for early diagnosis and better planning of therapies. Diagnostic tools that
lead to the minimisation of surgery are especially needed to improve patient care and the cost-
effectiveness of public health systems.

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Specifically, the work in these areas encompasses the following main priorities:

– Functional materials and systems,

involving the development and characterisation of
biocompatible and bioactive surfaces to improve haemocompatibility of cardiovascular
grafts, stents, and catheters; and osteointegration of hip and knee replacement prostheses.

– Performance testing of biomedical devices

test
methodologies on release from, and performance of, orthopaedic and dental
implant
materials and medical devices under clinically relevant conditions, using a combination of
advanced techniques in support of the Directive 93/42/EEC.

in support of harmonisation of

– Medical imaging and therapy, using radiotracers and radio-pharmaceuticals. This involves,
amongst other activities, contribution to the development of standards for the distribution
of radiotracers (e.g. FDG) at European level, and participation in European networks.

FDG production started

A fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) production facility has been installed at the Cyclotron premises.
The module, complete with target, synthesis module and quality control unit, can deliver
about 40 GBq at the end of each run. Clean rooms (class C and B) are also available for
handling the tracers and to comply with GMP (good manufacturing practices) guidelines
related to radiopharmaceutical production.

The European network for optical methods of medical diagnosis and monitoring of diseases
(MEDPHOT) as part of a shared cost-action.

A two-axis dynamic loading station for a hip joint simulator was designed and constructed.
Test programmes with up to three million simulated walking cycles can be performed.

Three different types of nacre coating have been plasma sprayed onto several substrates, and
on hip joints and dental implants. Osteoblast cells have been grown on the ceramic before and
after spraying, as well as on titanium and PE sheets. Results demonstrate the clear
osteoinductive properties of nacre both before and after spraying, and the clear advantage of
the coatings over pure titanium. This opens a new development route for biocompatible
coatings.

Pre-normative research in support of the Nickel Directive 94/27 was carried out; with the
definition and publication of selected test methods (EN 12472) being adopted by the
European Committee for the Standardisation (CEN).

During the year it has been decided to phase out the activities on release and to concentrate on
biomaterials, as described above.

86

Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) - Seville

Institute Director

1. Management support

Jean-Marie CADIOU

Claude TAHIR

2. Technologies for sustainable development

Per SØRUP

3. Technology, competitiveness, employment and society …….

4. Technologies for life science, information and

Bernard CLEMENTS

communication

Mission

IPTS' mission is to provide prospective techno-economic analyses in support of the European
Union’s policy-making process. IPTS monitors and analyses science and technology-related
developments, their cross-sectoral impact, the inter-relationships between technology and
society, and their future policy implications. IPTS operates international networks, pools the
expertise of high level advisors and presents information in a timely and synthetic fashion.

The core business of the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) is to identify
challenges in the complex interaction between technological progress and societal needs,
providing sound data to support the analysis, and offering original methodologies for devising
alternative paths allowing policy-makers to address those challenges.

One of the key IPTS assets is the ability to pool expertise from an array of international
sources, analyse it and translate it into policy-relevant information. IPTS will therefore retain
and develop its in-house knowledge as a way of playing its ‘critical filter’ function role to the
full.

IPTS operates a series of networks such as the European science and technology observatory
(ESTO), providing real-time information on the socio-economic significance of scientific and
technological advances. Drawing on the resources and competences of experts in 35 major
‘think tanks’ and other institutions across Europe, it functions as a virtual network-based
‘European office of technology assessment’.

the wide customer base within EU institutions (including the European
Furthermore,
Parliament as well as the Environment, Enterprise, Information Society, Agriculture, Energy
and Transport, Research, Health and Consumer Protection, Education and Culture DGs.)
helps IPTS in maintaining a cross-policy perspective and constant direct contact with the
various frontlines of EU policy-making. This is an important asset for IPTS and one that it
strives to preserve.

IPTS' activity focuses especially on the area of critical geopolitical and economic importance
for the EU, namely geographical Europe (with special attention to candidate EU accession
countries) plus the Mediterranean basin.

The IPTS work programme

The Institute’s work programme is based around 11 main projects:

87

• The ‘Futures Project’

The Futures Project is the IPTS prospective flagship. It investigates the impact of the major
drivers of change on technology, employment and competitiveness in Europe over the next
ten years. During 2000 it completed its first cycle with a major conference at which active
participants included Commissioner Busquin, the Portuguese Research Minister (President in
office of the Research Council), the Vice President of the European Parliament and a Nobel
Prize-winner. Some 650 people attended, and the event was publicised in more than ten major
press articles.

The success of the conference raised awareness of IPTS at a general level and led to
considerable interest in terms of requests for the projects’ 16 reports (12,000 hard copies have
been distributed), for advice to the international foresight community and for policy support
to the EU institutions. Publications appearing during 2000 included: the Futures Project
Synthesis Report, the Conference Proceedings and six refereed academic papers.

The new Futures Project has mainly been occupied with handling the high level of interest
and direct demands for policy support in the lead-up to Framework Six, for example:

– The Information Society technologies programme advisory group (ISTAG) request for the
development of scenarios on ambient intelligence in the year 2010. Two workshops have
been held and the final report will be delivered in early 2001.

– Support for the Research DG, at the behest of Commissioner Busquin, entailing advice on
thematic priorities for the European Research Area (ERA). The work aims to identify
research themes and structuring rationales for the ERA. Involving both IPTS and ESTO)
background analysis of foresight results and expert panels, it was completed by the end of
2000.

– FOREN (foresight for regional development) project workshop on reconciling foresight
with policy-making at regional level. IPTS is scientific co-ordinator of this Research DG
STRATA project, in which 26 network members combine prospective and/or regional
development policy research expertise.

Development of a new cycle of work for Futures Two has included:

– A seminar on quantitative modelling of Europe’s social expenditure, which will result in a

special issue of an academic journal during 2001; and

– A workshop on ‘Mobile Europe’.
• Building the Information Society

The objectives of this project are assessment of the socio-economic impact of Information-
Society-related technologies (especially in the area of new media technologies) and of the
impact of emerging ICT technologies and applications on innovation, research and other EU
policies. Deliverables in 2000 included:

– Conference and final study report entitled ‘Alliances for Sustainable Information Society’

– Final report and workshop on the convergence of consumer electronics; and

– Workshop and report on the employment impact of new media technologies.

Electronic business

This activity focuses on the analysis of the implications of e-business for EU policies, more
specifically by measuring the economic impact of e-commerce on businesses, as well as on
employment and social cohesion. During 2000, a series of workshops brought together policy-
makers and researchers from Europe and the US, to discuss the regulatory framework for e-
commerce and taxation issues.

88

Three major activities were launched in the same year: the observatory on electronic payment;
e-commerce security/privacy – concentrating on technological solutions for combating
cybercrime and its impact on ethical and citizen’s rights issues; and assessment of business
impact of e-commerce at a sectoral level.

Environment and society

The main objectives of this project are:

– To support the development of an EU strategy for sustainable development, as well as the
overall integration of environmental requirements in the definition and implementation of
Community policies and activities; and

– To monitor technological developments and their economic, social and environmental

implications, in particular regarding selected cases of ‘clean technologies’.

During 2000, final reports were released on the following subjects:

– The introduction of process integrated biocatalysts in companies – effects of dynamics in

internal and external networks;

– Innovation and cleaner technologies as a key to sustainable development: the case of the

chemical industry;

– The impact of environmental regulations on innovation in:

the area of end of life vehicles,

the recycling industry,

the chemical industry; and

the EU Eco-Audit Regulation.

– Eco-design and integrated product policy, and strategies for dissemination of Eco-design to

SME;

– Towards an European solution for the management of waste from electric and electronic

equipment; and

– Science and precaution in the management of technological risk.

Life sciences and impact on society

The objective of this project is to provide policy support and prospective analysis in areas
particularly affected by progress in life sciences – mainly biotechnologies, agri-food and
health – taking into account the scientific, social and economic context. Activities were
recently launched along the following lines:

– Analysis of the development and use of genetically modified organisms

– Evaluation of the application and use of the Precautionary Principle

– Technical support to the WTO-case EU/US on hormones in meat/endocrine disrupters

– Analysis of the development of the agri-food industry.

In 2000, a study was completed on GMO regulations applied in Member States and third
countries. It pointed out the difficulty of access to information, lack of harmonisation in risk
assessment between Member States, absence of standard methodology and differences in risk
evaluation processes performed in the EU and in the USA.

89

European IPPC bureau

The specific goal of the European IPPC bureau is to support the implementation of the
integrated pollution prevention and control Directive by producing a series of best available
technique (BAT) reference documents for the activities covered by annex I to Directive
96/61/EC.
During 2000, final drafts (or final reference documents) have been completed in the sectors
iron and steel; cement and lime; pulp and paper; cooling systems; ferrous metals processing;
non-ferrous metal processes; manufacture of glass; and chloralkali.
Work has also proceeded in fields of textiles, tanneries, monitoring of emissions, refineries,
smithies and foundries, large volume organic chemicals, inorganic chemical manufacture,
intensive livestock farming, emissions from storage, common waste water and waste gas
aspects,
treatment/management
slaughterhouses and animal carcasses, food and milk processing, and large combustion plant.

and cross-media

economic

chemical

in the

sector,

Energy and climate change

is performing prospective analysis on energy/sustainability relations and
The project
analysing the impact of carbon emission regulatory measures on business, energy policies and
sustainable development. The analysis concentrates on trends in energy use, the related
carbon emissions and possible mitigation strategies. Examples of scenario-building actions
targeted to EU policy support included:
– Baseline carbon emissions projections delivered for (UNFCCC),
– Impact on energy producer countries, and
– Implications of different carbon trading regimes.

Sustainability in transport and mobility

This project addresses main issues raised by the need to minimise the environmental impact
of transport while ensuring an efficient transport system. Activities focus on the analysis of:
– Emerging transport and related technologies, innovation processes and factors controlling

the market uptake of technologies; and

– Interactions of transport with the environment, economy and society.
Completed in 2000 were a comparative study report assessing the different
information
system alternatives for pan-European intermodal freight transport operations, assessment of
three different instances of good practice in urban mobility; and two studies on transport
economics.

Knowledge and skills: perspectives for Europe

The objective of this activity is to investigate the factors and monitor their effects in the
European economic system and of the corresponding needs for knowledge and human skills,
as the essential assets of the EU to improve its position in terms of innovation and
competitiveness.
One important component of the project is a feasibility study now under implementation on
gateway to the European learning area. Activity in 2000 included studies on new demands for
skills and knowledge emerging from organisational changes in value-added services to
industry, methodology for the identification and evaluation of emerging technologies (now
incorporated into the IPTS-TIM© software tool), and the impact of corporate spin-offs on
competitiveness and employment in the European Union.
Enlargement: building linkages on prospective activities

This project is a prospective analysis of EU enlargement and its impact in three policy fields:
research and development, employment, and competitiveness.

90

A series of workshop were organised in 2000 with pre-accession countries (PACs) to
exchange best practices in foresight between EU Member States and the new candidates. The
subjects were: raising awareness and stimulating the policy debate (Cyprus); best practices in
national foresight (Warsaw); and foresight on regional issues: the Baltic Sea (Tallin).

The project’s work programme includes:

– Developing a major foresight project for the pre-accession countries over the next two

years;

– Stimulating mobility of foresight researchers and training researchers from PACs in

foresight methodology and work; and

– Extending the quantitative analysis activities of IPTS to pre-accession countries.

Mediterranean and regional perspectives

The goals of this project are to determine the socio-economic, scientific and technological
priority issues that are relevant
to policies for the region, and to analyse their policy
implications. Involvement of most Mediterranean partner countries is sought by building up
networks for co-operative actions with EU member States.

Accomplishments in 2000 included:

– A Mediterranean and regional perspective meeting that served as the starting point for a

new foresight initiative on the Mediterranean region, with a time horizon of 2010;

– Research initiatives from the techno-economic analysis network in the Mediterranean
(TEAM) working groups on the health sector and diabetes mellitus in the Mediterranean,
and food technologies in the Mediterranean;

– Co-operation with the Enterprise DG on technology innovation in the Mediterranean; and

– Co-operation with the Research DG on the Euro-Mediterranean information system.

Science and governance

IPTS played an active role in the preparation of the international ‘Science and Governance in
a Knowledge Society: The Challenge for Europe’ conference that was jointly organised by the
JRC and the Research DG in Brussels on 16-17 October 2000. Over 450 delegates attended.
The presence of policy-makers (in particular Members of the European Parliament),
government officials, RTD managers, academics, industrialists, and representatives of the
civil society – including high-level participants from Russia, China, Japan and the USA –
testified to the timeliness of the debate. Commissioner Busquin joined on the second day and
delivered a closing speech.

Above all, the conference focused on concrete attempts to involve stakeholders – decision-
makers, scientists, citizens,
industry and the media – in a structured dialogue. It also
formulated proposals on the way that Europe should organise itself to anticipate and manage
crises better, develop common scientific and technical references for policy-making and
nourish the democratic process.

91

ABACC

ADELS

AMES

ARIS

ASTRON

GLOSSARY

Brazilian-Argentinean Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials

Advanced Electricity Storage

Ageing Materials Evaluation and Studies

Action for Research and Information Support in civilian demining network

Applications on the Synergy of earth observation with satellite Telecommunications
and Navigation

BADGE

Bisphenol-a-diglycidylether

BAT

BCR

Best Available Technique

Bureau Communautaire de Référence

BEVABS

European Office for wine, alcohols and spirit drinks

BNCT

BRI

BSE

CAFE

CAP

CCQM

CCRI

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy

Japanese Building Research Institute

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Clean Air For Europe

Common Agricultural Policy

Comité Consultatif pour la Quantité de Matières

Consultative Committee for Ionizing Radiation / Comité consultatif des
Rayonnements Ionisants

CDCIR.

Community Documentation Centre on Industrial Risks

CEA

CEEC

CEN

French atomic energy commission

Central and Eastern European Countries

European standards committee

CERCLE

Chief Executives of Research Centres and Laboratories in Europe

CERN

CFSP

CIP

CIPM

CITAC

CNES

CNRS

COAST

CoDecS

COGI

European laboratory for particle physics

Common Foreign and Security Policy

US Department of Agriculture

Comité International des Poids et Mesures / International Committee for Weights
and Measures

Co-operation on International Traceability in Analytical chemistry

French national centre for space research

French national centre for scientific research

Coastal zone inventory

Coding Decoding Software

Committee of Geographical Information

COLUTEQ

Consortium of the Teledetection Laboratories of Quebec

92

CONCAWE

Oil companies' European organisation for environment, health and safety

COST

CPDW

CRIEPI

CSIC

Coopération européenne dans le domaine de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique

Construction Products in contact with Drinking Water

joint research organisation of the Japanese electricity producers

Spanish national research centre

CSIC-CNM

Spanish national centre for microelectronics

CVD

DERA

DG

DLR

DoE

EA

EAS

EC

ECB

Chemical Vapour Deposition

UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency

Directorate General

German space agency

US Department of Energy

European Accreditation

European Acceptance Scheme

European Community

European Chemicals Bureau

ECCAIRS

European Co-ordination Centre for Aviation Incident Reporting System

ECIS

ECURIE

ECVAM

EDAEP

EDC

EEA

European Centre for Innovation and Spin-offs

European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange

European Centre for Validation of Alternative Methods

Endocrine-Disrupting Ability of Environmental Pollutants

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemical

European Environmental Agency

EFFTRA

Transmutation tests for nuclear waste

EFQM

EGII

EI

EIPPC

ELSA

EMIR

EMR

European Foundation for Quality Management

European Geographic Information Infrastructure

Environment Institute

European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Bureau

European Laboratory for Structural Assessment

European network for Medical Radioisotope Research

EudraTrack Mutual Recognition

ENDEF

European Non Destructive Evaluation Forum

ENEA

ENIQ

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

European Network for Inspection Qualification

ENRESA

Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radioactivos S.A.

ENSEMBLE Methods to reconcile disparate national forecasts of medium and long-range

atmospheric dispersion

93

EO

EP

EPA

Earth Observations

European Parliament

US Environmental Protection Agency

EPERC

European Pressure Equipment Research Council

EPG-Fossil

Efficient Power Generation: Advanced Fossil Power Plant

EPLAF

European Plant Life Assessment Forum

EPRI

ERA

ERLAP

ERLIVE

US Electric Power Research Institute

European Research Area

European Laboratory for Air Pollution

European Reference Laboratory on waste Incineration and Vehicle Emission
measurements

ESA

European Space Agency

ESARDA

European Safeguard Research and Development Association

ESTI

ESTO

ETO

ETTI.

EU

European Solar Test Installation

European Science and Technology Observatory

Energy Technology Observatory

European Technology Transfer Initiative

European Union

EUCAR

European Council for Automotive Research and Development

EUMETSAT

The European organisation for the exploitation of meteorological satellites

EURACHEM European Analytical Chemistry

Euratom

European atomic energy community

EURDEP

EU Radiological Data Exchange Platform

Eurocontrol

European organisation for the safety of air navigation

EUROMET

European Organisation of Metrology

EXSIF

Expertise for the Setting-up of Innovative firms

FAO

FDA

FDG

Food & Agriculture Organisation

US Food and Drug Administration

Fluorodeoxyglucose

FOREN

Foresight for Regional development

GEIS

GHG

Global Environmental Information Systems

Greenhouse Gases

GI&GIS

Geographical Information and Geographical Information Systems

GIS

GMES

GMO

Geographical Information systems

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security

Genetically Modified Organism

94

GMP

GPS

HARP

HEU

HFR

Good Manufacturing Practices

Global Positioning System

Harmonised quantification and Reporting Procedures for nutrients

Highly Enriched Uranium

High Flux Reactor

HPLC/MS

High-Pressure Liquid chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

HPLC-ICP-
MS

High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass
Spectrometry

HRMS

High-Resolution gas chromatography/Mass Spectrometry

HTR

IAEA

IAF

IAM

IAQA

ICCA

ICRM

ICT

IDEA

IDF

IFCC

IFI

IGBP

IHCP

IMEP

IPPCB

IPTS

IRMM

ISIS

ISO

High Temperature Reactor

International Atomic Energy Authority

International Astronautical Federation

Institute for Advanced Materials

Integrated Air Quality Assessment

International Council of Chemicals Associations

International Committee for Radionuclide Metrology

Information and Communications Technologies

Identification Electronique des Animaux

International Dairy Federation

International Federation of Clinical Chemistry

International Forestry Institute

International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme

Institute for Health and Consumer Protection

International Measurement Evaluation Programme

Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Bureau

Institute for Prospective Technological Studies

Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements

Institute for Systems, Informatics and Safety

International Standards Organisation

ISTAG

Information Society Technologies programme Advisory group

ISTC

ITEP

ITRE

ITU

IUCLID

IUPAC

International Science and Technology Centre

International Test and Evaluation Programme

European Parliament committee on Industry, external Trade, Research and Energy

Institute for Transuranium Elements

International Uniform Chemical Information Database

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

95

IVD

IWES

JAERI

JEFF

JEPPIM

JIFSAN

JRC

JTC

LEU

LIFT

MAHB

MAREL

MARINA

MARS

MARS

MEDA

MEP

MITI

MoU

MOX

MWNT

NAA

NASA

In-vitro Diagnostic

Impacts of Waste Emissions on Soils

Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute

Joint European Fusion File

Joint European Programme for Primary Isotopic Measurements

Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Joint Research Centre

Joint Technical Committee

Low Enriched Uranium

Linking Innovation with Finance initiative

Major Accident Hazards Bureau

Management of Reactor Life

EC project on the Radiological Exposure of the population of Community from
Radioactivity in Northern European Marine Waters

Major Accident Reporting System

Monitoring Agriculture with Remote Sensing

Mediterranean Development countries

Member of the European Parliament

Japanese Ministry for International Trade and Industry

Memorandum of Understanding

Mixed plutonium/uranium Oxide nuclear fuel

Multi-Walled carbon nanotube

Neutron Activation Analysis

US National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASDA

National Space Development Agency of Japan

NBS

NDE

NEA

US National Bureau of Standards

Non Destructive Evaluation

Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD)

NEDIES

Natural and Environmental Disaster Information Exchange System

NESC

NGO

NIS

NIST

NMCC

NOAA
AVHRR

Network for the Evaluation of Steel Components

Non-Governmental Organisation

Newly Independent States

US National Institute of Standards and Technology

Nuclear Material Control Centre

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA)
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer

96

NRG

NSF

OECD

OLAF

OPOCE

OSPAR

PACs

PCB

Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group

US National Science Foundation

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

European Commission’s Anti-Fraud body

Office for Official Publications of the European Communities (EUR-OP)

Oslo Paris Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North
East Atlantic

Pre-Accession Countries

Polychlorinated Biphenyl

PCDD/Fs

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans

PCR

PECO

Polymerase Chain Reaction

Central and eastern European Countries

PERLA

Performance Laboratory (non-destructive assay)

Phare

PIGS

PLAN

PMOD

POPs

Poland, Hungary: Aid for the Reconstruction of the Economy

Primary Isotopic Gas Standards

Plant Life Assessment Network

Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos

Persistent Organic Pollutants

PREWIN

Performance, Reliability and Emissions reduction in Waste Incinerators Network

PV

REM

Photovoltaic

Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring

REMdb

Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring data bank

RR

RTD

Roundup-Ready

Research and Technological Development

SAFTS

Safety and reliability of high Temperature Systems

SAG

SAI

SHS

European Commission Space Advisory Group

Space Applications Institute

Solar Home Systems

SIGMO

Sampling for Information on Genetically Modified Organisms

SIS

SKB

SME

SNIF

Scientific Information System

Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co.

Small and Medium size Enterprise

Summary Notification Information Format

SOLAREC

Solar Electricity project

STA

STOA

Science and Technological Agency

European Parliament Scientific and Technological Options Assessment unit

97

SWNT

TACIS

TACIS

TAME

TEAM

Single-walled carbon Nanotube

EU support programme for transition in the New Independent States

Technical Assistance for the Community of Independent States and Georgia

Tank Measurement laboratory

Techno-economic Analysis network in the Mediterranean

TEMAT

Technologies for Emission Abatement in Transport and non-road sectors

TEMPEST

Thermal, Electromagnetic and Physical Equipment Stress Testing

TEN

TLA

TLC

Trans-European Network

Thin Layer Activation

Thin Layer Chromatography

UNEP

United Nations Environment Programme

UNFCCC

United Nations - Framework Convention on Climate Change

UTS

VRML

VVER

WFW

WHO

Unified Tracking System

Virtual Reality Modelling Language

Russian Pressurised Water Reactor

World Fire Web

World Health Organisation

WHO-IPCS WHO International Programme on Chemical Safety

WRR

WTO

World Radiometric Reference

World Trade Organisation

98

JRC BOARD OF GOVERNORS

LIST OF MEMBERS AND PARTICIPANTS

CHAIRMAN

Prof. Fernando ALDANA
Oficina de Innovación y Tecnología Empresarial
E. Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales
C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2 - E - 28006 Madrid

MEMBERS

Dr. Jacques WAUTREQUIN
Secrétaire Général Honoraire
Services Fédéraux des Affaires Scientifiques,Techniques et Culturelles
Rue du Pinson 162 - B - 1170 Bruxelles

Dr. Hans Bjerrum MØLLER
Consultant, Ministry of Research
Frederiksborgvej 71 - DK - 4000 Roskilde

Ministerialdirektor Dr. Karsten BRENNER
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Heinemannstrasse 2 - D - 53175 Bonn

Professor Michalis S. SKOURTOS
Director of Postgraduate Studies
University of the Aegean, Department of Environmental Studies
Karantoni 17 - GR - 81 100 Mytilini
Replaced Dr. Dimitrios Niarchos on 13.7.2000

Prof. Félix YNDURÁIN
Director General of CIEMAT
Avda. Complutense 22 - E - 28040 Madrid

Mr. Philippe GARDERET
Directeur des Ressources humaines et des Relations sociales
Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA)
31, rue de la Fédération - F - 75752 Paris CEDEX 15

Dr. Killian HALPIN
Director Office of Science & Technology - Policy Division
Forfás, Wilton Park House
Wilton Place - IRL - Dublin 2

Ing. Paolo VENDITTI
Ambassade d’Italie
Bureau du Conseiller Scientifique
51, rue de Varenne - F – 75007 Paris – France

Replaced Ing. Carlo Mancini on 13.11 2000

99

ESPAÑA

BELGIQUE

DANMARK

DEUTSCHLAND

ELLAS

ESPAÑA

FRANCE

IRELAND

ITALIA

Mr. Pierre DECKER
Conseiller de Gouvernement 1ère classe
Ministère de la Culture, de l’ Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche
20 Montée de la Pétrusse - L – 2273 Luxembourg
Replaced Mr. Paul Lenert on 13.7.2000

Mr. Jan W. WEEHUIZEN
Director of Energy Production - Ministry of Economic Affairs
Bezuidenhoutseweg 30, P.O. Box 20101 - NL - 2500 EC Den Haag

Ministerialrat Dr. Kurt PERSY
Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Verkehr, Gruppe III/A
Minoritenplatz 5 - A - 1014 Wien

Prof. José CARVALHO SOARES
President
Ministério da Ciência e da Tecnologia, Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear
Estrada Nacional N° 10, Apartado 21 - P – 2686-953 Sacavém

Prof. Jarl FORSTÉN
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Vuorimiehentie 5, Espoo P.O. Box 1000 - FIN - 02044 VTT

Prof. Janne CARLSSON
External Relations
Royal Institute of Technology, KTH
Valhallavägen 79 - S - 100 44 Stockholm

Prof. Sir John CADOGAN
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine
Department of Chemistry, Room 103B
UK - London SW7 2AY

PARTICIPANTS

Mrs. Albena VUTSOVA
Director
Ministry of Education and Science
Blvd. Dondukov 2A - BG - Sofia 1000

Dr. Karel AIM
ICPF Scientific Board Chair
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals
Rozvojová 135 – CZ - 165 02 Praha 6

To be nominated

Dr. Toivo RÄIM
Ministry of Education of Estonia
Department of Research and High Education
Tönismägi 9/11 – EE - Tallinn 15192

100

LUXEMBOURG

NEDERLAND

ÖSTERREICH

PORTUGAL

SUOMI-FINLAND

SVERIGE

UNITED KINGDOM

BULGARIA

Č

ESKÁ REPUBLIKA

CYPRUS

ESTONIA

ISLAND

ISRAËL

LATVIA

FÜRSTENTUM
LIECHTENSTEIN

LITHUANIA

MAGYARORSZAG

NORGE

POLSKA

ROMANIA

SLOVAKIA

SLOVENIJA

Dr. Axel BJÖRNSSON
Professor in Environmental Sciences, University of Akureyri
Thingvallastraeti 23 - IS - 600 Akureyri

Prof. Arnon BENTUR
Samuel Neaman Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology
Technion City - IL - 32000 Haifa

Ņ

Š

Prof. Andrejs SILI
Secretary General
Latvian Academy of Sciences
1 Akademijas laukums - LV - 1050 Riga

Ms. Karin ZECH
Amt für Volkswirtschaft
Gerberweg 5 - FL - 9490 Vaduz

Č

Dr. Habil. Antanas
Chairman of Senate (Board), Semiconductor Physics Institute
Goštauto 11 - LT - 2600 Vilnius

ENYS

Prof. László KEVICZKY
Member of the Academy
Vice-President, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Roosevelt tér 9 - H - 1051 Budapest

Mr. Andreas MORTENSEN
Ministry of Trade and Industry
Einar Gerhardsens plass 1, P.O. Box 8014 Dep. - N - 0030 Oslo

Prof. Michal KLEIBER
Director Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish
Academy of Sciences
ul.

tokrzyska 21 - PL - 00-049 Warszawa

ę
wi

Ś

Mr. Petru FILIP
National Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation
Office for European Integration in R&D Programmes
21-25 Mendeleev Str. - RO - 70168 #1 Bucharest

Dr. Vladimír ŠUCHA
Associated Professor at Faculty of Sciences
Department of Geology of Mineral Deposits, Comenius University
Mlynska dolina – SK – 842 15 Bratislava

Dr. Miloš KOMAC
State Secretary – Ministry of Science and Technology
Trg OF 13 - SL – 1000 Ljubljana

Secretary of the JRC Board of Governors:
Ms. Piedad GARCÍA de la RASILLA
European Commission
rue de la Loi, 200 - SDME 10/66 - B-1049 Brussels
Tel.: +32-2-295.86.35
Fax: +32-2-299.23.01
e-mail: piedad.garcia-de-la-rasilla@cec.eu.int
Secretary: Ms. C. Tajchman

101

ORGANISATIONAL CHART

Directorate-General

Brussels

Director-General

Deputy Director-General

Barry MCSWEENEY

Hugh RICHARDSON

01. Secretariat of the Board of Governors

Piedad GARCIA DE LA RASILLA

02. Internal audit

Freddy DEZEURE

03. Advisor, representative of the Director General for Ispra

Roberto CUNIBERTI

(Ispra)

04. Advisor, in charge of relations with local Authorities

Alberto AGAZZI

(Ispra)

05. Advisor, in charge of internal communication (Ispra)

Holde LHOEST

06. Advisor, in charge of security matters (Ispra)

Domenico SEVI

07. Information and public relations (reporting to the Deputy

Gülperi VURAL

Director-General)

Assistant to the Director-General

Marc BECQUET acting

A. Programmes Directorate

Brussels

(1)

Director

1. Programmes Co-ordination

2. Policy support strategy

Lena TORELL

Marc BECQUET

Giancarlo CARATTI di LANZACCO

3. Co-operation strategy and technology transfer

4. Inter-institutional and international relations

Robin MIEGE

Pierre FRIGOLA

Group of Advisors in charge of Programmes management

Adviser (Health and food safety)

……………..

Adviser (Dependability of information systems and services)

Ettore CARUSO

Adviser (Nuclear activities)

Adviser (Environment)

(2)

------------------------

Serge CRUTZEN

Jean-Paul MALINGREAU

(1) Riccardo PETRELLA: Adviser ad personam
(2) Alejandro HERRERO MOLINA: Seconded to Yale University

102

B. Directorate for Resources

Ispra

Director

Bruno DE BERNARDI acting

Adviser, in charge of TQM for the Directorate for
resources

1. Human resources

2. Contracts

Kenneth WEAVING

Bruno DE BERNARDI

………….

3. Budget and resources programming (Brussels)

Eric FISCHER

4. Analytical accounting and finances

5. Technical services

Adriano ENDRIZZI

Dolf VAN HATTEM

6. Safety, security, physical and radiological protection

Celso OSIMANI

7. Knowledge Management and training

Richard ROSS

C. Ispra service attached to the Director of ISIS

Ispra

1. Nuclear decommissioning and waste management

Pietro BASTIANINI

D. Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements

Geel

Institute Director

1. Management support

2. Reference materials

3. Analytical chemistry

4. Isotope measurements

5. Neutron physics

6. Informatics and electronics

Manfred GRASSERBAUER

Michael FAHY

Jean PAUWELS

Adela RODRIGUEZ FERNANDEZ

Philip TAYLOR

Peter RULLHUSEN

………..

7. Commercialisation of materials and reference methods

Doris FLORIAN

and scientific liaison

E. Institute for Transuranium Elements

Karlsruhe

Institute Director

1. Management support

2. Hot cell technology

3. Materials research

4. Nuclear fuels

5. Nuclear chemistry

6. Actinides research

7. Nuclear safety and infrastructure

Roland SCHENKEL

Jean-Pierre MICHEL

Jean-Paul GLATZ

Hans Joachim MATZKE

Didier HAAS

……….

Gerard LANDER

Werner WAGNER

103

F. Institute for Advanced Materials

Petten

Institute Director

1. Management support

2. Energy production and conversion

3. Safety of industrial components

4. Clean technologies

5. High flux reactor

6. Scientific and technical support

7. Nuclear safety

Kari TÖRRÖNEN

…………

Johan BRESSERS

Roger HURST

Juha-Pekka HIRVONEN

Joël GUIDEZ

…………

Horst WEISSHAEUPL

G. Institute for Systems, Informatics and Safety

Ispra

Institute Director

David WILKINSON

Head of unit acting as Institute Deputy Director

Marc CUYPERS

1. Management support

2. Reliable information technologies

3. Risk management and decision support

4. Safeguards and verification techniques

5. Safety in structural mechanics

6. Methodologies for Information Analysis

7. Detection and positioning technologies

(3)

…………..

Fernand SOREL

Alfredo LUCIA

Marc CUYPERS

Michel GERADIN

Martyn DOWELL

Alois SIEBER

H. Environment Institute

Ispra

Institute Director

1. Management support

2. Environmental impact

3. Air quality

Jean-Marie MARTIN

Emanuela ROSSI

Peter PÄRT

Dimitrios KOTZIAS

4. Atmospheric processes in global change

Frank RAES

5. Soil and waste

Giovanni BIDOGLIO

6. Water research and monitoring

………..

7. Renewable energies

Heinz OSSENBRINK

--------------
(3) Jean-Pierre AUBINEAU: Adviser ad personam

104

I. Institute for Space Applications

Ispra

Institute Director

Rudolf WINTER

Head of unit acting as Institute Deputy Director

Jean MEYER-ROUX

1. Management support

2. Environment geo-information

Albert JERABEK

Jean MEYER-ROUX

3. Agriculture and regional information systems

………..

4. Global surveillance of vegetation

Alan BELWARD

5. Marine environment

Peter SCHLITTENHARDT

6. Strategy and systems for space applications

Peter CHURCHILL

J. Institute for Health and Consumer Protection

Ispra

Institute Director

1. Management support

2. Food products and consumer goods

3. Validation of biomedical testing methods

4. Toxicology and chemical substances

5. Support to pharmaceutical regulation

6. Biomedical materials and systems

Barry MCSWEENEY acting

Giacinto TARTAGLIA

Elke ANKLAM

Michael BALLS

Gerald VOLLMER

Flavio ARGENTESI

Hermann STAMM

K. Institute for Prospective Technological Studies

Sevilla

Institute Director

1. Management support

2. Technologies for sustainable development

Jean-Marie CADIOU

Claude TAHIR

Per SØRUP

3. Technology, competitiveness, employment and society ………

4.Technologies for life science, information and

Bernard CLEMENTS

communication

105