EU Member States' research and development activities in reactor safety.
Date: 2018-02-20
Institutions: Joint Research Centre
Subjects: EU Member State, energy research, nuclear reactor, nuclear safety, nuclear technology, power plant, research and development

EU Member States' Research 
and Development Activities in 
Reactor Safety 

Simola, K. 

2017

                                                EUR 28981 EN 

 
This publication is a Technical report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science 
and knowledge service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking 
process. The scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither 
the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that 
might be made of this publication. 

Contact information  
Name: Kaisa Simola 
Address: Westerduinweg 3, P.O. Box 2, 1755ZG Petten, the Netherlands 
Email: kaisa.simola@ec.europa.eu 
Tel.: +31-22456 5180 

JRC Science Hub 
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc 

JRC109212 

EUR 28981 EN 

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ISBN 978-92-9-77215-3 

ISSN 1831-9424 

doi:10.2760/029769 

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How to cite this report: Simola K., EU Member States' Research and Development Activities in Reactor Safety, 
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Title EU Member States' Research and Development Activities in Reactor Safety 

Abstract 

The  report  summarises  the  present  status  of  R&D  activities  in  the  area  of  nuclear  power  plant  safety  in  EU 
member states. The report identifies the most relevant R&D organisations, their main research focus area, key 
research infrastructure, and possible national research programmes. The focus is mainly on Gen II and Gen III 
safety,  but  main  activities  related  to  Gen  IV  reactors  are  also  mentioned.  The  report  serves  as  a  quick 
reference,  providing  links  to  the  websites  of  main  R&D  organisations.  The  report  aims  at  supporting  the  gap 
analysis of JRC activities in the field of reactor safety. 

Printed in the Netherlands 

Contents 

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ 2 

Abstract ............................................................................................................... 3 

1  Introduction ...................................................................................................... 4 

2  Reactor safety research in the EU member states .................................................. 5 

2.1  Member States with nuclear energy production ............................................... 7 

2.1.1  Belgium .............................................................................................. 7 

2.1.2  Bulgaria .............................................................................................. 8 

2.1.3  The Czech Republic .............................................................................. 9 

2.1.4  Finland ............................................................................................. 10 

2.1.5  France .............................................................................................. 11 

2.1.6  Germany .......................................................................................... 12 

2.1.7  Hungary ........................................................................................... 13 

2.1.8  The Netherlands ................................................................................ 14 

2.1.9  Romania ........................................................................................... 15 

2.1.10 Slovakia ........................................................................................... 15 

2.1.11 Slovenia ........................................................................................... 16 

2.1.12 Spain ............................................................................................... 17 

2.1.13 Sweden ............................................................................................ 17 

2.1.14 The United Kingdom ........................................................................... 18 

2.1.15 Switzerland ....................................................................................... 19 

2.2  Member states without present nuclear energy production .............................. 20 

2.2.1  Italy ................................................................................................. 20 

2.2.2  Lithuania .......................................................................................... 21 

2.2.3  Poland .............................................................................................. 22 

2.2.4  Norway ............................................................................................. 22 

3  Conclusions .................................................................................................... 23 

References ......................................................................................................... 24 

List of acronyms .................................................................................................. 25 

i 

Acknowledgements 

The author would like to thank the following colleagues for reviewing the country-specific 
summaries,  and  for  providing  several  other  valuable  comments:  Luca  Ammirabile, 
Antonio Ballesteros Avila, Andrea  Bucalossi, Milan Cihlář, Brian Farrar, Aleksander Grah, 
Stephan Hermsmeyer, Vaidas Matuzas, Marc Noël, Magdalena Novackova, François Rossi, 
Igor Simonovski, Ynte Stockmann, János Vegh and Franck Wastin. 

2 

 
 
 
Abstract 

The report summarises the present status of R&D activities in the area of nuclear power 
plant  safety  in  EU  member  states.  The  report  identifies  the  most  relevant  R&D 
organisations,  their  main  research  focus  area,  key  research  infrastructure,  and  possible 
national  research  programmes.  The  focus  is  mainly  on  Gen  II  and  Gen  III  safety,  but 
main  activities  related  to  Gen  IV  reactors  are  also  mentioned.  The  report  serves  as  a 
quick  reference,  providing  links  to  the  websites  of  main  R&D  organisations.  The  report 
aims at supporting the gap analysis of JRC activities in the field of reactor safety. 

3 

 
 
1  Introduction 

This  is  a  summary  report  on  the  member  states'  (MS)  relevant  work  programmes  and 
R&D  activities  in  the  area  of  nuclear  power  plant  safety.  Ideally  the  report  would 
synthesise MSs' national R&D programmes in reactor safety. However, only few MS have 
a  well-defined  national  R&D  programme,  and  the  activities  can  be  very  scattered  and 
thus  difficult  to  synthesise.  As  a  consequence,  this  report  is  not  restricted  to  MS-level 
R&D  programmes,  but  identifies  the  most  relevant  R&D  organisations  and  their  main 
activities.  The  focus  is  mainly  on  national  research  institutions.  The  main  universities 
having  research  activities  in  reactor  safety  are  pointed  out,  but  the  industry  R&D 
activities  and  facilities  are  not  covered.  The  focus  is  mainly  on  Generation  II  and  III 
safety, but the main activities related to Generation IV reactors are also mentioned. 

The  main  sources  of  information  are  the  MS  presentation  at  the  "NEA  International 
Workshop on the Nuclear Innovation Roadmap (NI2050)" organised by the OECD Nuclear 
Energy Agency in July 2015 (NEA 2015),  the  IAEA country nuclear power profiles (IAEA 
2017),  the  NUGENIA  synthesis  report  on  the  implementation  of  national  nuclear 
programmes (Reese et al. 2015), and websites of research organisations. 

The  report  also  summarises  some  main  research  infrastructure,  but  it  should  be  noted 
that  the  lists  are  not  exhaustive.  For  a  more  detailed  summary  on  infrastructures,  a 
NUGENIA RD infrastructures database (October 2016) is available for NUGENIA members 
on  the  NUGENIA  Electronic  Content  Collaboration  Platform  (ECCP)  http://app.lgi-
consulting.org/ecm/nugenia. 

4 

 
 
2  Reactor safety research in the EU member states 

The  reactor  safety  research  is  organised  in  each  member  state  in  its  own  way.  In  MSs 
with  a  nationally  coordinated  research  programme  or  a  single  strong  research 
organisation, it is  relatively  straightforward  to  obtain  a  picture  of  the  research  activities 
and  priorities.  On  the  other  hand,  in  some  countries  the  research  activities  are  widely 
scattered,  which  makes  it  more  difficult  to  map  the  situation.  This  is  the  case  e.g.  in 
Germany, Sweden and the UK. 

The Figure 1 shows the main reactor safety research organisations in European countries, 
where  clearly  one  or  two  organisations  can  be  identified.  In  the  case  of  Germany  and 
Sweden,  the  research  activities  are  not  as  clearly  focused,  but  split  among  more 
organisations. 

Figure 1. Main reactor safety research organisations in EU and Switzerland. 

Table  1  lists  the  main  research  organisations  that  are  members  in  NUGENIA1  and/or 
ETSON2.  Also  the  possible  Collaboration  Agreement  (CA)  or  Memorandum  of 
Understanding (MoU) with JRC is indicated. Switzerland is included in the table, as they 
are  one  of  the  most  active  Associated  Country  participating  in  the  European  reactor 
safety research co-operation. 

1 NUGENIA = Nuclear GENeration II & III Association http://www.nugenia.org/ 
2 ETSON = European Technical Safety Organisations Network http://www.etson.eu/ 

5 

Table 1. Main European research organisations that are members of NUGENIA or ETSON. 

COUNTRY 

Organisation* 

Belgium 

Bel V 
SCK-CEN 
INRNE 

Bulgaria 
Czech Republic  NRI-REZ 

Finland 
France 

Germany 

Hungary 

Netherlands 
Romania 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 

Switzerland 
United 
Kingdom 
Lithuania 
Italy 
Poland 

CVR 
VTT 
IRSN 
CEA 
GRS 
HZDR, KIT, FZJ, IZFP 
MTA/EK 
NUBIKI, BZN 
NRG 
RATEN (ICN Pitesti) 
VUJE 
JSI – Josef Stefan Institute 
CIEMAT 
ES-KONSULT, STUDSVIK, 
Inspecta 
PSI 
Amec Foster Wheeler 
NNL, BO-NRC 
LEI 
ENEA 
NCBJ 
INCT 

NUGENIA 
member 
X 
X 
X (academia) 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X (industry) 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

ETSON 
member 
X 

Relation with 
the JRC** 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X 
X 

X 

CA 

CA 

MoU 
CA 
CA 

CA 

CA 

CA 

MoU 
CA 

* For the abbreviations see the country-specific subsection in the document 
** MoU = Memorandum of Understanding, CA = Collaboration Agreement 

Figure  2  summarises  the  participation  of  the  main  European  research  organisations  in 
FP7  and  H2020  projects  related  to  reactor  safety  issues  (Gen  IV  included).  The  figure 
shows those 31 organisations that have been members of consortia in at least six of the 
selected 49 projects. 

NUGENIA  has  produced  a  synthesis  report  on  the  implementation  of  national  nuclear 
programmes  and  proposals  for  integration  in  NUGENIA  of  all  programmes  for  technical 
and  financial  aspects  (Reese  et  al.  2015).  However,  the  report  focuses  more  on 
describing the organisational structure of R&D funding rather than on R&D activities. 

A  number  of  national  presentations  on  nuclear  fission  research  and  innovation  activities 
were  given  at  the  "NEA  International  Workshop  on  the  Nuclear  Innovation  Roadmap 
(NI2050)"  organised  by  the  OECD/NEA  in  July 2015.  The  presentations  are  available  on 
the internet (NEA 2015). 

In  the 
following  sub-sections  the  main  reactor  safety  research  activities  and 
infrastructure  are  summarised  by  country.  This  summary  is  divided  in  two  parts:  1) 
countries with current nuclear energy production, and 2) countries without nuclear power 
generation.  In  the  latter  case,  the  focus  is  on  the  few  countries  having  relevance  in 
nuclear safety R&D. 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 2. European research organisations with most participation in FP7 and H2020 projects 
related to reactor safety issues. (Source: Cordis) 

Note that this summary focuses  mainly on national research institutions,  and points out 
the  main  universities  having  research  activities  in  reactor  safety.  Instead,  the  industry 
R&D  activities  and  facilities  are  not  covered.  However,  it  is  not  always  straightforward, 
and  not  even  practical  to  distinguish  between  public  research  organisations  and  private 
for-profit entities. During past years, many originally public research  organisations have 
been  privatised,  but  still  contribute  to  publicly  funded  research  activities.  Thus  several 
private  consultancies  have  also  been  referred  to  in  this  report.  The  main  criterion  for 
their inclusion is the participation in several Euratom research projects. 

The report also lists the main research infrastructures, but these lists are not exhaustive. 
A  detailed  summary  of  the  research  facilities  in  its  member  organisations  has  been 
collected by NUGENIA. This summary is available for NUGENIA members. 

2.1  Member States with nuclear energy production 

In  this  sub-section  we  summarise  the  reactor  safety  research  activities  and  main 
research  infrastructure  in  the  14  member  states  having  nuclear  energy  production.  
Switzerland,  although  not  an  EU  member  state,  is  also  included  due  to  their  significant 
contribution to the European reactor safety research activities. 

2.1.1  Belgium 

Although Belgium has decided to phase out nuclear electricity production, the country will 
continue investing in nuclear research. Bel V is the technical support organisation for the 
Belgian  safety  authority,  and  acts  as  expert  for  the  safety  assessments  of  nuclear 
projects.  Bel  V  also  actively  participates  in  meetings  and  working  groups  that  are 
organized in the framework of international organizations. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Most of the nuclear R&D is carried out at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK•CEN. 
Their  expertise  focuses  on  the  ageing  processes  of  nuclear  reactors.  Some  of  the  main 
activities of SCK•CEN in reactor research are the following (NEA 2015): 

  Material testing and qualification for Generation II, III and IV reactors 
  Fuel  development,  testing,  validation  and  qualification  (Gen.  II  &  III,  Gen.  IV, 

advanced Fuels for transmutation) 

  Safe long term operation: structural materials, cables ageing, concrete ageing 

The SCK•CEN has the following research infrastructures: 

  BR2 100 MWth Materials Testing Reactor:  Material and fuel testing for all type of 

reactor technologies 

  BR1  research  reactor  &  GUINEVERE  lead-ZPR  &  ADS  mock-up:  Benchmark 

experiments for reactor and core physics, codes verification & validation 

  LHMA  Highly  instrumented  Hot  Labs:  Material  &  fuel  R&D,  Minor  Actinides 

radiochemistry, Heavy Liquid Metal environment 

  HADES  Underground  Research  Lab:  HLW  research  in  Clay,  Semi-industrial 

technology & technics demonstration for geological disposal 

  HLM  Complex  for  Pb  and  Pb-Bi  technology:  HLM  Chemistry  &  conditioning, 
Corrosion 
properties 
determination,  Instrumentation  development  and  demonstration,  Components 
qualification 

Thermal-hydraulics 

Thermal-Physics 

testing, 

& 

The  SCK•CEN  is  managing  the  MYRRHA  project  (Multi-purpose  hYbrid  Research  Reactor 
for  High-tech  Applications)  to  construct  the  very  first  prototype  of  a  nuclear  reactor 
driven by a particle accelerator in the world. The SCK•CEN leads (together with EdF) the  
European  Sustainable  Nuclear  Industrial  Initiative  (ESNII)  Task  Force  comprising 
research  organisations and industrial  partners  to  address  the  need  for  demonstration  of 
Gen-IV  Fast  Neutron  Reactor  technologies,  together  with  the  supporting  research 
infrastructures, fuel facilities and R&D work. 

Other Research Infrastructures for nuclear fission available in Belgium are (NEA 2015): 

  Von Karman Institute: CFD and Thermal-hydraulics highly instrumented facilities, 
Turbo-machinery  qualification  test  benches,  3-D  seismic  test  facility  for  HLM 
Sloshing study 

  LABORELEC: Mechanical Testing laboratories for RPV and reactor internals, LTO : 

Cable aging 
 
IRE: Radiochemistry facilities, Radioisotopes production procedures V&V facilities 
  Ondraf-Niras/Belgoprocess:  Waste  conditioning  &  management,  Decontamination 

& site restoration 

References: www.belv.be, https://www.sckcen.be/ 

2.1.2  Bulgaria 

The Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy (INRNE) of the Bulgarian Academy 
of  Sciences  is  the  leading  research  centre  for  reactor  safety  in  Bulgaria.  The  NUGENIA 
report  (Reese  et  al.  2015)  did  not  identify  any  MS  programme  or  project  relevant  to 
NUGENIA  Technical  Areas.  Participation  in  Euratom  fission  projects  has  also  been  low 
(lowest  of  all  nuclear  countries).  The  INRNE  was  a  member  of  the  severe  accident 
research  network  SARNET,  and  participated/participates  in  thermal-hydraulics  and 
severe-accident related projects (NURESAFE, CESAM, IVMR, ASAMPSA). 

Nuclear  safety  related  knowledge  management  and  transition  is  maintained  with  the 
support of the EC through the FP7 Project CORONA "Establishment of a Regional Center 
of  Competence  for  VVER  Technology  and  Nuclear  Applications"  and  the  H2020  Project 
CORONA  II  "Enhancement  of  training  capabilities  in  VVER  technology  through 
establishment of VVER training academy ".   

8 

 
 
Other  Bulgarian  nuclear  R&D  organisations  are:  the  Department  of  Nuclear  Physics,  the 
Department of Nuclear Technology and Nuclear Power Engineering and the Radiochemical 
laboratory  of  the  Sofia  University  "St  Kl.  Ohridski"  ;  the  Department  of  Power  and 
Nuclear  Engineering  of  the  Technical  University  of  Sofia;  the  Department  of  Nuclear 
Physics of the Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski". (IAEA 2017) 

References: www.inrne.bas.bg 

2.1.3  The Czech Republic 

According  to  the  presentation  in  the  NEI  workshop  (NEI  2015),  the  Czech  Republic  has 
the following R&D Targets in the subarea "Nuclear resources of the energy": 

1. Efficient long-term use of nowadays nuclear power plants 

  Ensuring  reliability  and 
installations (Gen II) 

long-term  efficient  operation  of  existing  nuclear 

  Advanced materials and technologies for nuclear power sector (Gen III, Gen IV) 
  Decommissioning of nuclear facilities (Gen II) 

2. Support of the safety of the nuclear facilities 

  Promoting safety of the nuclear facilities for regulator needs (Gen II and Gen III) 
  Promoting safety of operating and planned nuclear facilities (Gen II and Gen III) 

3.  Research  ensuring  support  of  the  construction  and  running  of  the  new  economically 
efficient and safe units 

  Ensuring  quality  of  documentation  for  licensing  processes  in  the  field  of  nuclear 

safety and ensuring the high quality necessary experts. (Gen II, Gen III) 

  Ensuring increased reliability, durability and effectiveness of new nuclear facilities 

(Gen III) 

  Developing  procedures  and  evaluation  methods  to  ensure  a  comprehensive  view 
of  the  technical  feasibility  and  economic  efficiency  of  long-term  operation  for  a 
minimum period of 60 years. (Gen III, Gen IV) 

The  Czech  Republic  is  one  of  the  most  active  participants  in  Euratom  funded  projects. 
Most R&D activities are carried out by ÚJV Řež (NRI) and its daughter company Centrum 
výzkumu Řež (Research Centre Řež, CVR) who owns the research infrastructure. 

The  ÚJV  Řež  has  a  wide  expertise  in  reactor  safety  domains.  They  provide  services  in 
deterministic  and  probabilistic  safety  assessments,  fuel  safety,  ageing  and  plant  life 
management, analyses of structural and mechanical properties, etc. 

Some of the main infrastructures in the UJV Řež are the following: 

  LR-0 pool-type research reactor serves as an experimental reactor for measuring 

neutron-physical characteristics of VVER reactors. 

  The research reactor LVR-15 with an operational power level of 10 MWth is used 

(among other things) for material research. 

  Testing laboratories for mechanical and material properties (autoclaves, hot cells, 

etc.) 

The  Sustainable  Energy  Project,  SUSEN,  is  implemented  as  a  regional  R&D  centre  with 
following activities: 1) Technological Experimental Loops (S-ALLEGRO Loop for supporting 
ALLEGRO Project, HTHL 2 Loop for supporting experimental V/HTR R&D, SCWR Loop for 
supporting experimental SCWR R&D), 2) Structural and System Diagnostics, 3). Nuclear 
Fuel  Cycle,  4)  Material  Research.  The  existing  infrastructure  of  CVR  will  be  significantly 
enhanced through the SUSEN project. 

9 

 
 
 
Research  projects  in  the  area  of  nuclear  safety  are  also  implemented  at  the  Faculty  of 
Nuclear  Science  and  Physical  Engineering  of  the  Czech  Technical  University  in  Prague. 
The faculty operates the VR-1 zero-power school reactor that is used for research as well 
educational  and  training  purposes.  The  nuclear  safety  research  areas 
include 
development  of  neutron  detectors,  optimizing  reactor  fuel  loads,  spent  fuel  treatment, 
long  term  operation  of  irradiated  reactor  internals,  new  types  of  reactor  fuel  cladding, 
etc. 

An  institution  currently  managing  research  programmes  on  the  national  level  is  the 
governmental Technologic Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR). It has been developing, 
among  others,  a  Theta  Research  Programme  including  nuclear  safety  topics  like:  New 
technologies  and  approaches  for  long-term  operation  of  nuclear  power  plants, 
Development  and  applications  of  nuclear  safety  assessment  methods,  Study  and 
modelling  of  mechanical  behaviour  of  nuclear  fuel  or  Development  of  software 
applications for prediction of distribution of radioactivity in atmosphere and hydrosphere. 

References:  

https://www.ujv.cz/en/products-and-services-1, http://cvrez.cz/en/infrastructure/ 

http://www.reaktor-vr1.cz/en/activities/research 

https://www.tacr.cz/index.php/en/programmes/theta-programme.html 

https://www.tacr.cz/dokums_raw/theta/1VS/Temata_Theta_PREFIN.compressed.pdf 

2.1.4  Finland 

Finland  has  a  long  tradition  in  national  research  programmes  on  nuclear  power  plant 
safety.  The  national  programme  is  led  by  the  government,  and  is  based  on  the  Finnish 
Nuclear  Energy  Act.  The  programme  is  funded  by  the  Finnish  State  Nuclear  Waste 
Management  Fund,  as  well  as  other  key  organisations  operating  in  the  area  of  nuclear 
energy. The current programme, SAFIR2018, runs from 2015 until the end of 2018. 

The planning period for the SAFIR2018 up to 2018 involves several licence procedures for 
new  and  existing  power  plants:  modernisation  of  the  automation  for  two  units,  one 
operating  licence  application,  and  one  construction  licence  application.  These  processes 
are reflected in many ways in national safety research. 

The research programme involves all Finnish stakeholders in the area, with the Radiation 
and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) in a central role.  The Technical Research Centre of 
Finland (VTT) is the largest research partner and coordinator of the on-going programme, 
SAFIR2018. Another relevant organisation is the Lappeenranta University for Technology 
(LUT) especially for experimental thermal-hydraulics studies. 

The  research  activities  in  SAFIR2018  are  grouped  under  four  main  research  areas:  1) 
Plant  safety  and  systems  engineering,  2)  Reactor  safety,  3)  Structural  safety  and 
materials and 4) Research infrastructure. 

The research work in the projects is guided by six reference groups: 

  Automation, organisation and human factors 
  Severe accidents and risk analysis 
  Reactor and fuel 
  Thermal hydraulics 
  Structural integrity 
  Research infrastructure 

Research  on  Gen  IV  is  excluded  from  the  SAFIR2018  programme,  but  is  performed 
separately by VTT, universities and industry. 

Finland has recently renewed its main research infrastructure for nuclear safety research 
hosted  by  VTT,  housing  the  hot-cells  and  including  mechanical  and  microstructural 

10 

 
 
characterisation  of  materials,  radiochemistry,  iodine  filter  testing,  etc.  VTT  has  also 
materials  technology  research  facility  for  broad  coverage  of  different  areas  of  material 
testing. The LUT hosts thermal hydraulics experimental facilities. 

Finland's only research reactor of type Triga Mark II, has been permanently shut down. 

NUGENIA and SAFIR2018 have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on scientific and 
technical co-operation in the area of nuclear safety research.  

References: http://safir2018.vtt.fi/index.htm, www.vtt.fi, www.lut.fi 

2.1.5  France 

In France, the two main organisations in nuclear safety research are the Commissariat à 
l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA) and the Institut de Radioprotection 
et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN). In addition, EdF, AREVA and many universities contribute 
to the nuclear safety R&D, as well as the National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre 
National  de  la  Recherche  Scientifique,  CNRS).  The  CNRS  is  mainly  focused  on 
fundamental  research,  but  participates  in  many  Euratom  funded  projects  in  the  area  of 
fuel and materials research. As France is a leading nuclear research country in Europe, it 
is impossible to make any brief summary of the main activities. Practically everything is 
covered,  but  regarding  the  operating  reactor  types,  the  focus  is  on  PWRs,  as  the 
currently operating reactors are all PWRs. In Gen IV R&D the focus is on sodium-cooled 
fast  reactors  following  the  Phénix  and  Superphénix  prototype  reactors  based  on  this 
technology. 

The CEA is a French government-funded institution playing a major role in nuclear R&D, 
with  unique  platforms  of  facilities  (research  reactors,  large  experimental  and  simulation 
tools  such  as  hot  laboratories,  facilities  for  physics).  The  CEA  provides  scientific  and 
technical  support  to  the  French  government  as  well  as  to  the  definition  of  the  short, 
medium and long term French energy policies.  

The  CEA  research  areas  relevant  to  the  safety  of  operating  and  future  fission  reactors 
are: 

  Optimisation of the current nuclear industry 
  Materials for the nuclear industry 
  Safety of nuclear facilities 
 
  Future reactors (Generation IV) 

Jules Horowitz research reactor (JHR) 

The construction of the new Jules Horowitz experimental fission reactor (100 MWth) was 
started  in  2007.  It  will  be  used  for  experiments  on  nuclear  materials  and  fuels  and 
production  of  medical  radio-isotopes.  The  operation  is  foreseen  around  2021.  The 
European Commission is a member of the JHR consortium. 

The Gen IV activities are focused on ASTRID project for a sodium-cooled fast reactor led 
by  CEA.  The  CEA  is  also  involved  in  the  ALLEGRO  initiative  on  demonstration  of  gas-
cooled fast reactor technology. 

The IRSN is France’s public service expert in nuclear and radiation risks, and the TSO for 
the  French  nuclear  safety  authority  ASN.  IRSN's  activities  cover  all  the  related  scientific 
and  technical  issues,  and  the  research  activities  are  most  often  carried  out  within  the 
framework  of  international  programmes.  The  IRSN  Nuclear  Safety  Unit  carries  out 
research in the following fields (IRSN website): 

  Nuclear fuel mechanics and thermohydraulics 
  Nuclear reactor core meltdown accidents 
  Fires in confined environments  
  Metrology and confinement 
  Neutronics and criticality 

11 

 
 
The IRSN has the following nuclear safety research laboratories: 

  Corium Physics Study Laboratory (LEPC) 
  Corium and Radioelement Transfer Research Laboratory (LETR) 
  Reactor Physics Research and Safety Assessment Laboratory (LNR) 
  Criticality Research and Neutronics Development Laboratory (LNC) 
  Loss of Coolant Accident and Uncertainties Modelling Laboratory (LIMAR) 
  Material Physics and Thermal-Mechanics Laboratory (LPTM) 
  Civil Engineering Assessment Section (BEGC, ex-BAGCS) 
  Mechanics and Materials Experimental Research Laboratory (LE2M) 
  Environment and Chemistry Experimental Research Laboratory (L2EC) 
 
  Explosion and Fire Laboratory (LIE) 
  Fire Experimentation Laboratory (LEF) 
  Aerosol Physics and Metrology Laboratory (LPMA) 
  Research  and  Modelling  Laboratory  for  Airborne  Dispersion  and  Containment 

In pile experimental research laboratory (L2EP) 

(LEMAC) 

  Containment,  Purification  and  Ventilation  Experimental  Research  Laboratory 

(LECEV) 

  Human and Social Sciences Laboratory (LSHS) 

Both  the  CEA  and  the  IRSN  have  a  vast  research  infrastructure  in  Saclay  and  in 
Cadarache.  The  CEA  facilities  in  Cadarache  support  studies  of  fuel,  irradiated  materials, 
severe  accident  and  thermal  hydraulics.  Saclay  hosts  e.g.  CEA's  ISIS  and  OSIRIS 
reactors  and  mechanical/structural  testing.  The  IRSN  hosts  in  Cadarache  e.g.  thermal 
hydraulics  and  severe  accident  research  facilities,  where  OECD/NEA  projects  have  been 
conducted  (CABRI,  STEM).  Other  important  facilities  are  available  e.g.  for  material 
characterisation  and  cable  fire  testing.  The  IRSN  also  has  thermohydraulics  facilities  in 
Orléans and Saclay. The NUGENIA infrastructure summary lists 14 major facilities for the 
CEA and 9 for the IRSN. 

References: http://www.cea.fr/, http://www.irsn.fr/EN/Pages/home.aspx, 
http://www.cnrs.fr/ 

2.1.6  Germany 

In Germany, The Helmholtz Association (HGF) distributes core funding from the German 
Federal  Ministry  of  Education  and  Research  (BMBF)  to  its  18  autonomous  research 
centres.  After  the  Fukushima  accident  the  German  parliament  decided  to  phase  out  the 
nuclear  energy  production  with  the  last  NPP  to  be  shut  down  in  2022.  The  HGF 
programme  Nuclear  Waste  Management,  Safety  and  Radiation  Research  (NUSAFE)  aims 
at  making  the  German  phase-out  as  safe  as  possible.  About  one  third  of  the  funding  is 
allocated to reactor safety, while two thirds are allocated to the waste management. The 
research  activities  of  the  Reactor  Safety  programme  topic  comprise  not  only  the 
operational safety of nuclear power plants but also in-depth examinations of design-basis 
and beyond-design-basis accidents in nuclear power plants and systems. 

In 2015-2019 the reactor safety research topics in NUSAFE are: 

  Reactor  Operation  and  DBA  (multi-physics  modelling,  multi-scale  modelling; 

validation of TH models; cladding materials behaviour during reflooding) 

  Safety  research  for  innovative  reactors  (advanced  codes  for  safety  analysis  of 

innovative reactors; measurement techniques for liquid metal flows) 

  Beyond  Design  Basis  Accidents  (core  coolability  and  debris  cooling,  fuel  coolant 
interaction, molten corium concrete interaction, hydrogen mixing and combustion; 
containment behaviour) 

The  organisations  participating  in  the  reactor  safety  research  in  NUSAFE  are  the 
Karlsruhe  Institute  of  Technology  (KIT),the  Helmholtz-Zentrum  Dresden-Rossendorf 
(HZDR)  and  the  Forschungszentrum  Jülich  GmbH  (FZJ).  In  addition  to  these 

12 

 
 
organisations,  reactor  safety  R&D  is  carried  out  in  several  other  research  institutes  and 
the  universities  in  Germany,  the  most  relevant  being  the  Fraunhofer  Institut  for  non-
destructive  testing  (IZFP)  and  University  of  Stuttgart.  The  main  reactor  safety  related 
research areas of these organisations are summarised below: 

  KIT  Institute  for  Nuclear  and  Energy  Technologies:  severe  accident  analyses, 
hydrogen  studies,  thermal  hydraulics,  Monte-Carlo  core  simulations,  Gen  IV 
technologies,  liquid  metal  technologies  KIT  has  also  fuel  and  materials  research, 
participating in Gen IV -related projects. 

  HZDR: RPV ageing, TH simulation. 
  FZJ:  reactor  theory,  accident  phenomenology  and  CFD  simulation,  experimental 

facilities for e.g. aerosol studies and recombiners. 
IZFP: Structural integrity, NDE. 

 
  Uni Stuttgart: Structural integrity, NDE, Severe accidents. 

GRS  (Gesellschaft  für  Anlagen-  und  Reaktorsicherheit)  is  the  technical  support 
organisation,  and  is  largely  involved  in  European  and  international  projects.  One  of  the 
key  issues  of  research  and  development  at  GRS  has  been  to  develop  and  validate 
computer  codes  for  the  analytical  simulation  of  incidents  and  accidents  concerning  the 
reactor core, the reactor coolant system and the containment as well as for probabilistic 
safety analyses. 

KIT  and  FZJ  host  several  large-scale  experimental  facilities  for  severe  accident 
investigations.  FZJ  operates  also  hotcell  laboratories,  but  they  are  mainly  used  for 
radioactive waste studies. The University of Stuttgart has facilities for mechanical testing, 
for studying fluid-structure interactions and for investigations of environmental effects on 
materials. 

References: http://www.iket.kit.edu/english/, 
https://www.hzdr.de/db/!Topics?pId=16&pNid=269, http://www.fz-juelich.de/iek/iek-
6/DE/forschung/reaktorsicherheit/_node.html, https://www.izfp.fraunhofer.de/en.html, 
http://www.ike.uni-stuttgart.de/forschung/index.en.html 

2.1.7  Hungary 

The  long  term  use  of  nuclear  energy  is  part  of  Hungary's  National  Energy  Strategy 
published in 2011 (NEA 2015). 

The three pillars of the Technology Platform (and the nuclear research) in Hungary are: 

  Ageing of structural materials 
  Spent fuels and radioactive waste management 
  Advanced modelling and simulation (multiphysics) 

The most important R&D areas in Hungary are: 

  Development of the regulatory framework 
  Support and modernization of the regulatory work 
  New nuclear facilities 
  Decommissioning and radioactive waste management 
  Development of operational safety 
  Development of on-line process monitoring systems and full-scope simulators 
  Development of risk informed supervisory instruments 
  Analysis of beyond design basis and severe accidents 
  Nuclear emergency response 
  Nuclear material accountancy and control 
  Supervision of radioactive material 
  Physical protection 
  Regulatory control of radioactive waste storage facilities. 

13 

 
 
The main research organisation in Hungary is the Hungarian Academy of Science Centre 
for Energy Research (MTA EK). Other strategic partner TSOs for the safety authority are 
the  Nuclear  Safety  Institute  (NUBIKI)  and  the  Institute  of  Nuclear  Techniques  of  the 
Budapest University of Technology and Economy (BME NTI). NUBIKI has activities in the 
fields of PSA and severe accident research. BME NTI's expertise is in reactor physics and 
thermal hydraulics, including Gen IV R&D. It hosts a small training reactor and a TH test 
loop. 

MTA  EK  participates  in  the  ALLEGRO  project  since  2010,  aiming  at  constructing  a  gas 
cooled  fast  spectrum  demonstrator  reactor  in  the  Central  European  region.  A  Centre  of 
Excellence  for  Gen  IV  studies  was  formed  among  HU,  SK,  CZ  and  PL  in  2013.  MTA  EK 
hosts the research on advanced fuel. 

MTA  EK  operates  a  10  MW  research  reactor  in  Budapest.  The  BNC  (Budapest  Neutron 
Centre) uses the research infrastructure of this reactor to conduct neutron experiments. 
Other  facilities  of  the  research  infrastructure  are  the  Severe  accident  facility  CODEX 
(Core  degradation  experiment),  the  Pressure  vessel  external  cooling  facility  CERES,  the 
PMK-2 thermal-hydraulic test loop and the Radiation ageing of structural materials facility 
BAGIRA. 

References: http://www.energia.mta.hu/en, http://www.nubiki.hu, 
http://reak.bme.hu/en/ 

2.1.8  The Netherlands 

The nuclear R&D activities in the Netherlands are carried out largely by NRG (NEA 2015).  

Research in the area of Reactor Operation & Safety is focused on: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

Reactor  safety:  Hydrogen  Management,  Core  cooling  (thermal  & 
mechanical behaviour), System behaviour, Fires, Spent fuel pool 
Long  term  operation:  RPV  material  and  internals,  Pressurized  Thermal 
Shock, Fatigue, Stress Corrosion Cracking 
Fuel behaviour & efficiency: Fuel creep 

Advanced Nuclear Technology (SMR, LMFR, HTR, MSR) activities are related to: 

1. 

2. 
3. 

Safety  &  design:  Core  cooling  (thermal  &  mechanical  behaviour),  System 
behaviour 
Advanced fuels & materials: Accident Tolerant Fuel & Cladding 
Resource  optimization:  Fast  reactor  fuels,  Molten  salt  behaviour  under 
irradiation 

As  infrastructure,  NRG  operates  the  45MW  high  flux  reactor  (HFR)  in  Petten.  R&D 
examples at the  HFR are: RPV steel for  light water  reactors, HTR graphite, thorium fuel 
cycle,  transmutation,  and  fuels  for  fast  reactors.  NRG  also  operates  several  hot  cells. 
There are plans to replace the HFR with a new research reactor PALLAS. PALLAS should 
be operational around 2025. 

The Delft Technical University (TU Delft) is also participating in nuclear safety  research, 
and  is  a  partner  in  several  Euratom  projects.  The  TU  Delft  operates  one  2MW  research 
reactor (HOR) and a subcritical assembly. At TU Delft, the research is focused on Gen IV 
(MSR and HTGR) and SMRs, especially in relation to fuel and thermal hydraulic studies. 

References:  https://www.nrg.eu/,  https://www.tudelft.nl/en/energy/research/nuclear-
energy/ 

14 

 
 
 
2.1.9  Romania 

The  Technologies  for  Nuclear  Energy  State  Owned  Company  (RATEN)  is  a  strategic 
Romanian  legal  Entity  coordinating  the  R&D  activity  in  the  nuclear  energy  field,  which 
maintains  and  develops  the  scientific  and  technological  support  for  the  National  Nuclear 
Energy  Program.  RATEN  has  two  subsidiaries:  the  Institute  for  Nuclear  Research  Pitesti 
(RATEN  ICN)  and  the  Center  of  Technology  and  Engineering  for  Nuclear  Projects, 
Bucureşti Magurele (RATEN CITON). 

The RATEN ICN is consistently involved in the work associated with the national nuclear 
safety  programs:  nuclear  fuel,  reactor  physics,  radiation  protection,  generic  CANDU 
technologies,  and  management  of  radioactive  waste.  Almost  all  of  the  Institute’s 
activities were oriented towards providing scientific and technical support for the Nuclear 
Power Program in Romania. The R&D programs are focused among others on: 

  Nuclear safety, to ensure the technical and scientific support needed for the safety 

assessment of Cernavoda NPP during its lifetime 

  Nuclear fuel, to elaborate technology and new methods to optimize fuel utilization 

in Cernavoda NPP 

  Radiation  protection,  to  integrate  all  aspects  regarding  ecological  impact  of 
nuclear power and to develop techniques for operating nuclear  installations based 
on ALARA principles 

  CANDU  technologies  intended  to  ensure  an  optimized  maintenance  of  NPP 

systems and components 

RATEN CITON services cover e.g.: 

  detailed  design  for  process  and  support  systems  associated  with  a  CANDU-600 
NPP,  as  well  as  civil  design  for  the  reactor  building,  the  turbine  hall,  the  service 
building,  spent  fuel  and  waste  management  and  detailed  design  for  adjacent 
installations and support systems for nuclear research reactors and labs 
reliability and probabilistic assessment studies 

 
  nuclear  safety  analyses,  including  environmental  impact  analyses  in  case  of 

accidents, fires, earthquakes, flooding etc. 
thermohydraulic calculations and stress analyses for various working regimes 

 

RATEN ICN hosts the R&D infrastructure. A few examples of the facilities are: 

  TRIGA SSR 14 MW research reactor 
  TRIGA ACPR that can work up to 20 000 MW pulse 
  a post-irradiation examination laboratory 
  Nuclear materials and corrosion department is composed of several laboratories to 

study both CANDU and Gen IV materials 

Romania is going to host ALFRED, the European Lead Fast Reactor Demonstrator. 

References: https://www.raten.ro/?lang=en 

2.1.10 

Slovakia 

The  leading  organization  in  the  nuclear  safety  research  and  development  in  Slovakia  is 
the  Research  Institute  of  Nuclear  Power  Plants  (VUJE).  It  was  established  in  1977  as  a 
state research institute, but privatised in 1994, meaning also a change from an originally 
research  organisation  into  an  engineering  company  that  presently  implements  large 
projects mainly in the field of nuclear power generation. 

VUJE  performs  thermal-hydraulic  transient  and  accident  analyses,  probabilistic  safety 
assessments, core neutronic calculations, and analyses of beyond design-basis accidents 
and  accidents  with  severe  core  damage.  The  results  of  analyses  are  used  for  designing 
and  reviewing  safety  enhancement,  for  safety  evaluation,  and  for  the  development  of 
operating  procedures  and  emergency  operating  procedures.  VUJE  develops  concept 

15 

 
 
issues of nuclear safety, carries out analyses of safety related events in plant operation. 
It  develops  drafts  of  safety  rules  and  guidelines  for  the  national  nuclear  regulatory 
authority (UJD). 

VUJE  has  an  accredited  laboratory  for  equipment  qualification  with  e.g.  environmental 
test chambers for accident simulation, thermal ageing, and seismic tests. 

Slovakia participates in the Gas Cooled Fast Reactor project ALLEGRO. 

The  IAEA  (2017)  mentions  several  other  organizations  which  conduct  research  and 
development in Slovakia. The most relevant for reactor safety are: 

  VUEZ, a.s., Levice: mechanical strength calculations 
  Relko, Ltd., Bratislava: PSA and deterministic analyses 
  Slovak Technical University, Bratislava: materials research 

Further,  the  IVS  (Inzinierska  vypoctova  spolocnost  Trnava,  s.r.o.  /Company  for 
Engineering  Calculations  Trnava,  Ltd)  provides  services  in  the  field  of  computational 
modelling of design basis and beyond design basis accidents. 

References: www.vuje.sk, http://www.relko.sk/, www.stuba.sk, www.ivstt.sk 

2.1.11 

Slovenia 

In Slovenia, there is no public R&D funding exclusively earmarked for nuclear fission. The 
Slovenian  Research  Agency  (ARRS)  as  an  independent  public  funding  organisation 
performing tasks relating to the National Research and Development Programme and the 
creation of the European Research Area. Research proposals in the nuclear field need to 
compete  for  funding  within  the  ARRS  calls  which  include  national,  bi-lateral  and 
international  tenders.  ARRS  calls  are  published  for  a  pre-defined  set  of  fields,  according 
to  priorities  set  by  the  ARRS.  The  nuclear  field  is  not  mentioned  specifically.  Proposals 
related to nuclear fission/fusion are mostly submitted within the energy or material field. 
Calls  for  research  and  investment  proposals  are  published.  However,  the  ARRS  budget 
has been decreasing in the period 2010-2015 so the financing is quite limited. 

Several  organizations  are  involved  within  the  research  in  the  nuclear  field,  mainly  the 
Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), the University of Ljubljana and the Slovene National Building 
and  Civil  Engineering  Institute  (ZAG).    The  JSI  is  the  leading  Slovenian  research 
organization.  Research  in  the  Reactor  engineering  division  of  the  JSI  focuses  on  the 
following topics: 

• 

• 

• 

Thermal-hydrodynamics 
o  Modeling of basic thermal-hydrodynamical phenomena 
o  Modeling of severe accidents 
o  Thermal-hydrodynamical safety analyses  
Structural mechanics 
o  Simulations of intergranular cracking 
o  Deterministic and probabilistic structural safety analyses  
Reliability, industrial hazard and risk 
o  Risk and uncertainty analyses 
o  Probabilistic safety analyses 

The Reactor Infrastructure Centre (RIC) is a part of JIS. The main purpose of the centre 
is  the  operation  of  a  TRIGA  Mark  II  research  reactor  for  the  needs  of  JIS  and  other 
research groups. 

References: https://www.ijs.si/ijsw/Reactor%20Engineering%20R4 

16 

 
 
 
 
2.1.12 

Spain 

The  CEIDEN  is  a  Spanish  organization  for  the  coordination  of  the  efforts  and  needs  of 
Nuclear  Fission  Technology  R&D.  It  defines  and  develops  joint  projects,  and  presents  a 
common  position  for  national  and  international  commitments  and  proposals  in  the 
Nuclear Fission R&D field. The strategic agenda of CEIDEN consists of three major fields: 
1) Long term operation, 2) Spent fuel and waste management and 3) New projects and 
technologies.  One  of  the  relevant  projects  is  the  ZIRP  project,  which  is  related  to 
materials  degradation  studies  based  on  material  samples  extracted  from  the  reactor 
pressure  vessel  internals  of  Jose  Cabrera  (Zorita)  reactor,  currently  being  dismantled. 
Another  outstanding  project,  the  Concrete  project,  investigates  the  evolution  of  the 
material  characteristics  in  samples  removed  from  several  concrete  structures  of  Zorita 
NPP. 

The CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas) is 
an institution attached to the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. One of its duties 
is nuclear research. 

In  reactor  safety  research,  the  CIEMAT  concentrates  on  developing  and  validating 
methods  of  analysis  and  risk  assessment  and  on  lowering  the  uncertainties  in 
hypothetical  situations  that  could  arise  in  a  nuclear  accident.  The  CIEMAT  is  working  in 
the following areas: 

  Severe accidents 
  Thermal mechanics of nuclear fuel 
  Safety of innovative nuclear systems 
  Materials research 

The CIEMAT has a large research infrastructure. Some of the main facilities are: 

  Facilities for corrosion studies (stress corrosion cracking in various environments) 
  Hot laboratories (radioactive facility IR-09 with mechanical testing machines) 
  Multi-purpose facility for TH and source term testing, aerosol experiments 

TECNATOM is an engineering company that provides services to the nuclear industry. The 
main activities are related to inspection and component structural integrity services, the 
training of operations personnel, engineering in support of plant operation, and operating 
experience  and  corrective  action  management.  Another  engineering  company 
participating 
is  Empresarios  Agrupados 
Internacional SA (EA). EA participates in several international projects for developing Gen 
III advanced nuclear reactors, and provides support services to operating plants. 

in  several  Euratom  research  consortia 

The  Technical  University  of  Madrid  (UPM)  has  a  Reactor  Physics  group  with  research 
experience  in  reactor  simulation.  The  Universitat  Politècnica  de  Catalunya  (UPC)  has  an 
Engineering  Research  Group  with  activities  in  the  topics  related  to  safety  (PSA)  and 
instrumentation. 

References: www.ciemat.es, https://ceiden.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2016-
PRESENTACION-CEIDEN_INGLES_v6.pdf, www.tecnatom.es, 
www.empresariosagrupados.es, www.upm.es, https://nerg.upc.edu/en 

2.1.13 

Sweden 

Sweden  does  not  have  any  major  single  research  organisation  for  the  nuclear  safety. 
Most  of  the  research  and  development  in  the  field  of  nuclear  safety  is  performed  at 
universities, Westinghouse Electric Sweden, Studsvik, at the Vattenfall central laboratory 
and  by  consultancies.  Research  to  support  nuclear  safety  supervision  is  focused  on  a 
number  of  strategic  areas,  such  as  safety  assessment,  safety  analysis,  reactor 
technology,  material  and  fuel  questions,  human  factors,  emergency  preparedness  and 
non-proliferation. (IAEA 2017) 

17 

 
The  Swedish  Radiation  Safety  Authority  (SSM)  finances  research  assignments  within 
basic  research.  External  undertakings  and  institutions  such  as  consulting  firms, 
universities and colleges are the main organisations conducting research assignments on 
behalf of the Authority. Some of the assignments are given to foreign research institutes 
and consulting firms. Only a small number of research assignments are conducted by the 
SSM itself. 

The  SSM  is  formulating  an  overall  research  strategy  in  order  to  more  closely  define  the 
type  of  research  to  be  conducted,  the  extent  of  research  in  the  short  and  long  term  as 
well  as  the  extent  to  which  the  research  financed  by  the  Authority  is  to  contribute  to 
competence nationally. 

The  most  important  Swedish  organisations  supporting  the  safety  authority  in  reactor 
safety research are the following: 

  KTH  Royal  Institute  of  Technology,  division  of  Nuclear  Power  Safety:  severe 

accident research 

  Chalmers  University  of  Technology:  core  simulation  (Chalmers  is  coordinating  a 

H2020 project on core monitoring techniques), nuclear chemistry 

  Studsvik  Nuclear:  fuel  and  materials  testing,  fuel  and  reactor  management 

software 

  Quantum  Technologies  AB  (Uppsala  Science  Park):  reactor  physics,  fuel,  severe 

accidents 
Inspecta Technology: structural integrity, inspections 

 

Other relevant consultancies are e.g. ÅF-consulting, Lloyd's Register Consulting. 

The  Nordic  co-operation,  especially  between  Sweden  and  Finland,  is  also  worth 
mentioning,  e.g.  Nordic  Nuclear  Safety  Research  (NKS),  NORTHNET  for  thermal 
hydraulics, and Nordic PSA-group (NPSAG). 

As  an  important  research  infrastructure,  the  KTH  hosts  the  Swedish  Corium  Research 
experimental  platform  to  study  different  phenomena  of  corium-water  interaction,  jet 
fragmentation  and  debris  formation  and  coolability.  Studsvik  Nuclear  hosts  a  large 
infrastructure for fuel and material testing. 

References: www.ssm.se, www.kth.se, www.studsvik.com, www.chalmers.se 

2.1.14 

The United Kingdom 

The  UK  Nuclear  Industrial  Strategy,  published  in  2013,  identified  priorities  that 
government and industry will work on together in a long-term partnership. The strategy 
included  a  better  coordination  of  R&D  and  innovation  through  new  bodies.  In  order  to 
have  a  co-ordinated  approach  to  nuclear  R&D,  the  government  established  the  Nuclear 
Innovation  and  Research  Advisory  Board  (NIRAB),  which  is  charged  with  ensuring  that 
the  publicly-funded  programmes  of  R&D  are  aligned  to  underpin  the  UK  Government’s 
strategic  energy  and  industrial  policies  and  maximise  synergies  across  the  portfolio. 
NIRAB’s 
including  existing  generation, 
decommissioning,  waste  management  and  disposal,  nuclear  new  build,  small  modular 
reactors, Generation IV reactors and their fuel cycles. 

the  whole 

fuel  cycle 

includes 

remit 

The NIRAB has developed recommendations for research which can be grouped into five 
key programmes: 

1.  The  UK’s  Strategic  Toolkit:  Underpinning  decisions  on  which  emerging  nuclear 
technologies are brought to market to give the best economic return for the UK. 

2.  Future Fuels: Making more efficient, safer nuclear fuels of the future. 

3.  21st  Century  Nuclear  Manufacture:  Advanced  materials,  manufacturing  and 

modular build in nuclear factories of the future. 

18 

 
 
4.  Reactor  Design:  Delivering  the  people,  processes  and  tools  to  make  the  UK  the 
partner  of  choice  as  the  world  designs  SMRs  and  4th  generation  nuclear  power 
plants. 

5.  Recycling  Fuel  for  Future  Reactors:  Developing  cost  effective  technologies  to 

deliver a secure and sustainable low carbon fuel supply. 

The  UKs  nuclear  R&D  capability  is  distributed  across  a  wide  range  of  public  and  private 
sector organisations, including universities, national laboratories and industrial partners. 
The  principal  R&D  organisation  to  underpin  UK’s  national  nuclear  programmes  is  the 
National  Nuclear  Laboratory  (NNL).  It  supports  the  UK’s  entire  civil  nuclear  fission 
programme,  including  continued  operation  of  existing  reactors,  new  nuclear  build  and 
Gen IV development.  

The  NNL  hosts  some  major  UK  nuclear  research  infrastructure  at  several  sites:  The 
flagship  facility  is  the  Central  Laboratory  in  Sellafield,  including  activities  in  nuclear 
science  and  plant  process  support.  The  Windscale  laboratory  has  facilities  e.g.  for  post-
irradiation  examination  of  nuclear  fuel  and  irradiated  materials,  material  analysis  and 
mechanical testing. 

The  wide  variety  of  organisations  involved  in  nuclear  R&D  in  the  UK  and  their  complex 
inter-relationships  is  presented  in  the  UK  R&D  map  (http://www.nnl.co.uk/science-
technology/uk-rd-map/). It includes e.g. 31 universities and 14 private companies. Amec 
Foster Wheeler is a member of both ETSON and NUGENIA. The Nuclear Research Centre 
(NRC),  which  is  a  joint  venture  between  the  University  of  Bristol  and  the  University  of 
Oxford, is also a NUGENIA member. 

References: http://www.nirab.org.uk/media/6233/uk-nuclear-innovation-and-research-
programme-recommendations.pdf, www.nnl.co.uk 

2.1.15 

Switzerland 

In  Switzerland,  nuclear  research  will  continue  despite  the  decision  to  not  build  new 
reactors. 

The  Paul  Scherrer  Institute  (PSI)  is  the  largest  research  centre  for  natural  and 
engineering sciences within Switzerland, and the national competence centre for nuclear 
research is the Nuclear Energy and Safety Division (NES) at PSI. 

The  PSI's  Nuclear  Energy  and  Safety  Division  encompasses  the  following  laboratories 
(PSI-website): 

  Laboratory for Reactor Physics and Systems Behaviour (LRS) 
  Laboratory for Thermal-Hydraulics (LTH) 
  Hot Laboratory Division (AHL) 
  Laboratory for Waste Management (LES) 
  Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis (LEA) 
  Laboratory for Nuclear Materials (LNM) 
  Laboratory for Radiochemistry (LRC)  

The activities of the most relevant laboratories are listed below: 

  LRS:  Improved  understanding  of  the  complex  phenomenology  of  nuclear  safety; 
physics  of  complete  fuel  cycle  closure  in  the  context  of  plutonium  management 
and waste reduction. 

  LTH:  Engaged  in  both  analytical  and  experimental  R&D  related  to  the  normal 
operation,  design  basis  accident,  beyond  design  basis  accident  and  severe 
accident conditions of current and future nuclear power plants. 

  AHL:  Examination  and  understanding  of  high  burn-up  LWR  fuel  behaviour  (UO2 
and  MOX),  and  damage  analyses  of  core  structural  components.  The  laboratory 
also  ensures  an  immediate  support  of  Swiss  nuclear  power  stations  in  case  of 
urgent need of material investigation. 

19 

 
  LNM:  Materials  behaviour  and  ageing  in  nuclear  installations.  A  special  emphasis 
is placed to the safety and safe long-term operation of the existing Swiss nuclear 
power plants. 

  LEA: Safety analysis based on Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) and focused 

on Human Reliability Assessment (HRA) 

The PSI participates in Gen IV research in GIF with contributions to Fast reactors (mainly 
SFR)  neutronics  and  thermohydraulics  analyses,  high  temperature  materials  and  (in 
future) to MSR, and via bilateral cooperation (NEA 2015). 

The  main  infrastructures  are  the  hot  laboratory  and  the  large-scale,  thermal-hydraulics 
test  facility  PANDA.  The  PSI  has  also  several  other  thermal  hydraulics  facilities  and 
materials testing laboratories. 

References: https://www.psi.ch/nes/nuclear-energy-and-safety-nes 

2.2  Member states without present nuclear energy production 

The  main  countries  without  present  nuclear  energy  production  but  having  significant 
reactor  safety  research  activities  are  Italy  and  Lithuania.  Both  of  these  states  have  had 
operating nuclear power plants in the past. A third country of interest is Poland, which is 
planning  to  build  a  nuclear  power  plant  in  the  near  future.  The  other  non-nuclear 
countries do not have research organisations or activities worth mentioning in this report. 
These  countries  are  Austria,  Estonia,  Croatia,  Cyprus,  Greece,  Ireland,  Latvia, 
Luxembourg,  Malta  and  Portugal.  Amongst  the  EU  Associated  Countries,  it  is  worth 
mentioning Norway due to its international reactor safety research activities in Halden. 

2.2.1  Italy 

Despite  having  closed  its  last  reactors  in  1990,  Italy  has  remained  an  important 
contributor  to  the  reactor  safety  research  in  Europe.  The  leading  agency  for  applied 
nuclear  research  is  the  ENEA  (Agenzia  nazionale  per  le  nuove  tecnologie,  l'energia  e  lo 
sviluppo economico sostenibile). Although most R&D is focused on decommissioning and 
wastes, basic research has continued in order to maintain the nuclear option.  

Since the Fukushima accident, the ENEA's nuclear fission activities have been limited to: 

  Safety studies related to NPP located in other  European  countries close to  Italy's 

borders, 

  Waste management activities 
  Decommissioning of old reactors 
  Research  and  Development  in  support  to  nuclear  of  the  future,  namely  Gen  IV 

lead-cooled fast reactors. 

The main lines of the R&D activities in safety assessment of LWRs are the following: 

  Acquisition,  development  and  validation  of  codes  and  methods  for  safety 

assessment 

  Development  of  advanced  methods,  models  and  use  of  mechanistic  and  integral 

computer codes for accident analyses 

  Experimental  studies  in  support  of  qualification  of  systems,  instrumentation  and 

innovative components, and of model validation 

The ENEA has several research centres around the country involved in nuclear fission and 
fusion research. Several research reactors are still operating, including two Triga Mark II 
units – the University of Pavia's 250 kWt LENA reactor (operating since 1965) and the 1 
MWt Triga RC-1 (operating since 1960) at ENEA's Casaccia Research Centre near Rome. 
Research facilities and related activites on lead and lead-bismuth technology are located 

20 

 
 
 
at  ENEA’s  Brasimone  Research  Centre.  Thermal  hydraulic  test  facilities  are  located  in 
Piacenza.  

Several  universities  are  also  contributing  to  the  reactor  safety  research.  The  CIRTEN 
Consortium  was  established  in  1994  by  Politecnico  di  Milano,  Politecnico  di  Torino  and 
Università  di  Padova,  Palermo,  Pisa  and  Roma  “La  Sapienza”.  CIRTEN  promotes  the 
scientific  and  technological  research,  and  coordinates  the  universities  participation  in 
collaboration with national and international research institutes. 

Ansaldo Nucleare is also involved with international R&D on Gen IV new reactor systems 
(mainly LFR). 

References: www.enea.it, www.cirten.it 

2.2.2  Lithuania 

Lithuania  permanently  shut  down  the  Ignalina  RBMK  type  NPP  units  in  2004  and  2009. 
The  main  research  organisation,  Lithuanian  Energy  Institute  (LEI),  is  still  actively 
involved  in  reactor  safety  research  both  with  national  funding  and  participating  in 
international co-operation. 

The Lithuanian government is funding long-term R&D projects. In 2016, a five-year long-
term  institutional  R&D  programme  "Scientific  research  of  safety  important  processes  in 
nuclear  and  nuclear  fusion  facilities",  was  completed.  The  objective  of  the  programme 
was  to  prepare  a  complex  safety  assessment  methodology  for  deterministic  and 
probabilistic  analysis  of  nuclear  fission  and  fusion  installations  with  regard  to 
uncertainties and severe accident scenarios. In 2016, a new three-year work "Expansion 
of  best-estimate  method  for  research  of  heat  and  neutron  transfer  processes"  was 
launched. 

As  can  be  noticed  from  the  list  below,  the  activities  of  the  Laboratory  of  Nuclear 
Installations Safety at LEI cover nearly all aspects of reactor safety: 

safety assessment of nuclear power plants 

 
  analysis of new generation nuclear power plants 
  analysis of thermal-hydraulic accident and transient processes 
  assessment  of  change  of  thermal-hydraulic  parameters  in  NPP  containments  and 

other premises 
simulation of transport of radionuclides and aerosols in premises 

 
  analysis  of  reactivity  initiated  accident  processes  of  nuclear  reactor  and 

 
 
 
 

justification of modifications in reactor core 
safety assessment of decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear installations 
reliability estimation and control of energy systems 
level 1 and level 2 probabilistic safety assessment of NPPs 
strength  analysis  of  structures,  piping  and  components  in  complex  technical 
systems 
failure analysis and engineering assessment for complex technical systems 
risk and hazard assessment of industrial objects 

 
 
  assessment of security of energy supply 
  modelling and reliability assessment of processes in energy supply networks 
  probabilistic modelling and analysis of unusual events 
  analysis of sensitivity and uncertainty of modelling results 
 

fundamental research in thermal physics 

The  LEI  also  has  a  Nuclear  Engineering  Laboratory,  with  activities  e.g.  in  the  following 
areas:  spent  fuel  safety,  safety  of  radioactive  waste  management,  decommissioning, 
assessment  of  fire  hazard  at  NPPs,  and  research  related  to  construction  of  new  nuclear 
power plant in Lithuania. 

References: www.lei.lt 

21 

 
 
2.2.3  Poland 

Poland is planning to build nuclear capacity in the near future. The main nuclear research 
organisation  is  the  Poland’s  National  Centre  for  Nuclear  Research  (NCBJ).  The  NCBJ  is 
participating in  several  FP7  and  H2020  projects  related  to  reactor  safety.  Poland  is  also 
financing  a  national  project  "Development  of  high  temperature  reactors  for  industrial 
applications (HTRPL)" paving the way for the demonstration of HTR cogeneration. 

The  Laboratory  of  Nuclear  Energy  and  Environmental  Studies  of  the  NCBJ  has  e.g.  the 
following activities: 

  Neutron-physics analysis of research and power reactors 
  Development  of  Gas  Cooled  Reactor  Technology  and  nuclear  cogeneration 

(ALLEGRO participation) 

  Activities in the field of safety assessment, code development and validation 
  Development  of  computing  tools  for  the  safety  analysis  and  optimization  of  the 

exploitation of light water reactors 

As  a  research  infrastructure,  the  NCBJ  has  a  25  MW  research  reactor  MARIA,  and  a 
nuclear materials research laboratory. 

Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology (INCT) does basic research, development 
and  applications  as  well  as  various  services  related  to  the  profile  of  its  activities.  The 
INCT  has  participated  e.g.  in  cable  ageing  related  Euratom  projects  (ADVANCE,  TeaM 
Cables). 

The  NCBJ  has  signed  an  agreement  to  collaborate  with  the  JRC,  in  particular  in  fields 
such  as  the  development  of  nuclear  technologies  for  power  generation,  cyber  security 
and the medical applications of ionising radiation. 

References: www.ncbj.gov.pl, www.ichtj.waw.pl 

2.2.4  Norway 

The  Halden  Reactor  Project  (HRP)  is  a  NEA  joint  project  operating  since  1958,  bringing 
together  an  important  international  technical  network  in  the  areas  of  nuclear  fuel 
reliability, integrity of reactor internals, plant control/monitoring and human factors. The 
project is led by the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) in Halden, Norway. 

The  HPR  programme  of  work  is  in  general  split  into  two  areas.  The  first  one  –  the  Fuel 
and Materials programme - includes: 

  Fuels Safety and Operational Margins, including loss-of-coolant accidents 
  Plant Ageing and Degradation 
 

International Gen IV Research. 

The second one – the Man, Technology and Organisation programme - contains: 

  Human Factors Research for Existing and New Reactors 
  Digital Systems Research for Existing and New Reactors 

The  Halden  Boiling  Water  Reactor  (HBWR)  is  a  natural  circulation  boiling  heavy  water 
reactor. The maximum power is 25 MWth. 

https://www.oecd-nea.org/jointproj/halden.html, www.ife.no 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
3  Conclusions 

The aim of this report is to provide a brief summary of the main research organisations 
and  research  activities  in  reactor  safety  in  the  EU  member  states.  The  research 
infrastructure is also considered, but not in detail. The report serves as a quick reference 
guide providing links to relevant websites. 

In most EU member states, the public reactor safety research is often largely conducted 
in one major research organisation, with smaller activities at universities. In states with 
very  significant  nuclear  industry,  such  as  France,  the  UK  and  Germany,  the  research 
community is more scattered. It should be born in mind that in these countries there  is 
also  remarkable  research  done  by  the  nuclear  industry,  which  is  mostly  excluded  from 
this report. 

The  co-ordination  of  research  at  national  level  varies  a  lot  between  the  countries.  One 
extreme covers countries that do not seem to have any national  research strategy,  e.g. 
Slovenia.  The  other  extreme  is  Finland,  with  a  long  tradition  of  national  NPP  safety 
research  programme.  Many  countries  have  defined  a  national  research  strategy,  e.g. 
Nuclear  Industrial  Strategy  in  the  UK,  CEIDEN  Technology  Platform  in  Spain,  or 
Sustainable Atomic Energy Technology Platform in Hungary. 

23 

 
 
References 

IAEA 2017. IAEA country sheets: https://cnpp.iaea.org/pages/index.htm 

NEA  2015.  NEA  International  Workshop  on  the  Nuclear  Innovation  Roadmap  (NI2050), 
Paris 7-8 July 2015.  https://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/workshops/ni2050/ 

Reese, S., Klucke, D. & Karabaki, H.E. 2015.  Synthesis report on the implementation of 
national  nuclear  programmes  and  proposals  for  integration  in  NUGENIA  of  all 
programmes for technical and financial aspects. NUGENIA+ deliverable D2.3. 

24 

 
 
 
List of acronyms 

ADS 

Accelerator driven system 

ALARA  As low as reasonably achievable 

CFD 

DBA 

EU 

FP7 

Computational fluid dynamics 

Design basis accident 

European Union 

Framework Programme 7 

H2020  Horizon 2020 

HLM 

HLW 

HRA 

Heavy liquid metal 

High level waste 

Human reliability assessment 

HTGR 

High temperature gas cooled reactor 

HTR 

IAEA 

JRC 

LFR 

High temperature reactor 

International Atomic Energy Agency 

Joint Research Centre 

Lead-cooled fast reactor 

LMFR 

Liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor 

LTO 

MS 

MSR 

NDE 

NEA 

NPP 
OECD 

PSA 

R&D 

RPV 

Long term operation 

Member state 

Molten salt reactor 

Non-destructive examination 

Nuclear Energy Agency 

Nuclear power plant 
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 
Development 

Probabilistic safety assessment 

Research and development 

Reactor pressure vessel 

SCWR 

Supercritical water reactor 

SFR 

SMR 

TH 

TSO 

ZPR 

Sodium-cooled fast reactor 

Small modular reactor 

Thermal hydraulic 

Technical safety organisation 

Zero power reactor 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE EU 

In person 

All over the European Union there are hundreds of Europe Direct information centres. You can find the 
address of the centre nearest you at: http://europea.eu/contact 

On the phone or by email 

Europe Direct is a service that answers your questions about the European Union. You can contact this 
service: 

- by freephone: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (certain operators may charge for these calls), 

- at the following standard number: +32 22999696, or 

- by electronic mail via: http://europa.eu/contact 

FINDING INFORMATION ABOUT THE EU 

Online 

Information about the European Union in all the official languages of the EU is available on the Europa 
website at: http://europa.eu 

EU publications 
You can download or order free and priced EU publications from EU Bookshop at: 
http://bookshop.europa.eu. Multiple copies of free publications may be obtained by contacting Europe 
Direct or your local information centre (see http://europa.eu/contact). 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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doi: 10.2760/029769 

ISBN 978-92-79-77215-3