CELEX: 51990PC0441(01)
Language: en
Date: 1990-09-25
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ADOPTING A SPECIFIC RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN THE FIELD OF CONTROLLED THERMONUCLEAR FUSION ( 1990-1994 )

No C 261/8                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                  16. 10. 90
                                                               II
                                                        (Preparatory Acts)
                                                  COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Decision adopting a specific and technological development programme
                               in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion (1990 to 1994)
                                                       COM(90) 441 final
                                      (Submitted by the Commission on 3 October 1990)
                                                         (90/C 261/13)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                            88/448/Euratom (2), and is submitting the present
                                                                    proposal on the basis of this evaluation and appraisal;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 7                Whereas the Joint Research Centre shall contribute
thereof,                                                            through its own programme to the implementation of the
                                                                    aforesaid activities;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                  Whereas an estimate should be made of the amount of
which has consulted the Scientific and Technical                    Community financial resources needed to carry out this
Committee,                                                          specific programme; whereas the definitive amounts will
                                                                    be fixed by the budgetary authority in line with the
                                                                    financial perspectives covering the period 1988 to 1992
Having regard      to   the   opinion    of   the  European         included in the interinstitutional Agreement of 29 June
Parliament,                                                          1988 (J) and with any future financial perspectives
                                                                    covering the period 1993 to 1994;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                   Whereas, pursuant to Article 4 and Annex I of Decision
                                                                    90/221/Euratom, EEC, the amount deemed necessary
                                                                    for the whole framework programme includes an amount
Whereas, by Decision 90/221/Euratom, EEC ('), the                   of ECU 57 million for the centralized dissemination and
Council adopted a third framework programme of                      exploitation of the results to be divided up in proportion
Community activities in the field of research and techno-           to the amount envisaged for each activity; whereas in
logical development (1990 to 1994), specifying inter alia           view of the importance of this specific programme within
the activities to be pursued in the area of controlled              the 'energy' action the estimate of the financial resources
nuclear fusion; whereas this Decision should be taken in            needed by this programme is to be reduced by ECU 4,17
the light of the grounds set out in the preamble to that            million, which amount is to be allocated to the
Decision;                                                           centralized activities;
                                                                    Whereas this programme must be implemented by the
Whereas for activities falling under the EAEC Treaty,               Commission, as foreseen in Article 7 of the Treaty;
Article 2 of the Decision adopting the third framework              whereas to help accomplish this, the Member States are
programme      foresees    its implementation        through        bound, pursuant to Article 192 of the Treaty, to facilitate
programmes adopted in accordance with Article 7 of the              the achievement of its tasks where necessary;
said Treaty;
                                                                    Whereas the implementation of the Joint European
Whereas the Commission has arranged for the evaluation              Torus (JET) project has been entrusted to the 'Joint
and appraisal foreseen in Article 3 of Decision
                                                                    O OJ No L 222, 12. 8. 1978, p. 5.
(') OJ No L 117, 8. 5. 1990, p. 28.                                 (J) OJ No L 185, 15. 7. 1988, p. 33.
 ---pagebreak---  16. 10. 90                          Official Journal of the European Communities                           No C 261/9
European Torus (JET), Joint Undertaking', established           munity a fusion programme whose long-term objective is
by Decision 78/471/Euratom ('), as amended by                  the joint creation of safe, invironmentally sound,
Decision 88/447/Euratom (2), and as last amended by            prototype reactors,
Decision 9 0 / . . ./Euratom.
                                                               HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Whereas the programme embraces all work carried out
in the Member States in the field of controlled thermo-
nuclear fusion by magnetic confinement; whereas the                                      Article 1
execution of this programme must involve the selection
of research and development projects to enable them to         A specific research and technology development
benefit from Community participation; whereas a special        programme       for   the    European    Atomic   Energy
procedure should also be devised so as to maintain a           Community in the field of controlled thermonuclear
degree of flexibility enabling the Commission, in the face     fusion, as defined in Annex I, is hereby adopted for a
of the continuous evolution and gradual acceleration of        period of five years as from 1 January 1990.
technological progress, also to take into consideration
spontaneous proposals consistent with the objectives of
the programme;                                                                           Article 2
                                                                1.   The Community funds estimated as necessary for
                                                               the execution of the programme under this Decision
Whereas the projects to be carried out under the               amount to ECU 458 million. This amount includes ECU
programme must be selected with special attention to the       417 million for the execution of the activities approved
principle of economic and social cohesion in the               by the present Decision, and ECU 41 million for the
Community, the transnational nature of the projects and        activities which the JRC will contribute to the
the support to be given to small and medium-sized enter-       programme and which will be subject of a separate
prises;                                                        decision of the Council.
                                                               2.    From the above sum of ECU 417 million, an
Whereas the Community's activities aimed at strength-
                                                               amount of ECU 4,17 million is drawn for the centralized
ening the scientific and technological basis of European
                                                               action of dissemination and exploitation of results. The
industry and encouraging it to become more competitive
                                                               funds thus reduced to ECU 412,83 million include staff
include promoting cooperation on research and techno-
                                                               costs, which may amount to a maximum of 10 %, and
logical development with third countries and interna-
                                                               also expenditure in relation to a maximum of 191
tional organizations; whereas such cooperation may
                                                               temporary employees assigned to the JET Joint Under-
prove particularly beneficial to the development of this
                                                               taking within the meaning of Article 2 (a) of the
programme;
                                                               conditions of employment of other servants of the
                                                               European Communities.
Whereas, pursuant to Article 101 of the Treaty, the
Community has concluded Cooperation Agreements in              3.    An indicative breakdown of expenditure is set out
the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion and plasma        in Annex II.
physics with the Kingdom of Sweden and with the Swiss
Confederation; whereas the Community has entered into
an Agreement of Participation in the international ther-       4.    Should the Council take a decision in implemen-
monuclear experimental reactor (ITER) conceptual               tation of Article 1 (4) of Decision 90/221/Euratom,
design activities, together with Japan, the Union of           EEC, this decision shall be adapted to take account of
Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of            the abovementioned Decision.
America and is negotiating an Agreement of Partici-
pation in the international thermonuclear experimental         5.    The budgetary authority shall decide on the appro-
reactor (ITER) engineering design activities together          priations available for each financial year.
with the same countries; whereas the Community has
entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the
Government of Canada on the involvement of Canada in                                     Article 3
the European contribution to the ITER conceptual
design activities;                                             Rules for the implementation of the programme are set
                                                               out in Annex III.
Whereas it is necessary, as Annex II to Decision
90/221/Euratom/EEC provides, to conduct in the Com-                                      Article 4
                                                               The rate of the Community financial contributions shall
(') OJ No L 151, 7. 6. 1978, p. 10.                            be laid down in accordance with Annex IV to Decision
O OJ No L 222, 12. 8. 1988, p. 4.                              90/221/Euratom, EEC.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 261/10                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                       16. 10. 90
                           Article 5                                                               Article 7
1.    During 1992, the Commission shall review the                     In implementing this programme,                   supplementary
programme and address a report on the results of the                   programmes and joint undertakings within the meaning
review to the Council and the European Parliament,                     of Articles 45 to 51 of the Treaty may also be decided on
together with proposals for any necessary changes.                     as the need arises.
2.    At the end of the programme the Commission shall                                             Article 8
assess the results obtained. It shall address a report
thereon to the Council and the European Parliament.                    Where cooperation with third countries and international
                                                                       organizations aiming at achieving the objectives of this
3.    The reports shall be drawn up having regard                      programmes requires agreements or contracts under
to the objectives set out in Annex I to this Decision                  Article 101, second paragraph of the Treaty, the
and in accordance with Article 2 (4) of Decision                       Commission shall be authorized to negotiate.
90/221/Euratom, EEC.
                                                                       The conclusion of such agreements or contracts shall be
                           Article 6                                   made in accordance with the provisions described in this
                                                                       paragraph.
For the implementation of the programme, the
Commission shall be assisted by the consultative                                                   Article 9
committee for the fusion programme set up by Council
Decision of 16 December 1980.                                          This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
                                                                ANNEX I
                                SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT
             This specific programme fully reflects the approach embodied in the third framework programme in terms
             of the scientific and technical goals and the underlying aims which it pursues.
             Paragraph 5C of Annex II to the framework programme forms an integral part of the present specific
             programme.
             The long-term objective of the Community fusion programme, embracing all activities undertaken in the
              Member States in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion by magnetic confinement, is 'the joint
             creation of safe, environmentally sound prototype reactors' (Decision 90/221/Euratom, EEC). A stepwise
             strategy towards the prototype commercial reactor is foreseen, including after JET, an experimental reactor
              (Next Step) and a demonstration reactor (DEMO).
             The first priority objective of the specific programme (1990 to 1994) is to provide the scientific and techno-
             logical base, and to prepare industry for the construction of a Next Step device. The mayor physics goal of
             the Next Step will be the achievement of ^elf-sustained thermonuclear burn of deuterium-tritium plasma
             and its control during long pulse operation. The Next Step should demonstrate the safe operation of a
             device that integrates important technologies of a fusion reactor, and should test components and
             subsystems essential for a fusion reactor. The Next Step must provide the basic data for building a demon-
             stration fusion reactor (DEMO) capable of producing electricity with a capacity comparable to that of
             future commercial plants, taking due account of environmental constraints.
 ---pagebreak--- 16. 10. 90                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                    No C 261/11
           Other objectives of the specific programme are:
           — to proceed along the demonstration of the safety and environmental feasibility of fusion power in
               parallel with the demonstration of its scientific and technological feasibility,
           — to enlarge the involvement of European industry, with the views of both injecting industrial expertise
               into the realization of the Next Step and ensuring that Europe will master all the technologies which
               will be required for the construction of future fusion reactors,
           — to determine the reactor potential of toroidal magnetic configurations akin to the Tokamak, concen-
               trating on stellarators and reversed field pinches,
           — to maintain a watching brief on other approaches to controlled fusion,
           — to strengthen the links between the Associations and the rest of the European scientific community, in
               particular with universities and similar institutions.
           In order to fulfil the first priority objective of the specific programme, a large fraction of the 1990 to 1994
           activities, including those performed on JET and within the Associations, will be in support of the Next
           Step. Balanced efforts and coherent planning will be ensured between the Next Step design activities,
           supporting research and development in physics and technology, and industrial involvement.
           The following presents an analytical description of the content of the programme, based on and taking
           account of the above elements as well as of the independent evaluation of the programme and of the
           appraisal of the environmental, safety-related and economic potential of fusion, performed in 1990
           according to Council Decision 88/448/Euratom.
                                                                 AREA 1
                                                            Next Step design
           Next Step conceptual design activities are being completed in the European frame, NET (Next European
           Torus), and also in the frame of a quadripartite international collaboration, ITER (international thermo-
           nuclear experimental reactor), between the Community, Japan, the USSR and the USA. The engineering
           design of a Next Step device will be undertaken according to the following guidelines:
           — the quadripartite approach of ITER will be preferred for technical and economic reasons and the
               Community's current position of preeminence in large tokamaks, acquired especially through JET, will
               be maintained by a full commitment to the project,
           — efforts will be made towards a convergence of the NET and ITER designs,
           — the Community will make all efforts to host the ITER engineering design activities. Pending a further
               European site proposal for engineering design activities, the Community offers a site at the
               Euratom-Max Planck-Institut fur Plasmaphysik Association at Garching,
           — a possible broadening of the collaboration on the ITER device to embrace an articulated ITER
               programme will be investigated. In such a programme the main facilities in fusion reactor development
               would be shared among the partners with a view to ensure equal benefits to the partners,
           — the Community fusion programme will the capability to proceed with NET if the ITER cooperation
               proves too difficult to continue.
           The engineering design of a Next Step will be started as soon as the frame in which it will be undertaken
           will be agreed. In the proposed case of ITER, the fall-back capability of designing a leaner version of
           NET, still able to study ignition and long burn in reactor relevant conditions, will be preserved.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 261/12                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                      16. 10. 90
          Next Step-related physics R&D actions will be undertaken on JET and on the specialized devices in the
          Associations (see areas 3 and 4).
          Actions in fusion technology, specific to the Next Step, in particular in the fields of superconducting
          magnets, plasma-facing components, operational and environmental safety, fuel cycle, remote handling
          maintenance and decomissioning of the device, will be performed in the Associations, in the JRC, and in
          industry. These specific actions will be made consistent with the Community commitment to the ITER
          engineering design activities. The actions aiming at preserving the fall-back capability of the Community to
          construct a Next Step on its own and involving a substantial financial commitment will be considered in the
          frame of the next framework programme.
          The construction of the Next Step may be proposed during the period of the next Community framework
          programme, together with the required adjustments in organization, management and industrial policies. In
          preparation, a study will be carried out on the policies adopted for large scientific and technical projects
          such as space research and large accelerators.
                                                            AREA2
                                                Long-term technical developments
          Environmental and safety criteria will be essential elements governing the evolution of the fusion
          programme. In particular, work on such issues as the development of low activation materials relevant for a
          reactor, the development of reactor blanket modules, and a reference design for a commercial fusion
          reactor will be undertaken in the Associations, in the JRC, and in industry.
          Material testing requires a powerful source of high energy neutrons. In a first step, a collaboration on the
          adaptation and the use of an existing source outside Europe will be sought.
          The development of DEMO-relevant tritium breeding blankets modules will be pursued, in view of
          subsequent testing in the Next Step. These modules should be relevant for an electricity producing reactor,
          in particular regarding operating temperature and tritium breeding ratio.
          The reference design for a commercial reactor will be based on deuterium-tritium reactions. Consequences
          of using advanced fuels presenting additional advantages regarding safety and environment will be inves-
          tigated. The work on reference design will take into account views on social acceptability of fusion and on
          the requirements of utilities in operating such a reactor. It will constitute the technical basis for further
          safety analysis.
                                                            AREA 3
                                                               JET
          The full exploitation of JET in its phases of deuterium plasmas, in the context of a prolongation of the
          Joint Undertaking to 19%, will be completed by establishing reliable methods of plasma purity control in
          conditions relevant for the Next Step Tokamak. Where appropriate, JET equipments and expertise will be
          used to perform specific developments in support of the Next Step. A substantial contribution to the JET
          programme will be provided by the Associations, both by supporting activities (see area 4) and by transfer
          of staff.
          Furthermore, preparation will be undertaken for the final phase of JET with deuterium-tritium plasmas,
          foreseen to take place in 1995 and 1996. A rigorous scientific, technical and safety assessment will be
          carried out as part of this preparation.
 ---pagebreak--- 16. 10. 90                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                  No C 261/13
                                                               AREA 4
                                                         Support programme
           — Scientific support to the Next Step and to JET
           The activities of the specialized devices within the Associations will be focused on programmes of work in
           support for the Next Step and for JET as well as on exploration of concept improvements. In particular
           studies about confinement, magneto-hydrodynamic stability, plasma-wall interaction, fuelling and exhaust,
           heating and current drive, will be carried out on existing devices: Tore-Supra, Asdex-Upgrade, Textor,
           FTU, Compass, TCV, RTP and Isttok. A revised proposal concerning a compact tokamak, Ignitor, might
           be submitted for in-depth examination.
           New plasma diagnostic methods will be developed and theoretical activities, in particular on plasma
           modelling, will be carried out to support these studies.
           Some existing tokamak devices, such as Asdex and TCA, will be phased out having completed their
           experimental programmes.
           — Studies on alternative lines in toroidal magnetic confinement
           The newly built stellarator, Wendelstein VII-AS, will be fully exploited. Pending the outcome of an
           in-depth examination, the engineering design of a large advanced stellarator, Wendelstein VII-X would be
           undertaken. The possible construction of such a device would be considered in the frame of the 1993 to
           1997 framework programme. Another stellarator, TJ-II, is being constructed for operation to start in 1995.
           Following its completion in 1991, the large reversed field pinch, RFX, will investigate plasma confinement
           and plasma purity at high current. The construction of Extrap-T2 will be completed and its exploitation
           undertaken.
           Several smaller devices, such as the stellarator Storm, the reversed field pinches HBTX and ETA-BETA II,
           and Extrap-Tl will be phased out having completed their experimental programmes.
           — Other approaches to controlled fusion
           Current work going on elsewhere on other approaches to controlled fusion will be followed closely. The
           present keep-in-touch activity with inertial confinement fusion will be continued, subject to a periodic
           reassessment of its reactor potential compared with that of magnetic confinement fusion.
                                                             ANNEX II
                                     INDICATIVE BREAKDOWN OF EXPENDITURES
           As a percentage for the 1990 to 1994 period:
           — Area 1: Next Step design                                                                        15 to 25,
           — Area 2: Long term technical developments                                                         5 to 10,
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 261/14                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                        16. 10. 90
           — Area 3: JET                                                                                         45 to 55,
           — Area 4: Support programme                                                                           20 to 30.
           The breakdown between different areas does not exclude the possibility that projects could cover several
           areas.
                                                             ANNEX III
           RULES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMME AND ACTIVITIES FOR DISSEMINATION
                                          AND EXPLOITATION OF THE RESULTS
           1. The Commission shall implement the programme-on the basis of the scientific and technical content
              described in Annex I.
           2. The rules for implementing the programme, referred to in Article 3, comprise research and techno-
              logical development projects, the JET Joint Undertaking, accompanying measures and concerted
              actions.
              The direct research activities carried out by the JRC will be the subject of a separate Council Decision.
              The projects shall be the subject of shared-cost research and technological development contracts in the
              frame of: Contracts of Association with Member States, organizations in the Member States, Sweden
              and Switzerland; the JET Joint Undertaking; the NET Agreement (to be extended and/or modified in
              view of the possible Euratom participation in ITER); the Long-Term Development Agreement (to be
              established); and other contracts of limited duration.
              The accompanying measures consist of applying the means to ensure proper technical execution,
              management and evaluation of the programme, as well as adequate dissemination and accessibility of
              the results, and coordination, training and consciousness-raising of the participants in the programme.
              The concerted actions are those defined in the Financial Regulation.
           3. The participants in the projects must be natural or legal persons established in the Community, Sweden
              and Switzerland, such as universities, research organizations and industrial firms, including small and
              medium-sized enterprises, or associations thereof, in particular European economic interest groupings
              (EEIGs).
              Natural or legal persons established in countries, other than Sweden and Switzerland, which have
              concluded agreements with the Community foreseeing scientific and technical research, may, based on
              the criterion of mutual advantage, take part in the projects undertaken in the context of this
              programme. The Contracting Parties under such arrangements shall not benefit from Community
              funding. They shall contribute to the general administrative costs.
           4. The choice of projects shall be carried out according to the following order of priority, the first method
              being the rule, the second the exception.
              The projects shall be selected on the basis of the ordinary procedures defined in the Contracts of
              Association, the JET Statutes, the NET Agreement, the Long-Term Development Agreement (to be
              established), and any Community-wide agreements that may be concluded following the advice of the
              consultative committee referred to in Article 6. For projects that are awarded priority status by the
              consultative committee, all Associations shall have the right to take part in the experiments carried out
              on the equipment thus constructed.
 ---pagebreak---  16. 10. 90                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                    No C 261/15
                The Commission may also accept proposals according to an exceptional procedure and under the
                conditions mentioned below, when they make a particularly promising and significant contribution as
                regards the originality of the theme proposed, the novelty of the scientific and technical approach and
                the methodology of execution, also taking imp account the particular nature of the proposers.
                A favourable technical evaluation of such proposals shall not by itself be a sufficient justification for
                accepting a project; this exceptional procedure may only apply after verification that the nature of the
                project, as defined above, does not justify the use of one of the normal procedures.
                The amount of the financial participation of the Community for all the projects retained by the excep-
                tional procedures will be decided each year, in relation to the projects selected according to particularly
                strict criteria of excellence. In any case, this amount may not exceed 5 %; it may be revised each year in
                the light of experience.
                The Commission shall draw up a vade mecum setting out all the rules applicable to this exceptional
                procedure in order to guarantee full transparency.
             5. The Commission may encourage the participants to form a European economic interest grouping
                (EEIG) or make other arrangements for carrying out projects, such as those on a large scale, permitting
                decentralized management adapted to the specific requirements of the project.
             6. The knowledge acquired during the course of the projects shall be disseminated on the one hand within
                the specific programme and on the other hand by means of a centralized activity, pursuant to the
                Decision referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 4 in Decision 90/221/Euratom, EEC-
             Proposal for a Council Decision approving amendments to the Statutes of the Joint European
                                                    Torus (JET), Joint Undertaking
                                                           COM(90) 441 final
                                         (Submitted by the Commission on 3 October 1990)
                                                              (90/C 261/14)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                                 Whereas, both to achieve fully the aims of the JET
                                                                         project as defined in Decision 78/471/Euratom and to
                                                                         establish reliable methods of impurity control of a plasma
                                                                         before proceeding to the construction of a Next Step
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
                                                                         fusion device, it is necessary to introduce a new phase
Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 50
                                                                         into the JET programme, the objective of which would
thereof,                                                                 be to establish the effective control of impurities in
                                                                         operating conditions close to those of the Next Step;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas, for the purposes of implementing the JET
project, the Council, by Decision 78/471/Euratom ('),                    Whereas, by its Decision of 90/221/Euratom, EEC (*),
established the Joint European Torus (JET), Joint                        the Council adopted a third framework programme of
Undertaking, and adopted the Statutes thereof, as last                   Community activities in the field of research and techno-
amended by Decision 88/447/Euratom ( 2 );                                logical development (1990 to 1994), specifying, inter alia,
                                                                         the possible prolongation of the JET Joint Undertaking;
O OJ No L 151, 7. 6. 1978, p. 10.
O OJ No L 222, 12. 8. 1988, p. 4.                                        (J) OJ No L 117, 8. 5. 1990, p. 28.