- Our Programme
- Operating Reactors Support
- Expanding Nuclear Power
Plant Life Management (PLiM)
for Safe Long Term Operation (LTO)
Other Activities
Cooperation with EC-Joint Research Center
The agreement between IAEA and the European Atomic Energy community (Euratom) of 23/12/1975 provided the formal basis for any collaboration between the two organizations. In addition, the recent (7 May 2008) joint statement of the IAEA and the EC reinforces that agreement by highlighting cooperation in several specific areas including:
- Nuclear safety, including safety standards, installation safety, regulatory issues, safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, safe transport of radioactive material and safe decommissioning
- Enhancement of national infrastructures, as needed, in countries wishing to launch new nuclear power programmes; and
- Technology and scientific research, including Generation IV (GIF); INPRO; ITER.
The mission of the JRC-IE is to provide support to the EC policies related to both nuclear and non nuclear energy in order to ensure sustainable, secure and efficient energy production and use. The JRC-IE collaborates closely with the partner institutions within the JRC structure as well as with centres of excellence in energy in the Member States via the EC frame programme (FP) and other international governmental organizations. The main scientific & technical areas of the JRC-IE fall in the following categories:
- Expert network on NPP operational feedback
- Nuclear safety of current and future reactors
- Energy system evaluation
- Structural materials performance and integrity
- Knowledge management
The JRC-IE has participated in several IAEA coordinated research programmes (CRPs), contributed to the development of safety documents and technical guidelines, collaborated with IAEA in plant life management as well as I IAEA safety assessment of European installations, supported IAEA conferences and participates in INPRO.
The high level management meeting set out with brief introductions of JRC-IE and IAEA activities potentially amenable for cooperation.
The JRC-IE presentations included:
- An overview of the JRC-IE’s programme and activities
- Energy system evaluation and strategic energy technologies
- Nuclear component ageing / nuclear knowledge management
- European clearinghouse for NPP operational feedback
- JRC-IE activities in the field of plant life management
The IAEA presentations reported on
- Energy Assessments and Energy System Planning
- Nuclear Power Engineering for Existing and New reactors
- Nuclear Energy for the 21st Century – Need for Nuclear Knowledge
After the presentations, three areas of cooperation as well as twenty one specific time-bound tasks were identified including the respective contact points for each task in both organizations:
- Safety and operational aspects of existing nuclear facilities, including operational experience feedback
- Development of new nuclear energy technologies for power and non-power applications;
- Energy technology assessment in an energy systems context with special focus on energy security and investment requirements.