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Department of Nuclear Energy
Italy becomes the 30th INPRO Member
28 May 2009 – Italy has joined the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycle (INPRO), bringing the number of INPRO Members to 30.
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| INPRO members (in grey) as of May 2009 |
INPRO provides an open international forum for studying nuclear power options and associated requirements. It helps to build up competence for assessing, developing and deploying sustainable nuclear energy systems and assists Member States in coordinating related collaborative projects. INPRO’s objective is to help ensure that nuclear energy is available to contribute, in a sustainable manner, to meeting the energy needs of the 21st century.
Italy, which previously held observer status, is now represented through the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment (ENEA) and has nominated Dr. Antonio Lantieri as delegate to the Project´s guiding body, the INPRO Steering Committee.
"We are glad to welcome Italy as a member of the ‘INPRO family’ and appreciate ENEA´s proposal to participate in two collaborative projects" says Randy Beatty, Leader of the INPRO Group at the IAEA. "These collaborative projects investigate scenarios for nuclear energy development and technical challenges in reactor technologies".
One of the collaborative projects, termed GAINS, addresses the global architecture of innovative nuclear energy systems based on thermal and fast reactors including closed fuel cycles, while the second project is an investigation of technological challenges related to the removal of heat by liquid metal and molten salt coolants from reactor cores operating at high temperatures (COOL).
Background
INPRO was initiated in 2001 on the basis of a resolution by the IAEA General Conference. Membership in INPRO has grown over the years and today includes: Argentina, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, Morocco, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States of America and the European Commission (EC).
Ten other countries are participating on a working level or have observer status as they consider membership. In addition, INPRO is working in synergy with international initiatives including the Generation IV International Forum (GIF).