Swiss Nuclear Society (SNS)

Scientific and Technical Receptions are a great success (Wissenschafts-Apéro).

Since July 2005, the Swiss Nuclear Society (SNS) has organized, every two months, special “Scientific and Technical Receptions” devoted to themes related to nuclear energy.

These SNS Receptions are held in the late afternoon and are conceived as thematic seminars, preceded and followed by a reception. The participants have the chance to socialise with the seminar guest speaker and ask him/her questions in an informal and stimulating atmosphere.

The SNS Receptions attract participants from both inside and outside the nuclear field. The professional background of the participants ranges from industry representatives, regulatory bodies and research institutes to academic centers and politicians.

The SNS Receptions are public and participants do not have to pay an attendance fee. The topics chosen are done so in such a way as to provide alternatively scientifically or technically-oriented information.

Recent scientifically-oriented receptions have focused, for example, on subjects like “Research on Materials for High Temperature Gas Reactor Application” (Speaker: Dr. Wolfgang Hoffelner from the Paul Scherrer Institut) and “Fusion and Iter” (Speaker: Prof. Ambrogio Fasoli from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). The next one will be held on May 8, 2007 in Baden and the topic under discussion will be “The Use of Best Estimate System Codes in Nuclear Safety Applications for Nuclear Power Plants” (Speaker: Prof. Rafael Macian-Juan from the Technical University of Munich).

Regarding the technically-oriented receptions, a series of discussions is currently in progress devoted to Generation III nuclear reactors. In this context, subjects like the “European Pressurized Reactor (EPR)” (Speaker: Mr. Wolfgang Storr from Areva NP GmbH) and the “Westinghouse AP1000 Reactor” (Speaker: Mr. Bernd Doehnert from Westinghouse) have already been covered. These will be followed in the near future by a discussion on the SWR1000 (Areva) and on other Generation III type reactors.

A list of the Scientific and Technical Receptions held so far, including the slides of the presentations, is available online at
www.sns-online.ch/

The Swiss Nuclear Society has had excellent exresults with these Scientific and Technical Receptions and suggests that other member societies of the European Nuclear Society also consider the possibility of using a similar method of providing interesting information related to nuclear energy.