NUSIM 2008: Joint Conference of the Slovak, Czech and German Nuclear Societies

It’s hard to believe... but the 16^th NUSIM (NUclear Seminar and Information Meeting) is already history. Only the more mature members will remember the first editions of this well-established conference. In fact, the first NUSIM took part in 1992, in Plzen (the Czech Republic, although at that time it was still Czechoslovakia). It is an annual conference organized jointly by the Czech, Slovak and German Nuclear Societies.

After the first NUSIM in Plzen, the subsequent meetings have taken place in the following cities:

• 1993 - Isar (Germany),

• 1994 - Piestany (Slovakia),

• 1995 - Praha (Czech Republic),

• 1996 - Obrigheim (Germany),

• 1997 - Levice (Slovakia),

• 1998 - Trebic (Czech Republic),

• 1999 - Erlangen (Germany),

• 2000 - Casta (Slovakia),

• 2001 - Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic),

• 2002 - Dresden (Germany),

• 2003 - Bratislava (Slovakia),

• 2005 - Tabor (Czech Republic),

• 2006 - Levice (Slovakia) and

• 2007 - Liberec (Czech Republic).

At this year’s conference, that took place on 24 & 25 April, 118 members of the organizing nuclear societies, participants from the three organizing countries, guests from the European Commission, Austria, Hungary, France and Italy convened at the mountain holiday resort of Casta Papiernicke, which is used by the Slovakian Parliament.

A series of presentations were given during a number of sessions. The sessions covered a range of topics such as: the outlook for nuclear power in the EU and neighbouring and partner countries; maintenance, service and engineering strategies; new reactor units for Europe; the modernization of NPPs; safety upgrading; decommissioning, radioactive waste management and environmental impacts and presentations of young generation.

During the plenary session, guest speakers described current nuclear energy policy in Slovakia (Jozef Tomek), Germany (Reinhard Heck) and the Czech Republic (Ivo Kouklik). In addition there was a presentation about the prospects for nuclear power in Hungary (Tamas Pazmandi) and about the struggle to maintain nuclear knowledge in an antinuclear environment in Austria (Helmut Boeck). Marc Deffrennes from the European Commission’s DG Research gave an impressive overview of EU energy policy and of research and training initiatives in a broader context.

In total, 29 presentations were given by experts on current state-of-the-art provisions for nuclear education, research, industry, health care, power plant operation and waste management. Everyone was focused on achieving one common goal – promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy by using human skills and expertise to ensure protection against ionizing radiation and by operating nuclear power plants that offer economically efficient electricity production while at the same time protecting the environment.

Many thanks should go to all those who presented papers at NUSIM 2008. They contributed to the conference’s high level of professionalism. The presentations indicated that there is a reawakening of the European nuclear industry, with policy-makers trying to keep pace. The subject of decommissioning and radioactive waste management have always been and will remain very important and in the years to come. This is especially true for Slovakia, which faces the shutdown, in December 2008, of the second unit at its NPP V-1. This will inevitably play even more central role in the sustainable development of nuclear power.

Graduate and post-graduate students from the national Young Generation sections demonstrated that in spite of the global lack of young specialists in the nuclear science field, there is still a glimmer of hope that the next generation of experts is already taking shape at universities today.

After a full day of presentations and discussions participants had an opportunity to visit the construction site of Units 3 and 4 at Mochovce NPP and the Slovakian radioactive waste repository at Mochovce.

Feedback received from NUSIM participants was unanimously positive and this was not simply because of the lovely gala dinner after Day 1 of the conference! Many participants are doubtless already looking forward to NUSIM 2009, which will take place in the Czech Republic.

Vladimir Slugen (SNUS), Václav Hanus (CNS), Konstantin Jacoby (KTG)