International Symposium on Nuclear Energy – SIEN 2009 (Bucharest)

From October 12-16, Bucharest, the capital of Romania, hosted the latest edition of the International Symposium on Nuclear Energy, SIEN 2009 - an international conference for specialists from all sectors of the nuclear community.

The event was sponsored by: AECL Canada, Ansaldo Nucleare Italy, Elcomex Romania, General Concrete Romania, General Turbo Romania, KHNP Korea, Nuclearelectrica Romania, RWE Germany, SNC Lavalin, Siveco Romania, UTI and the Politechnica University of Bucharest. It is organised every two years by the Romanian Association “Nuclear Energy” and by the Romanian Atomic Forum, in cooperation with various sponsors, including Nuclearelectrica, AECL and ANSALDO. This year’s conference took place under the aegis of the European Nuclear Society.

Nuclear power represents almost 18% of Romania’s internal power consumption. Since the completion of the Cernavoda NPP’s Unit 2 in 2007, the Romanian nuclear industry has been experiencing a “post-renaissance phase.” The announced new project for the construction of Cernavoda units 3 and 4 and that of the second Romanian NPP has attracted foreign companies such as AMEC, SNC Lavalin, Iberdrola and RWE – all of whom have subsidiaries in Romania.

SIEN 2009 conference focused on issues of interest, such as nuclear new build and current developments, the fuel cycle, decommissioning, nuclear safety, operational aspects, inspection and maintenance and public perception and acceptance.

In addition to the symposium, WIN (Women in Nuclear) Romania and the Young Generation (YGN) chapter in Romania organized specialised workshops focusing on the role of education and knowledge transfer in the nuclear field and also on the possibilities for attracting more students and young professionals to nuclear power, particularly within the context of above mentioned new projects. During the workshops conference delegates elected a new management team for the Romanian YGN. Ionut Zaharov, a nuclear engineer, took over the presidency from Andrei Goicea, who was elected in June as Vice-president of ENS-YG. Corina Bararu was elected the new Vice President.
Two other workshops were organized in connection with the symposium, one dedicated to implementing the Aarhus Convention in Romania’s nuclear sector, and another related to compliance with IAEA management requirements as part of European integration.

SIEN 2009 was attended by around 200 participants. There was a significant contribution from Romanian companies as the Research Institute at Pitesti, the Politechnica University of Bucharest and the Radioactive Waste Management Agency. But foreign companies were also well represented, including the CEA  and AREVA from France, RWE from Germany, AECL from Canada, Ansaldo from Italy and KHNP from Korea.

The programme on the last day of the conference gave delegates an opportunity to visit two important nuclear facilities in Romania: the Cernavoda NPP and the Nuclear Fuel Plant in Pitesti.

SIEN 2009 was a great success. It provided an opportunity for top-level scientists to exchange experiences and information and to network with their fellow professionals.