SNE news

The Spanish Nuclear Society is undergoing a process of corporate image change that has been reflected initially by a change of logo (see above). It is also redesigning the Annual Meeting website, which is being tested. Its own website is similarly being tested and will be available soon.

The SNE has organised, as it does every year, the winter conference entitled: Nuclear Power Plants in 2009: Experiences and Prospects, in which executives of power companies, electricity producers, suppliers and representatives of Spanish plants analyse relevant aspects of the operation of nuclear plants over the past year (2009). While the economy is determined by the manner in which resources and energies are managed, energy, on the other hand, can develop projects and the results of that work can change the world. This year's special session will be devoted to analysis of the relationship between economics and energy, with a special focus on current economic conditions and energy.

The SNE Ordinary General Assembly took place at the end of this session and two new members were nominated to the governing board. They are Luis Enrique Herranz, from Ciemat, and Miguel Angel Cortes from Nuclenor (Santa María de Garoña).

The SNE and the ICAI University, thanks to the Rafael Mariño Chair, has organised a nuclear symposium intended principally for professionals, academics and senior students studying engineering or science who are interested in having an updated view of the nuclear power sector.

The key aspects of this technology will be reviewed in a roundtable format, with the aim of showing the nuclear sector’s current state, developments, trends and prospects. The goal is to provide objective and rigorous information about the sector.  This is an annual event. This year it was devoted to 2010: Nuclear fuel cycle: from the mine to the future. It involved the participation of Lourdes Guzman (ENUSA), with a presentation entitled: The first part of the cycle: from mining to reactor; of Juan Enrique Martínez Abad (ENRESA) with his paper on: The second part of the cycle: the spent fuel as waste and Enrique Gonzalez (CIEMAT), who spoke about: Other sequels: spent fuel as a resource.

The 36th Annual Meeting of the Spanish Nuclear Society (SNE) will be held in Santiago de Compostela from 6 - 8 October 2010.

The technical committee has started a call for contributins for papers that will finished on 30 April. The abstracts and papers will be sent to ponencias@sne.es, indicating the subject the topic selected. The final paper must be submitted before 30 June. Special mentions will be given to selected papers receiving a diploma during the closing session. Thematic areas, rules for presentation and other information may be obtained from the meeting web site at www.reunionanualsne.es

The meeting programme includes plenary and technical sessions. The Plenary sessions include Opening, Closing and Special sessions, in which important current issues will be discussed. This year special sessions will focus on Energy and the electric vehicle and The Spanish Centralized Temporary Storage Facility.

The technical sessions will take place over the three days of the Annual Meeting and will be grouped by topic. During these sessions nuclear professionals from Spain and other countries will outline their latest developments. The technical topics in the 36th Annual Meeting are the following: fuel, communications, dismantling, fusion, R+D, engineering, maintenance, nuclear medicine, new reactors, NPP operation, management and human factors, other applications of nuclear technology, radiological and environmental protection, nuclear waste and nuclear safety.

The Monograph Sessions are devoted to specific topics and bring together specialists from all over the world. The programmed topics are:

• The Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP)

• CERN: Scientific and technological development

• Advertising Nuclear Energy: Why not in Spain?

• Latin American Nuclear Programmes.

The technical programme finishes with courses offered as part of a package entitled Learn more about that.  Each course focuses in a very practical way on a topic of singular interest. This year the courses are:

• The liberalization of the gas and electricity market in Spain 

• Chernobyl: Nuclear Youth’s (JJNN) experience following its visit to the reactor

• The management of design modifications in a nuclear power plant

The Galicia Conference and Exhibition Center in Santiago de Compostela will be the venue for the Annual Meeting. The center will also host the trade show, where the latest, most innovative projects, products and services related to the applications of nuclear power will be on display. It will be a unique opportunity for sector professionals to present their companies.

Stand reservation is open to Spanish and foreign companies and can be done via email to: stands@sne.es

This periodic encounter of the industry, companies and high representatives of the national and international nuclear and electric energy sector also provides an interesting opportunity to learn about and enjoy the culture, landscape or gastronomy of the different Spanish regions. Therefore, it was considered that Compostela Holy Year (Holy Jacobean Year or Xacobeo 2010) would be a great incentive for the numerous attendees -around 500 delegates and 150 companions – that are expected to be there.  It also provides an excellent chance to get to know the Community of Galicia at this special and unique time, given that next Holy Jacobean Year will not be until the year 2021.