European Nuclear Society
e-news Issue 33 Summer 2011
http://www.euronuclear.org/e-news/e-news-33/romania.htm

NUCLEAR 2011

The 4th Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development through Nuclear Research and Education (Pitesti, Romania)

From 25 - 27 May, the Institute for Nuclear Research (INR) in Pitesti, hosted the 4th edition of NUCLEAR 2011, an international conference that brings together nuclear researchers, academics experts, nuclear industry specialists and policy-makers. This latest edition of the conference has coincided with the 40th anniversary of INR - a national support organisation, heavily involved in the sustainable development of nuclear energy in Romania.

NUCLEAR 2011

The conference was organised under the auspices of the Romanian Academy and benefited from the non-financial co-sponsorship of the Canadian Nuclear Society.

Organised over three days, NUCLEAR 2011 featured plenary sessions, parallel oral sessions, poster sessions and a round table dedicated to the subject of refractory alloys for Generation IV reactors.

During plenary sessions, guest speakers from the European Commission, CEA (France), PURAM (Hungary), SCK•CEN Belgium, ENEA (Italy), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, AECL Canada, the University of Pitesti, EnergoNuclear Romania and INR Pitesti provided insight in the following areas: INR’s important achievements and expectations, Euratom’s fission and fusion programmes, energy policies in Europe and its Member States, European Technological Platforms and their role in framing nuclear research, the nuclear industry’s expectations and demands with regards to research, minor actinide transmutation, materials for advanced nuclear systems, the development of research infrastructures for Generation IV reactors, the impact of Fukushima on severe accident management; progress with the Cernavoda Units 3 and 4 project and nuclear knowledge aspects in research and education.

Participants from ENEA Italy, Al-Jouf University Saudi Arabia, the University of Manchester in the UK, Nuclear Technology Consultancy UK, INCT Poland, CEA France, SERW Bulgaria, KIT Germany, the University of Jijel Algeria, Cernavoda NPP, Canberra Packard, National R&D Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering Horia Hulubei (IFIN-HH) Bucharest, the University of Pitesti, the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) in Romania, Nuclear Montaj Romania, the National R&D Institute of Cryogenics and Isotopes Technologies (ICSI), Valcea, CITON Romania, the Polytechnic University of Timisoara, Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj and the INR Pitesti each presented original scientific contributions in oral and poster sessions. They principally focused on the three main topics: nuclear energy, environmental protection and sustainable development.

The best three papers presented by young researchers, aged less than 35 years old, received awards. The Scientific Committee’s awards selection was based on papers’ originality, creativity, degree of novelty and the quality of their presentation. The most original and valuable papers presented to NUCLEAR 2011 will be proposed for publication in the Journal of Nuclear Research and Development, a new scientific publication edited by INR Pitesti and dedicated to current developments in nuclear energy.

NUCLEAR 2011 was a great success. One of the main conclusions was that in spite of the recent Fukushima accident - with all its on-going implications - nuclear power still remains the main provider of constant base-load of electricity and a valuable component in the energy mix for many countries.