Word from the President

Dear member of the European Nuclear Society (ENS),

Summertime means vacation time;  the perfect occasion to reflect a bit on what has happened and to look forward to the second half of the year. Upcoming conferences, the work of the High Scientific Council (HSC), and that of the Young Generation Nuclear (YGN), currently provide the Board of ENS with the main thrust of its work.

2012 started successfully, with three out of the five conferences on this year’s ENS events calendar taking place. PIME, RRFM and TOPSAFE have established themselves as regular fixtures on that calendar and were all very well- attended. The feedback from participants on all three was positive. These conferences are part of the backbone of the work that the Society carries out for its members. Two further high-ranking ENS conferences, TOPFUEL and ENC2012, both of which will take place in Manchester (UK), will add further calcium to that backbone. The outlook is promising, but, nevertheless, I would especially like to focus your attention on the importance of both these events.

In September, TOPFUEL will bring together specialists from across the globe working in nuclear fuel development. We have received many outstanding papers, which will contribute to what is already a very interesting programme.

ENC2012 will provide the stage for a get-together of the whole European Nuclear Society community. In addition to the technical programme, which will feature papers submitted from all over the world, the conference will be accompanied by a large industry exhibition. Furthermore, for the first time, ENS will organise a careers event, which will run parallel to the conference. This event will bring together our YGN members (and those who might provide the next generation of YGN) and our Corporate Members - their potential future employers. The idea behind this initiative is to enable all our members to benefit from the Society’s considerable network of contacts and to concentrate on the important issue of recruiting new professionals to the European nuclear community. We look forward to receiving your invaluable feedback on this important conference and on the accompanying careers event.

The YGN itself is preparing for that large annual international conference, the International Youth Nuclear Congress (IYNC2012), which this year is taking place in Charlotte, the US, from 4 - 11 August. I would like to encourage you to send some of your young nuclear professionals to attend this outstanding conference.

The ENS, as an active community in its own right, has started to become more and more present on the modern phenomenon that is the Internet. A first step that was carried out was to establish a Linkedin group for the E&T (education and training) platform and since the beginning of June ENS has run its own Twitter account (“euronuclear”).  I would like to encourage you to access it and become an ENS Twitter follower, if you aren’t already.

In June, the election of the new Chairman of the High Scientific Council (HSC) of ENS was announced. I like to heartily congratulate Dr. Ingeborg Hagenlocher on her new position within ENS, and I am sure that you will all join me in wishing her - and the whole HSC - the very best of luck with the challenging work that lies ahead. 

On a more personal note, I would like to wish all of you a peaceful summer and hope to see you all, refreshed and re-energised, at the TOPFUEL and ENC2012 conferences.

Marco Streit
President of ENS