ENS NEWS N° 43: Intro
The dawning of a new year is usually accompanied by an instinctive need to reflect on the past and make bold resolutions about the future. In this respect 2014 is no different from any other year. However, in one fundamental way it will be very different to previous years. 2014 will be remembered, among other things, as the ‘year of institutional change.’ The nomination of a new European Commission with a new President at the helm, the election of a new European Parliament and the appointment of a new President of the European Council make 2014 a potentially game-changing year for politicians, civil servants and EU citizens alike. While the dark Machiavellian arts might not be every ENS member’s cup of tea, nobody can remain totally disinterested in or indifferent to the fact that 2014 will be a watershed year for the EU’s institutions. You might find the campaign sound-bites and the endless posturing and politicking tedious, or somehow detached from the reality of your professional life, but surely living in a political vacuum cut off from the mainstream of political life is not an option. Isn’t voter apathy among EU citizens already high enough?
Whether the prospect of a new generation of technocrats, administrators and politicians being entrusted with driving forward the political agenda of the EU inspires you or leaves you cold, the upcoming changes in Brussels will doubtless have an impact on how you work in the future; whether you like it or not. But what are the outcomes in real terms likely to be for Europe’s nuclear science and research community? Although the provisions of Horizon 2020, theEU’s framework for research and Innovation, are written in stone, the final choice of which fission projects will be granted funding has yet to be decided. This choice may well be influenced by a new administration keen to show what it’s made of. You might be personally involved in one of these projects, and if you are the institutional changes on the way will be of fundamental relevance to you. What’s more, a new R&D Commissioner will want to establish his credentials and make his mark on the future direction and pace of EU research policy rather than simply maintain the status quo. By the way, the outgoing R&D Commissioner, Mrs Geoghegan-Quinn, has not forged a reputation as a big supporter of nuclear energy.
Another potential outcome might involve the EC’s Integrated Roadmap on Energy Technologies. This initiative, which comes under the aegis of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan), will outline what needs to be done to boost Europe’s ‘world-class technology and innovation’ up to and beyond 2020. Clearly, such a strategy could have a fundamental effect upon your working environment and priorities. Well, a new European Commission and a new European Parliament may want to review and revise that strategy in order to reflect their perception of the changing political landscape. Indeed, all aspects of EU policy will be scrutinised as the new institutions become operational.
Most political commentators are predicting that the parliamentary elections will see a consolidation of power among the main parties in the middle of the political spectrum, but one attenuated by the increased polarisation of more extreme views on the fringes. Whether this will benefit the electorate remains to be seen, but for scientists and researchers any shift in the balance of power at national or EU level, or a change of agenda or emphasis within the revamped ITRE (Industry Research and Energy) Committee of the European Parliament could influence the nature and progress of EU nuclear policy.
Mark O’Donovan
Editor-in-Chief, ENS NEWS
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Word from the President
For the past 40 year, I have been involved in nuclear sciences and their applications to a wide variety of uses in society. I started at Cornell University in the US as a PhD candidate in Plasma Physics (inertial confinement fusion), and completed my thesis in France, at Orsay University.
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FORATOM/ENS Education, Training and Knowledge Management Task Force publications
National initiatives to attract young people to study nuclear energy related subjects
According to the European Human Resources Observatory in Nuclear (EHRO-N) report published in 2012, which is entitled “Putting into perspective the supply of and demand for nuclear experts by 2020 within the EU-27 nuclear energy sector,” the nuclear industry will be faced with a lack of qualified employees.
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