NEA Monthly News Bulletin - January 2011

Reversibility of decisions and retrievability of waste:
valuable tools in repository development

On 14-17 December 2010, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) organised the International Conference and Dialogue on Reversibility and Retrievability in Planning Geological Repositories. Over 180 policy-makers, political leaders, international organisations, local stakeholders and experts from 16 NEA member countries explored the commonalities and differences between national waste management programmes as well as the various stakeholder expectations. Chaired by French MP Claude Birraux, this conference was the culmination of the Reversibility and Retrievability (R&R) project established in 2007 by the NEA Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC). 

The conference was hosted in Reims, France by the Agence nationale pour la gestion des déchets radioactifs (ANDRA), who has played an important role in  the development of the NEA International Retrievability Scale. This scale is recognized as an effective tool for promoting dialogue amongst interested parties. Co-organizers of the conference were the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the European Commission Directorate-General for Energy (EC DG-ENER) and the International Association for Environmentally Safe Disposal of Radioactive Materials (EDRAM). Conference proceedings will be issued. This international conference was the first in a decade on this subject and the first ever to propose dialogue among such a wide range of stakeholders. Visit the NEA website for more information.


New publications

Shielding Aspects of Accelerators, Targets and Irradiation Facilities - SATIF 10
Workshop Proceedings, Geneva, Switzerland, 2-4 June 2010

ISBN: 978-92-64-03467-9, 444 pages.

The Security of Energy Supply and the Contribution of Nuclear Energy
ISBN: 978-92-64-09634-9, 168 pages.


Nuclear safety and regulation

Year-end meetings for the CNRA and the CSNI

The NEA Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) and the NEA Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) met on 6-7 December and 8-9 December 2010 respectively. The committees reviewed progress on activities from 2010 and forthcoming activities for 2011-2012. Participants from over 22 countries, the European Commission (EC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) attended the meetings. Representatives from the Russian Federation and Slovenia took part as observers and delegates from India attended as ad hoc experts. Poland participated in these meetings for the first time as an NEA member country. Major agenda items for both committees included updating operating plans, long-term operation, NEA interactions with emergent nuclear power countries and discussions on the safety of research reactors. The NEA Forum on long-term operation will be held on 8 June 2011 and will include participants from regulatory authorities, technical support organisations, industry and other stakeholders. Find out more about nuclear safety and regulation on the NEA website.


Data Bank

NEA Nuclear Data Week

The NEA hosted a Nuclear Data Week from 29 November to 3 December 2010. Some 80 participants from 18 countries and international organisations discussed and co-ordinated activities in the fields of measurement, evaluation and validation of nuclear data for nuclear energy applications. During the week, an international Workshop on Nuclear Data Evaluation was co-organised with the French research group Gestion des déchets et production d'énergie par des options nouvelles (GEDEPEON) under the auspices of the NEA Joint Evaluated Fission and Fusion (JEFF) project. The workshop promoted co-operation between experimental data producers and users such as evaluators and reactor physicists. In the second half of the week, JEFF project participants held their bi-annual meeting to review progress of recent data evaluation work and to discuss feedback from users of the JEFF library. Click here for more information on NEA Nuclear Data Services.

NEA Data Bank newsletter

Computer program services

New computer programs available

17-DEC-10

NEA-1833

FLUKA2008.3d, Monte Carlo general purpose tool for calculations of particle transport and interactions with matter (Arrived)

15-DEC-10

USCD1238

ALICE2010, Particle Spectra from HMS precompound Nucleus Decay (Tested)

25-NOV-10

USCD1239

VENTEASY, Criticality search for a desired Keffective by adjusting dimensions, nuclide concentrations, or buckling (Arrived)


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