Several NEA member governments have recently launched national and international efforts to define goals and roadmaps for the development of innovative nuclear technologies. How to promote nuclear innovation is a key issue for these governments. For the governments that have decided to phase out nuclear power, nuclear innovation is still valuable in the field of decommissioning and waste disposal.
In the nuclear arena, although there have been many innovations, there has been little discussion of the ways and means for promoting such innovation. Hence there seems to be little knowledge in the nuclear field of nuclear innovation systems. Furthermore, recent innovation performances in the nuclear sector seem to be rather poor compared to such sectors as information and communication technology and biotechnology. Many proposals have been made, but none have been deployed on an industrial scale.
The objectives of the expert group, whose report was published in February 2007, were to:
The project focused on emerging technologies and some historical cases in nuclear energy systems. These included reactors and fuel cycles, nuclear safety and radioactive waste management, but did not cover radiation and radioisotope application areas.
The main outcomes of this project were a report including country reports. The project was carried out over a period of two years, starting in September 2004 and completed in 2006.
Last updated: 9 March 2007
