NEA Mandates and Structures

NUCLEAR SCIENCE COMMITTEE (NSC)

Mandate (Document reference):

• Terms of Reference for the Committee and an Executive Group [NEA/SEN/NSC(91)1]
• Review of the NEA Committee Structure [NEA/NE(2000)11/REV1]
• Review of Mandates of the NEA Standing Technical Committees [NEA/NE(2005)2]
• Summary of Decisions Taken at the 117th Session of the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy [NEA/SUM/DEC(2008)2]
• Review of the NEA Standing Technical Committee Mandates [NEA/NE(2010)7]
• Summary of Decisions Taken at the 121st Session of the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy [NEA/SUM/DEC(2010)2]
• Review of the Mandates of NEA Bodies Reporting Directly to the Steering Committee [NEA/NE(2016)5]
• Summary of Decisions Taken at the 133rd Session of the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy [NEA/SUM/DEC(2016)2] 

Mandate (Document extract):

Extract from document NEA/NE(2016)5

Mandate:

The general objective of the NEA in the field of nuclear science is to help member countries identify, collate, develop and disseminate the basic scientific and technical knowledge required to ensure the safe, reliable and economic operation of current and next-generation nuclear systems.

Research capability and technical expertise in basic disciplines, such as reactor physics, nuclear data, thermal hydraulics, neutronics, fuel behaviour, fuel cycle physics and chemistry, radiation physics and material science, are needed to develop nuclear programmes, and to maintain and enhance a high level of performance and safety. Advancing this body of knowledge is central to addressing issues of importance for the current generation of nuclear facilities, but is just as essential to the design, construction and operation of new reactors and fuel cycles. Future nuclear technologies will greatly benefit from the systematic accumulation of knowledge in these areas.

Fostering the active preservation, evaluation and development of this knowledge in an international framework and enhancing the dissemination of the scientific results are vital to the effective performance of nuclear activities. In addition, the shared analysis of this information and data in an international framework contributes to the identification of promising new technical options as well as to the building of a robust skills capability across the nuclear science community.

To achieve this objective, the Committee will:

• help advance the existing scientific knowledge needed to enhance the performance and safety of current and future nuclear systems;
• contribute to building a solid scientific and technical basis for the extension of life of current nuclear systems and the development of future-generation and spin-off technologies;
• support the preservation, evaluation and dissemination of knowledge and promote innovation in the field of nuclear science.

The areas of activity will cover, but not be limited to:

• nuclear physics, nuclear data measurements and evaluations;
• mathematical models and computation science including the multi-physics and multi-scale modelling approaches;
• reactor physics, neutronics, thermal-hydraulics, material science, reactor chemistry and fuel behaviour;
• criticality safety issues;
• fuel cycle physics and chemistry;
• partitioning and transmutation;
• nuclear energy deployment and integration;
• fuel cycle scenarios;
• multi-scale material and fuel modelling and experiments;
• radiation shielding and dosimetry;
• accelerator applications in nuclear energy related areas;
• preservation and renewal of expertise in nuclear science

In the fulfilment of its mandate, the Committee will interact with other standing technical committees of the Agency in matters of common interest and with other bodies within the Organisation, as well as with other international organisations, as appropriate.