news – ORIENT-NM Project

ORIENT-NM successfully concludes, paving the way for co-funded European partnership

As Europe powers towards a greener future, an EU-wide initiative on nuclear materials research and innovation could unlock safer, more efficient, and sustainable nuclear energy, solidifying its place in the green transition.

Brussels, 12 April 2023 – The ORIENT-NM (Organization of the European Research Community on Nuclear Materials) project, a Euratom-funded Coordination and Support Action (CSA) that laid the foundations for developing a co-funded European partnership (CEP) on nuclear materials, has concluded its work. The project was instrumental in raising interest among stakeholders and demonstrating the value of a coordinated and ambitious research and innovation EU-wide partnership to accelerate the design, manufacturing, and qualification of innovative nuclear materials.

In the context of the clean energy transition and Europe’s climate neutrality objectives, nuclear energy has a critical role to play as the world’s second-largest source of low-carbon energy. Nuclear materials represent a key element for nuclear energy’s safety, efficiency, economy, and sustainability. Hence, ORIENT-NM achieved consensus for establishing an ambitious and coordinated research and innovation EU-wide partnership that catalyses EU Member States’ national resources towards commonly defined objectives is remarkable.

Over the course of 30 months, ORIENT-NM worked closely with key actors from the nuclear energy R&D field and policymakers from the European Commission and Member States. To accomplish the task, member states representatives were engaged in a two-way dialogue to collect information on national programmes, define contents and priorities, analyse their interest in a future CEP in nuclear materials, and provide information such as socio-economic benefits and financial aspects, among others. Additionally, the project’s analysis of the national energy and climate plans (NECPS) suggested that nuclear power will be expanded in Europe from now to 2040 via long-term operation, power upgrades, new low-water reactor buildings and next generation systems (i.e., small modular reactors and fourth generation -Gen-IV- systems).

ORIENT-NM’s main milestones included the development of a Vision Paper and a Strategic Research Agenda for structural and fuel materials for all nuclear fission reactor generations until 2040. Additionally, the partnership envisaged by ORIENT-NM put forward five research lines transversal to the different classes of nuclear materials, significantly impacting the safety and efficiency of current and future nuclear power plants.

The scientists who spearheaded ORIENT-NM are now preparing a CEP proposal in response to the nuclear materials call finally included in the Euratom programme 2023-2025. If approved, the fifteen years horizon of the partnership activities will be aimed at creating sufficiently strong foundations to enable the application of the approaches defined during ORIENT-NM for the benefit of the nuclear energy field.

“We believe that a European coalition of workforce, skills and funds in the nuclear materials field could represent the strong point of the path toward final sustainable energy solutions. In this way, the future co-funded European partnership in nuclear materials, as envisaged by the ORIENT-NM project, will represent an added value for the European objectives on carbon neutrality and energy independence. We look forward to continuing our efforts and the close work with key stakeholders across Europe to achieve our shared goals of safety, efficiency, and sustainability in the nuclear energy sector.” – Lorenzo Malerba, coordinator of the ORIENT-NM project.

LINK

ORIENT-NM Project – Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
Duration: October 2020 – March 2023
Grant agreement No. 899997

Privacy – Accessibility

Related links
EERA
JPNM
IL TROVATORE

GEMMA
INSPYRE
M4F

NUGENIA
SNETP

ORIENT-NM vision paper proposes a shift in nuclear materials science approach

The Euratom-funded project is exploring the opportunity of setting up a European partnership on nuclear materials. Among its deliverables was to develop the vision of the European research community on nuclear materials, as represented in ORIENT-NM.

An analysis carried out by ORIENT-NM of the national energy and climate plans (NECP) revealed that, by 2040, a significant number of EU member states intend to maintain or even expand their nuclear installed power through Long-term Operation (LTO) of current generation reactors, power uprates and new builds. In addition, game-changers such as small modular reactors and advanced designs of interest throughout the continent may lead nuclear energy to be even more widespread in 2040 than currently foreseeable. Recent dramatic geopolitical events might also have an impact on this.

In this regard, several studies agree on the fact that nuclear energy remains the single largest low greenhouse gases (GHG) emitting energy source for electricity production on the continent and will maintain this role in the foreseeable future, being as such in line with the goals of the European Green Deal. Moreover, nuclear energy has predictable and relatively low prices and guarantees secure energy supply.

Materials research plays a crucial role to enhance safety, efficiency and economy of nuclear energy, sustainability of current reactors and to enable the commissioning and deployment of next generation reactors, as well as fusion. The nuclear materials science community in Europe is therefore called to provide the tools, knowledge and skills to enable each European country to maintain the wished and needed nuclear capacity and/or, depending on national policies and interests, to develop advanced nuclear systems

Addressing these challenges, requires the application of modern materials science approaches to accelerate materials development and qualification pace. This implies shifting from an “observe and qualify” approach towards a more advanced “design and control” one, combining applied research with more fundamental approaches. Advanced digital techniques and suitable models are the enablers of this shift.

This paradigm shift in nuclear materials science is at reach for Europe provided that an integrated nuclear materials research programme, i.e., a partnership, is set up to make coordinated use of assets that are spread across Member States and Associated Countries, including available schemes and roadmaps for access to and use of infrastructures. Moreover, this ambitious effort can only be achieved by promoting close, structured and continued collaboration between academia, research organizations and industrial partners all over Europe.

Such research programme, consistently with the activities foreseen in the SET-plan implementation plan on nuclear safety, will pivot around five research lines that are transversal through all classes of nuclear materials and is expected to leverage substantial national and industrial support. Because of its transversal nature, it will maintain and build competences and will equally serve all the various nuclear energy national strategies, supporting nuclear industry competitiveness and robust supply chain, with benefits for fusion and non-nuclear energy, as well.

ORIENT-NM Project – Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
Duration: October 2020 – March 2023
Grant agreement No. 899997

Privacy – Accessibility

Related links
EERA
JPNM
IL TROVATORE

GEMMA
INSPYRE
M4F

NUGENIA
SNETP

Member states to support a co-funded European partnership in nuclear materials

The second ORIENT-NM Workshop presented the work performed by the project in the last months and managed to secure the explicit support of six member states’ representatives.

On 31 May, the second ORIENT-NM Workshop to explore consensus on a co-funded European partnership (CEP) on nuclear materials took place. The event, a new step in the open dialogue of the nuclear materials research community with all relevant stakeholders, was organised as part of FISA 2022 & EURADWASTE ’22, under the scope of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The event gathered official representatives from the European Commission and a number of Member States (MS), among which Croatia, France, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden. Moreover, other stakeholders were present such as research organisations, nuclear associations and industries.

The objective of this second workshop was to present the work performed in ORIENT-NM to establish a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), governance and implementation plan for the partnership. At the same time, to introduce a plan for interaction with external stakeholders. As part of the session, feedback from key stakeholders was encouraged, given the nature of the project.

As a result of the effort carried out by the ORIENT-NM partners throughout almost two years of work, six member states representatives, namely Croatia, France, Italy, Romania, Spain and Sweden, explicitly supported the launch of a partnership on nuclear materials.

The final report with main takeaways, member states’ statements and next steps is available at this link:

http://www.eera-jpnm.eu/orient-nm/filesharer/documents/Deliverables_and_Milestones/Public%20deliverables

About ORIENT-NM

ORIENT-NM seeks to explore the possibility and critically assess the added value of establishing a Co-Funded European Partnership (CEP) to support the development of a coordinated European research and innovation programme on nuclear materials, positively impacting Europe’s competitiveness in the nuclear field at a world scale. For more information, please visit: www.eera-jpnm.eu/orient-nm

Importance of the project

The transition towards a climate-neutral society relies on a secure and sustainable energy supply. In this framework, nuclear energy has a key role to play, being the second largest source of low-carbon electricity in the world and in Europe, guaranteeing stable and continuous supply at a comparably low cost. Many are the benefits of nuclear energy, from the availability of plentiful resources and their ease of stockpiling to its economic security, reliability, and predictability.

Nuclear materials, the main focus of ORIENT-NM’s project, represent a key element for nuclear energy’s safety, efficiency, economy, and sustainability. With the ongoing energy crisis and the short-term goals of REPowerEU, the increased greenhouse-gas emissions reduction target set at 55% for 2030, and the long-term goal of the EU to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, governments across Europe are looking for ways to increase supply diversity and reliability without compromising the emissions reduction target. Thus, funding research on nuclear materials and encouraging cooperation between countries on this topic is of pivotal importance not only towards fully sustainable nuclear energy but also for other energy technologies, thereby opening the way to cross-sectorial collaboration.

LINK

ORIENT-NM Project – Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
Duration: October 2020 – March 2023
Grant agreement No. 899997

Privacy – Accessibility

Related links
EERA
JPNM
IL TROVATORE

GEMMA
INSPYRE
M4F

NUGENIA
SNETP

Key meeting provides valuable feedback to progress on a European SRA for nuclear materials

The ORIENT-NM Workshop was the first milestone in the open dialogue expected between the nuclear materials research community and all relevant stakeholders as they explored the feasibility of a co-funded European partnership.

On 22 and 23 November, the first ORIENT-NM Workshop to explore consensus on a co-funded European partnership (CEP) on nuclear materials was held. In an online format, hosted by the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) in Brussels, it gathered more than 80 participants.

The event reunited official representatives from the European Commission and twelve member states, namely Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal and Romania. Moreover, high-level stakeholders from agencies, research centres and universities also participated, coming from Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine. In total, 20 countries were represented. The attendance list was completed by a few industrialists (EDF, Ansaldo Nucleare, Westinghouse) and one organisation that provides technical support to the regulator (Bel-V), i.e., a TSO.

The introductory speeches were given by the head of the Euratom unit of the European Commission – DG Research & Innovation, Elena Righi Steele; the chair of the ESNII1 pillar of the SNETP2, Roberto Adinolfi (Ansaldo Nucleare); and the Secretary General of EERA, Adel El Gammal. All three supported the idea of a European partnership on nuclear materials and provided helpful advice on setting it up.

Elena Righi Steele insisted on the importance of proposing unifying goals that should find all member states in agreement, both those keen on joining the partnership and those with less strategic interest in it. Roberto Adinolfi clearly described the path to be followed concerning materials to serve current and future nuclear energy needs. Finally, Adel El Gammal stressed the need to take a pragmatic and holistic approach to face the challenge of counteracting climate change, highlighting nuclear energy’s role in this endeavour.

The event continued with a two-day discussion guided by the work packages’ leaders. Interactive tools were used throughout the workshop to collect input from the participants. The summary of the outcome can be found at this link: http://www.eera-jpnm.eu/orient-nm/filesharer/documents/Deliverables_and_Milestones/Public%20deliverables/ORIENT-NM-D5.5_Public_summary_of_the_1st_workshop-v3.pdf .

As a conclusion of this first broad feedback exercise with the project’s stakeholders, the ORIENT-NM community evaluates that the input gathered will be critical in defining the single vision that will guide the elaboration of a consistent European SRA on nuclear materials. The Vision Paper will be released to the stakeholders for comments between January and February 2022, while the first draft of the Strategic Research Agenda will be produced ahead of the 2nd ORIENT-NM workshop, which is planned for May 2022.

About ORIENT-NM

Importance of the Project

LINK

ORIENT-NM Project – Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
Duration: October 2020 – March 2023
Grant agreement No. 899997

Privacy – Accessibility

Related links
EERA
JPNM
IL TROVATORE

GEMMA
INSPYRE
M4F

NUGENIA
SNETP

Informative meeting with Member States and Associated Countries representatives initiates the feedback stage of ORIENT-NM

The meeting was an important step for the project, whose work methodology is based on dialogue and inclusiveness of all relevant stakeholders. 14 Member States and Associated Countries (MS/AC) came together to learn more about ORIENT-NM and provide initial feedback.

On 13 September, the ORIENT-NM project hosted an online discussion with representatives of EU Member States (MS) and Associated Countries (ACs). This first meeting is a part of the dialogue that the consortium seeks to establish in order to gather inputs, feedback, advice, and suggestions to guide the project’s strategy. ORIENT-NM is working to produce a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) for materials for all nuclear fission reactor generations until 2040 to support the deployment of a Co-Funded European Partnership (CEP) on nuclear materials. As such, this SRA needs to be consistent with national programmes and identify common goals that benefit all MS/AC that decide to participate in the CEP.

With the involvement of more than 30 representatives from 14 different MS/AC, the event was opened by Lorenzo Malerba (CIEMAT), coordinator of the ORIENT-NM project, who briefly introduced the framework, objectives, way of work, and structure of the project. Most importantly, Dr Malerba shared the vision of the nuclear materials science community in Europe. As such, ORIENT-NM aims to:

– Promote innovation, maintain skills and knowledge, and attract young researchers, providing perspectives in the nuclear materials science field.

– Foster the adoption of modern materials science approaches and trends for the benefit of MS/AC, industries, and ultimately society, with the goal of timely decarbonisation of the European economy.

– Valorise existing and future nuclear materials related MS/AC facilities, infrastructures, skills, and assets, by putting them under a coordinated European framework.

In this respect, Lorenzo Malerba highlighted that even though all these objectives cannot be reached through one partnership, “one is needed to make the best of existing nuclear materials science assets in Europe”. “We request your input to blend all visions into a single vision”, Dr Malerba encouraged the attendees.

From the side of the European Commission, Mykola Džubinský, ORIENT-NM’s Project Officer at DG Research & Innovation, asserted that “the attempt to set up an EJP or partnership on nuclear materials is not new (…). The Commission considers that the nuclear materials community is ready to be consolidated in the form of a EJP or CEP. For this to become true, it is important to have a group of MS/AC in favour”, Džubinský concluded.

Under this light, the meeting was successfully held as a few Member States and Associated Countries already expressed a favourable position towards the project’s goals, while none voiced clear objections. Moreover, several participants underlined the need to promote synergies with other EU programmes, the fusion community, and other low-carbon energy technologies, also critical aspects of ORIENT-NM.

This meeting intended to be the first occasion for ORIENT-NM to interact with MS/AC representatives and start a constructive dialogue. To follow, two workshops involving a wider audience are foreseen in November 2021 and by mid-2022.

ORIENT-NM Project – Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
Duration: October 2020 – March 2023
Grant agreement No. 899997

Privacy – Accessibility

Related links
EERA
JPNM
IL TROVATORE

GEMMA
INSPYRE
M4F

NUGENIA
SNETP

ORIENT NM: Vision for the future of Nuclear Materials

The EU-funded ORIENT NM project will explore the possibility and assess the added value of establishing a Co-Funded European Partnership (CEP) on nuclear materials.

Brussels – The ORIENT NM project (Organization of the European Research Community on Nuclear Materials) has been launched with the objective of exploring the possibility of establishing a Co-Funded European Partnership (CEP) on nuclear materials. Coordinated by the Spanish research centre CIEMAT, the project consortium includes partners from Belgium (EERA; SNETP; SCK CEN), Czech Republic (CVR), Finland (VTT), France (CEA; EDF), Germany (KIT), Italy (ENEA), Netherlands (NRG), Poland (NCBJ), Romania (RATEN) and Sweden (KTH), encompassing academia, research organisations, and industry. Pivotal to the project is the presence in the consortium of two major Associations active in the low-carbon energy and nuclear energy fields, namely EERA (www.eera-set.eu) and SNETP (www.snetp.eu).

The transition towards a climate-neutral society relies on a secure and sustainable energy supply. In this framework, nuclear energy has a key role to play, being the second largest source of low-carbon electricity in the world and in Europe, guaranteeing stable and continuous supply at comparably low cost. Many are the benefits of nuclear energy, from the existence of plentiful resources and their ease of stockpiling to its economic security, reliability, and predictability.

Nuclear materials represent a key element for the safety, efficiency, economy, and sustainability of nuclear energy. With the increased greenhouse-gas emissions reduction target set at 55% for 2030 and the long-term goal of the EU to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, governments across Europe are looking for ways to increase supply diversity and reliability without compromising the emissions reduction target. Thus, funding research on nuclear materials and encouraging cooperation between countries on this topic is of pivotal importance not only towards fully sustainable nuclear energy, but also for other energy technologies, thereby opening the way to cross-sectorial collaboration.

ORIENT NM will therefore explore the possibility of establishing a Co-Funded European Partnership (CEP) on nuclear materials, pursuing the following objectives:

a) Produce a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) until 2040 for materials of all nuclear reactor generations, from current to future ones

ORIENT NM will elaborate a vision paper merging bottom-up and top-down consensus at the European level. This will be possible through the involvement of two major Associations that are active in the low-carbon energy and nuclear energy fields, namely EERA and SNETP. Guided by this vision, and with the support of a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) composed by experts from within and without the project consortium, the SRA will be written to address a wide spectrum of needs, accounting for Member States national goals and industrial perspectives, while explicitly considering aspects such as materials supply chain, standardization and research infrastructures. The SRA will provide a roadmap spanning until 2040, although more detailed for the first 5 years.

b) Elaborate an efficient governance, legal structure, and implementation scheme for the European Partnership

ORIENT NM will develop an effective governance and legal structure for the CEP on nuclear materials, which will be observant of decision-making processes, intellectual property issues and promotion of innovation. The project will also define an implementation scheme for such partnership. In doing so, a special attention will be put on quality assurance, SRA updating and knowledge and data management.

c) Establish interaction with all nuclear materials stakeholders

ORIENT NM will identify suitable ways of interacting with other bodies and initiatives with interest in the nuclear energy field, in order to establish cooperation, collaboration and, in particular, to address the issue of a coordinated use of nuclear materials research infrastructures. These stakeholders include international organizations, standardization bodies, technical safety organizations, fusion and non-nuclear energy communities and other associations active in the energy and nuclear energy field.

All this will be done in close dialogue with Member States and the European Commission, as well as all other stakeholders, in order to meet their requirements and expectations from a CEP on nuclear materials and raise the interest of identified research owners and research managers, by demonstrating the added value of such CEP.

Contact

Lorenzo Malerba

Department of Technology. Division of Energy Materials

Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas – CIEMAT

E-mail: lorenzo.malerba@ciemat.es

About ORIENT NM

ORIENT NM (Organization of the European Research Community on Nuclear Materials) project is a Coordination and Support Action funded by the Euratom research and training programme with EUR 1 099 588.75 from 10/2020 to 03/2023. It is run by The Center for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT), The European Energy Research Alliance (EERA), The Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP), Centre for Nuclear Energy Studies (SCK CEN), Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), The Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Electricity of France (EDF), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG), Polish National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ), The Technologies for Nuclear Energy State Owned Company (RATEN), and Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).

About the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA)

The European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) is an association of European public research centres and universities active in low-carbon energy research. EERA pursues the mission of catalysing European energy research for a climate-neutral society by 2050. Bringing together more than 250 organisations from 30 countries, EERA is Europe’s largest energy research community. EERA coordinates its research activities through 18 Joint Programmes and is a key player in the European Union’s Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan. For further information, see www.eera-set.eu.

About the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP)

The Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP) is a research, development and innovation platform that supports and promotes safe, reliable, and efficient operation of the civil nuclear systems by facilitating the cooperation among its members. It is recognised as a European Technology and Innovation Platform (ETIP) by the European Commission. The international membership base of the platform includes industrial actors, research and development organisations, academia, technical and safety organisations, SMEs as well as non-governmental bodies. For further information, see www.snetp.eu.

ORIENT-NM Project – Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
Duration: October 2020 – March 2023
Grant agreement No. 899997

Privacy – Accessibility

Related links
EERA
JPNM
IL TROVATORE

GEMMA
INSPYRE
M4F

NUGENIA
SNETP