JAEA and CEA co-organized a workshop on “The Enhancement of Research and Development Basis for Sustainable Nuclear Innovation”

On January 31, 2020, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) co-organized with Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) of France a workshop on “The Enhancement of Research and Development Basis for Sustainable Nuclear Innovation” in Paris as the initiative of its Paris Office based on the Strategy for the International Cooperation adopted in 2017 by the JAEA. Considering the necessity and significance of establishing and effectively utilizing the sustainable research infrastructure such as research facilities and knowledge and human resources for promoting innovation, the Workshop aimed to provide discussion on initiatives of each institute on nuclear innovation, common challenges and measures for international collaboration.

International organizations

• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA)
• European Commission/Joint Research Centre (EC/JRC)

Italy

• Società Gestione Impianti Nucleari (SOGIN)

Belgium

• Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie - Centre d'étude de l'Energie (SCK/CEN)

Opening remarks were given by Mr. ITO Yoichi, Executive Vice President of JAEA and Mr. Pascal CHAIX, Deputy Director of International Relations of CEA, followed by addresses of the guest speakers, Mr. Jean-Christophe NIEL, Director General of IRSN, Mr. William MAGWOOD IV, Director General of OECD/NEA and Mr. HORIUCHI Toshihiko, Minister of Embassy of Japan in France.

The significance of nuclear innovation and international collaboration to achieve it especially from the viewpoint of the mitigation of climate change was emphasized by multiple speakers.

In the keynote speech, Mr. NAGASAWA Takeshi, Director, Office of Nuclear Energy Cooperation of METI and Ms. KAWAKAMI Akiko, Director, Office for Nuclear Non-Proliferation Science and Technology of MEXT explained efforts made by their respective ministries in accordance with the NEXIP (Nuclear Energy ×Innovation Promotion) Initiative.

Mr. ITO Yoichi, after outlining JAEA activities, its international collaboration and recent developments, described the adoption of the Future Vision “JAEA 2050+”, JAEA efforts in accordance with NEXIP Initiative, the promotion of public utilization of the research facilities, social implementation of the JAEA-originated technology as innovation-related activities. He also identified future challenges for JAEA and expressed his expectation for the Workshop.

Mr. Stéphane SARRADE, Deputy Director of Innovation and Nuclear Support of CEA provided the overview of its activities, presented the strategic roadmap for industry development and research for closed fuel cycle and identified short-, middle- and long-term R&D items.

Mr. Daniel MATHERS, Head of Technical, Advanced Nuclear Technologies of BEIS presented the nuclear innovation activities of the UK including the Nuclear Sector Deal (the documentation of the collaboration activities between nuclear industry and the U.K. Government to further develop nuclear energy as a part of the industrial strategy) and development of Small Modular Reactors (SMR), pointing out that the UK became the first G7 state that passed the commitments of net zero emissions of green-house gas into law, with the commitment to be achieved by 2050.

Lastly Mr. William MAGWOOD IV, Director General of OECD/NEA, presented its nuclear innovation-related programmes, such as Nuclear Innovation 2050 (NI2050), Framework for IrraDiation ExperimentS (FIDES), and the Nuclear Education, Skills and Technology (NEST).

Panel discussions were held in three sessions.

Panel 1: “Innovation on Research Activities”

Facilitator: Mr. WAKIMOTO Shuichi, R&D Program Management Department, JAEA

Panelists:

• Ms. Tatiana IVANOVA, Head of the Division of Nuclear Science, OECD/NEA
• Mr. Patrick BLANC-TRANCHANT, International Affairs Senior Executive Advisor, CEA
• Mr. Gilles BIGNAN, JHR International Affairs Manager, CEA
• Mr. Olivier MARCHAND Senior Expert, IRSN
• Mr. Matthew RANDALL, Account Director for Europe and UK research institutes, NNL
• Mr. Said ABOUSAHL, Head of Unit, Euratom Coordination, Directorate of Strategy, Work Programme and Resources, EU/JRC

Ms. Tatiana IVANOVA presented the current status of FIDES and NEST.

Mr. Patrick BLANC-TRANCHANT and Mr. Gilles BIGNAN outlined Jules Horowitz research Reactor (JHR) project and its significance.

Mr. Said ABOUSAHL presented the discussion on the role of nuclear energy in the context of EU Green New Deal, EURATOM research, training programme and Roadmap of nuclear infrastructure.

Mr. Matthew RANDALL stressed the significance of the combination of human resources and facilities in realizing innovation. He presented National Nuclear User Facility (NNUF) as the UK efforts to promote facility sharing.

Mr. Olivier MARCHAND reminded the audience of the significance of the experimental platform with a view to contributing to the regulation. He also presented efforts to identify facility needs conducted by the Senior Expert Group on Safety Research (SESAR) established within the OECD/NEA Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI).

Mr. WAKIMOTO Shuichi summarized the discussion of Panel 1, emphasizing the importance of the following points.

(a) Research infrastructure in terms of the nuclear innovation

(b) International cooperation to promote nuclear innovation

(c) Cooperation with non-nuclear sectors

Participants had active discussions, among which Mr. BIGNAN mentioned the possibility of applicability of the JHR experiments and measurement to the space sector and Mr. ABOUSAHL referred to the possibility of mutual cooperation with medical and cyber security sectors.

Panel 2: “Innovation in Decommissioning”

Facilitator: Ms. Christine GEORGES, Head, Department of Projects of Dismantling-Decommissioning, CEA

Panelists:

• Mr. KIMURA Takaumi, Deputy Director General, Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), JAEA
• Ms. Melanie BROWNRIDGE, Head of Technology, NDA
• Ms. Federica PANCOTTI, Responsible for the Technological Innovation, SOGIN
• Ms. Rebecca TADESSE, Head of the Division of Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning, OECD/NEA

Ms. Rebecca TADESSE presented NEA decommissioning activities including the establishment of the Committee on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management (CDLM) whose mandate covers the decommissioning and legacy management.

Mr. KIMURA Takaumi presented CLADS efforts conducive to decommissioning R&D of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Ms. Melanie BROWNRIDGE emphasized the significance of innovation from the viewpoints of implementing safe and rapid decommissioning with low cost, and from that of meeting the challenging technical demand of the decommissioning of specific types of facilities. She also mentioned the importance of the innovation and the incorporation of the knowledge from non-nuclear sectors with the view to responding to the non-technical challenges such as ensuring security and project management as well as the technical challenges of management of spent fuels and waste.

Ms. Federica PANCOTTI presented SOGIN effort of innovation from the point of view that decommissioning has complicated and unique multi-disciplinary characteristics, thus it needs innovations both in technical and non-technical areas and introduced some examples at SOGIN.

Ms. Christine GEORGES summarized the discussion of Panel 2, stating the importance of innovation for safe and rapid decommissioning with low cost. She presented examples of CEA’s technical development of decommissioning including those having been implemented under collaboration with JAEA. She also presented SHARE (StakeHolder-based Analysis of REsearch for Decommissioning) Project which is implemented under EU HORIZON2020 with the aim of identification of technological decommissioning challenges and gap analysis.

Following question and answer session included active discussion on the mindset for decommissioning, knowledge preservation and its generational transfer and the importance of avoiding duplication of R&D by full utilization of international collaboration.

Panel 3: ”Innovation for the Next Generation”

Six panelists of young researchers and engineers from IAEA, OECD/NEA, CEA, NNL　and JAEA had active discussions on their respective R&D themes, importance of innovation in their work and challenges to overcome, especially on the topics below.

• Incorporation of the knowledge from non-nuclear sectors
  (Lack of the roles of coordinators was mentioned as a hindrance)
• Bridging role between practical technologies and the basic research at the universities.
• Overcoming the perception gap between senior researchers and younger ones about the role younger researchers are expected to play.
• Fostering the mindset that enables the realization of flexible ideas without fearing failure.
• Significance of outreach to the public

Ms. Fiona RAYMENT, Executive Director of NIRO of NNL gave a speech titled “The Innovation Imperative and Importance of Frameworks”, describing how frameworks can help boost sustainable nuclear innovation. She presented innovation effort made internationally and in the UK.

She emphasized the following points in the address;

• Innovation will be key as it will drive accelerated solutions, enhanced economics and create sustainable and flexible energy systems.
• All of nuclear innovation initiatives recognize the need for technology innovation, both within nuclear and through bringing new innovations from other sectors.
• Also recognized is the need for various parts of the sector to work more closely together.
• Through these initiatives there are new innovative approaches being developed, with a recognition that success will only occur in an environment that embraces creativity and innovation. Achieving this will mean creating the right culture and leadership.

In closing remarks, Mr. YAMAMURA Tsukasa, Deputy Director, Office of Strategy and International Affairs of JAEA, appreciated the high quality of the presentations and discussions at the Workshop and expressed gratitude for the cooperation of participating organizations.

In summary, the Workshop helped participants share the importance of nuclear innovation mentioned below.

• In the current global situation in which we face a grave risk of climate change and many countries are setting goals of achieving a large reduction of the CO2 emission or even carbon neutral, whether nuclear energy can play a part as a solution depends on the achievement of nuclear innovation in terms of nuclear safety, cost reduction and the application to non-power application.
• It is essential for the realization of innovation to secure access to R&D infrastructure including facilities and provide nuclear community with young talent and to pursue international collaboration for these objectives. Cooperation with non-nuclear sectors is also important.
• Innovation also plays an important role in decommissioning field for it enables safe and rapid decommissioning with low cost.

JAEA will pursue innovation efforts based on the information and knowledge gained through the workshop.

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