Thematic network helps preserve nuclear research heritage
Energy produced by the process of nuclear fission has many advantages over traditional energy sources, such as the burning of coal. The main benefit is the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. By supplying one-third of its energy through nuclear fission, Europe is able to significantly reduce its annual carbon dioxide emissions. This has relevance for climate change and, in particular, the Kyoto Protocol. The risk for radiation contamination exists, as accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl have shown. Furthermore, the relationship between nuclear fission and the military has long prohibited the sharing of information between countries. A Thematic Network (TN) sponsored by the European Commission sought to reverse this trend. In doing so, the project is helping to preserve and disseminate key international research carried out over the past several decades. The TN and hence the pool of research results comprises current and future EU Member States as well as several New Independent States. This widespread nature of the group ensures that many different reactor types are addressed as technology varies widely between regions. To establish public access to the data, the CERTA TN implemented the STRESA software developed through other Joint Research Centre projects for distributed database access. The site is located at: here(opens in new window). The idea is that European and other reactor safety research organisations can both post and retrieve experimental data. This data is often focused on accident investigation, revising safety codes, benchmarking and a variety of other topics. Sharing of this knowledge represents considerable added value for the entire nuclear community. The CERTA TN participants believe that both their project experience and the results can be applied to other fields of scientific research. In addition, the STRESA software solution has already been taken up by several nuclear safety research organisations that were not part of the CERTA TN.
