Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CONNECT-NM (Coordination of the European Research Community on Nuclear Materials for Energy Innovation)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2024-10-01 do 2025-09-30
CONNECT-NM (Coordination of the European Research Community on Nuclear Materials for Energy Innovation) is a co-funded European Partnership under the Euratom Research and Training Programme. Launched in October 2024 and coordinated by CIEMAT, the initiative aims to accelerate innovation in nuclear materials (NM) across all reactor generations, supporting the EU's transition to sustainable, low-carbon energy sources.
CONNECT-NM seeks to shift nuclear materials research from the traditional "observe and qualify" approach to a modern "design and control" paradigm. This transformation is facilitated by integrating advanced digital technologies such as machine learning, high-performance computing, and digital twins into materials science practices. The partnership focuses on five strategic goals:
1) Creating a comprehensive nuclear materials knowledge organization system.
2) Developing nuclear materials acceleration platforms.
3) Establishing test-beds for accelerated nuclear materials qualification.
4) Implementing intelligent nuclear materials health monitoring systems.
5) Advancing predictive methodologies for nuclear materials behavior during operation.
These objectives are pursued through five research lines encompassing: data management, advanced materials development, qualification and standardization, non-destructive examination, modeling and characterization. Each research line coordinates projects selected via open calls, ensuring alignment with CONNECT-NM's overarching goals.
The partnership emphasizes collaboration among industry stakeholders, research institutions, and regulators to enhance nuclear safety, efficiency, and sustainability. By fostering coordinated use of European research infrastructures and avoiding duplication of efforts, CONNECT-NM aims to streamline the development and qualification of nuclear materials, ultimately reducing time-to-market for innovative solutions.
With a total budget of approximately €36 million, including nearly €20 million in EU contributions, CONNECT-NM represents a significant investment in the future of nuclear energy. Its activities are designed to support the long-term operation of existing reactors and the development of advanced reactor designs, contributing to the EU's decarbonization targets and energy security.
For more information, visit the CORDIS project page or the CONNECT-NM official website: www.connect-nm.eu. See also: https://doi.org/10.1051/epjn/2025029(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie).
CONNECT-NM seeks to shift nuclear materials research from the traditional "observe and qualify" approach to a modern "design and control" paradigm. This transformation is facilitated by integrating advanced digital technologies such as machine learning, high-performance computing, and digital twins into materials science practices. The partnership focuses on five strategic goals:
1) Creating a comprehensive nuclear materials knowledge organization system.
2) Developing nuclear materials acceleration platforms.
3) Establishing test-beds for accelerated nuclear materials qualification.
4) Implementing intelligent nuclear materials health monitoring systems.
5) Advancing predictive methodologies for nuclear materials behavior during operation.
These objectives are pursued through five research lines encompassing: data management, advanced materials development, qualification and standardization, non-destructive examination, modeling and characterization. Each research line coordinates projects selected via open calls, ensuring alignment with CONNECT-NM's overarching goals.
The partnership emphasizes collaboration among industry stakeholders, research institutions, and regulators to enhance nuclear safety, efficiency, and sustainability. By fostering coordinated use of European research infrastructures and avoiding duplication of efforts, CONNECT-NM aims to streamline the development and qualification of nuclear materials, ultimately reducing time-to-market for innovative solutions.
With a total budget of approximately €36 million, including nearly €20 million in EU contributions, CONNECT-NM represents a significant investment in the future of nuclear energy. Its activities are designed to support the long-term operation of existing reactors and the development of advanced reactor designs, contributing to the EU's decarbonization targets and energy security.
For more information, visit the CORDIS project page or the CONNECT-NM official website: www.connect-nm.eu. See also: https://doi.org/10.1051/epjn/2025029(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie).
The first year of the partnership was essentially a preparatory year, the main objective being to set up (essentially from scratch) the whole procedure for the open call for projects from the legal, operative and technical points of view, while setting the bases for the development of schemes for access to infrastructures, for the correct interaction with stakeholders, including the creation of all the advisory boards, branding and visibility of the partnership, internal procedures.
In particular:
The whole procedure for the open call for projects has been setup and applied: 51 project proposal are being reviewed by independent evaluators and the selected ones will start in Jan 2026.
Other key achievements include:
Developing and implementing brand guidelines, producing the communication and dissemination plan and the open science guidelines, initiating the work of the main stakeholder groups, launching and operating the website, producing a data management plan.
E&T activities have started in collaboration with other European initiatives: the third edition of the European School on Nuclear Materials Science (ESNMS2024) was organised in October 2024, in collaboration with the EERA JPNM, while a second school, to be held in October 2025 and dedicated to materials irradiation, has been organised together with the Jules Horowitz Reactor community. Finally, contacts with the OFFER Euratom-funded project and the FIDES-II OECD-NEA project have been established in view of setting up schemes to access infrastructures.
On the research side, small preparatory projects were launched already at the outset of the partnership (pre-selected projects), with the following results:
- The documentation of the Nuclear Materials Knowledge Base architecture and functionality was completed, initiating its pilot-scale implementation using an existing database dedicated to mechanical & microstructural materials properties.
- Modules and interfaces needed to develop a nuclear MAP have been described. A comprehensive list of irradiation and PIA facilities was analyzed and categorized. Non-nuclear MAP best practices were listed. Possible AM techniques to speed up new materials screening phase were identified.
- A preliminary analysis of the requirements for selected test-beds for nuclear materials, has been conducted for several materials (lead-fast reactor structural and cladding materials, fuel, SiC/SiC …).
- Non-destructive examination (NDE) methods were classified in terms of NDE-related material properties , physical principles and constrains, for all materials described in the ID-Cards.
- A comprehensive technical assessment has been carried out to identify factors hindering scale-bridging in multiscale models and how available data-driven approaches and available data-sets may help boosting the scale-bridging effort. An innovative approach to neutron shielding using composite concrete that incorporates mini-bars and neutron-absorbing Additives has been developed.
In particular:
The whole procedure for the open call for projects has been setup and applied: 51 project proposal are being reviewed by independent evaluators and the selected ones will start in Jan 2026.
Other key achievements include:
Developing and implementing brand guidelines, producing the communication and dissemination plan and the open science guidelines, initiating the work of the main stakeholder groups, launching and operating the website, producing a data management plan.
E&T activities have started in collaboration with other European initiatives: the third edition of the European School on Nuclear Materials Science (ESNMS2024) was organised in October 2024, in collaboration with the EERA JPNM, while a second school, to be held in October 2025 and dedicated to materials irradiation, has been organised together with the Jules Horowitz Reactor community. Finally, contacts with the OFFER Euratom-funded project and the FIDES-II OECD-NEA project have been established in view of setting up schemes to access infrastructures.
On the research side, small preparatory projects were launched already at the outset of the partnership (pre-selected projects), with the following results:
- The documentation of the Nuclear Materials Knowledge Base architecture and functionality was completed, initiating its pilot-scale implementation using an existing database dedicated to mechanical & microstructural materials properties.
- Modules and interfaces needed to develop a nuclear MAP have been described. A comprehensive list of irradiation and PIA facilities was analyzed and categorized. Non-nuclear MAP best practices were listed. Possible AM techniques to speed up new materials screening phase were identified.
- A preliminary analysis of the requirements for selected test-beds for nuclear materials, has been conducted for several materials (lead-fast reactor structural and cladding materials, fuel, SiC/SiC …).
- Non-destructive examination (NDE) methods were classified in terms of NDE-related material properties , physical principles and constrains, for all materials described in the ID-Cards.
- A comprehensive technical assessment has been carried out to identify factors hindering scale-bridging in multiscale models and how available data-driven approaches and available data-sets may help boosting the scale-bridging effort. An innovative approach to neutron shielding using composite concrete that incorporates mini-bars and neutron-absorbing Additives has been developed.
Since actual projects are under review and haven't started, yet (they will start in 2026), no result beyond the state of the art can be reported.