Sunday 25 May 2014

A group of 9 leading European nuclear fission researchers and specialists will visit key nuclear research facilities in the UK between the 24th and 27th October 2011.This unique tour is facilitated and organised by the UK Science and Innovation team from the British Embassy in Switzerland, in collaboration with the National Nuclear Laboratory, the new Dalton Cumbrian Facility at Sellafield, the Dalton Nuclear Institute in Manchester, the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield and Imperial College in London.All universities currently carrying out major nuclear fission research activities will also be represented, along with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).The tour will

• give an overview of the nuclear sector and research community in the UK
• highlight a number of significant developments that have recently taken place towards the coordination of research activities
• focus on developing the contacts to facilitate future access by European academics to British research facilities that are unique in Europe.

Topics of discussion will include waste, decommissioning, fuel cycle solutions, fuels manufacturing, Gen IV technologies, reactor safety, disposal and reactor operations.The UK Science and Innovation Network is jointly funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). This tour is part of a series of events organised by the Science and Innovation team in Berne (Switzerland) in support of the British Government’s commitment to nuclear energy as a key component in delivering the UK’s low carbon economy. It follows on from a Pan-European Nuclear Workshop which took place in Zurich, in January 2011, and seeks to foster opportunities for the UK to engage with the European research community and establish fruitful relationships.Participants from Europe include:

• CEA – France
• NRG – Netherlands
• PSI – Switzerland
• ETHZ – Switzerland
• VTT – Finland
• UJV – Czech Republic
• Jülich Research Centre – Germany
• SCK-CEN – Belgium
• JRC – EU
• EU Commission

Individual stakeholders interested in attending any of the above mentioned visits should contact the host organisations directly.For further information on the Tour, please contact Elisabeth Wallace, UK Science and Innovation in Switzerland.