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Evaluation of the Community's Research programme on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installation.

A recent report on Evaluation of the Community's Research programme on decommissioning nuclear installations outlines the conclusions of cost-shared research in the European Union between 1989 and 1993. Nuclear decommissioning will continue to be an important issue in the Eur...

A recent report on Evaluation of the Community's Research programme on decommissioning nuclear installations outlines the conclusions of cost-shared research in the European Union between 1989 and 1993. Nuclear decommissioning will continue to be an important issue in the European Union in the coming decades. There are presently about 130 power reactors in operation in addition to fuel cycle and research facilities, all of which will reach the end of the operation and will need to be decommissioned in due course. All Member States use or produce radioactive material even if they do not have nuclear power. Every decommissioning project requires a specific strategy but the technical considerations are often quite similar. There are good grounds for coordinated research to be conducted at EU level, bringing together targeted national initiatives. Basic knowledge and techniques are now established for safe and satisfactory nuclear decommissioning, although there is still scope for improvement and in some areas significant issues remain to be addressed. The present decommissioning programme (1989-1993)follows two earlier programmes. The European Union provides about 10% of the total national investment by the Member States and therefore can only stimulate and coordinate studies, but cannot direct them. This research evaluation report presents the achievements of the present programme in the following areas: - Scientific contributions; - Relationship with national programmes; - Programme management. The report also examines the programme's contribution to the socio-economic development of the European Union in the context of the potential for nuclear energy and emphasises the importance of possible spin-off technologies in nuclear decommissioning. There is also a recommendation that procedures should be established for the dissemination of information in this area.