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Category: Projects
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Published: Tuesday, 01 July 2025 17:52
Project objectives and goals
The objective of CATAPULT is evaluating and extending the state-of-art methods for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R), and the risk communication when applied to Small (water-cooled) and Advanced Modular Reactors. Modular reactors pose challenges for both EIA and EP&R. Being envisioned to be located in urbanised site-locations, the region affected by an accidental release is expected to be largely smaller than in large water cooled-reactors, leading to a potential higher impact in the near field from a radiation protection perspective. Furthermore, specific physical and chemical characteristics of the emissions are expected for Gas- and Lead-cooled reactors – so far hardly included in current assessment models, because of the use of coolants, fuels, and materials different than in traditional water-cooled reactors.
Therefore, an accurate EIA and EP&R for modular reactors is essential. With this goal, CATAPULT brings together 8 institutions with a wide interdisciplinary expertise in EIA and EP&R as well as in technical, regulatory, social, and ethical aspects. By a large engagement of the stakeholders, CATAPULT aims at building a comprehensive guidance for EIA and EP&R with tight cross-links between technical and social aspects. In CATAPULT, the state-of-art methods for the radionuclide transport and uptake in the environment and for the dose assessment is reviewed and adapted - if needed - to the specific needs required by the modular reactors considered in the project and a roadmap for future developments is assessed also based on the stakeholders’ needs.
Such activity will support the development of a guidance for EIA by the close involvement of the end-of-users responsible for reviewing applications submitted by prospective licensees, i.e., authorities and their Technical Safety Organization. CATAPULT will employ such technical activities to address the social dilemma related to the impact of such new nuclear technologies on the society (or Not In My Backyard -NIMBY - syndrome) and to actively engage lay citizens in codesigning the Risk Communication in the framework of the EIA process and documentation. This community-driven approach will also provide an implementation guidance for effective risk communication about EIA.
Project coordinator
Fabrizio Gabrielli, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
Project partners
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT, Germnany
Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland, STUK, Finland
University of Eastern Finland, UEF, Finland
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, HZDR, Germany
Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority, ASNR, France
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, RIVM, Netherlands
Nuclear Research and consultancy Group, NRG, Netherlands
Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, SCK CEN, Belgium
Technologies for Nuclear Energy State Owned Company, Raten, Romania
Institute of Atomic Physics, IFA, Romania
Merience SCP, Spain
Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology, CIEMAT, Spain
Netherlands
Belgium
Romania
Romania
Spain
Spain
CAFAC – Lusófona University, Portugal
Portugal
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Category: Projects
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Published: Tuesday, 01 July 2025 17:44
Project objectives and goals
The GIROSCOPE project is being proposed to provide a robust scientific platform and framework for emergency preparedness and response (EP&R) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for novel nuclear reactors (NNRs). Innovative reactor designs are being considered not only for electricity generation but also for heat and power supply to industrial plants, in the vicinity of urban areas as well as in remote or hard-to-reach areas. These diverse reactor designs and applications, combined with minimal pre-existing experience of how the technology will perform throughout its life cycle, introduce radiation protection challenges requiring a comprehensive understanding and novel solutions. To meet these challenges GIROSCOPE brings together 12 institutions with a broad expertise in EP&R including, nuclear reactor design and assessment, transport modelling, EIA, and covering technical, safety and security and societal aspects.
GIROSCOPE will thoroughly characterize the source terms of the three types of NNRs: High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR), Compact Molten Salt Reactor (CMSR), and Small Light Water Reactor (SLWR). It will evaluate NNR types and their potential locations, focusing on the future requirements these sites may impose, and evaluate societal perceptions and related concerns. The project will also review radionuclide environmental transport models and demonstrate their applicability to NNR technologies. Advanced models and novel concepts (e.g., employing AI) for environmental transport of radionuclides will be developed and tested to determine the impact in complicated environments.
GIROSCOPE will provide guidelines targeted at decision-makers in nuclear safety. Supported by stakeholder engagement, the project will provide a framework for NNR assessment, a scenario database and recommendations that address the needs identified in IAEA and other international guidelines. The project's outcomes will provide substantial added value and a forward-looking guide for all European countries interested in investing in NNR technologies. By delivering scientifically sound and practical guidance, the project will support the safe and effective deployment of innovative nuclear reactors, ensuring that EIA and EP&R measures are robust and fit for purpose.
Project coordinator
Anna Wawrzynczak-Szaban, National Centre for Nuclear Research, Poland
Partners
- National Centre for Nuclear Research, NCBJ, Poland
- Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology, CIEMAT, Spain
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences, NMBU, Norway
- Federal Office for Radiation Protection, BfS, Germany
- University of Gothenburg, Sweden
- Nuclear Protection Evaluation Center, CEPN, France
Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority, ASNR, France
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canada
Portuguese Environment Agency, APA, Portugal
UK Health Security Agency, UKHSA, United Kingdom
National Centre For Scientific Research Demokritos, NCSRD, Greece
NERIS platform
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Category: Projects
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Published: Tuesday, 09 January 2024 11:28
CITISTRA aims at providing insights on citizen measurements as complementary radiation monitoring strategy in threats due to armed conflict or natural disasters, in order to :
- React to the current geopolitical situation in Europe
- Study the feasibility of employment of citizen measurements using via an experimental study in three countries – Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Poland
- Establish citizen measurement data quality, training, support
- Study related ethics, social aspects
More details on the objectives and milestones are available on the following document presented at PIANOFORTE General Assembly in Budapest on 6th December 2023 :
This project is supported by a consortium of 3 partners, and the coordinator is a NERIS supporting organisations :
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SURO (Czech Republic) : coordinator
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INPAS (Poland)
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SMU (Slovakia)
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Category: Projects
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Published: Tuesday, 09 January 2024 11:10
PREDICT aims to enable the major internationally used decision support systems JRODOS and ARGOS and other nationally used atmospheric dispersion and transport codes and follow-on foodchain models to simulate and predict consequences due to the fallout of a nuclear detonation in Europe or worldwide.
More details on the objectives, work packages, milestones and deliverables are available on the following document presented at PIANOFORTE General Assembly in Budapest on 6th December 2023 :
This project is supported by a consortium of 12 partners, among them 8 are NERIS supporting organisations including the coordinator, and 1 partner is a member of the platform :
For more information please contact the coordinator at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Category: Projects
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Published: Tuesday, 09 January 2024 10:23
The overall objective of RRADEW is to enhance nuclear emergency preparedness, response, and recovery (EPR&R) systems by developing methodological and technological approaches to strengthen resilience in the context of war or armed conflict disasters.
More details on the objectives, work packages, milestones and deliverables are available on the following document presented at PIANOFORTE General Assembly in Budapest on 6th December 2023 :
This project is supported by a consortium of 14 partners, among them, 9 are NERIS Members (of which 8 Supporting Organisations) :
For more information please contact the coordinator at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Presentations from past events :
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archive
1st Consortium Workshop
(17.30 MB)
, 24-25 March 2025, Lisbon
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document
Workshop on resilience
(2.72 MB)
, 11 November 2024, Rome, Italy
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folder
Presentations at NERIS Workshop
, 11 November 2024, Rome, Italy
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Category: Projects
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Published: Thursday, 12 January 2023 17:24
The European Partnership for Radiation Protection Research will contribute to improving the protection of the public, workers, patients and the environment from environmental, occupational and medical exposure to ionizing radiation. It brings together 58 partners representing 22 European Union countries as well as the United Kingdom and Norway, and is coordinated by the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN). It is co-financed by the European Union's EURATOM program and the governments of the participating countries. Through the research activities that will be carried out within its framework, PIANOFORTE will contribute to the implementation of European policies such as the European plan to combat cancer, the green pact for growth, and the implementation of the roadmap for reducing industrial and natural risks.
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Category: Projects
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Published: Tuesday, 31 May 2016 15:57
The ‘CONCERT-European Joint Programme for the Integration of Radiation Protection Research’ under Horizon 2020 is operating as an umbrella structure for the research initiatives jointly launched by the radiation protection research platforms MELODI, ALLIANCE, NERIS and EURADOS. Based on the platform SRAs and joint programming, CONCERT will develop research priorities, trying to seek further input from society and stakeholders. It will reach out to engage the wider scientific community in its projects, aiming to answer the needs in radiation protection for the public, occupationally exposed people, patients in medicine, and the environment.
Within CONCERT two major open RTD calls have been launched; the first one in 2016 and the other one in 2017.
Four projects of interest for NERIS have been selected under the 1st and 2nd CONCER Calls: CONFIDENCE, TERRITORIES, ENGAGE and SHAMISEN - SINGS.
Deliverables are available on the MEENAS website.
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Category: Projects
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Published: Tuesday, 31 May 2016 15:57
The CONFIDENCE Project, funded under the H2020 CONCERT project, will perform research focussed on uncertainties in the area of emergency management and long-term rehabilitation. It concentrates on the early and transition phases of an emergency, but considers also longer-term decisions made during these phases. The project brings together expertise from four European Radiation Protection Research Platforms (NERIS, MELODI, ALLIANCE and EURADOS) and also from Social Sciences and Humanities, such that it can address the scientific challenges associated with model uncertainties and improve radioecological predictions and emergency management (NERIS and ALLIANCE), situation awareness and monitoring strategies (EURADOS), risk estimation in the early phase (MELODI), decision making and strategy development at local and national levels (NERIS) including social and ethical aspects (NERIS and Social Sciences and Humanities).
The work-programme of CONFIDENCE is designed to understand, reduce and cope with the uncertainty of meteorological and radiological data and their further propagation in decision support systems (including atmospheric dispersion, dose estimation, foodchain modelling and countermeasure simulations models). Consideration of social, ethical and communication aspects related to uncertainties is a key aspect of the project activities. Improvements in modelling and combining simulation with monitoring will help gaining a more comprehensive picture of the radiological situation and will clearly improve decision making under uncertainties. Decision making principles and methods will be investigated, ranging from formal decision aiding techniques to simulation based approaches. These will be demonstrated and tested in stakeholder workshops applying the simulation tools developed within CONFIDENCE. A comprehensive education and training programme is fully integrated with the research activities.
Scientists from the 31 partner organisations* from 17 European countries have met in Karlsruhe February 16 and 17, 2017, for the kick-off meeting of the project. Details of the work plan were refined and first steps defined. Links were identified with other ongoing projects (e.g. TERRITORRIES, also funded under the CONCERT project) and the project partners are very happy to share methods and results with their colleagues.
* KIT (Germany), BFS (Germany), NERC-CEH (United Kingdom), CEPN (France), CIEMAT (Spain), EPA (Ireland), EEAE (Greece), HMGU (Germany), IRSN (France), Mutadis (France), NMBU (Norway), NRPA (Norway), University of Zurich (Switzerland), DH PHE (United Kingdom), DTU (Denmark), RIVM (Netherlands), SCK-CEN (Belgium), STUK (Finland), UMIL (Italy), VUJE (Slovakia), KNMI (Netherlands), APA (Portugal), Dialogik (Germany), University of Warwick (United Kingdom), IST (Portugal), REC (Slovenia), DLO RIKILT (Netherlands), University of Extremadura (Spain), Met Office (United Kingdom), MTA EK (Hungary), NMI (Norway)
Deliverables are available on the MEENAS website.
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Category: Projects
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Published: Tuesday, 31 May 2016 15:57
The TERRITORIES project has been selected for funding following 1st CONCERT Transational Call, topic 2 (Reducing uncertainties in human and ecosystem radiological risk assessment and management in nuclear emergencies and existing exposure situations, including NORM). Eleven partners* are involved in this 3-year-project (2017-2019). All of them were represented at the kick off meeting in Paris gare de l'Est on 27th of January.
TERRITORIES targets an integrated and graded management of contaminated territories characterised by long-lasting environmental radioactivity, filling in the needs emerged after the recent post-Fukushima experience and the publication of International and European Basic Safety Standards. A graded approach, for assessing doses to humans and wildlife and managing long-lasting situations (where radiation protection is mainly managed as existing situations), will be achieved through reducing uncertainties to a level that can be considered fit-for-purpose. The integration will be attained by:
- Bridging dose and risk assessments and management of exposure situations involving artificial radionuclides (post-accident) and natural radionuclides (NORM),
- Bridging between environmental, humans and wildlife populations monitoring and modelling,
- Bridging between radiological protection for the members of the public and for wildlife,
- Bridging between experts, decision makers, and the public, while fostering a decision-making process involving all stakeholders.
This project interlinks research in sciences supporting radiation protection (such as radioecology, human or ecological dose and risk assessments, social sciences and humanities, etc.), providing methodological guidance, supported by relevant case studies. The overall outcome is an umbrella framework, that will constitute the basis to produce novel guidance documents for dose assessment, risk management, and remediation of NORM and radioactively contaminated sites as the consequence of an accident, with due consideration of uncertainties and stakeholder involvement in the decision making process. The results will be widely disseminated to the different stakeholders and accompanied by an education and training programme.
Thus, the eleven partners of TERRITORIES will develop a common coherent guidance with a greater understanding of multiple sources of uncertainties along with variabilities in exposure scenarios, making the best use of scientific knowledge to characterize human and wildlife exposure, integrating this knowledge and know-how to reduce uncertainties and finally taking consideration of social, ethical and economic aspects to make decisions.
* IRSN, lead (France), BfS (Germany), CEPN (France), CIEMAT (Spain), NMBU (Norway), NRPA (Norway), Public Health England (United Kingdom), Belgium Nuclear Research Center (Belgium), STUK (Finland), University of Tartu (Estonia), Mutadis(France)
Further information can be found on the TERRITORIES blog.
Deliverables are available on the MEENAS website.
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Category: Projects
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Published: Monday, 26 March 2018 10:45
The recently launched CONCERT project ENGAGE focuses on “ENhancinG stAkeholder participation in the GovernancE of radiological risks for improved radiation protection and informed decision-making”. The project will identify and address key challenges and opportunities for stakeholder engagement concerning three situations of exposure to ionising radiation: the medical use of ionising radiatoon, post-accident exposure, and indoor exposure to radon. ENGAGE will:
- Address the questions of why, when, and how stakeholders are engaged in radiation protection issues.
- Develop novel approaches to analyse stakeholder interactions and engagement and provide guidance to meet the challenges and opportunities identified in response to (a).
- Investigate the processes for enhancing the culture of radiation protection and their role in facilitating stakeholder engagement and develop guidelines for the further development and enhancement of the radiation protection culture.
- Provide recommendations and build a joint knowledge base for stakeholder engagement in radiation protection.
The ENGAGE consortium brings together social sciences and humanities researchers and radiation protection experts from nuclear safety and radiation protection authorities, leading research institutes in radiation
protection,
public health organisations, non- governmental organisations, and academia, representing 14 organisations from 10 European countries.
Together, ENGAGE partners will identify and refine relevant aspects for stakeholder engagement in each of the three exposure situations. They will analyse European commonalities and national idiosyncrasies, share experiences and approaches, and identify knowledge gaps.
Through its research and innovation activities, the project will provide information to facilitate the engagement of stakeholders in radiation protection in ways that relevant stakeholders find meaningful and legitimate. It will contribute to improving the governance of radiological risk and, as a result, radiation protection itself. Project beneficiaries include radiation protection platforms, policy makers, civil society stakeholders, and the public.
Deliverables are available on the MEENAS website.
