In September 2023, a team from the Interface Analysis Centre (IAC) consisting of nine PhD students and two post-doctoral researchers embarked on a journey to Slovenia to attend the 32nd Nuclear Energy for New Europe (NENE) conference in Portorož.
NENE serves as the most important conference on nuclear energy in South-East Europe. With a nuclear renaissance happening in countries like Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, and other European countries, the NENE conference serves as an ideal discussion forum to exchange knowledge between the UK and the EU on nuclear technology.
Presenting five oral sessions and eight posters, the IAC made a significant technical contribution to the conference on subjects ranging from nuclear robotics, to radiochemistry, the nuclear fuel cycle, and nuclear fusion technology. In turn, it was an opportunity for IAC researchers to learn more about the nuclear landscape in South-East Europe, in particular VVER type pressurized light water reactors that dominate much of the Eastern European nuclear landscape and pose their own unique challenges when it comes to lifetime extension and decommissioning. Attending the conference also offered UK researchers the unique opportunity to network and liaise directly with operators of European research reactors such as TRIGA in Slovenia and MARIA in Poland, reactors that are vital to any kind of nuclear research involving high neutron fluxes, and especially valuable considering the UK currently lacks its own domestic nuclear research reactor.
In addition to establishing future collaborations with international nuclear physics research institutions, the 2023 NENE conference emphasis was on human resources to enable nuclear growth, with talks and round-table discussions on developing nuclear expertise and outreach.
Words kindly provided by Yannkick Verbalen