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Nuclear Research helps Safeguard our future: Fighting illegal nuclear trafficking & Passing on Expertise to Future Generations Of Scientists - Press Event 16-17/10/2003, Karlsruhe, Germany
September 30, 2003The European Commission's Joint Research Centre plays a key role in detecting, fingerprinting, and tracking down nuclear materials across Europe - and beyond. It therefore contributes to the fight against nuclear smuggling and nuclear prolifera-tion, in co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). But the JRC also manages projects for nuclear waste management, radiation protection, and other nuclear-related activities. The JRC is offering journalists, on 16th & 17th October, a comprehensive media briefing on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Institute for Transuranium Elements. Encompassing expert presentations and a workshop on a range of nuclear research-related themes, on-site visits to unique laboratories, and a meeting with European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin, media will experience firsthand how the JRC provides scientific support for nuclear safety and safeguards policies to protect EU citizens.
The overall media briefing is designed to respond to the particular interests of spe-cialised journalists while focusing on practical research demonstrations.
Here is a sample of what's on offer from development & application to international co-operation and future projects & perspectives:
Safeguarding Nuclear Materials: Protecting the Citizen
Preventing proliferation of nuclear material is a worldwide task shared by the European Commission's Euratom and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectorates. They are responsible for implementing safeguards and measures to control the use of nu-clear materials within the European Union and worldwide. As a long-time partner ITU con-tinues to provide analytical assistance and expertise on plutonium handling facilities.
The ITU is a key player in the international fight against the illicit trafficking of nuclear materials and is, for example, active in training customs officials in Eastern European Countries. Media will be shown how the Institute's Safeguards Analytical Reference Labo-ratory provides analytical assistance and expertise on plutonium-handling facilities and is developing new high-performance analytical tools for trace analysis i.e. nuclear finger-printing. In the areas of illicit trafficking of nuclear materials, illicit waste dumping and envi-ronmental impact of radioactive releases, ITU improves the selectivity, sensitivity and ac-curacy of detection and measurement methods to better identify the origin of the materi-als.
Actinide User Lab: At the Cutting-Edge
The JRC is at the forefront of providing sound training to scientists in how to work with highly radiated substances, especially scientists those from EU Member States, which lack nuclear installations suitable for training. To ensure the safety of fuel cycle activities, the ITU acts as a reference centre for basic actinide research and is developing a thor-ough knowledge of the physical, chemical and material properties of actinides. This pro-vides for a solid basis for work on all stages of the nuclear fuel cycle. The Institute's Actinide User Lab, established in 2002, is an international centre open to outside users for specialised studies.
The Minor Actinide Laboratory
Nuclear Waste Management is one of the main priorities of the EURATOM 6th Framework Programme. Partitioning and transmutation (P&T) is a suggested option for reducing the inventory of long-lived nuclear wastes. The aim is to partition - chemically separate - the hazardous elements present in the waste (Neptunium, Curium, Americium, and the "Minor Actinides") and then to transmute them, to produce shorter lived or more stable nuclides. As an example of these specific developments, the Minor Actinide Laboratory of ITU is a unique facility for the fabrication of fuels and targets containing minor actinides such as americium and curium.
Radiation Workshop
Ionising radiation can result from human activities such as the nuclear fuel cycle, medical applications and waste storage. In view of the enlargement of the EU, radiation protection is of growing concern. Journalists are thus invited to attend the workshop: 'Radiation Pro-tection of Environment and Human Health' on Thursday 16th October.
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Nuclear Current Events and Nuclear News RSSUncovering the real dirt on granular flow
A handful of sand contains countless grains, which interact with each other via friction and impact forces as they slip through your fingers. When a handful becomes a load in an excavator bucket, those interactions multiply exponentially.
New breast imaging technology targets hard-to-detect cancers
Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) is effective in the detection of cancers not found on mammograms or by clinical exam, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Dancing atoms now understood
In developing a model to explain the motion of atoms in a magnetic field, scientists have overcome a decades-old obstacle to understanding a key component of magnetic resonance.
Nuclear science for food security
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today called for increased investment in a plant breeding technique that could bolster efforts aimed at pulling millions of people out of the hunger trap.
Persistent pollutant may promote obesity
Tributyltin, a ubiquitous pollutant that has a potent effect on gene activity, could be promoting obesity, according to an article in the December issue of BioScience.
Solar-Powered Sea Slugs Live Like Plants
The lowly sea slug, "Elysia chlorotica," may not seem like the most exciting of creatures, but don't be fooled: it behaves like a plant and is solar-powered, says a Texas A&M University biologist who has been studying these tiny creatures for the past decade and, along with collaborators from several universities, has identified a possible cause of their ability to behave like plants.
Los Alamos Scientists See New Mechanism for Superconductivity
Laboratory researchers have posited an explanation for superconductivity that may open the door to the discovery of new, unconventional forms of superconductivity.
Los Alamos Observatory Fingers Cosmic Ray 'Hot Spots'
A Los Alamos National Laboratory cosmic-ray observatory has seen for the first time two distinct hot spots that appear to be bombarding Earth with an excess of cosmic rays. The research calls into question nearly a century of understanding about galactic magnetic fields near our solar system.
Mystery of missing hydrogen
Something vital is missing in the far distant reaches of the Universe: hydrogen - the raw material for stars, planets and possible life.
Astronomers catch binary star explosion inside nebula
The explosion of a binary star inside a planetary nebula has been captured by a team led by UCL (University College London) researchers - an event that has not been witnessed for more than 100 years.
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