JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE - 1995 ANNUAL REPORT
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Brussels, 17. 04. 1996 COM(96)158 final JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE 1995 ANNUAL REPORT (Presented by the Commission) FOREWORD Following Article 7 of the Council Decision of 15 December 1994, adopting a specific programme for research and technological development, including demonstration, to be carried out for the European Community, on the one hand, by the Joint Research Center (JRC) and, on the other, by means of activities within the framework of a competitive approach and intended for scientific and technical support to Community policies (1995 to 1998) (94/918/EC); Article 7 of the Council Decision of 15 December 1994, adopting a specific programme of research and technological development, including demonstration, to be implemented by the Joint Research Centre for the European Atomic Energy Community (1995 to 1998) (94/919/Euratom); Article 5 of the Council Decision of 29 April 1992, adopting a supplementary research programme to be implemented by the Joint Research Centre for the European Atomic Energy Community (92/275/Euratom) during the period 1992-1995; it is foreseen that an annual report on the implementation of the activities of the JRC will be transmitted by the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee. In fulfilment of this requirement, the enclosed document reports on JRC activities in 1995, and at the the reporting on Community RTD (Research and same time constitutes a contribution Technological Development) activities required by Article 130P of the EC Treaty. to This annual report is accompanied by the comments of the Board of Governors. OBSERVATIONS BY THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS ON THE JRC ANNUAL REPORT 1995 1995 - THE FIRST YEAR UNDER MODIFIED ROLE 1995 was a significant year for t he JRC. This was t he year where t he m o d i f i ed role of t he JRC, as agreed w i th t he Council, t he Parliament and the Commission in 1994, t o ok effect. This m o d i f i ed role f or t he JRC called f or a w i d er spectrum of competitive activities t h an was t he case in the past, and f r om 1995 onwards t he JRC could participate in C o m m u n i ty programmes on an equal basis w i th its national Dartners f r om research and industry. As witnessed by t he present report, t he JRC responded in a -v/namic way to this n ew challenge and in the case of t he shared cost action programmes, obtainec n the c o m p e t i t i on promising results t o g e t h er w i th its partners t h r o u g h o ut t he M e m b er Sta:es of t he European Union and other countries associated w i th t he It is programmes. Good results were also o b t a i n ed f or t he other modes of competitive activities. n o t e w o r t hy t h a t, in spite of the new modes introduced in 1995, the JRC kept up t he pace w i th w o rk for t h i rd parties in comparison w i th previous years. In this new situation, preliminary targets were set f or participation in competitive activities in 1995 and the Board notes w i th satisfaction t h at overall, these targets were exceeded. Competitive activities is only one facet of the JRC w o r k, another being its institutional research and scientific and technical support to t he Union's sectorial policies, notably e n v i r o n m e n t, energy, agriculture and industry. The Board appreciates the continuing concern of the JRC to respond positively to t he requirements of customers. For the research activities t h e re is a w e l c o me drive towards producing useful results f or the benefit of industry and society. The r e p o rt highlights examples of this and the Board w i ll continue to urge the Centre to pursue t he necessary t r e nd towards a f u r t h er o u t p u t - o r i e n t ed JRC w i th an increased scope for the commercialisation of its t he research results. Based on f r e q u e nt evaluations of the JRC, t he Board feels satisfied w i th generally high quality of the JRC w o rk and its increasing relevance to t he needs of t he European Union's policies. The Board already noted last year its expectations f or the developments f or the JRC f r om 1995 onwards. A m o n g st the measures the Board has taken to strengthen its f o l l o w - up on t he JRC activities in more detail t he JRC institutes. Continuing efforts are being made to introduce performance parameters a nd quality assessment. its Sub-Committees, a l l o w i ng to f o l l ow is a restructuring of EVALUATIONS OF THE JRC In its guidance of the JRC t h r o u g h o ut the year the Board has d r a wn on the recommendations f r om the evaluations of the JRC and its Institutes by external, independent, experts available at t he e nd of the previous 1992-1994 programme period. f u ll set of recommendations f r om this exercise and recognises the JRC's m a n a g e m e nt efforts in w o r k i ng to to implement administrative and staff policy matters have not yet been i m p l e m e n t ed f or reasons beyond t he control of the JRC. recommendations particularly t h e m, while noting t h at some useful The Board has reviewed related t he RULES GOVERNING THE JRC - STAFF ISSUES The Board continues to press for the JRC to be a l l o w ed to operate fully in a w ay t h at enables it to achieve the change in w o r k i ng methods envisaged by the Council Conclusions of A p r il 1994. This may call for a f u r t h er evolution of the rules and regulations g o v e r n i ng its activities, possibly involving an e v o l u t i on of its status w i t h in the Commission. This should also lead to an increased flexibility in budgetary and financial matters combined w i th the n o t ed progress on t he financial management systems. The Board has presented its points of view on these i m p o r t a nt matters to t he Commissioner f or Research, Mrs. Edith Cresson. Towards the end of t he year it was i n f o r m ed of t he the Commission and other i m m i n e nt plans organizational cha es planned. Thus as a first step, the JRC will be given status as a separate Directorate Gênerai , rom early 1996 (Decided on 16 January/T996). larger a u t o n o my w i t h in the JRC a. 'or giving The Board has also discussed staff policy issues w i th the Commissioner and expects to f o l l ow t he implications f or the JRC under the new policy of the Commission on staff under the research b u d g et of t he Union. Like the staff of many other European research institutes, the JRC has an age distribution w h i ch w i ll result in many vacancies in the coming f ew years. Five senior posts as Institute Director became vacant in 1995 and four of these were filled, f o l l o w i ng appointments by the Commission u p on advice f r om the Board, while a f i f th post is still to be filled. The Board welcomes the f o ur n ew Directors w ho joined the JRC in mid-1995. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ON THE JRC The m o d i f i ed role of the JRC requires a more intense dissemination of i n f o r m a t i on on JRC activities to all interested parties at a national level. As a contribution to this, in 1995 Members of t he Board, t o g e t h er w i th the JRC, arranged for a continuation of the series of JRC Information Days and presentations of JRC activities t h r o u g h o ut the Member States w i th t he aim of fostering f u r t h er collaboration between national research laboratories, universities, industry and the JRC. To attain proper coordination between the JRC research activities and other related research activities under the Community Framework Programmes, Members of the Board have participated w i th JRC representatives in meetings of the Community Programme Committees. These exchanges of views as prescribed in the Council decisions on the JRC programmes should be intensified and encompass all relevant programme activities in 1996. STRATEGY The f u l f i l m e nt of the JRC's mission of performing customer-driven research of t he highest quality and integrity in support of Community policies, calls for a clear long-term strategy for t he JRC and its Institutes. The Board agreed in late 1995 on an updated JRC strategy and has conducted discussions on the underlying Institute strategies as a guide for the Centre in its current and f u t u re activities. One of the measures envisaged in the 1995 strategy document is more extensive use of performance indicators to assist the development of the JRC. INSTITUTE FOR PROSPECTIVE TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES (IPTS) In its observations on the 1994 Annual Report, the Board m e n t i o n ed the new location of this institute in Seville and the w o rk planned. It is pleased to record the n ew w o rk p r o g r a m me f or IPTS, d e f i n ed the inauguration of the important Technological Watch function by the Commissioner, Mrs. Edith Cresson, in the presence of the Chairman of the Board, w ho emphasised the collaboration IPTS has established t h r o u g h o ut the Member States and w i th the European Parliament. the Commission. Moreover, in 1995 and endorsed by t he Board appreciates HIGH FLUX REACTOR 1995 was the last year of the supplementary EURATOM programme for the High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten (NL). T h r o u g h o ut the year discussions have taken place at all levels on the f u t u re of the HFR reactor and its proposed new multi-annual programme to begin in 1996. This has involved a complete overhaul of the management of the facility and an intensive drive towards a more direct commercial use of a considerable part of its capacity w i th the ensuing improvement in efficiency and economy. A CKNO WLEDGEMENTS The Board welcomes the several contacts it has had during the year w i th the Commissioner for Research, Mrs. Edith Cresson and looks f o r w a rd to further discussions on the development of JRC strategy. At the same t i me the Board expresses its appreciation for the hard w o rk of the Director General, his Directors and the entire JRC staff in addressing the challenges facing t h e m. JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE 1995 ANNUAL REPORT Report of the Commission TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE IN 1995 1. 1 INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES: JRC SPECIFIC RESEARCH PROGRAMMES 1. 1. 1 Institutional Research Activities 1. 1. 2 Institutional Scientific and Technical Support f or C o m m u n i ty Policies 1. 2 COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES Participation in shared cost actions Competitive scientific and technical support activities Other competitive activities outside the Framework Programmes Third Party W o rk HFR Supplementary Programme 1. 3 INFORMATION DAYS - PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCES 1. 4 HUMAN RESOURCES 1. 5 FINANCES 2. ACTIVITIES OF THE JRC INSTITUTES IN 1995 2. 1 THE INSTITUTE FOR REFERENCE MATERIALS AND MEASUREMENTS 2. 2 THE INSTITUTE FOR TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS 2. 3 THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED MATERIALS 2. 4 THE INSTITUTE FOR SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND INFORMATICS 2. 5 THE ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE 2. 6 THE INSTITUTE FOR REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS 2. 7 THE INSTITUTE FOR SAFETY TECHNOLOGY 2. 8 THE INSTITUTE FOR PROSPECTIVE TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES Annex 1 Annex 2 8 10 10 14 18 18 18 18 18 19 19 20 22 23 23 26 28 31 35 38 41 44 46 48 JRC Annual Report 1995 THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE The Joint Research Centre the European U n i o n. It is is the corporate research laboratory of established by t he European Commission w i th headquarters in Brussels. Five separate sites, located in Belgium, Germany, Italy, t he Netherlands and Spain, house eight d i f f e r e nt institutes, each w i th its o wn focus of expertise. These institutes are: IRMM The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements GEEL (B) ITU The Institute for Transuranium Elements KARLSRUHE (D) 1AM The Institute for Advanced Materials PETTEN (NL) and ISPRA (I) ISEI The Institute for Systems Engineering and Informatics ISPRA (I) El The Environment Institute IRSA The Institute for Remote Sensing Applications 1ST The Institute for Safety Technology ISPRA (I) ISPRA (I) ISPRA (I) IPTS The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies SEVILLE (E) The mission of the JRC is to p r o m o te and carry o ut customer-driven research of the highest quality and integrity in support of Community policies. The Joint Research Centre, being an integral part of the Community research and technological d e v e l o p m e nt system, contributes to Community research policy, particularly in those sectors in which it has special, if not unique, skills and in areas where its neutrality is essential f or scientific and technical support f or Community policies. These institutional activities are p e r f o r m ed in executing the JRC specific programmes decided by t he Council and f u n d ed by t he European Union budget. Furthermore the JRC is increasingly engaged in competitive activities participating: on a competitive basis, w i th industry, research organisations and universities w i t h in the M e m b er States or associated t he Framework countries, Programmes, and offering its services against payment to various customers. including shared cost actions under in Community programmes, The statutory staff, comprising officials and temporary agents of t he JRC, was 1. 786 at the end of 1995. To this n u m b er one must add 319 scientists w ho were active in the Centre and w e re paid by the JRC under various hosting schemes. The global credits committed by the JRC in 1995 were slightly lower t h an 258 Mioecu. This A n n u al Report is intended to give a general overview of JRC activities in 1995. Readers may f i nd more details in t he A n n u al Reports of the eight institutes. The JRC also publishes numerous scientific reports, presents papers to conferences and in scientific journals (all these is published yearly), a nd organises reports are referred to workshops, seminars and conferences to disseminate its scientific o u t p u t. in the Publication Bulletin which 1. THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE IN 1995 8 1995 A SIGNIFICANT YEAR to for research, in 1994, to decisions on Programmes in 1995 was t he first year of a new approach for the JRC. This had been d e f i n ed by the Council of the European U n i o n, the European Parliament in discussions and the European Commission the led, w h i ch Community Framework technological activities development and demonstration and to subsequent decisions on t he specific research t he Framework i m p l e m e nt programmes Programmes. These t wo JRC specific, include 1995-1998, research programmes, one for the EC (European Community) and the other for the Energy EAEC Community). the Council In c o n f o r m i ty w i th conclusions of 26 A p r il 1994 on the role of the JRC, in institutional activities as well as competitive institutional activities, f o r m er covering research and institutional technical support to C o m m u n i ty policies. The in competitive activities shared-cost actions the Framework Programmes, competitive support measures for Commission services responsible f or the various Union policies, competitive activities outside the Community Framework Programmes and contractual w o rk p e r f o r m ed for outside t h i rd parties. include participation under in 1995 has engaged the Centre (European the and scientific Atomic in which establishing industry and a p p o i n t ed for t he year Commission the 1995 was, moreover, launched newly bonds initiatives this between frame the Commissioner for research, Mrs. E. for Cresson, strongly emphasised f u r t h er research commercialisation of results and for improved communication of JRC activities. the need JRC research. W i t h in better Finally, 1995 also saw the enlargement of the Eur'opean Union. The three n ew Member States (Austria, Finland and Sweden) had already participated in 1994 in JRC activities under the EEA (European Economic Area) Agreement. This f r a m e w o rk a l l o w ed for the continuation, in Iceland, the JRC collaboration w i th 1995, of Liechtenstein and Norway. INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES The JRC institutional of objectives the activities contributed to Framework t he 4th and Technologies Industrial Material Programme for t he EC and t he EAEC Framework Programmes via t he lines of I n f o r m a t i on and ( I n f o r m a t i on Communications Technologies Technologies), Technologies, (Industrial Measurements Environment (Environment and Climate), Life Sciences and Fisheries, Technologies including agro-industry, technologies, forestry and rural development), Non-nuclear Energy, Targeted Socio-Economic Research, Thermonuclear Nuclear Fission Safety and Fusion. (Agriculture Testing), f o od and and NEW CHALLENGES: COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES than 300 proposals w e re made Following extensive preparations b e g un in 1994, the JRC responded to the challenge set by the new opportunities opened up in 1995 f or competitive activities. Together w i th partners f r om industry, research centres and universities t h r o u g h o ut the Union and associated countries, more in response to the first call f or proposals under the new Framework Programmes, w i th a success rate of 28%. The JRC also presented proposals for competitive support activities and for Community programmes outside t he Frame work Programmes, notably PHARE and TACIS, where contracts were w on f or nuclear safety work the Central and Eastern European countries, Russia and other Newly Independent States (NIS). in Taking up these n ew opportunities- required the JRC. They were intensive marketing by legal, financial, made possible by a series of budgetary and administrative decisions by the (Council, Parliament, Community Commission). These t he necessary amendments to the Financial Regulation f or the European Union in b u d g e t, September 1995. decided on institutions included Contractual w o rk p e r f o r m ed f or external t h i rd parties was also notable and n ew contracts signed during 1995 a m o u n t ed to w e ll above 18 Mioecu. VISITS BY THE COMMISSIONER On 20 July 1995 Commissioner Mrs. E. Cresson, made her first visit to the JRC, starting w i th the Institutes at Ispra, f o l l o w ed by a visit to ITU in Karlsruhe in September and IPTS in Seville in December, w h e re Mrs. Cresson inaugurated t he JRC Annual Report 1995 f u n c t i on of technological w a t ch new the Institute1- In her address to the personnel d u r i ng these visits, she encouraged t he JRC to continue its mission f or Research and Technological Development in Europe. She o u t l i n ed t he views of the Commission on t he contributions to be made by t he JRC to the policies of t he Union and on to e n g a g e m e nt in competitive activities. collaboration w i th M e m b er States on JRC activities in general and stimulating in particular those aimed at and concrete research conducted at a n a t i o n al or regional of Union level. JRC availability in s u p p o rt policies was f u r t h er publicised by i n f o r m a t i on activities directed to o t h er Commission services, including a Newsletter and t a r g e t ed seminars. industry STRATEGY The p r o g r a m me period 1995-1998 w i ll see t he JRC, on the one hand build on experience acquired f r om the previous p r o g r a m me period and on the other, meet the challenges t h at changing w o r ld continuously rapidly and markets impose on European Industry and t he n ew demands facing the European U n i o n, w i th an emphasis on t he commercialisation of research results of value to industry a nd society. the JRC organises a To this end, each year number a nd of seminars at its five sites in Europe. The n u m b er the of visitors shows the constant interest of scientific community to t he contributions research and development made by t he JRC. conferences, workshops in In order to consolidate t he n ew approach of t he JRC as prescribed by t he Council, t he Parliament and the Commission, the Board of Governors and t he JRC management have, d u r i ng t he year, discussed strategies f or t he e i g ht institutes and the JRC as a w h o l e, leading to an emphasis on customer-driven, high quality research of real utility f or the European Union, executed in an efficient way w i th a flexible responsiveness to changing market needs. JRC activities have t he effect of creating links between teams in Member States situated at technological d i f f e r e nt levels of scientific a nd development. They rein to forcing cohesion b e t w e en laboratories and research institutes in all the C o m m u n i ty regions. thus c o n t r i b u te in forces on t he areas of In 1995 t he Commission announced t h at it had established several industrial task new-generation research aircraft, m u l t i m e d ia educational software, the car of t o m o r r o w, vaccines and viral diseases, the trains and f u t u r e, railway systems of intermodal transport, m a r i t i me systems of the friendly water f u t u re and environmentally technologies. JRC staff have participated in most of these task forces a n d, in parallel, the reorientations JRC m a n a g e m e nt has planned w i t h in the JRC institutional research areas, in order to match research to t he n ew priorities set by the Commission. t he NEW DIRECTORS During the year, f o ur n ew Directors of JRC Institutes, namely ISEI, El, IRSA and I A M, took up the their posts, after a p p o i n t m e nt by Commission acting on the advice of the Board of Governors. COMMUNICATION INITIATIVES Links b e t w e en the JRC and industry, research centres and universities were also reinforced t h r o u gh t he organisation of I n f o r m a t i on Days in London, Athens, Copenhagen, Milan and Vienna, on the the Institutes were Board of Governors. The new presented, w h i le workshops o u t l i n ed perspectives Likewise, members of JRC m a n a g e m e nt and staff have the given a number of seminars t h r o u g h o ut initiative of Members of collaboration. for JRC Annual Report 1995 1. 1 INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES: JRC SPECIFIC RESEARCH PROGRAMMES task of the JRC in 1995 was to The major contribute to the implementation of the JRC specific programmes under the Communities' Framework Programmes in their first year of existence. This c o n t r i b u t i on was carried out research activities and t h r o u gh technical t h r o u gh support activities the Commission. institutional institutional scientific and the services of for 1. 1. 1 Institutional Research Activities 1995, institutional In accounted f or 7 3% of the JRC's activities; f o l l o w i ng Programme lines: research they are carried out under activities institutional the • The Industrial p r o g r a m me Technologies and Materials Technologies is carried out by the Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) and encompassed on advanced materials, on surface engineering, on new ecofriendly materials and on Non the Destructive Evaluation inspection structural components. research projects techniques industrial for of • The Measurements Institute and Testing programme encompassed research projects on reference measurements and materials, carried out by for Reference Materials and the Measurements the and the reliability of structures, assessment of carried o ut by for Safety Technology (1ST). Institute (IRMM); the on • The Environment of projects programme and Climate consisted on research atmospheric, soil, water and waste pollution, executed by the Environment Institute (Ei); on the gradual setting up of the Centre for Earth Observation a décentrai,. ?d European data information system,and on applications of remote sensing for techniques, carried out by the Institute Remote Sensing Applications (IRSA); and on industrial hazards carried out by the Institute the for Safety Technology and Institute Informatics (ISEI) for Systems Engineering (1ST) and by m a n a g e m e nt and • The Non-Nuclear programme consisted of to related materials f or clean technologies, carried out research projects Energy 10 the Institute by for Advanced Materials (IAM), and to standardisation of photovoltaic for devices, carried out by Systems Engineering and Informatics (ISEI). institute the • The Nuclear the Institute Fission Safety f r om studies on p r o g r a m me encompassed a number of research activities reactor safety, ranging carried o ut by f or Safety Technology (1ST), by the Institute f or Systems the Engineering and Informatics (ISEI) and Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM), to research activities on nuclear safeguards and fissile materials management, executed by the Institute for Safety Technology (1ST), the and Institute Informatics f or Transuranium Elements (ITU). ITU carried o ut research on nuclear fuels and actinides. for Systems Engineering (ISEI), and Institute the • The Controlled Thermonuclear (Technology and Safety) Institute Institute Fusion is programme f or Safety carried o ut by the f or Systems Technology (1ST), the Engineering and Informatics (iSEI), and t he Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM). • The for the includes Targeted Prospective Socio-Economic the activities of Science f u n c t i on (IPTS). The essential Research and programme and Technology Observatory the prospective w o rk Technological Institute t he Studies available Institute is consultants, contributions experts, research organisations and in Member States and w h en possible in t h i rd countries, in order to analyse, process and integrate t h em impartially and in d e p th and, more importantly, to distil clear trends or needs for action in a usable f o rm f or decision makers. to from institutes role of harvest the to t he While Part t wo of this document reports on the evolution in 1995 of these research activities, Institute by Institute, some salient results are illustrate h ow in order highlighted here JRC institutional to research enables to acquire develop scientific knowledge and specific to make a valuable contribution to the advance of science, to provide scientific evaluations, to spread k n ow h ow and expertise in areas w h e re n ew innovative applications could be of interest to coordinate scientific cooperation t h r o u g h o ut Europe and sometimes, to develop European scientific networks centred on its o wn facilities. installations in order JRC Annual Report 1995 11 • Novel activities, making valuable contribu the to science and technology tions benefit of European industry: for fibre infiltration demonstrated reinforcement properties the A new composite material, made of a silicon long silicon reinforced with nitride matrix carbide fibres, has been elaborated at IAM Petten, using a liquid technique followed by sintering. An investigation of its the mechanical effectiveness of in increasing both the strength and toughness of the otherwise brittle silicon nitride matrix, due largely to the formation of weak interphase bounding (the SiC fibres are precoated with a 400 nm thick layer of pyrolitic carbon). Figure 1 illustrates the typical stress-displacement curves the composites with and without an for fabricated with interphase; coated better performance than the one elaborated with uncoated fibres. This new composite is a first- temperature rate applications of structural components in a number of advanced industrial applications, such as gas turbines. the composite exhibits candidate a much fibres high for A project for the synthesis of carbon nitride, a new product, has been set up within a network. its thermal, optical, mechanical functional characteristics The multiple aims of the project were: to assess the and tribological properties of the material and to evaluate for industrial use in optical applications, magnetic storage, hard disk techniques and advanced mechanical components. The network has aroused the interest of 22 research institutes and 11 industrial partners from 9 different countries. The experimental contribution of the the IRMM will be material by nuclear techniques. The IRMM will perform the analysis of materials layers for the light elements (H, B, C, N, £>) using charged particle beams of the 7 MV Van de Graaff accelerator. Nuclear reaction analysis of carbon and nitrogen by (d,p) reactions as well as Rutherford backscattering will be performed. the characterisation of • The JRC has exploited spin-offs its in areas where a new from research activities Community policy could be emerging: the European Commission, For example, together with is the Member States, currently strengthening its policy on natural risks, in particular on the monitoring and prevention of floods. Flooding is a major threat in many regions of Europe, both north SiC/StjN4 composite I 0. 2 0. 3 Displacement (mm) 0. 4 0. 6 Flexure load-displacement curve* of S i^ reinforced with SiC fibre withoot coating and with Carbon Pyrolytic coating*. "Courtesy of UNERA (F Fig. 1 - Stress-displacement curves JRC Annual Report 1995 and south, and involves river basins that need m o n i t o r i ng in more than one country. The exchange of prevention and m o n i t o r i ng k n o w l e d ge a m o ng Member States could thus be beneficial, even for events such as flash floods w h i ch have only local consequences. remote sensing IRSA initiated a u n i f o rm land cover data base obtained w i th techniques f r om most of Europe. Harmonised digital terrain models can be obtained w i th a sampling scheme of 20 by 20 m spatially and 6-7 m in elevation t h r o u gh optical sensors using such microwave sensors are being developed in order to reach a higher degree of accuracy. as SPOT. New techniques in of the IRSA hydrology Specific projects carried out for specific users have also allowed to develop an hydrological modelling. A expertise project called WETLANDS has improved our understanding of catchments (research conducted in 1995 on t wo test sites, in England and in Greece, b o th local organisations), in collaboration w i th and our ability to assess the impact of major proposed changes (such as river diversion or reservoir building) or to develop water management strategies. Another project, for a consortium of HYDRE, developed Mediterranean to study the evolution and hydric stress of the vegetation. regions, allowed IRSA importance for as i n f o r m a t i on on land cover is of Geocoded for upstream runoff, as prime vulnerability downstream well assessment. In mountaineous areas, forests can slow r u n o ff by a factor of 10 as compared to bare soil. Modelling runoff using land cover i n f o r m a t i on is important for advance w a r n i ng of floods d u r i ng risk periods and for assessing m i t i g a t i on measures. It can also be i m p o r t a nt in deciding on agricultural policies of f a l l ow (set-aside) or afforestation which have indirect consequences on floods. Institute The f or Remote Sensing Applica tions (IRSA) is in the process of setting up a scientific and technical support capacity for emerging Community policies concerning floods, thanks to its in-house expertise and the benefit of o n g o i ng institutional research. • to Institutional research activities also fostered spin-offs Two significant examples in the field of surface Institute f or Advanced engineering at the Materials: applications. specific 12 In the f r a m e w o rk of a Eureka project led by IAM (IPACERC project), t he development of a new processing technique f or p r o d u c t i on of multi layer coatings has greatiy increased (up to erosion. These to 500 times) resistance in coatings will have applications t he aeronautics field, particularly in helicopter engines. Surface engineering technology was applied successfully f i e l d, w i th in t he biomaterials three major achievements: i m p r o v e m e nt of the integration of prostheses in living tissues (hip, teeth) due to biocompatible coatings; reduction of wear of hip prostheses by surface engineering of mobile parts of joints; control of the p r o l i f e r a t i on of bacteria on the prosthesis disinfectant elements on the surface of t he prosthesis. These activities are conducted in conjunction w i th several medical in France and in Germany. incorporating Institutes Italy, by in t wo These institutional research can lead to tions useful to industry and society. examples illustrate h ow applica • the JRC Institutional to research enabled spread a w eb of scientific cooperation all over Europe. Indeed, t h r o u gh bilateral or multilateral cooperation, the JRC has set up more than 800 connections w i th various partners, mainly w i t h in t he European Union but also the USA and Japan. This is illustrated in Figure 2. in other European countries, the main factors enabling • Finally, its institutional research has been one to of develop networks centred on its o wn facilities. A vivid example field of earthquake can be f o u nd engineering: European scientific the JRC in the terms. In spite of i m p o r t a nt advances in earthquake engineering and seismic design over the last t wo decades, recent seismic events in Europe (e. g. in Greece and Italy ) have shown h ow vulnerable developed societies still are to t he effects of earthquakes, b o th in h u m an and at economic decreasing this vulnerability w h i c h, to a large extent, depends on the seismic response of structures is thus clearly needed. High level expertise in seismic design of structures has long been available in t he European Union, as have been f or earthquake testing of structures, in particular shaking tables. specialised Research facilities aimed JRC Annual Report 1995 13 UWWNngdom 11 A% 47% Belgium qm Denraik 2Û% Friand Poriigal 2£% Ndheriands 55% LuxBTbounj 0. 1% Qenrany 18. 4% Fig. 2 - Distribution of JRC Cooperation by Country to was research in 1992 of facility at given W i th the setting up in 1989, at the initiative of the JRC, of the European Association of Structural Mechanics Laboratories and the the ELSA subsequent o p e n i ng Ispra, a new reaction w a ll earthquake dimension engineering and co-ordinated Community-wide projects in seismic design of structures were set up a r o u nd the new facility. At present, more in Member States are involved w i th the JRC in a major p r o g r a m me of pre-normative research, in the provisional European standards for designing civil engineering structures in seismic areas. t h an 20 specialised of Eurocode laboratories and w e ll Europe, support (EC8), in 8 initiative of DG research project covers III Established at the (Industry) of the Commission and w i th the advice of the CEN experts in charge of EC8, those priority the topics w h i ch have to be addressed in order to improve the proposed European seismic design rules, and addresses new aspects of insufficiently engineering earthquake covered in the current, provisional version of the code. For the practical i m p l e m e n t a t i on of this the institutional activity at ELSA is a key element i m p l e m e n t a t i on of validation allowing C o m m u n i t y - w i de project, the JRC Annual Report 1995 experiments on large - and f u ll - scale models of buildings and bridges. f r om recently, However, equally i m p o r t a nt is the significant support which has been o b t a i n e d, firstly, from the Human Capital and M o b i l i ty (HCM) programme a n d, more the new Commission p r o g r a m me on Training (TMR). This and Mobility of Researchers support, added to ELSA's o wn institutional f u n d i n g, has made it possible to set up t wo research networks, g r o u p i ng respectively 18 and 11 European laboratories w i th the ELSA t he JRC. Moreover, substantial facility of funding has also been o b t a i n ed the "Large installations" chapter of HCM and TMR to let researchers to have access to a consortium of shaking tables (NTUA, Athens; ISMES, Bergamo; University of Bristol; LNEC, Lisbon; CEA, Saclay) a nd to the ELSA reaction wall. f r om to In addition in support of t he projects Eurocode 8, organisations f r om t he Member States grouped w i th t he JRC in t he European Mechanics Association of Laboratories are participating j o i n t ly w i th in shared cost actions, the ELSA t he competitive f or Commission and w o rk t h i rd parties. Industry is involved in research actions aimed Structural activities support team f or 14 Insbtntional Research Activities CompeàuVeSuppoit Activities Training and Mobility ofReseardxers (TMR) Programme Shared-Cost Actions Third-Bsxty Work HCQBQ^tf ELSA- Laboratory StruccoralM tetanies & E arthquake Engro rtring •"-*- EASML European Association of Structural Mechanics Laboratories (Universities & National Labs) Basic Research in Structural Network in support of Eurocode 8 Brrte / Euram Environment Inco-Copernjcus Research and Qualified ion Projej - Training of Young Researchers • Support to Industry, National/Regional Authorities - U se of N ew Materials à Construction Technologies Fig. 3 - European Collaboration in 1995 around the ELSA Facility validating developing and technologies and better new at introducing construction new materials w i th durability properties f or new constructions as well as for repair and strengthening purposes. Figure 3 shows European collaboration engineering around the ELSA facility. the operation on in 1995 of earthquake 1. 1. 2 Institutional Scientific and Technical Support for Community Policies The JRC provided, Scientific and Technical Support to Union Policies at the request of the relevant Commission services, in conformity w i th the Council Decisions of 15 December 1994 (which a d o p t ed the actual specific programmes the JRC). These Scientific and Technical of activities accounted the JRC's Institutional activities. for 27% of The support activities are customer driven, in f u l f i l m e nt of impartial and neutral scientific and technical requirements arising f r om E. C. directives, decisions of the Commission and thé Council, or obligations stemming the Euratom Treaty. f r om The effective customer/contractor b e t w e en requesting the relationship the services of Commission and t he JRC Institutes is expressed in inter-DG collaboration agreements. the elaboration and signing of General m o n i t o r i ng of such JRC services to the other Directorates General of t he Commission has been exercised by an official inter-DG Committee, established by a Commission decision. This group met twice in 1995, w i th a high attendance. Its role is t w o f o l d: m o n i t o r i ng the w o rk p e r f o r m e d, so as to ensure a smooth, mutual exchange of the i n f o r m a t i on on these activities (over 100 abstracts related to support activities were communicated in 1995 to all DGs), and planning activities the f o l l o w i ng year, t a k i ng into account priorities, new requests and b u d g et limitations. f or related to lines: These Scientific and Technical Support activities were f o l l o w i ng Framework programme Environment Fisheries, Targeted Socio-Economic and Nuclear Safety and Safeguards. Technologies, and Research and Climate, Agriculture t he Information Table 1 shows t he d i s t r i b u t i on of this support between the JRC Institutes and the Framework Programme lines. The three main JRC support activities are: JRC Annual Report 1995 1. JRC Support for the Environmental Policy, which accounts for 46% of the scientific and technical support budget, provides DG XI with scientific and technical assistance for the Table 1 - JRC Institutional S&T Support Activities Institutes I R MM ITU I AM ISEI El IRSA 1ST IPTS Framework Programme Lines Information Technologies Safety and Reliability of Systems Environment and Climate European Reference L a b o r a t o ry f or A ir Pollution (ERLAP) European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) European Centre f or t he V a l i d a t i on of A l t e r n a t i ve Methods (ECVAM) Support to t he European E n v i r o n m e nt Agency (EEA) Quality C o n t r ol of Consumer Products (Consumer Protection) A l p i ne Observatory Industrial Reliability: M a j or Hazards B i o t e c h n o l o gy Safety Foodstuff Analysis in S u p p o rt of Industrial Policy European C o m m u n i ty Pharmaceutical I n f o r m a t i on N e t w o rk (ECPHIN) M e t h o d o l o g i es f or UCLAF Agriculture and Fisheries Remote Sensing f or A g r i c u l t u re A n i m al I d e n t i f i c a t i on European Office f or W i n e, A l c o h ol and Spirit Drinks (BEVABS) Reference M e a s u r e m e n ts and Materials for Quality Control of Foodstuffs Targeted Socio-Economic Research Prospective T e c h n o l o g i c al Studies Nuclear Fission Safety European N e t w o r ks on C o m p o n e nt A g e i ng and Inspection Techniques Euratom Safeguards S u p p o r t: General Euratom Safeguards S u p p o r t: On-Site laboratories and ECSAM IAEA Safeguards S u p p o rt • • • • JRC Annual Report 1995 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • of the nuclear legislation i m p l e m e n t a t i on on cherriical pollutants, atmospheric p o l l u t i o n, w a t er q u a l i t y, chemical waste, industrial risks and inter-DG safety. collaboration agreement the period 1995-1998 was signed in December 1995. This w o rk is p a rt of the 5th EC A c t i on Programme in t he field of the Environment, and includes: The f or which (ERLAP) Pollution - The European Reference Laboratory for Air was particularly active in the harmonisation of current EC Directives on air p o l l u t i o n, in the organisation of Quality Assurance the Control new d e v e l o p m e nt m o n i t o r i ng techniques. programmes and and validation in of to - The European Tracer Experiment (ETEX), the capability of aimed at verifying atmospheric modellers the forecast evolution of a cloud of an atmospheric time. ETEX was co- p o l l u t a nt the W o r ld sponsored Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). real EC, the by in - The European Chemicals Bureau is n ow handling all the w h i ch and scientific required tasks n o t i f i c a t i on of new chemicals, of assessment classification e x p o r t / i m p o rt chemicals chemicals. and control. existing and of testing methods labelling (ECB), technical the for risk the chemicals, and dangerous for for identifying - The European Centre f or the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM), which, in collaboration w i th its advisory Committee, has d e f i n ed criteria the Centre's priorities. Activities included pre- validation of non-animal test protocols, vaccine potency and safety testing, and integrated in toxicity testing studies which focussed on metabolism-mediated toxicity, and on in- in blood for tests vitro f o r m i ng tissues. teratogenicity approaches alternative - The European Technical Office for Medicinal Products, established at El after a M e m o r a n d um of Understanding was signed b e t w e en the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products and the Joint Research Centre. This office is established in both London and Ispra and is part of t he European Technical Office f or Medicinal Products (ETOMEP) Unit of the 16 the JRC; Institute of Environment it is dedicated to the d e v e l o p m e nt of technical i m p l e m e n t a t i on systems necessary f or the of on legislation European medicinal products. Union in - The Major Accident Hazards Bureau, the t he Bureau in "Seveso" Directive. The support of activity of t he resulted preparation of a second report on lessons learned the f r om accidents n o t i f i ed Commission; in t he distribution of a pilot data base of t he Documentation Centre on Industrial Competent to Risk Authorities; and in substantial progress made by the w o r k i ng groups established to produce guidance f or safety reports and safety m a n a g e m e nt systems. t he to - Support f or methodologies (UCLAF). the of for E. U. a n t i f r a ud policy elaboration - Support services t he Alpine related Observatory (Alpine Convention), initiated in 1995. to The JRC also offers institutional support to the European Environment Agency (EEA- Council Regulation 1210/90). 2. JRC Support for t he Common Agricultural Policy, accounts f or 16. 5% of t he Scientific and Technical Support budget. The inter-DG collaboration agreement the period 1995-1998 was signed on 17July 1995. The research the work areas: f o l l o w i ng is mainly for in - application of remote sensing to the aim of agricultural statistics, w i th demonstrating and developing methodologies integrate w h i ch remote sensing data i n to t he collection of crop statistics acreage and agricultural production in the EC. the m o n i t o r i ng of can f or - m o n i t o r i ng and control of t he Common and Policy: Agricultural sensing development of n ew techniques improved a l l o w i ng monitoring and control of the Common Agricultural Policy. research remote for - implementation of Community w i ne sector legislation t h r o u gh t he operation of the "European Office for W i n e, Alcohol and Spirit Drinks" (BEVABS); some 4000 EU NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) w i ne JRC Annual Report 1995 17 - data have been validated to be stored in the pertinent data bank. research and development methods improved for identification in order to prevent fraud. new animal of - quality control of foodstuffs, by supplying certified reference materials, by providing suitable analytical procedures and by supplying and/or coordinating laboratory intercomparisons. 3. JRC Support support programme DG for Nuclear Safeguards IAEA (Euratom Safeguards DG XVII, I) Safeguards the scientific and accounts for 32% of inter-DG technical support budget. The collaboration agreement the period 1995-1998 is expected to be signed early in 1996. for Most of the work undertaken deals with the following tasks: - training of inspectors, harmonisation of in- inspection service nuclear safeguards practices, providing state of the art reference analyses of equipment and nuclear materials samples; - design of on-site for safeguards analysis at reprocessing plants such as Sellafield and La Hague; routine analysis of nuclear materials samples; laboratories examination of the purchase and testing of major the construction of two analytical boxes and the training of analysts; equipment including - work on non destructive assay, sealing and identification surveillance safeguards techniques, equipment, data information treatment, health physics and training. techniques, of testing Other Support activities deal with: institutional Scientific and Technical Safety and reliability of informatics systems Foodstuff analysis in support of the Industrial Policy of Quality (Consumer Protection) control consumer products Techniques components in support of DG XI and DG XVII. inspecting ageing nuclear for Table 1 of Annex 1 shows how these support activities are customer driven, in fulfilment of impartial and neutral scientific and technical from E. C. directives, requirements arising decisions of the Commission and the Council, or obligations stemming from the Euratom Treaty. Progress made in these programmes is reported in more detail in Chapter 2, dedicated to the activities of the individual JRC Institutes JRC Annual Report 1995 1. 2 COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES. -. to f r om JRC specialised for in 1988, of Work The i n t r o d u c t i o n, back Third Parties, where t he JRC carried out research on a contractual basis for external clients, was m e a nt to provide a measure of the relevance of t he JRC's w o rk and its competitive technology position, to enhance the f l ow of transfer the let to t he end users, and industry and research communities European facilities and benefit competences. This was the first step in opening the JRC up to c o m p e t i t i o n. The discussions in the European Parliament the Council and leading the Fourth the EURATOM Framework Programme and Framework Programme emphasised the need for the JRC to pursue and reinforce its move towards a more competitive approach on the customer/contractor basis relationship as stated in the Council Conclusions on the role of t he JRC in April 1994. the decisions on genuine of to a As noted by the Council, t he implementation of implied several measures and its conclusions decisions on financial and legal, budgetary, administrative matters which, ideally, should have been in force f r om 1 January 1995. The main decision concerned the modification of the Financial Regulation. This always involves the Council a decision, and was only achieved in September 1995. lengthy procedure, prior to It is intended t h at this transition be introduced the global JRC gradually; around 20% of budget should be earned t h r o u gh competitive activities. As of the 1st of January, activities included: competitive 1995-1998 1995, JRC f or - Participation in shared cost actions, where the JRC, in association w i th partners in the the Member States, submits proposals context of call for proposals, or contributes to proposals submitted by other laboratories under the Framework Programmes; in under t he Fourth - Competitive scientific and technical support activities Framework Programme, where the JRC may respond to Commission specific Directorates-General which are allocated on a competitive basis context of invitations to tender; requests f r om the in - Other competitive activities outside Framework Programmes, where the the JRC 18 to participate (alone or in a consortium arrangement) will be able in various actions sponsored by t he Community (e. g. PHARE, TACIS, assistance to developing countries, in t he context of a competitive etc. ) and approach, will seek Community f u n d i ng in relation to those actions; - Research under contract, the original Third Party Work mode of o p e r a t i on m e n t i o n ed above, n ow part of the overall JRC compe titive portfolio. for this surge preparations A l t h o u gh in competitive activities had already started early in 1994, 1995 has been for the JRC a year of learning f r om experience: learning to cope w i th new administrative and legal issues, learning to redeploy creatively its resources and personnel to face the competitive challenge, and adapting to a external environment. The JRC Institutes have shown a highly motivated, flexible and keen response to the competitive approach, stimulated by an internal task force on competitive activities. internal totally n ew and As far as JRC participation in shared cost actions is concerned, the JRC t o g e t h er w i th partners in the Member States submitted a total of 338 project proposals in response to the first calls for proposals f r om 15 specific Programmes; by December, 1995 the Commission had accepted 95 of those proposals for f u n d i n g, b r i n g i ng the financial overall success outcome to calculate precisely due to the o n g o i ng contract negotiations on several outstanding projects, will be in excess of 10. 5 Mioecu. It is i m p o r t a nt here t he proposal activity and the subsequent evaluation results have revealed to its f u ll extent the relevance of the JRC's work and the European industrial and research communities. to 28%. The the JRC, a l t h o u gh d i f f i c u lt to underline h ow b o th its deep roots rate for in the area of competitive scientific and In technical support activities, of t he 128 Mioecu earmarked w i t h in the 4th FWP for f u n d i ng this the 4-year period, 26. 5 Mioecu activity over t he to were made available Commission early in 1995, b ut only 20 MioEcu have been c o m m i t t ed in 1995. Of these, the JRC to w in a b o ut 11. 9 Institutes have managed in a Mioecu of contracts, either alone or consortium arrangement. t he services of activities competitive the outside Other like TACIS, PHARE, Framework Programmes etc. , have seen a g o od 1995 level of activity on In this highly the part of the JRC institutes. JRC Annual Report 1995 19 competitive sector of the market, the JRC has w on a r o u nd 2. 3 Mioecu. The record f or Third Party w o rk shows, for 1995, new contracts (obtained on the market at large) in excess of 18 Mioecu. Considered the context of t he outstanding e f f o rt on the other fronts, this represents a remarkable hold on the previous positions. (Third Party w o rk earned in 1994 a m o u n t ed to 18 Mioecu). in Table 2 provides a summary of the amounts for competitive activities: earned in 1995 Table 2 - Competitive activities A m o u n ts earned in 1995 (Mioecu) Earned during 1995 Inscribed as 1995 credits (*) Shared Cost Actions Competitive Support Competitive Activities outside t he FWP 10. 8 11. 9 2. 3 Third Party W o rk 18. 5 TOTAL 43. 5 3. 9 4. 8 1. 3 18. 5 28. 5 (*) The balance, w i il be, after conclusion of procedures, inscribed as 1996 credits. HFR Supplementary Pogramme (HFR) at Petten the operation of The High Flux Reactor is operated by the Commission in accordance w i th the Euratom/Netherlands agreement of 25 July 1961. On 29 A p r il 1992, t he Council adopted a four-year supplementary research programme to be i m p l e m e n t ed by the Joint Research Centre the European Atomic Energy Community for (1992-1995) concerning the High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten. Under the supplementary p r o g r a m me which was drawing to a close on 31 December 1995, the activities of the HFR were essentially the outcome of co o p e r a t i on b e t w e en t wo partners, Germany and the Netherlands, w h i ch provided its financing. steadily A d d i t i o n al increased, came f r om external contracts. It is intended to pursue the operation of HFR under a n ew supplementary programme, which w o u ld see an even greater p r o p o r t i on of income coming f r om t i,n industrial sector and a drastic reduction in cos f i n a n c i n g, which has JRC Annual Report 1995 1. 3 JRC INFORMATION DAYS - PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCES to closer increase b e t w e en collaboration t he awareness of The new approach to the JRC activities calls f or a industry, research centers a nd universities in t he M e m b er States and the JRC. In order to stimulate this and t he JRC, Information Days have been organised at t he initiative of Members of t he Board of Governors in London, Athens, Copenhagen, Milan and Vienna. JRC members have presented the Centre and in parallel workshops representing t he f or n ew Institutes have f o u nd grounds t he participants. These collaboration w i th i n f o r m a t i on days have thus supplemented t he numerous presentations of t he JRC given to to national the sites, visits made visitors to t he JRC at representations of laboratories, specialised fairs and exhibitions, d i s t r i b u t i on of JRC literature, etc. The JRC offers a vast array of publications on f r om papers and scientific matters ranging articles conference papers, EUR reports and reviews. in scientific magazines, In 1995 the JRC published in t o t al a r o u nd 1. 000 papers and is their d i s t r i b u t i on by shown in Table 3. Institute The detailed list of JRC publications is published each year in the "Publications B u l l e t i n ". The last issue, No. 15, published in March 1995, gives all publications in 1994. Most of these publications are available u p on request to the Public Relations,Unit, Ispra. addition above In mentioned Bulletin lists all patents o b t a i n ed by the JRC. There were 26 patents g r a n t ed in 1995. publications, t he to In 1995 in Europe. the JRC organises a n u m b er of Each year conferences, workshops and seminars at its five sites there w e re 9 conferences, 94 international workshops and meetings and 135 visits to t he various sites. The resulting visitors t o t al of more t h an 11. 000 shows the constant the scientific community to the contributions in research and development made by the JRC. interest of Table 3 - JRC Publications in 1995 Institute EUR Reports Conf. Papers Articles Published Provis. Total General M a n a g e m e nt Institute f or Reference Materials and Measurements Institute f or Transuranium Elements Institute f or Advanced Materials Inst, for Systems Engineering and Informatics Environment Institue Institute for Remote Sensing Applications Institute for Safety Technology Institute for Prospective Technological Studies Total 5 5 2 16 14 22 17 19 17 117 1 66 96 136 115 129 111 114 4 772 1 40 15 49 26 37 23 16 1 7 111 113 201 155 188 ] 151 149 22 208 1097 1. 4 HUMAN RESOURCES The JRC statutory staff is made up of officials and temporary agents, including b o th scientific- technical and administrative staff. By the end of December 1995 t he statutory staff numbered 1. 786 agents, compared w i th 1. 845 in December 1994. Table 4 gives the d i s t r i b u t i on of statutory staff in 1995. Table 4 - Distribution of statutory staff as of December 1995 Institute Directorate General Programmes Directorate Resources Coordination - Scientific & Technical Support Ispra Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements Institute for Transuranium Elements Institute for Advanced Materials Institute for Systems Engineering and Informatics Environment Institute Institute for Remote Sensing Applications Institute for Safety Technology Institute for Prospective Technological Studies JRC seconded staff Total Staff 25 13 347 169 194 250 187 219 101 246 26 9 1. 786 * JRC Annual Report 1995 21 In addition to statutory staff, 319 scientists are also active in the JRC under various hosting schemes: Table 5 gives the distribution, by Institute, of these scientists, working at the JRC at the end of December 1995. senior scientists hosted as visiting scientists; national experts seconded Member States, scientific work; to to participate the JRC by in selected post-doctoral students fellowships. scientists and post-gratuate through a programme of trained In addition about 20 scientists each year come from a third country assisted by a grant within the framework of a Commission agreement with their countries or with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Besides the above mentioned scientists, several senior scientists and about 150 trainees work at the JRC Institutes at no cost to the EU budget, in general for short periods of time. Table 5 - Visiting scientists, seconded experts, grantholders as of December 1995 Institutes Visiting Scientists Seconded Experts Post- Doctoral Scientists Post- Graduate Students Total Institute f or Reference Materials and Measurements Institute f or Transuranium Elements Institute f or Advanced Materials Institute f or Systems Engineering and Informatics Environment Institute Institute f or Remote Sensing Applications Institute f or Safety Technology Institute f or Prospective Technological Studies 2 2 4 1 5 7 4 2 2 - - 2 4 5 - - 16 16 36 14 32 26 17 21 17 8 10 15 15 34 17 13 26 51 44 60 50 34 8 18 Total 27 13 151 128 319 JRC Annual Report 1995 1. 5 FINANCES budget The as (commitments implemented by the JRC in 1995 is given in Table 6. credits) Table 6 -1995 Budget implementation in Mioecu (Commitments Credits) Institutional activities EC Specific Programme 152. 761 EAEA Specific Programme 75. 301 Subtotal 228. 062 Competitive activities Participation in shared cost actions Competitive Scientific and Technical Support activities Participation in Community activities outside the FWP 0. 027 0. 045 Work for third parties 10. 460 Subtotal 10. 532 HFR Reactor 18. 548 Total 257. 142 22 To these commitment credits one must add 0. 564 Mioecu of credits carried over from the 1994 Budget for the execution of contracts related to research on the environment and on remote sensing from space, authorised in March 1995 (SEC(95) 400 final). Total JRC committed amounted to slightly lower than 258 Mioecu: financial resources the execution of (Research for programmes support activities Commission) for the and JRC specific Institutional the the services of in the framework of shared for the execution of JRC competitive activities the EU budget within (participation actions, competitive support activities for the services of in other the Commission, JRC participation Community activities, contributions from the Dutch and German governments the operation of the HFR and from JRC customers for the execution of work at their request. cost for It should be underlined that the figures in Table 6 refer to expenditure on work performed by the JRC in 1995. Shared cost actions and technical support competitive scientific and activities, as well as participation in other Community activities, were new types of JRC activity in 1995. In most cases contracts were only entered into at the end of 1995. Asa result, only limited work was carried out during that year. Figures on contracts entered into during 1995 are provided in Table 2. JRC Annual Report 1995 2. ACTIVITIES OF THE JRC INSTITUTES IN 1995 2. 1 THE INSTITUTE FOR REFERENCE MATERIALS AND MEASUREMENTS In t he level. 1995, IRMM promotes European The standards, reference materials and methodologies at t he European Institute i m p l e m e n t ed its specific programme under t he heading of Measurements and Testing and c o n t r i b u t ed to t he Framework Programme line IRMM Industrial Technologies. Early in 1995, t o ok over responsibility f or managing the BCR's reference (Community Reference Bureau) materials: stability control, distribution, sales administration and recertification of exhausted batches. storage, includes this to related policies, is engaged in support activities for IRMM nuclear Community safeguards, the safety and quality control of consumer reference measurements and materials for quality control It also provides services and of reference materials to various customers f r om the European Member States. foodstuffs. products, and A. Institutional Activities Institutional Research Activities the and the Measurements One of t he objectives of t he w o rk at the IRMM, Testing w i t h in p r o g r a m m e, is harmonisation and standard isation in analytical measurements. To this end the available measurements expertise and the Institute refined analytical techniques of have been applied to prepare, characterise and certify high quality reference materials for b o th nuclear and appropriate non-nuclear fields, to coordinated establishing be analytical measurement system at European ievel. W i t h in this f r a m e w o r k, responsibility for the management of reference materials under testing the standards, measurement and programme (formerly BCR) has been taken over by IRMM. used for a to included attempts Research on biological and environmental isolate and materials stabilise chloroplast material suitable f or the bio-assay of pesticide traces in drinking w a t er research was pursued on control. Analytical by characterisation m e t a l l o t h i o n e in electrochemistry and liquid chromatography, and on heavy metal traces of environmental or bio-medical relevance. The m o d e rn Ultra Clean the sub- Chemical Laboratory was used f or JRC Annual Report 1995 boiling preparation of batches of high purity water and of acids f or h i gh accuracy analytical w o r k. The IRMM also c o n t r i b u t ed to the i m p r o v e m e nt of t he n e u t r on interaction standards data sets (which serve to d e t e r m i n e, inter alia, partial cross-sections) as collected in the High Priority Request List by t he NEA W o r k i ng Party on Evaluation C o o p e r a t i o n, under t he auspices of the NEA Nuclear Science Committee and in collaboration w i th IAEA. For quality control certified activation analysis collaboration w i th (Belgium). reference materials, in the preparation of neutron a facility was set up in t he SCK/CEN at Mol The proceedings of t he International M u l t i p le Group Users' Workshop were published. Analysis UHACreiurhhhed * ^%V ^ \X N* V. }8MM*s electron linear accelerator' DNÀ<$ with hs unique high energy-resoiution potential «as refurbished from September 7394 to Apr# W9$- The neutron measure?* zt\tbe mertt programme was resumed accelerator m^ <ofUboraitofi^tth\ CEA. scientists m the fields of matron capture an& transmission experiments. Measurements if the totai and radiative capture cross+sections of $$Fc m the /QW resonance region were started m collaboration with the CEA afj Sac/ay (France), low energy resonance,,!**] uranium and uranium oxide was studied'àt low temperatures in order to investigate soiid state effects on resonance shapes/fa collaboration w/tfc the CFA at Çadàrache,. (France). " -; ',",>/' Work related to nuclear matters included, inter alia, the supply of targets f or n e u t r on cross- section measurements, fission fragment studies and other applications; t he preparation and characterisation of 10B reference layers to be used flux measurement; t he setting up of an improved electrodeposition m e t h od f or the preparation of the layers; d e t e r m i n a t i on of uranium in e n v i r o n m e n t al samples. t h in uranium a nd p l u t o n i um accuracy neutron high in the LINAC, high energy resolution Also at measurements of the inelastic scattering cross- section of iron were made using a 60 m f l i g ht path. The spontaneous fission processes of isotopes and of 252rf have been p l u t o n i um f u r t h er investigated. At the 7 MV van de Graaff accelerator, neutron inelastic scattering was measured on natural m o l y b d e n u m. In collaboration w i th KFA Julien (Germany), cross-sections f or various activation reactions w e re measured chromium isotopes. Improved experiments to determine the cross-sections 235u(n,f) and H(n,n) have been initiated. reference ratio of the on In radionuclide metrology, an intercomparison of computer codes used for the analysis of 239pu/240pu alpha particle spectra has been pursued. Ultralow-background (3 spectrometry was used to characterise human bones for low radionuclide underground laboratory of HADES (High Activity Disposal Experimental Site) at Mol in a to obtain a natural matrix European e f f o rt limits reference material. Similarly, detection for biological matrix were determined. (Belgium) content 2iopb the in in a the materials projects setups research experimental t wo For complementary for hydrogen p r o f i l i ng have been installed at the 7 MV van de Graaff. At the 3. 5 MV van de Graaff machine, the stopping power for helium ions and protons of polyimide and VYNS (trade name of co polymer) foils has been d e t e r m i n e d, as well as the uniformity of trace metals on filters for an aerosol reference material. chloride/vinyl acetate vinyl Institutional Support Activities IRMM's support activities in 1995 were mainly related to Nuclear Safeguards, on request from DG I (External Relations), for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and DG XVII (Energy, Euratom Safeguards Directorate). Non- nuclear certified reference materials were also prepared for other DGs. IRMM acted in general as a Commission laboratory offering scientific/technical support to services which do not dispose of their o wn measurement back-up. W o rk on dried nitrate or metallic spike material large was continued reprocessing and isotopic reference materials were p l u t o n i um IAEA. Low prepared on behalf of DG chemical concentrations w o rk in IRMM's ultra clean chemical laboratory. improve safety at uranium implied meticulous to plants, I for and for IRMM provided DG XVII w i th solutions detector calibration needed in non-destructive assays of uranium and p l u t o n i u m. Certified reference materials of soils, sediments and foodstuffs were prepared f or DG III (Internal Market) and DG VI (Agriculture), f or quality control to assist enforcement of European legislation. These activities were c o m p l e m e n t ed by providing suitable analytical procedures and by laboratory intercomparisons. For DG VI, new activities were initiated on selenium speciation a nd sugar analysis. Cosmetics analyses and a product safety data bank were under development f or DG XXIV (Consumer Policy). initiating a n d / or coordinating B. Competitive Activities Shared-Cost Actions of its field competence, has In contributed in 1995 to 8 SCA proposals, 3 of which have been accepted so far; these deal w i t h: IRMM • • the design, production and certification of sets of synthetic polymer reference materials consisting of a polyolefinic base material doped w i th heavy elements Cd, Cr, Hg and Pb at t wo different concentration levels; the preparation and certification of calibrant solutions and fly ash samples f or measure polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins ments (PCDD) and polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDF) contaminations in emissions at levels of 0. 1 n g / m3; of • the preparation and characterisation of catalytic converters w i th respect to Pt, Rh, Zr and Ce. Work for third parties IRMM services and reference materials are available on a commercial basis. As IRMM n ow manages the BCR's reference materials, these are also being made commercially available f or non-nuclear applications. (IMEP) interest International Measurement Evaluation The in a is arousing Programme g r o w i ng number of laboratories. The most recent IMEP round on trace elements in w a t er 28 attracted European countries. Evaluation Interlaboratory Programme quality control exercise, recently b r o u g ht t o g e t h er 20 Regular Measurement (REIMEP), an external laboratories about The 250 in JRC Annual Report 1995 laboratories worldwide in rounds on uranium oxide powder and two uranyl nitrate solutions. The supply of nuclear samples to external customers, in particular for reactor neutron dosimetry, was continued. Four new neutron dosimetry reactor pressure vessel surveillance (titanium metal and three Al-Co alloys) have been prepared. reference materials for 25 _£. • ffy Ash Reference Materials and Synthetic PBtymzrHeference Materials One of the successful Shared<ost Action proposais dealt with the preparation and cer&tKation of solutions and fly ash reference materials^ for measurements of dïoxùte or furane compounds =at hw concentration levels. A proposai related to tôe design, production #nd certification of two consumable synthetic poiymer reference materiafs doped with Heavy elements at two concentration levels? has been launched with a view to promoting envlronmentai protection and supporting the European polymer the materiafs development, production control and quality management industry In JRC Annual Report 1995 2. 2 THE INSTITUTE FOR TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS fuel cycle. The t he nuclear ITU performs activities in the field of t he safety of Institute contributed to t he Framework Programme line particular Nuclear Fission Safety w i th the emphasis on nuclear fuel cycle. Other research themes were the safety of nuclear the measurement and modelling of f u el properties, and the characterisation of spent fuel w i th a view to its long term storage. the safety of actinides t h r o u gh fuels, in a ITU also provided scientific and technical support f or Community policies in the area of in on-site Nuclear Fission Safety, mainly La Hague laboratories IAEA (Euratom Safeguards) and the (International Atomic Energy Agency). In in several contracts at addition, it is engaged the request of various customers. at Sellafield and for A. Institutional Activities to fuels" part of the p r o g r a m m e; the Commission's ITU performs its activities under the "Safety of nuclear it contributes sectorial policies on "Safeguards" and "Fissile Material M a n a g e m e n t ", and t h r o u gh development of instruments, analytical services and expertise, and direct in field measurement support. techniques and research Institutional Research Activities in research been of obtained uranium-based is Fuel Cycle Safety: Basic actinide being carried out to elucidate t he electronic structure of actinide elements and their interest for chemistry and solid-state physics. Important the have results heavy- understanding f e r m i on w i th (Pu). Other n e p t u n i um themes light/solids interactions; neutron experiments w i th Np compounds and neutron inelastic scattering, to better understand electron interactions in the 5f and 3d electron shells; X-ray synchrotron experiments on uranium oxide single crystals and help understand magnetic behaviour. superconductors (Np) and p l u t o n i um theory of arsenide uranium crystals, include doped the to ITU fuel, the area of safety nuclear is In measuring and modelling fuel properties and fuel/cladding interactions in order to be able, in a f ew years, to design very high burn-up MOX (mixed U- Pu oxide) fuel pins t h at w o u ld be as reliable as present-day uranium fuel. Fission product release f r om irradiated fuel as used in 26 t he PHEBUS reactor safety p r o g r a m me was measured up to complete e v a p o r a t i on of t he fuel. The TRANSURANUS code was successfully used to describe high burn-up p h e n o m e na (rim effect). For t he t he use of high resolution electron microscopy clearly revealed the subgrain dislocation t he boundary f o r m a t i on of t he rim-structure. f o r m a t i on as the in UO2 and first step t i m e, lines first in the EFTTRA t he m i t i g a t i on of (Transmutation and Burning In the area of long-lived actinides and fission products, in order to help f u r t h er minimise the radiotoxicity of spent f u el and highly active waste, ITU collaborates w i th industry leading national laboratories, nuclear to prepare and Member State authorities samples for fuel irradiation, t r a n s m u t a t i on and recovery of actinides f or example, t e c h n e t i um (Tc) samples for irradiation, pins w i th high Pu and Np content and a Pu-cerium inert matrix (Experimental based pin w i t h in Feasibility of Targets for Transmutation) and TRABANT of Actinides in Triox) programmes. The feasibility fuel of targets w i th 20% Am (americium) and 20% Np was demonstrated. Extraction c h r o m a t o g r a p hy was investigated for t he separation of U and Pu f r om such fuels. A patent application was made for a method b u r n i ng weapon-grade Pu in a Light Water Reactor w i th high p r o l i f e r a t i on carried resistance. Studies were on the physical and fabrication procedures and chemical properties of inert matrix materials f or the transmutation of actinides. Pellets of mixed f u el pins w i th oxide reference material and and fuel metallic characterised. recovering actinides fabricated irradiated been have f r om o ut long In the area of spent fuel characterisation w i th a t oo term storage, analyses were per f o r m ed to provide reactor operators, t he f u el cycle industry and licensing authorities w i th t he necessary, relevant safety data, including those on radiotoxicity. For instance, t he leaching and corrosion behaviour of natural uranium oxide and irradiated high burn-up f u el was investi gated using solutions simulating g r o u n d w a t er to and salt brine, w i th a t t e n t i on paid the mechanisms and kinetics of leaching. The structure of oxidised layers on leached uranium the Rutherford oxide was determined by backscattering/channeling The irradiated high porosity in burn-up detail. in the outer rim of fuel was quantitatively analysed techniques. Institutional Support Activities In support of the energy policy (DG XVII), in t he "Safeguards and Fissile Materials area of JRC Annual Report 1995 and on-site tested. laboratories In a d d i t i o n, M a n a g e m e n t ", were designed f or safeguards analysis at reprocessing plants such as Sellafield and Cap de la Hague, and major analytical e q u i p m e nt such as robots, titrators, alpha- spectrometers, non-destructive devices and detectors, was measurement purchased t wo analytical boxes were constructed, analysts were trained and routine analyses of nuclear material samples w e re p e r f o r m e d. Some other examples a performance evaluation of the MGA m e t h od f or K-edge and ( M u l t i p le Group Analysis) n e u t r o n - g a m ma a counting comparison of p l u t o n i um assay techniques; a detailed evaluation of correlation isotope t he d e t e r m i n a t i on of Pu-242; techniques f or measurements samples technology f or safeguards samples w i th trace amounts of radionuclides in soils, vegetation and sediments f r om contaminated areas. applications; preparation activities: support 1995 and of provided ITU staff in-site support significant As before, t he Safeguards to analytical fuel in reprocessing Directorate fabrication plants. The characterisation of vagabonding nuclear materials was continued whenever necessary. and in Analysis of Environmental Samples 1 During 1995 the corner-stone was iaid for this the new ARTiNA laboratory*. With laboratory fully operational, the Institute can provide ultra sensitive analysis of radio- isotope traces for the identification of undeclared nuclear activities. This capability will be used for safeguards applications. TheAKTMA laboratory consists of a cfass 100 clean laboratory for sample preparation and pre-treatment and a range of highly sensitive equipment for the measurement of a range of radioisotopes which are "indica tors44 for clandestine nuclear activities, ITU has asked laboratory of the IAEA for environmental samples and has already participated in test campaigns for the analysis of bulk sampfes andparticles. to become a network B. Competitive Activities Shared-Cost Actions 8 proposals (made w i th EU partners) for Nuclear accepted in 1995. The projects concern: • evaluation of p a r t i t i o n i ng and transmutation the p r o g r a m me were Fission Safety strategies JRC Annual Report 1995 • n ew p a r t i t i o n i ng techniques • impact of accelerator based technologres on nuclear fission safety t h o r i um cycles as a nuclear waste manage ment o p t i on revaporisation tests on samples f r om PHEBUS FP • • • source term f or performance assessment of spent fuel as a waste f o rm • supporting nuclear data f or advanced MOX • fuels j o i nt experiment on A m e r i c i um t i on transmuta These Cost-Shared Actions w i ll c o n t r i b u te a b o ut 1 Mioecu. Competitive Support for Community Policies Following a call f or t e n d er f r om DG XIII, ITU has t o g e t h er w i th o t h er partners, a submitted, project on "Enhanced Gas Cleaning by Infra- Sonic Particle A g g l o m e r a t i on and D e p o s i t i o n ". The project was accepted at t he end of 1995; the Institute's share is a b o ut 0. 1 Mioecu. Work for Third Parties As in previous years, t he Institute has carried o ut w o rk for t h i rd parties, w i th major contracts in the areas of post irradiation e x a m i n a t i on of irradiated fuels, f a b r i c a t i on a nd characterisa tion of fuels for t r a n s m u t a t i o n, and examina tion of high b u r n - up u r a n i um oxide and mixed oxide fuels f or d i f f e r e nt customers. During 1995, n ew contracts w o r th a b o ut 2. 1 Mioecu have been signed, w h i le w o rk f r om previous contracts c o n t i n u e d. Other Competitive Activities f o l l o w i ng The TACIS/PHARE during 1995: offers s u b m i t t ed programmes w e re to t he accepted • Measurement of radionuclide release reactor debris samples f r om (TACIS- Chernobyl Ukraine) • Transfer of TRANSURANUS authorities (PHARE-Bulgaria) t he Bulgarian t he to nuclear safety code licensing A study proposal, concerning t he establishment of a data bank on nuclear materials t he f r a m e w o rk of illicit t r a f f i c k i n g, was accepted by DG I. The contract w i ll p e r m it collaboration f or 12 w i th months. The overall scope of t he approved projects is a b o ut 0. 6 Mioecu. t wo Russian experts at ITU in 2. 3 THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED MATERIALS to Institute contributed IAM performs research on advanced materials. The t he Framework lines "Industrial Technologies and Programme Materials Technologies" and "Measurements and Testing", w i th an emphasis on standards and for applications, development of new improved component integrity and materials for clean technologies and fusion materials. IAM also contributed to the Framework Programme lines, Non-nuclear Energy, Nuclear Fission Safety and Controlled Thermo-nuclear Fusion. structural coatings, It also operated in 1995 the High Flux Reactor (HFR) f or t he Dutch and German authorities and was engaged in w o rk on a contractual basis for industry. zo neutron scattering, j o i n i ng of ceramics and brittle materials. Also, activities linked w i th i n f o r m a t i on technologies: h i gh temperature materials data bases; the I n f o r m a t i on Centre on Materials Activities. typical The end-users production and aeronautics industries. are t he energy sensors, chemical of New Improved "Development and resistance Coatings": wear a nd corrosion f a t i g ue improvement, resistance, superhard surfaces and biome dical applications; new composite materials, w i th an emphasis on fibre composites, and electrophoretic processing of ceramic matrix composites. Exploratory research projects laser spallation included testing m e t h o d o l o gy and h i gh temperature superconductors. interfaces in A. Institutional Activities Institutional Research Activities The typical end-users are in m a n u f a c t u r i ng industry, the car industry, aeronautics and electronics. the industrial W i t h in Materials Technologies programme, activities p e r f o r m ed approximately into four clusters: and research in 1995 can be sorted Technologies The £W£KA 1PACERC Project their components. hard erosion conditionsr Helicopter engines are usually submitted extremely to rapid failures of engme manufacturer loped a new deposited showing an improvement 500 compared already available. apply this coating to be protected to leading The Turbomeca has deve coating Deposition, by a factor of over coatings to is contplexshapes engine. to the very in a helicopter by Physical Vacuum to conventional hard The new challenge type of multilayer the Déposition designed the JRC has proposed, m the Accordingly, frame of a EUREKA project, development of a new Induction Pfasma Assisted Chemical machine Vapor specially application, for Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition will allow Induction deposition low will plasma Chemical ensure good process homogeneity, which is an absolute must in this case. temperatures. Vapor Déposition (f-PACVD) this at • "Standards f or Applications" area: research on mechanical performances of materials, testing, corrosion, components' integrity • A new f or line IAM w i ll be support f or industry t h r o u gh t he provision of informa t i on and prenormative k n o w - h ow on eco- friendly materials, materials studies and an ECO materials database. Research w o rk was done on coatings incineration and coatings waste machining in m a n u f a c t u r i ng technologies. for for dry The end-users are the waste management industry, in industry and manufac particular, t u r i ng industry. the the car industry and, recycling • Two projects focused on "Structural Compo nent Integrity": application and qualification of non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techni ques to assess defective a n d / or deteriorating industrial components; NDE and testing of structural components. are mostly The end-users energy production industry, b o th conventional and nuclear, and the transport industry including aeronautics, rail and car manufacturers. t he W i t h in the Non-Nuclear Energy p r o g r a m m e, a n ew topic was introduced in 1995: "Materials f or Clean Technologies". T wo projects were carried o u t: microstructural engineering and ceramic catalyst support, b o th focusing on automotive catalytic converters. The potential industry, b ut also energy users are producters using conventional f u el sources. the car JRC Annual Report 1995 The %&tropean Preswm Rès&tàh&wtcft&PERQ equipment tfèJ&topean Pressure ZqutpmehtXesearch Cotmtit (£Pê8C} is an association of industries^ hboratorieSrengmeeHn^ asso- &fpQ& trfwh&t is to pfamote. European L*©0per*tn(& research in the domain of \pœ&vœ equipment &£HÇ & concerned ,wth research end development proof ems linked to construction end in-service activities, ft deals with all types of pressure equipment nuclearequipmentexdudéd. £p$?c eds as 4 clearing-house to define and coordinate the research programmes end exchange^ experience. It has an important rofe In the dissemination of the resoHs ofresear<h to industry, andworks in close contact with the Commission of the European Communities with regard to shared+costactlon proposals and support to CfflandDGtlL i JinCIAM Petten is the operating agent In the international domain tbeïe are plans to cooperate mth the American Pressure Vessel Council and the Japanese Pressure Vessel Council the Nuclear Safety and Safeguards Within the section on programme, and specifically reactor safety, IAM is the operating agent for the already established European networks dealing with "Nuclear Components and Inspec tion". Projects in operation include an experi mental study on ageing, degradation of steel properties and subsequent annealing, and the Networks Reference Laboratory. of focused on the design of Within the Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion fusion the development programme, technology the International Experimental Thermonuclear Reactor (ITER). The IAM contributed to this effort and supported ITER'S technological needs through its selection and characterisation of adapted materials. IAM also participated in the European the development of low activation materials. In parallel, irradiation experiments were perform ed in the HFR in support of NET/ITER. term programme longer for Institutional Support Activities Projects with the same range of scientific content as above were carried out in support of DG XI (Environment) through the European networks AMES, ENIQ and NESC, and DG XVII (Energy). An information and management transfer structure was set up to improve the technology transfer process. The European Network for Inspection Qualification { ENIQ) me Steering committee of €NfQ. in which the £tt nuclear power plant operators are the voting members, has approved e reference methodology for inspection qualification. Thh methodology has aroused greet interest from industry in its field and is considered of prime importance for future development B. Competitive Activities Shared-Cost Actions IAM took part in 49 proposals, of which 17 have been accepted so far. 9 of these will have immediate funding. The distribution of pro posals among to Brite/Euram, 6 to Standard Measurement and Testing, 4 to Nuclear Fission Safety, 2 to Biomed-2, 1 to Environment and Climate, 1 to Esprit, 1 to Training and Mobility of Researchers and 1 to Joule. the programmes is: 33 Competitive Support for Community Policies Two successful proposals were made to the Valorisation programme of DG XIII (Tele communications, Industries and Information Innovation). The first deals with an "Autono mous Solar System", the second with neural network techniques for non-destructive evalua tion (NDE) applications. This last proposal is a joint venture of both IAM and ISEI. Work for Third Parties New contracts signed in 1995 deal with the following topics: PC based High Temperature Materials Data Base Software, Non Destructive Evaluation Techniques, Aero-engine compo nents, coatings, corrosion studies on advanced materials for power generation. The overall turnover was comparable to last year's. JRC Annual Report 1995 Other Competitive Activities IAM is a partner in a PHARE consortium dealing with the installation of a qualification system for in-service inspection of Nuclear Power Plants in the Czech Republic. IAM is also a partner in proposals made to TACIS in the fields of NDE, inspection and materials ageing. High Flux Reactor (HFR) The High Flux Reactor at Petten continued its operation in 1995 and its utilisation reached about 75%» of the practical limits. The HFR its leadership as a noticeably strengthened supplier of radioisotopes for the radiopharma industry: nearly 65% of European ceutical took place at HFR. The recent production 30 launching of the on-site molybdenum factory will further enhance HFR's role as a key facility for nuclear medicine, vital for millions of patients. The HFR also maintained its role as irradiation test bed for the Fusion community: six new first wall structural materials experiments on (mainly martensitic steels) and plasma facing components have started. The irradiation embrittlement project, part of the European (Ageing of Materials and Network AMES launched. A new Evaluation Studies), was experiment the started series was transmutation of actinides and fission products to reduce the long term radiological impact of high the European collaboration EFTTRA (Experimental Feasibility of Targets for TRAnsmutation). level waste, as part of on JRC Annual Report 1995 il 2. 4 THE INSTITUTE FOR SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND INFORMATICS understanding f r om a w i de range of sources and perspectives. A set of criteria f or " g o od practice" in t he field is n ow being developed. to on ISEI Fission research performs t he Framework Programme systems The engineering and informatics. It contributed in 1995 lines Environment and Climate, Non-nuclear Energy, Controlled Safety Nuclear Thermonuclear Fusion, carrying o ut research on methodologies f or environmental management and assessment of environmental quality, on solar energy by photovoltaics, on fission reactor safety and fissile material control as well as on fusion reactor operational safety. and scientific and ISEI provided In a d d i t i o n, technical support f or Community policies: in the field of the environment, a m o ng others on industrial safety and t he reliability of systems including biosafety; in the field of agriculture, on animal in the energy sector, on nuclear safeguards for the Euratom safeguards and is also the currently engaged in w o rk carried out at the request of external customers. identification; and IAEA. ISEI for A. Institutional Activities research on Institute carries o ut the The reliability and performance of complex systems; on socio-technical systems and risk manage ment; on expert systems; on parallel comput ing; on data bases; and it operates a major computer and n e t w o rk facility. Areas of include: aviation safety, human expertise factors, non-nuclear energies, fissile materials safeguard, industrial safety, environ mental emergency planning. assessment fusion, and risk Institutional Research Activities W i t h in programme, ISEI contributed to studies on: Environment and the Climate • for "Global C h a n g e ": an on-line information service called "European Wide Service Ex change" the (EWSE) was developed Centre for Earth Observation (CEO). Other contributions include software engineering, user interface, quality assurance, satellite image compression techniques and network support. A p i l ot study related to a specific decision maker and the availability of data t h r o u gh EWSE was carried out. • The " I n t e g r a t ed Assessment of Environ mental Quality" approach: aims to provide decision makers w i th alternative options for i n f o r m a t i on and action, via a synthesis of JRC Annual Report 1995 EMEKA-AOAGE for AOAGE is a EUREKA project between french and Portuguese companies and the JHC-JSEL The aim of the project is to develop. a decision-support system integrated environmental management. Its principal objective is to provide a thorough assess ment of aftermtive decisions related to environmental matters. The main features of the project are: the development of a distributed information system networking various sources of information represented by the stakeholders concerned with the decision process; the integration and fusion the of different integration of diverse perspectives including environmental constralntSr socio-economlcal factors and technical issues; a highly inter* active system for information updating: and navigation, as well as scenario testing. The project (S scheduled over a three-year period. information; types of • refined and a promising "Innovative Environmental Technologies": the application of decision s u p p o rt systems has been n ew m e t h od based on object-oriented p r o g r a m ming has been i m p l e m e n t e d, w h i ch w i ll also f or external be of use clients. project " A d a g e ", which aims to develop a decision support system f or comprehensive environ mental m a n a g e m e nt via the t h o r o u gh assess ment of alternative decisions. in o n g o i ng w o rk the EUREKA ISEI j o i n ed W i t h in the f o l l o w i ng activities were p e r f o r m e d: the Non-Nuclear Energy p r o g r a m m e, • Photovoltaic: using a climatically c o n t r o l l ed solar simulator, irradiation was carried o ut at various temperatures to study t he effects of light-induced d e g r a d a t i on on amorphous silicon modules. Results have been leading to a revision of the CEC ESTI 701 specification. An analysis of the spread in the character isation results for W o r ld Photovoltaic Scale samples (WPVS) has also been p e r f o r m e d. W i t h in the Nuclear Fission Safety p r o g r a m m e, w o rk was carried o ut o n: • Nuclear fission safety and reactor safety: a launched on benchmark exercise has been expert safety assessment (PSA), level 2. A questionnaire has in probabilistic j u d g m e nt institutions (research been distributed to a n e t w o rk of more than 50 European labora tories, regulators, industries, etc. ). The first phase, parameter estimation, also involves the f or Safety Technology (1ST), whose facility FARO has been adopted as a reference experiment. Institute Smart Composite Materials interest The The use of fibre optics in transducer systems for measurement of physical parameters has recently attracted much possibility of embedding optical transducers into new composite materials has boosted research in the field of smart materiafs which allow real time structural monitoring from inside the structure itself In continuous fibre composites materials, the proper positioning of the reinforcement allows the material to host optical fibres without an increase of the notch factor. Along this line of research, a smart composite material laminate was produced at ISEI (24 ply graphlte/epoxy beam and Michefson based fibre optic strain transducers embedded in it) and tested. results compared tests were to Both static and dynamic performed and theoretical predictions and to strain values measured by conventional strain gauges bonded to the external surface of the laminate; the correspondence was very good, particularly in the dynamic response. Results supplied by the embedded sensing net of fibres confirmed its diagnostic capability and allowed the planning of future research steps the The and research activities surveillance • Several types of activity have been carried- on Nuclear out w i t h in remote on Safeguards. included: verification distributed surveillance systems based on smart digital cameras and industrial field bus; remote control of a robotic arm for simple manipulation tasks; and the application of new compact laser range finders. In the field of international remote m o n i t o r i ng systems, various image compression and encryption over public communications networks were tested. methods digital for The LaSCo (Laboratory for Surveillance and Containment) has been equipped w i th test ing e q u i p m e nt f or electromagnetic studies, to check the compliance of instruments w i th the new European legislation in this area. 32 The SILab (Seals and Identification Tech niques Laboratory) has successfully helped develop specific ultrasonic boards and soft ware to be used in the next generation of ultrasonic sealing systems at JRC Ispra. f or ITU A design study was p e r f o r m ed in collabora t i on w i th t he establishment at Obninsk of the "Russian Methodological and f i e ld of nuclear Training Centre" t he safeguards. This study has conclusion of a TACIS contract. the led to in • Research activities to Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion have been focused on ITER (International Thermonuclear Experi mental Reactor) as follows : related t he ROBERTINO Remote h a n d l i n g: computer simulation and t he tests on facility of the maintenance by remote operation of blanket the inside reactor have been completed. components placed Safety studies: the mechanical integrity of the vacuum vessel of the reactor and blanket components under plasma disruptions has been transient anal yses after a reactor accident have been pursued. investigated. Thermal Institutional Support Activities • For and technical in support of UCLAF, requirement process; t he services of study the Commission Secretariat General, projects w e re scientific completed the Commission a n t i f r a ud service: a study of they UCLAF's customers and require; t he a of investigative information resources; and an exploratory data analysis of f r a ud case data. New projects are under way: a feasibility study f or IRENE 95 (the integrated i n f o r m a t i on m a n a g e m e nt system of the UCLAF); pattern recognition in databases of f r a ud cases; estimating t he rates of commission vs detection/communication case of information flows across all sectors. harmonising inventory f r a u d; f r a ud an • Support III (Industry) to DG to included a and contribution Communications Technologies p r o g r a m me t h r o u gh R&D projects, industrial workshops, seminars and conferences (SAFECOMP 95). I n f o r m a t i on the • Support to DG VI (Agriculture): research, development and performance tests were carried o ut for the new methods of JRC Annual Report 1995 33 their measurement systems, identification of animals by means of tags and the framework of a major (antifraud) European animal tagging project. in • Support (Environment): for to DG XI the memorandum of understanding the the Major Accident Hazard creation of Bureau in support of the "Seveso" Directive has been implemented. This Bureau, linked mainly to national authorities and industry, operates a Major Accident Reporting System (MARS) and a Community Documentation Centre for Industrial Risk (CDCIR). to DG XI and subsequently In 1995 the Bureau dealt with the production of reports on lessons learned from accidents notified to the Commission, with distribution of a data base on accidents as well as with coordination of technical groups on safety reports and management systems. The Bureau also organised a seminar on the the Seveso Directive, implementation of "Accident Emergency Response". Scenarios and the field of safe applications of In biotechnology, a high level EU-US meeting took place in June, dealing with field tests of genetically modified organisms. • In support of the Nuclear Safety Unit of DG XI, a first version of the European earthquake catalogue has been prepared and its further development is under consideration. • Support to provided information the EURATOM Safeguards Directorate, DG XVII (Energy): ISEI contributed to the fulfilment of Treaty requirements in the following areas: sealing identification techniques, surveillance and of safeguards equip techniques, testing ments, data and treatment, health physics and training. A new system for the automatic recorded surveillance images has been developed. A remote monitoring link between the JRC Ispra and the EURATOM Safeguards Directo rate in Luxembourg has been installed. A contribution to long-term energy scenarios, including the evolution of the nuclear energy industry, has been considered. reviewing of • Technical support is provided the EURATOM Safeguards Directorate and IAEA for the procurement and measurement of several hundred ultrasonic sealing bolts, installed on spent fuel transport and storage to JRC Annual Report 1995 containers at a European fuel reprocessing plant. B. Competitive Activities Shared-Cost Actions lines: advanced ISEI has been selected for 17 projects under the following communication technologies & services (ACTS); environment and climate; industrial and materials techno III); non-nuclear energy logies (BRITE-EURAM (JOULE R&D); nuclear fission safety; technology validation and technology transfer; telematics; training and mobility of researchers (TMR). Competitive Support for Community Policies ISEI has been selected for 36 projects launched by various DGs, namely: three projects from the Secretariat General, Antifraud Unit; three from DG lll-F on High Performance Computering Networks; two from DG XI on Environmental problems; twelve from DG Xlll-D on Technology transfer; thirteen from DG XVII on solar and rational use of energy; three from EUROSTAT on neural networks and other applications to statistical problems. The effective work will begin early in 1996. Work for Third Parties is in a vast taking part, Four institutes from the JRC (ISEI, 1ST, IRSA and El) are together with 79 departments from the universities of Catania, Messina and Palermo, regional development project for Sicily which started in December 1994. ISEI was granted the general management and technical leadership of the project. A first six months report has been sent in July 1995 to the Sicily Region, and the second one in preparation. Results have been achieved in all major sub-projects. They deal with: a decision support system for water supply management; winter and summer campaigns for NO2 monitoring with 300 detectors in Catania, Messina and Palermo; a mobile unit the reliability of erosion of the soil; safety and installations; chemical and petrochemical optical for an historic building in Palermo with 3-D representation and structural analysis; sampling the Sicilian population for an analysis of trace elements in human body tissues. to measure pollution and inspection methods Three new contracts have been established on risk analysis and information to the public. A project to analyse the causes and consequences of stress at work in air traffic control has been 34 carried, out for the Consiglio Nazionale delle RicercKé (Italy). Other Competitive Activities The European Solar Test installation has landed 10 new contracts, 8 for photovoltaic module qualification testing and 2 for reference device calibrations. In a contract with PNC Japan (Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation), good results have been obtained with new and ultrasonic equipment instruments, for among associated compact other the sealing of plutonium things, transport containers at the PNC facility at Tokai Mura. identification Portable equipment has been provided to IAEA for volume/mass determination in large tanks in bulk handling facilities. the A design study is being performed for establishment at Obninsk of the Russian Methodological and Training Centre, in the field of nuclear safeguards. It has led to the conclusion of a TACIS contract. Two 1994 actions in the Copernicus programme have started. JRC Annual Report 1995 35 2. 5 THE ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE to research c o n t r i b u t ed the Framework El lines "Environment and Climate" Programme and "Life Sciences and Technologies". The emphasis of El's research was on global change, e. g. biogenic emissions a nd aerosols, and on the m a n a g e m e nt of soil and g r o u n d w a t er pollution sources, t o g e t h er w i th contributions in the field of t he w o r k i ng e n v i r o n m e n t, such as indoor air quality and trace metals impact on human health in t he EU. A large p a rt of t he Institute's w o rk has been devoted to support activities f or Community policies: e n v i r o n m e n t al policies, the agricultu ral policy, quality control of medicinal products and quality c o n t r ol of foodstuffs. A. l n s t i t u t i o n al Activities The Environment Institute is actively involved in the research programmes, Environment and Climate, and Life Sciences and Technologies. The respective proportions of R&D activities vs. support for t he Commission's sectoral policies are approximately 30 and 70 percent. Institutional Research Activities • in of (Biogenic tropospheric the M e d i t e r r a n e an Understanding ozone the "Climate C h a n g e ": (an f o r m a t i on i m p o r t a nt greenhouse gas) and its impact on atmospheric p o l l u t i on is of major importance region. The BEMA for project the Emissions intends to assess the Mediterranean Area) role of plant biogenic emissions in that area and is being developed at El, in collaboration w i th 17 European laboratories, under JRC coordination. T wo major research campaigns were led in 1995, focused on citrus fields near natural Valencia and (Spain) vegetation near Montpellier (France). El participated also in the EUPHORE project to build outdoor photochemical reactor, completed in 1995 at CEAM (Centro de Estudios Ambientales del Mediterraneo) in Valencia, Spain. exploit large and the on a Field models. The role of natural and anthropogenic aerosols in t he m i t i g a t i on of the greenhouse effect was investigated, b o th in the field and on involved characterising t he aerosol p o l l u t i on drifting f r om t he European continent, in preparation for the 1997 campaign of the ACE-2 (Aerosol Characterisation Experiment-2), in which over 40 European and US laboratories will participate. studies JRC Annual Report 1995 Laboratory experiments w e re also b e g u n, to investigate isotopic effects on t he uptake by soils of methane, gas. Analytical techniques a nd sampling devices are field developed being measurements on N20 a nd CH4. a greenhouse also f or Aerosols and Climate Project The Project aims at understanding the chemical and physical processes leading to aerosols in both the clean and antbropo- genkally influenced marine environment These aerosols are thought to have an important effect on the Earth's radiative balance and climate. The programme combines modelling, field work and laboratory studies, in collaboration with other European and international research teams. Most aerosols effectively scatter sun light back into spacer leading to a cooling of the Earth. A study has been undertaken into the role of black carbon (BC) aerosols Sn the global radiative balance. Black carbon is the main light-absorbing aerosol and would thus enhance greenhouse warming/BC is mamfy emitted by fossil fuel burning and by biomass burning. A major aspect of the Project is the study of aerosol dynamics of sulfate aerosofst Le* the study of formation and growth processes that determine the size distribution of Éhêsé aerosols* The basic mechanisms of aerosol formation are studied in the laboratory. A facility, unique in Europe, has been built m which SO2 is photochemkafly transformed Into sulfuric acid, which subsequently nucleates and grows to form a sulfate aerosoL • " P o l l u t i o n ": W o rk on the m a n a g e m e nt of soil and g r o u n d w a t er p o l l u t i on sources was include catchment areas. The scaled up to land use evaluation of several alternative the management strategies should a l l ow identification of in an agricultural ecosystem. critical subareas The MITO project aims, inter alia, to m o n i t or algal blooms in t he M e d i t e r r a n e an sea. The f l ow fast, performance cytometers was tested to detect, enumerate and characterise p h y t o p l a n c t on populations at t he cellular level. This w i ll lead easy-to-use in order of to a real-time monitoring system which quantifies the algal species responsible for red and green tides. Test materials were prepared (AQUACON project) for laboratory performance tests for waste (sewage sludge) and soil analysis, waste water analysis and the determination of metals in surface waters. The European Collaborative Action (ECA) on "Indoor Air Quality and its Impact on Man" now involves 15 countries, and El participates in its management and scientific secretariat. Research activities have included experiments on human exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), for the first time in a 30 m* test chamber (Indoortron). A study of the impact of ad-/desorption phenomena, and the scaling up of small to large test chamber experiments have also been carried out. AutomaticMeasurementofPollutants The continuous automatic measurement of pollutants h very important for two reasansi in order, to follow conh&ntmtion variations over certain time periods,, and in order to understand pat&wiàr phenomena, such, es the identification of the source of the actual potfutantfs}. Until recently no instrument existed with such an automatic capability to measuret for examplet formaldehydez e very harmful and widespread pollutant used widely In industry, The gap has now been filled at the Environment institute, where a device for the automatic sampling and analysis of formaldehyde, heavier aldehydes and ketones, has been set up. This instrument can operate unattended for one week, carrying out sampling and analysis of ambient air every î$ minutes. A very interesting feature of this instrument is that it can be used for the monitoring of different pollutants. Negotiations are underway with a company for the commercial production of the monitor, which has received much attention at two exhibitions: HELECO *95 in Athens and RICH '95 in Milan, for body tissues human Establishing baseline values for trace metals in clinical, epidemiological and toxicological assessment studies, and studying the impact of trace the health of EU human metals on populations living/working environment, are the objectives of the EURO TERVIHT project. Prenormative research was carried out on exposure impact on health. their in j »o Attempts were made to further understand the biochemical mechanisms of trace metal toxicity at identifying low exposure, by critical organs and molecular targets, with impact on the potential emphasis on cardiovascular, repro immunological and ductive systems, which might show up later in life. Institutional Support Activities in issues of In 1995, El has been involved concern to Directorate General XI (Environ ment), DG I!! (Industry), DG VI (Agriculture) and DG XXIV (Consumer policy), and has organised a large number of relevant meetings, workshops and task forces. The European Reference Laboratory for Air Pollution (ERLAP) has been particularly active in the harmonisation of current EU directives on air pollution, organising Quality Assurance Control prrçrrammes and developing and techniques. validating >ew monitoring intercomparison Activities ("round the development and validation of diffusive sampling techniques for measuring benzene and ozone in The air. field roDin") exercises, as well as ir,. uded ETEX, the European Tracer Experiment, aims at selecting atmospheric models able to forecast the evolution of a pollutant cloud in real time. Several thousand previously collected air samples were analysed at El via a special chromatographic technique. Results show that only a few diffusion models, even when coupled with meteorological models, are accurate enough the pollutant cloud's evoiu-ion. ETEX was co-sponsored by the EC, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). to describe "Risk Assessment The European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) has become fully operative 9 months ahead of schedule. It is now handling all the technical and scientific tasks required of the Commission for the notification of new chemicals in the areas of "Classification and Labelling", "Testing Methods" of Existing Chemicals" and "Export/import of Certain Dangerous Chemicals" (Directives 67/548/EEC (EEC) and 92/32/EEC; Council- Regulations 2455/92 and (EEC) 793/93). A second phase of data collection for the Council Regulation on the Risk Assessment of Existing Chemicals was concluded, data was transmitted to competent authorities in the Member States, and a public (International Uniform version of IUCLID JRC Annual Report 1995 37 Chemicals Database) (excluding confidential data files), was made available on CD-ROM to the industry a nd general public. B. Competitive Activities Shared-Cost Actions f or Methods the Validation of The European Centre Alternative (ECVAM), Testing inaugurated in October 1994, has defined its its advisory Committee. priority criteria w i th Studies have been t he pre- launched on testing protocols, validation of non-animal testing, and vaccine potency and toxicity integrated alternative approaches testing, on metabolism-mediated toxicity and on in v i t ro tests for teratogenicity in b l o o d - f o r m i ng tissues. focusing safety in 22 proposals have been accepted so far. The majority of these concern t he Environment a nd Climate Programme, covering a w i de range of t he o n g o i ng JRC activities closely related to Research Programme. However, projects w i t h in t he Standard, Measurement a nd Testing, t he Telematics Applications a nd t he Nuclear Fission Safety programmes have been approved as w e l l. Competitive Support for Community Policies f or t e n d er issued by El has answered calls 11 several DGs of proposals have been selected f u n d i n g, w h i ch may reasonably be expected to start early in 1996. The topics covered include: t he Commission, a nd f or • Prenormative research, standardised as w e ll foodstuffs as special analytical methods f or analysis (DG III); • Information a nd c o m m u n i c a t i on w i t h in Medicinal Evaluation Agency (DG III); f r a m e w o rk of systems t he European the • Development of analytical f or dairy products (DG VI); m e t h o d o l o g i es • Support to CORDIS i n f o r m a t i on system (DG XIII); • Analytical procedures f or custom c o n t r ol of special products, a nd f or products classified according to t h e ir chemical composition (for DGXXI). Work for Third Parties A series of activities has been p e r f o r m e d, mainly to provide local and regional authorities w i th appropriate t he m a n a g e m e nt of surface bodies of w a t e r, toxic waste p o l l u t i on problems p o l l u t i on m o n i t o r i ng techniques. tools and f or air of feasibility collaboration w i th The the European E n v i r o n m e nt Agency's Topic Centres on Air Quality (RIVM, NL) and on Inland Waters (Water Research Centre, UK) has been explored, preliminary activities (mainly on Air Quality M o n i t o r i n g, A l p i ne Observatory, Inland Waters, Contaminated Sites and Mobile Laboratories) having been carried out. established at El after for Medicinal A European Technical Office Products was a M e m o r a n d um of Understanding was signed the the European Agency between Evaluation of Medicinal Products and the Joint Research Centre. This office is n ow called the ETOMEP Unit of t he Environment Institute of the JRC, a nd is dedicated to the development of technical the i m p l e m e n t a t i on of European Union legislation on medicinal products. necessary systems for for Other w o rk carried o ut by El included analytical work related to w i n e, f o od and cosmetics, and preparatory w o rk in support of the Ecological Directive f or surface bodies of water. JRC Annual Report 1995 2. 6 THE INSTITUTE FOR REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS vegetation parameters, such as seasonality or fire on a continental a n d, ultimately, global scale. 38 IRSA performs The research activities on applications of remote sensing and contributed to the Framework Programme line Environment and Climate w i th its specific activities on the (CEO), remote Centre sensing and advanced Earth observation techniques. f or Earth Observation and m o n i t o r i n g, techniques Through t he use of satellite Earth observation data scientific it also provides support f or agricultural statistics. i m p o r t a nt A. Institutional Activities Institutional Research Activities is fields IRSA's i m p o r t a nt R&D the One of exploitation of satellite data f or the mapping of land cover and land degradation in Europe and in the w o r l d, and for the m o n i t o r i ng of bush and forest fires, under the research programme, Environment and Climate. IRSA is also develop ing and validating capabilities remote detection, e. g. , of oil slicks or antipersonnel landmines. for research involved " p a t h f i n d er phase" The Centre f or Earth Observation (CEO) project its completed in 1995. T h r o u g h o ut t he year t he project ran a number of studies and workshops aimed at defining a final CEO concept and at establishing a design and i m p l e m e n t a t i on plan for the coming years. This and in-house future Earth consultation w i th present and observation data users and service providers t h r o u g h o ut t he European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). The CEO project w o r k ed in close collaboration w i th a Pathfinder Phase steering committee, consisting of experts countries, f r om all EU and EEA nominated by the Board of Governors. The work was done in cooperation w i th European and global partners, including the European Space Agency (ESA), EUMETSAT, the European Environment Agency (EEA), the United States' and NASA Atmospheric A d m i n i s t r a t i on (NOAA), and the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan. The concept should the p r o m o t i on of access to Earth observation data to scientific, commercial and and services governmental customers. and National Océanographie include t he state M o n i t o r i ng terrestrial creation of v e g e t a t i on maps, which b o th cover change and cover v e g e t a t i on land and of the indicate functional evolution involved Forestmformatxon System t$9$ sew the completion of the forest information from Remote Sensing {FIRS} projects Pfenning Phase in cooperation with consortia: '-. of organisations from France, Germany, Swedenr " the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland, Spalnt Ireland and Finland. The major objective of the project is to contribute to the development of a Unified information System, European Forest providing both production related and environmental forest information. In 1995 the project developed a régionalisation and final stratMication of European forest the unified ecosystems and European Forest Nomenclature System > finalised Using a ten year archive of satellite images, land cover maps and daily fire counts w e re prepared for Africa, and the same w o rk has begun for receiving South-East Asia. Portable stations satellite data were also used in Central Africa and Madagascar to map and m o n i t or bushfires, as part of local and regional environmental management programmes. Data o b t a i n ed f r om instruments on the European remote sensing satellites ERS-1 and ERS-2 are being evaluated as aids to measurement of burned areas. A database describing the entire tropical forest belt was interfaced w i th remote sensing data to provide the Tropical Forest I n f o r m a t i on System, which will be produced as an interactive CD-ROM f or general dissemination. to detection of fire scars and in land use changes The mapping of land d e g r a d a t i on linked to fire, the soil erosion and Mediterranean Member States of t he EU, and the m o n i t o r i ng of forests on a pan-European scale under the FIRS project (Forest I n f o r m a t i on f r om Remote Sensing) were associated w i th fundamental research on image understanding techniques, which will facilitate t he use of data f r om future European space borne sensors. The bidirectional reflectance properties of the to Earth's surface have been studied radiation advanced models surface the next interactions, to help processing generation algorithms and in exploiting data f r om f u t u re high performance sensors. of in d e v e l o p i ng satellite thanks image of JRC Annual Report 1995 33 for information the study of Satellite; based observations of sea surface temperatures and ocean colour over large areas the provided marine biosphere. Image interpretation, data processing and the use of dynamic models were developed as means of assessing biomass production and carbon dioxide exchange by phytoplankton, ocean thermal dynamics, and the implications of both on the global climate system. The use of Earth observation data archives was coupled with new approaches to data management and analysis, and to strategy development for processing data from new sensors. Neural networks and virtual reality systems were tested as means of extracting information from future multidimensional data sets. In the European Airborne Remote Sensing Capability (EARSEC), tests on sensors and the the Synthetic Aperture Radar development of geophysical processor were finalised. The validation of EARSEC focused on developing oil routing slick detection at sea and ship applications. defined experiments Advanced the European Microwave Signature Laboratory (EMSL) user group included in 1995 test series on "The scattering properties of non-vegetated soils" and "Imaging techniques". by Plastic antipersonnel land mines are numerous in some heavily populated regions of the world, and detection of these dangerous objects is a high risk, yet vital, operation. In addition to the humanitarian threat, these objects can be seen as an environmental threat as their presence prohibits effective land use in 'contaminated' areas. A 1995 report based on EMSL results the in evaluated possible capacity objects manufactured from plastics by the application of for instance, remote sensing devices on land based vehicles or remote controlled flying platforms. improvements dangerous techniques using, remote sensing detect low to Institutional Support • Support for the European Environment Agency (EEA) focused on the creation of in EEA's collaboration European organisations active in the field of Earth observation. Land Cover Topic Centre, various with • Support for DG VI (Agriculture) consisted in to the application of remote sensing JRC Annual Report 1995 agricultural statistics, with the aim of developing and demonstrating method ologies for integrating remote sensing data the into monitoring of crop acreage and agricultural production the EU (Council Decision 94/753/EC No. L299 of 22. 11. 1994). the collection of statistics for in project (MARS) includes information The Monitoring of Agriculture with Remote Sensing two components. Firstly, MARS STAT, involving research on the development of an advanced agricultural system which the various methods of crop integrates the production monitoring developed by project, the MARS of development for production agricultural techniques non European Union monitoring in the development of new countries, and techniques Europe's for monitoring the land, using data agricultural European remote sensing satellites ERS-1 and 2. Secondly, MARS CAP, which deals with the verification of farmers' land use declarations, as governed by the Common Agricultural Policy. to individual Member States. For MARS STAT, IRSA provided both technical support and a research programme, and for MARS CAP, technical support centred on quality control, and training and assistance for Member States' personnel and national companies. In 1995 MARS CAP devolved from B. Competitive Activities Shared-Cost Actions IRSA submitted 40 proposals, together with national partners, on a range of specific scientific subjects, of which 10 have been accepted. A proposal on imaging spectroscopy was also made, under the programme Training and Mobility of Researchers. If it is successful, IRSA will host 20 post-doctoral researchers over the next three years. Competitive Support for Community Policies IRSA answered calls for tender issued by several the Commission. Proposals were DGs of accepted in a number of key areas. For example: • Application of the MARS project for wine and olive production modelling (for DG VI); • An operational tropical forest monitoring programme, submitted by the Monitoring of Tropical Vegetation Unit (for DG XI); • Two, joint bids with ISEI dealing with neural to EUROSTAT network applications, one land use concerning neural networks for classification, the other to DG III for the benchmarking of neural network systems. environmental resource inventories and marine pollution monitoring. Other Competitive Activities 40 Work for Third Parties Five contracts were carried out for customers in Belgium, France and Italy, on topics ranging regional from microwave measurements to A four year multi-country project for rapid environmental and agricultural monitoring and the PHARE statistics was accepted programme. Another the development of systems for crop assessment and monitoring in Russia, was accepted by TACIS. by project, on JRC Annual Report 1995 41 2. 7 -ÇJ-IE INSTITUTE FOR SAFETY TECHNOLOGY Research on Safety Technology, p e r f o r m ed at 1ST, c o n t r i b u t ed to the Framework Programme lines Measurement and Testing, Environment and Climate, Nuclear Fission Safety, and Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion. The overall mission of 1ST research c o n t r i b u t i ng to safe civil engineering structures, nuclear reactors, fusion tests as w e ll as relating chemical to industries and p o w er utilities. to p e r f o rm particular problems t he of is The Institute is also engaged in several support activities related to Community policies in t he field of energy, the area of Nuclear in Safeguards (Euratom Safeguards and IAEA). A. Institutional Activities for Under t he Nuclear Fission Safety programme the IST's investigations deal essentially w i th d e f i n i ng safe o p e r a t i on conditions for industrial installations and research, existing or planned. In particular, the Nuclear Safety and Safeguards p r o g r a m me covers a major part of IST's activity. Major support is provided to the Euratom Safeguards Directorate of DG XVII and of DG I for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). IST's support activity is generally closely blended w i th institutional research. the New results w e re obtained f r om an i m p o r t a nt corium melt experiment on melt quenching in the TERMOS experiment simulated an in-vessel situation d u r i ng a severe accident. test vessel. The fuel/coolant first version of the COMETA code interactions The calculating completed and is used for routine pre- and post- test calculations of the FARO tests. External users include IKE, ENEA, and the University of fuel breakup Wisconsin. model into the code. for is n ow introduced IKE the thermohydraulic behaviour The experimental programme on the STORM in June 1995. The advanced facility started i n s t r u m e n t a t i on f or characterising aerosols was validated. The in the mixing vessel and the deposition in pipes of Sn-aerosols under thermohydraulic tests w i th pre tested (four conditions w e re calculations, analysis, and post-tests calcula tions). The d o c u m e n t a t i on of is nearly complete. The 4th and 5th meetings of the i n t e r n a t i o n al STORM user g r o up were held in March and December. Five sets of aerosol problems are proposed-as benchmarks for codes varying these tests JRC Annual Report 1995 currently used f or m o d e l l i ng thermohydraulics a nd aerosol physics in nuclear plants. Large t he discrepancies have been h i g h l i g h t ed results f or t u r b u l e nt aerosol deposition a nd resuspension as calculated by various codes. To improve and assess these mathematical models, reliable measured f or data comparison purposes. needed are in interpret W o rk j o i n t ly in support of Phebus FP was p e r f o r m ed by a team of 1ST analysts a nd on-site the staff at CEA Cadarache (F), to w e a l th of on-line and post-test measurements available f r om a first test (late 1993) w i th lightly irradiated f u e l, and to prepare f or t he next test w i th irradiated fuel. The first test yielded some unexpected results, such as t he advanced state of degradation of low t he deposition in t he experimental circuit, and t he persistence of gaseous radioactive iodine in the containment vessel. rods, fuel the New and updated models w e re a d d ed to t he ESTER (European Source Term Research Code) system. A new, extended version of ESTER was formally released at a User Group meeting in October. An extensive v a l i d a t i on was carried o ut w i th the User Group. f or MTR Non destructive testing instruments are being developed: a new PIN m o n i t or n ow used in Mol (Belgium); a scanner f u el plate inspection at Romans sur Isère (France); a new gamma detection device f u el elements stored under w a t e r; and a new Plutonium u n a t t e n d ed scrap m o n i t o r. An system for safeguarding l ow enriched U installa tions includes specific software and a novel n e u t r on collar. c o n t r ol to the Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion Under p r o g r a m m e, 1ST participated to t he w o r l d - w i de development of fusion t e c h n o l o gy focused on t he design of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The overall system testing for the ETHEL t r i t i um safety laboratory was completed. The various laboratory systems were tested and t he necessary d o c u m e n t a t i on prepared t he necessary cold commissioning phase prior to nuclear tests w i th t r i t i u m. The Fifth Topical M e e t i ng on Tritium Technology was hosted and t he proceedings were published t he Fusion Technology Journal. to carry o ut in R&D activity focused on fusion materials, waste studies, t r i t i um control approaches and n ew measurement techniques. 1ST hosted a n u m b er t he of t he behaviour of t r i t i u m, e. g. on i n b u i l d i ng characteristics, experiments on reduction of t r i t i a t ed water on regenerable h ot iron beds, and t he performance of a t r i t i um gas m o n i t or based on scintillation principles. W i t h in characterising continued o n: ETHEL, w o rk t r i t i um recycling and outgassing f r om potential reactor first wall materials under gaseous studying conditions; large the techniques; and measuring d e t r i t i a t i on performance of various permeation barriers. An and experimental conditioning activated/ fusion wastes is being assembled. f or d e t r i t i a t i ng t r i t i a t ed solid fusion scale plant the Measurements and Testing W o rk under programme concentrated on assessing t he reliability of structures. Major pseudodynamic tests were p e r f o r m ed in t he ELSA facility on a frame under large composite steel/concrete in conditions simulating severe earthquakes, support f u r t h er improvement of Eurocode 8 (which applies to the design of civil engineering structures in seismic areas) and Eurocode 4. The dynamic properties of materials and critical structural components w e re studied in t he LDTF facility, mainly in collaboration w i th industry. validation and the of of civil complete prediction and results, on Tools were developed to simulate the seismic engineering behavior in structures. Significant progress was made comparison model w i th the behaviour of experimental reinforced concrete masonry beam-to-column joints. A f u ll d o c u m e n t a t i on set (manuals and model description reports) has been large computer code for transient dynamic analysis of general 3D coupled fluid-structure systems, developed in collaboration w i th CEA (France). for PLEXIS-3C, a infills, and of completed for tools tests as industrial Facilities and calculation reliability research w i t h in t he Environment and Climate p r o g r a m me became fully operational. The FIRES facility was used for, amongst other things, compiex polymerization a service to the chemical industry. Control system development was supported and experimen tally verified, in collaboration w i th TU Stuttgart (Germany), to demonstrate Kalman filter based the application of neural control and n e t w o rk c o n t r ol algorithms. V e n t i ng tests were to performed h o r i z o n t al simulate and in heat exchangers. The DRACULA situations facility produced reference data f or the design of emergency pressure relief systems in large plants. vessel discharge the COLUMBUS facility for in The first commercial version of t he RELIEF code relief design was for emergency pressure 42 completed, including industrial verification. It combines complex modelling w i th extreme user friendliness. test, a plant In an application manager was able to install the s o f t w a re on his PC and to simulate various v e n t i ng scenarios f or his plant in less t h an t wo hours. software advanced f or simulation The d e t o n a t i o n / d e f l a g r a t i on m o d e l i n g, REACFLOW, was released in a 2D version. New software modelling of the f u r t h er dispersion of heavy gas releases was developed. two-phase f l ow a nd for Institutional Support Activities f or in PERLA to safeguards the way of support activities In t he harmonisation of in-service nuclear safeguards training courses w e re inspection practices, given inspectors, including Russian inspectors and operators and industrial experts, and in-field support was given to safeguards inspectors d u r i ng physical inventory verifications (PIV). State of t he art equipment and reference analyses of nuclear materials samples were also provided. Non destructive assays were also p e r f o r m e d. B. Competitive Activities Shared-Cost Actions Fission Nuclear 18 out of 52 proposals were successful. They refer to the BRITE p r o g r a m m e, the Environment the ESPRIT HPCN and Climate p r o g r a m m e, programme, Safety the the Technology Transfer programme and programme. ELSA, t he European Laboratory f or Structural Assessment, has been recognised as a Large-Scale Facility for European users w i t h in the Training and Mobility of Researchers programme. A 12 research European organisations has been approved f or research in support of Eurocode 8. n e t w o rk of Competitive Support for Community Policies 1ST has answered calls f or tender f r om several Directorates-General. Some proposals are at an in particular, advanced stage of discussion, support f or the d e v e l o p m e nt of EUROCODE 8 for DG III. Work for Third Parties f r om 1ST by various requested Work was associations. authorities industries, the of include Developments response of plain and concrete structures to impulsive loading. M a j or contracts simulation reinforced and JRC Annual Report 1995 Sizeable marketing on advancing new competitive activities and promoting the results achieved on industrial reliability. focused efforts displayed 1ST activities were three exhibitions: the Loss Prevention Symposium in Antwerp, INCHEM 95 in Tokyo, and RICH in Milan. Initial sales and third party contracts point to a successful and positive trend for the future. at 43 were also signed with the USNRC, for severe accident; studies with FARO, and with the Portuguese General Directorate for Monuments (DGEMN) for an experimental investigation of the structural reliability of the monastery Sâo Vicente de Fora in Lisbon FARO The high-pressure melt trenching test series m FAHOx using up to 1:0 kg molten coriumt weresutce$sfullycondjd!edin Î93S. fatewiens in severe important results were * 'biamed concerning Fuel+tootant in accident scenarios forlr}hr Water Reactors, inpatticular; All tests showed consitfarzbte melt breakup end quenching in w&xr; Mean debris size ranged from 3. 5 to 5 rstn:. This shows the debris bed should be coolabfe by water. Early themal load structures was found tv tye mild. Steam explosions did not octur* to debris collecting JRC Annual Report 1995 2. 8 THE INSTITUTE FOR PROSPECTIVE TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES Institute c o n t r i b u t ed The role of IPTS is to be constantly aware of all relevant, significant and outstanding scientific and technological events and trends in Europe, particularly those t h at call f or action at EU level. t he Framework The line, Targeted Socio-Economic Programme IPTS are: Research. The essential tasks of to to analyse, harvest available i n f o r m a t i o n; to process and identify clear for decision makers. impartially; and trends or calls for action i n t e g r a te to it The main current tasks at IPTS are setting up the European Science and Technology Observatory (ESTO), technological prospective studies. carrying and o ut A. Institutional Activities IPTS moved to Seville in 1994 and under the Targeted Socio-Economic Research line of the Fourth Framework Programme was given a reinforced objective and corresponding human and financial resources. A large part of 1995 has thus been devoted to the preparation of an is operational w o rk plan. The general purpose to harvest available contributions f r om experts, consultants, and institutes in t he Member States where possible, to also in t h i rd countries, to be able rapidly analyse, process and integrate t h em impartially and in d e p th and, even more importantly, to distil clear trends or calls for action in a form usable by decision-makers. organisations research IPTS's activities and A l t h o u gh resources are formally b r o k en into specific research on the one hand, and support of EU policies on the other, all projects address directly or indirectly the and understanding. Unavoidably, the distinction between types of activities may be t wo somewhat blurred. knowledge public need the for Institutional Research Activities The Observatory at IPTS forms an integral part of the Institute's w o rk and is currently focused on selected fields, but a n e t w o rk of similar organisations o p e r a t i ng at national is being set up to extend its range and to satisfy the much broader f u n c t i on of a truly European Science and Technology Observatory. All interested partners share t he responsibility of carrying o ut a "technology w a t c h" as a joint venture. The function has technology watch been designed to support decision making and level 44 is complemented by specific in-depth prospect ive analyses aimed at shedding the interface between scientific & technical aspects, on the one hand, the economy & society, on t he other. l i g ht on is one of Since employment t he major preoccupations of EU institutions and society, t he driving force behind all of IPTS' activities is the compound n o t i on "Technology-Competi tiveness-Employment" (TCE). field In 1995, IPTS u n d e r t o ok prospective studies on specific subjects related either to a technology (e. g. biotechnology), a individual mobility) or a cross-cutting issue or aspect. For instance, w o rk regional dimension more specifically, the Mediterranean area was carried out, w i t h in t he f r a m e w o rk of integrated development and specific b o th sectors (renewable energies, w a t er problems). relevant (e. g. t he to Institutional Support Activities recycling Prospective technological studies on materials, chemical energy feedstock f r om municipal recovery plastics waste, in 1994 on behalf of DG XI launched f o ur preliminary (Environment), surveys: resulted and in • current projects on mechanical recycling of municipal plastics waste; • current legislative activity in plastics waste management; • current projects on plastics recycling by chemolysis; • current projects on energy recovery f r om municipal plastics waste. in 1995 and Three new families of energy technologies were studied t he series of prospective analyses launched in 1994 for DG XVII (Energy): photovoltaics, CO2 disposal and storage biological sequestration. technologies, and CO2 joined A new update of t he report on Climate Change Research and Policy (Forward Studies Unit and DG XVII) covers t he m o n i t o r i ng and assessment of recent research results on climate sensitivity, w i th emphasis on past climate changes and on modelling as well as a synthesis of t he results of the Climate Change Convention in Berlin, in 1995. JRC Annual Report 1995 ai Two new case studies for the "Business and the Environment" series have been completed for the Forward Studies Unit, one on "Waste Minimisation", the other on "Cleaner Techno logies in an SME". This series is designed to give an accurate measure of some aspects of competitiveness and employment in companies eager to respond to environmental pressures. cooperation with In the context of work carried out for DG XVI (Regional Policy), the Japanese agency NISTEP has continued, aimed at comparing the European and Japanese experiences in regional development from an RTD policy perspective. This project will be completed in 1996. to response In the STOA requests (Scientific and Technical Option Assessment) panel of the European Parliament, IPTS has launched the three following projects: from "The role of biotechnology in the competi tiveness of the European pharmaceutical legal and industry": Scientific, economic, social considerations are to be reviewed in comparing the EU position with its major competitors. The project provides a factual overview of R&D and innovation efforts in the pharmaceutical sector, and a prospective description of the priorities in research for new drugs and prospects and the expectations for new medical therapies. The expected socio-economic benefits of new drugs in the context of European health care systems are analysed. • • • to are issues Its objectives "The Car of The Future, the Future of the Car": Key issues for future transport systems are linked to achieving sustainable condi from an environments, social and tions economic point of view. The project focuses technological, social and economic on individual aspects of related mobility. to develop strategies for solving the conflict between demand for mass individual mobility on the one hand, and ecological pressure, safety problems and congestion on the other hand. Its first stage concentrates on technological aspects such as new engine concepts, with focus on zero-emission/e-cars and the related potential energy storage systems, light recycling aspects and weight materials, telematics for increased road use efficiency. The results are presented in a set of reports. Socio-economic-political aspects are also dealt with, e. g. driver behaviour/mentality and acceptance problems related to various technological options. THE KtiPORT m mum I MS Fig. 4 - The Monthly Report of IPTS the rapid development of "Multimedia Information Superhigh-ways": The project focuses mainly on issues arising from these technologies and the services they provide, such as access devices, pricing/billing to users, priority systems, interconnection and interoperability issues, contents and security first report also deals with concerns, etc. A on the and direct innovative employment: as with most technologies, a loss of jobs will be felt in the short term while in the medium/long term, the economic per formance will have positive effects. This entails recycling the labour force, the costs of which are, at this stage, difficult to estimate. individual Aspects aspects such as exclusion or changes in human relations are also discussed. increased general to social and indirect effects linked B. Competitive Activities the first time IPTS has entered the For competitive market for research contracts. Its proposals relate mainly to non-nuclear energy (5 proposals submitted, 3 funded), agro-food, the environment, international cooperation on water resources, and biomass (for various Mediterranean programmes managed by DG I B). Most of the work will be carried out in 1996. JRC Annual Report 1995 JRC INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES Table 1 of Annex 1 INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES DECISIONS, DIRECTIVES, REGULATIONS OF THE COUNCIL AND COMMUNICATIONS OF THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES OF THE JRC Environment and Climate European Reference Laboratory for Air Pollution (ERLAP) European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) Supportto the European Environment Agency (EEA) Work in support of Directives 80/779 EEC, 89/427 EEC, 82/884 EEC, 85/203 EEC and 92/72 EEC Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament (93/C1 /02), OJ No. C1 /3 of 5. 01. 1993 on the European Chemicals Bureau (ECB). Work in support of Directives 67/548 EEC, 92/32 EEC Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament SEC(91 ) 1794 final of 29. 10. 1991. Establishment of a European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM). Work in support of Directive 86/609 EEC Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1210/90 of 7. 5. 1990 on the creation of the European Environmental Agency (OJ No. L120/1, 11. 5. 1990) (see in particular Article 15 and Annex A Cooperation with the JRC) European Community Pharmaceutical Information Network (ECPHIN) Work in support of Directives 93/39 EEC, 93/40 EEC and Council Regulations 93/2309 EEC and EEC 2377/90 Quality Control of Consumer Products (Consumer Protection) Industrial Reliability. Major Hazards Biotechnology Safety On Cosmetics: 6th modification of Regulation EC/76/768 on Safety of Products: General Safety Directive 92/59/EEC of 29. 6. 1994 Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament; Work in support of Directive 82/501 EEC Methodologies for UCLAF Agriculture and Fisheries Remote Sensing for Agriculture Decision of the Council of 14. 11. 1994 on Remote Sensing applications to Agricultural Statistics for the period 1994-1998 (94/753 / EEC, OJ No. L299/27, 22. 11. 1994) o INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES DECISIONS, DIRECTIVES, REGULATIONS OF THE COUNCIL AND COMMUNICATIONS OF THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES OF THE JRC Animal Identification European Office for Wine, Alcohol and Spirit Drinks (BEVABS) Reference Measurements and Materials for Quality Control of Foodstuffs Nuclear Safety and Safeguards Euratom Safeguards Support: General Euratom Safeguards Support: On-Site laboratories and ECSAM IAEA Safeguards Support Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament (COM(93)360/3). Work in support of Council Regulations (EEC) No. 2048/89, 2348/91 and 2347/91 and Commission Regulation No. 2676/90 Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament of 24. 3. 1992 (SEC (92)515 final, concerning the Commission Decision on on-site laboratories, for the period 1991-1996 (see in particular Art. 16 Cooperation with the JRC) Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament COM(94)383 final, of 7. 9. 1994 concerning the illicit circulation of radioactive material Communication from the Commission to the Council COM (80) 681 final, concerning an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the International Atomic Energy Agency on the one hand and the Commission on behalf of the European Atomic Energy Community, on the other, on cooperation in the field of research and development in Safeguards HO Annex 2 GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ADAGE Aide à la Décision A m é n a g e m e nt Gestion de l'Environnement AQUACON Analytical Quality Control ARTINA Analysis of Radioisotope Traces f or the Identification of Nuclear Actinides BRITE-EURAM Basic Research in Industrial Technologies f or Europe- European Research on Advanced Materials CEA CEN Commissariat à l'Energie A t o m i q ue (Paris - France) Comité Européen de Normalisation CORDIS Community Research and Development I n f o r m a t i on Service ELSA ENIC European Laboratory f or Structural Assessment European Network f or Inspections Qualification ESPRIT-HPCN European Strategic Programme f or Research and Development in Information ESTI European Solar Test Installation EURATOM European A t o m ic Energy Community EUREKA European Research Coordination Agency EUROSTAT European Statistical Office FWP Framework Programme IPACERC Induction Plasma Assisted CVD of Erosion Resistant Coatings JOULE Joint Opportunities for Unconventional or Long-Term Energy Supply MITO NASA NEA NESC Microphyte Toxins National Aeronautics and Space Administration Nuclear Energy Agency (Paris - France) European Network for Evaluating Steel Components NET/ITER Next European Torus / International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor PHARE Poland - Hungary: Assistance f or Economic Restructuring PHEBUS French Test Reactor (Cadarache - France) RIVM Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (The Netherlands) ROBERTINO Facility for the Blanket Handling Device Development in 1:3 Scale SCK/CEN SPOT TACIS Studiecentrumm voor Kernenergie/Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires ( M o l- Belgium) Système Probatoire pour l'Observation de la Terre Technical Assistance to the C o m m o n w e a l th of Independent States and Georgia THERMIE Technologies Européennes pour la Maîtrise de l'Energie USNRC United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission ISSN 0254-1475 COM(96) 158 final DOCUMENTS EN 01 15 Catalogue number : CB-CO-96-170-EN-C ISBN 92-78-02635-2 Office for Official Publications of the European Communities L-2985 Luxembourg «i