Forty-one organisations have joined the SARNET2 project (follow-up of the SARNET FP6 project), that started on April 1st, 2009 for a 4-year duration. Only 2 partners from USA and Korea are new ones. The objective is to continue to reduce the fragmentation that still exists between the different R&D national programmes, notably in defining common research programmes and developing common computer tools (such as the ASTEC integral computer code, jointly developed by IRSN and GRS) and methodologies for NPP safety assessment.

Six highest priority safety issues were identified for R&D: in-vessel core coolability, molten-core-concrete-interaction, fuel-coolant interaction, hydrogen mixing and combustion in containment, oxidising impact on source term, and iodine chemistry.

Three periods have been defined along the 4 years of the network, the 1st one of duration one year until March 2010. The general kick-off meeting took place in Paris on April 5, 2009 in presence of the whole Management Team and of the EC representative, Michel Hugon. The kick-off meetings of each Work-Package (WP) were organised in April (see the next article). They allowed to confirm the different tasks to be done by the partners during the 1st year of the network and to prepare the Joint Programme of Activities (JPA1).

Two first delegations of young researchers into another European lab have been defined.

An internal web site has been built for exchange of information and results between the network’s members (www.sarnet2.grs.de). From Autumn 09, a public web site will present up-to-date information to all people interested on the subject of severe accidents.

Contact: J.P Van Dorsselaere

jan-piere.van-dorsselaere@irsn.fr