PETRUS II project

On 10-11 January 2012, the 7th and FINAL Project meeting of FP7 PETRUS II project took place, hosted by Ecole des Mines de Nantes, in Nantes, France.

The Petrus II project has the objective to enable present and future professionals on radioactive waste management in Europe, whatever their initial disciplinary background, to follow a training programme on geological disposal which would be widely recognized across Europe. It was launched in January 2009.

All achievements under the project were reviewed and summarised. The ENEN Association is taking care of its official website and database, as well as coordinating the project of cooperation with China.

A future project in the same area will be considered in due course in order to follow up the Petrus II project.

On 8-10 June 2011, the 6th Project meeting of FP7 PETRUS II project took place, hosted by Czech Technical University in Prague, in Prague, Czech Republic.

The Petrus II project has the objective to enable present and future professionals on radioactive waste management in Europe, whatever their initial disciplinary background, to follow a training programme on geological disposal which would be widely recognized across Europe. It was launched in January 2009.

The current status of the project was reviewed and the next steps were agreed. The ENEN Association is taking care of its official website and database, as well as coordinating the future project of cooperation with China.

On 18-21 March 2011, the 5th Project meeting of FP7 PETRUS II project, the 2nd Project meeting of FP7 ENEN III project, and the 1st ECVET Workshop took place in Cordoba, Spain.

The Petrus II project has the objective to enable present and future professionals on radioactive waste management in Europe, whatever their initial disciplinary background, to follow a training programme on geological disposal which would be widely recognized across Europe. It was launched in January 2009 and the 5th Project meeting was held on 18-19 January 2011. The current status of the project was reviewed and the next steps were agreed. The ENEN Association is taking care of its official website and database, as well as coordinating the future project of cooperation with China.

The ENEN III project covers the structuring, organisation, coordination and implementation of training schemes in the field of nuclear engineering, in cooperation with local, national and international training organisations, to provide training to professionals active in nuclear organisations or their contractors and subcontractors. The following types of profiles are treated under the project:

Type A) Basic training in selected nuclear topics of non-nuclear engineers and personnel of nuclear facilities contractors and subcontractors;

Type B) Technical training for the design challenges of GEN III plants;

Type C) Technical training for the construction challenges of GEN III plants;

Type D) Technical training for the design of GEN IV plants.

The ENEN III project started on 1 May 2009 and its 2nd Project meeting was held on 19-20 January 2011. The revised schedule was agreed and the next meeting will be held in summer 2011.

On 21 January, not only PETRUS II and ENEN III, but all other FP7 EFTS projects (ENETRAP II, CINCH and TRASNUSAFE) got together and discuss how to apply the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) to the nuclear and radiation field. This is the first step for the challenges towards mutual recognition of training scheme in the nuclear and radiation field.

The 4th Project meeting of the PETRUS II (FP7) project took place in Rauma, Finland, 21-23 June 2010. This meeting was hosted by POSIVA, one of the project partners.

The PETRUS II project is one of the projects on European Fission Training Schemes (EFTS) under the European Commission 7th Framework Programme (FP7), which was launched in January 2009. The aim of the PETRUS II project is to enable present and future professionals on radioactive waste management in Europe, whatever their initial disciplinary background, to follow a training programme on geological disposal which would be widely recognized across Europe. In addressing the needs of the end-users, access to a combination of education (formal), continuous learning and professional development (non-formal) will be offered and developed within the project.

The PETRUS consortium welcomed a new member, Ecole des Mines de Nantes, France, and the concept of European Credit (Transfer) System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) was introduced. The partners reviewed the actions decided under the PETRUS II project, including the training scheme and knowledge management. The development of the Geological Disposal Technology Platform (IGD-TP) was also reported.

FISA 2009, the seventh international conference on EU research and training in reactor systems, was held by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research in Prague, Czech Republic, 22-24 June 2009. About 450 people from EU and non-EU countries, such as China and the Russian Federation, participated in the conference.

The ENEN organised the Award Ceremony of ENEN European Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering (EMSNE) 2008 at the end of the 1st day. Seven EMSNE 2008 students from Spain, Italy, France and the UK attended and introduced themselves as fresh nuclear engineers.

Joseph Safieh, ENEN President, provided a keynote lecture titled “Nuclear disciplines in response to industry and regulatory needs through the ENEN Association” at the 3rd Session Education & training and large infrastructures on 24 June.

On 25 June, as one of the Post FISA 2009 Workshops, the ENEN Association organized a Workshop titled “Integration of Nuclear Education and Training: Common Needs, EU Vision and Implementation Instruments ” with the objectives:

• to report on planned and implemented actions to respond to the needs of future employers in terms of qualified staff at all levels
• to exchange views and information between universities, research institutions, training organizations, industries and any other End-Users regarding European and international programs and future plans in order to further meet the needs of the nuclear sector
• to discuss the development of a European framework for mutual recognition in nuclear E&T, such as a “European training passport”, and of a common vision for cooperation beyond the EU
• to identify actions to be taken

The Workshop focused on the interaction between the academia and the “future employers” and more than 50 experts on nuclear E&T participated in the discussion.

The ENEN also participated in another Post FISA 2009 Workshop “International collaboration with non-EU Countries: achievements and prospects ” organised by CEA and IAEA.

> Presentation by Joseph Safieh, ENEN President 

– Summary note by the Secretariat 

In 20-22 January 2009, the kick-off meeting of the PETRUS II project (FP7) takes place in Nancy, France. The objective of the project is “to enable present and future professionals on radioactive waste management in Europe, whatever their initial disciplinary background, to follow a training programme on geological disposal which would be widely recognized across Europe.” 17 institutions from 10 countries are participating in the project for the coming three years.

The main roles of the ENEN Association for the project are:

– Provide Quality Assurance of the courses and training sessions and the project deliverables

– Facilitate mobility and assist in the organisation of workshops and pilot sessions

– Contribute to the implementation of a framework for mutual recognition of the courses and training sessions through the ENEN Network and realisation of a training passport at the European level

– Provide guidance for the attribution of the ECTS credits to the modules of the curriculum and the training programme

– Host and operate the webpages of the Petrus II project on the ENEN website

– Implement Knowledge Management by providing assistance to the advertising and documenting of the courses and training sessions through the ENEN database

– Assist in the coordination of the project by representing the ENEN members

The PETRUS II project is one of the three new projects, i.e. ENEN-III for nuclear engineering, PETRUS II for waste management and ENETRAP II for radiation protection, to be launched in spring 2009 for the development of the Euratom Fission Training Schemes (EFTS). Its ultimate objective is to develop a European passport for Continuous Professional Development, which relies on the principles of modularity of courses and common qualification criteria, a common mutual recognition system, and the facilitation of teacher, student and worker mobility across the European Union. Its target group is research workers and industrial experts at least at a post-graduate or equivalent level, i.e. from doctoral students to senior visiting scientists.

EFTS intends to promote life-long learning and career development of experienced researchers in all areas of nuclear fission and radiation protection, touching upon both the public and the private sector, to maximise the transfer of higher-level knowledge and technology with emphasis on multi-disciplinarity and/or trans-national and inter-sectoral mobility, and to define and test the different steps in the systematic approach to higher-level training (e.g. analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation).

The ENEN Association takes a lead and participates in all EFTS projects to achieve the objectives for each project as well as to harmonise the developments in nuclear E&T over Europe. For further information, the official webpages of these projects will be opened at the ENEN web site soon.

> Poster on the ENEN FP7 projects on Nuclear Fission Training Schemes