EC-sponsored research activities on innovative passive safety systems

On April 26th 1994, the European Union (EU) adopted via a Council Decision a EURATOM Multiannual Programme for community activities in the field of nu clear fission safety (NFS) research for the period 1994-1998. An area of wo rk having, as an objective, to 'explore innovative approaches' to improve t he safety of future and existing reactors, was introduced in this programme . Most of the projects selected in this area were grouped under a common cl uster known as 'INNO' and carried out on a 'cost-shared' basis, i.e. contri bution of the European Commission is up to 50% of the total cost. The 'INNO ' cluster was composed of eleven projects in which 35 different organisatio ns, representing research centres, universities, regulators, utilities and vendors from seven EU member states and Switzerland, were involved. These p rojects proved to be an efficient means to gain the necessary phenomenologi cal knowledge and to solve the challenging problems, many times of generic nature, posed among others by the characteristically small driving forces o f the systems studied and by the lack of really prototypical test facilitie s. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.