[en] Monography is dedicated to analysis of the history of foundation and current status of European atomic energy community (Euratom). Objectives and functions of Euratom, control and safeguards among them, its structure and members, financing and joint ventures are considered. Information if presented on Euratom relations with other international organizations in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy., like IAEF, Atomic energy agency, OECD, European nuclear society, etc. Elements of the governmental and extra-national management in Euratom activities are discussed. 237 refs

[en] European directive transposition in radioprotection (96-29 EURATOM for workers and 97-43 for patients) in association with the reformation of radioprotection structures in France will change drastically the situation of radioprotection. New laws (L.1333-1 and L.1333-11) enforce justification, optimisation for the medical exposures and formation of all professionals using radiation. A new ministerial administration (Direction Generale de la Surete Nucleaire et de la Radioprotection) and a new technical operator (Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire) will also change radioprotection. In the new system, radioprotection of the patient becomes as important as for the workers... It's new and will change comportment of professionals. The new rules will probably change the mentality at long term in term of guidelines. Even if radioprotection becomes a very important matter, it is still the time to say that radiation is necessary for medical use in 21. century as well as in the 20. century. (author)

[en] European Commission Directive 97/43/EURATOM (MED) introduced the concept of clinical audit for the assessment of medical radiological practices for European Union Member States. Some Member States have since developed a systematic approach to clinical audit, while other countries have only occasionally or not at all implemented clinical audits in practice. Thus a special project was conducted in 2007-2008 to prepare further guidance for an improved implementation of the directive, and the result is the publication of a guideline that provides a general framework to establish sustainable national systems of clinical auditing of radiological practices. This paper discusses the objectives, scope and elements of the guideline. (author)

[en] Highlights: • We investigate the performance of European markets for renewable energy certificates. • Trade in certificates becomes more important but markets remain volatile and illiquid. • Design of certificate systems affect market outcomes. • An international standard and a public certifier are associated with higher volumes. -- Abstract: To address the problem of information asymmetry in renewable electricity markets, European governments have introduced certification schemes. While certification appears to be an increasingly important trade mechanism for renewable electricity, it is unclear to what extent certificate markets are functioning properly. In addition, countries have chosen very different designs for their certification schemes. In order to assess the performance of markets for Guarantee of Origin certificates in twenty European countries, we construct four market performance indicators and analyse their development over 2001–2016: the churn rate, price volatility, the certification rate and the expiration rate. We also investigate the relationship between market performance and two design features of certification schemes: the public/private nature of the certifier and the presence of an international standard. We find that, despite increasing shares of renewable electricity are being certified, certificate markets suffer from poor liquidity and very volatile prices. In addition, we conclude that adopting an international standard fosters the development of certificate systems.

[en] The European Commission (COM) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have a long-standing and well-established cooperation based on multilateral comprehensive Verification Agreements. The two organisations' inspectorates coordinate the implementation of EURATOM and international safeguards in the territory of the European Union (EU) as well as their communication with operators and State authorities in the EU with regard to safeguards performance. In this paper, the elements of Material Balance Evaluation (MBE) as practiced by the European Commission are presented. The use of a facility-tailored flexible approach to evaluate the main material balance evaluation parameters combined and strengthened with elements of audit methodologies are further elaborated upon. An outline on how IT (and especially the dedicated EURATOM inspection software 'VARO') can help to ensure a coherent implementation, documentation, evaluation, effective follow-up, and data input from the operators is also included. The paper emphasizes the consultative element between EURATOM, the IAEA and nuclear operators as well as the importance of a comprehensive debriefing following independent evaluation by both regulators. A description of the legal framework, the core processes, and the interaction between EURATOM, the IAEA and operators for arriving at appropriate safeguards conclusions sets the context for the MBE. (author)

[en] States who wish to start and develop a nuclear program must take into consideration a strong proven strategy for developing a sustainable program. A complete nuclear research program must include: a good national strategy and support on the topic; strong research laboratories supported by good personnel; education component to provide sustainable and qualified workforce; national/international interest from stakeholders and governments and a well informed society. New demonstrators are foreseen for the next period to be built in Europe and skilled supporting personnel is strongly needed. Current situation in nuclear higher education with perspective will be analysed. EURATOM strongly supports development of multidisciplinary co-operational projects in order to built such novel initiatives. An example of such program supported by European Commission, ARCADIA, will be given. The project is based on the cooperation of a large number of participants all over Europe and the main purpose is to develop a road-map for Gen IV reactor. (authors)

[en] We present the Euratom nuclear safeguards system, a supranational system used to verify the operators' and States' (when required by the Additional Protocol) declarations. The verifications performed by the European Commission serve to conclude on the nondiversion of the civil stocks of nuclear materials in the territories of EU Member States (Article 77a Euratom Treaty) and to fulfil obligations stemming from nuclear cooperation agreements with third States and international organizations such as the IAEA (Article 77b). In line with multilateral safeguards agreements and their respective additional protocols, as well as under the New Partnership Approach, Euratom works closely with the IAEA in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts while maintaining the ability of both organizations to reach independent conclusions. In our paper the focus lies on the verifications performed before transmitting data to the IAEA. Starting from the sheer volume of data we describe checks and other operations performed (e.g., format adaptations) on the nuclear material accountancy (NMAC) data and Additional Protocol declarations; including quality assurance measures. We also present some statistics on the related workload, including answering queries from the IAEA. We describe the IT tools developed by Euratom for nuclear operators to submit their declarations and which are subsequently verified by Euratom before being transmitted to the IAEA. Moreover, we present support activities aiming at improving the operators' NMAC systems such as audits (including audits of measurement systems). We conclude by presenting the challenges lying ahead and ways to address them to further strengthen and improve the quality of the Euratom work and cooperation with the IAEA. (author)

[en] Nuclear security is an absolute priority for the European Union (EU). The nuclear security summits in 2010 in Washington and Seoul 2012 confirmed the validity and direction, and further strengthened the EU efforts to effectively contribute to increased nuclear security, both inside Europe and worldwide. The Euratom Treaty, in force since 1957, is an important cornerstone of the EU engagement in nuclear safety and security. Through Euratom, the EU operates an effective regional nuclear safeguards system, implementing inspections, reporting and providing technical and scientific support to its Member States, in close partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). At the same time, the EU implements a concept of assurance of supply through its Euratom Supply Agency. The EU Common Foreign Security Policy, as well as the adoption since 2003 of the European Security Strategy, the EU strategy against proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), the EU Counter Terrorism Strategy (2005) and the New Lines for Action in combating the proliferation of WMD and their delivery systems endorsed in 2008, all together reinforce the EU commitment to nuclear security. The accession of Euratom to the amended Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material was approved by the European Council in 2007, and ratification is expected to be completed soon by all Member States and Euratom

[en] A set of PCI instrumentation modules was developed at the EURATOM/IST Association. The modules were engineered around a reconfigurable hardware core which permits one to reduce the development time of instrument for new applications, provide support for long time or even continuous operation, and is able to perform real-time digital signal processing. The core was engineered at low cost and the modules incorporate a high number of channels, which contribute to reduce the total cost per channel. Field results are as expected in terms of performance both in data throughput and input characteristics. Currently, a 2 MSPS, 14-bit, eight channel galvanic isolated transient recorder; a 200 MSPS, 8-bit, four channel pulse digitizer; an eight channel time-to-digital-converter with a resolution of 0.4 ns, and a reconfigurable hardware expandable board, are implemented

[en] Highlights: • Effects of insufficient investment incentives may worsen in interconnected markets. • Malfunctioning markets do not benefit from capacity in neighbouring markets. • Market inefficiencies do not spread to neighbouring markets. • The effectivity of capacity payments are dampened in interconnected markets. -- Abstract: European electricity markets are characterised by a multitude of (mainly national) approaches for ensuring security of supply. Although concerns regarding possible interaction effects between different market designs have been raised occasionally, the scientific research on capacity remuneration mechanisms (CRMs) primarily focusses on different design options in single markets. The research concerning possible spsill-over effects, positive or negative, in adjacent markets is lagging behind. This is the case for the effects of CRMs as well as for the effects of insufficient investment incentives. We address both topics in this paper. Specifically, we analyse the effects of price caps in two interconnected markets. Additionally, we analyse the effects of capacity payments meant to counter the deadweight losses triggered by the price restrictions. Although we find no indication that price caps or capacity payments in one market have (serious) negative effects on neighbouring markets, being connected to other markets can worsen the deadweight losses induced by insufficient investment. Also, capacity mechanisms might be less effective than in isolated markets. Finally, in the analysed set-up we find no indication that efforts to ensure security of supply in one market support neighbouring markets with insufficient investment incentives.