European Commission to modernize nuclear research centre

A groundbreaking ceremony has been held to launch the start of construction of a new laboratory building at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre at Karlsruhe in Germany. The new building will replace older ones on the site.

A groundbreaking ceremony has been held to launch the start of construction of a new laboratory building at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre at Karlsruhe in Germany. The new building will replace older ones on the site.  

Groundbreaking for the new laboratory building (Image: European Commission)

The ceremony was held yesterday and was attended by Tibor Navracsics, European commissioner for education, culture, youth and sport, and Günther Oettinger, commissioner for digital economy and society. Also present were member of the European parliament Daniel Caspary, Secretary of State Andre Baumann, JRC director general Vladimir Šucha and JRC-ITU director Maria Betti.

The JSR said it is renovating and upgrading the infrastructure at the Karlsruhe site "to improve further the safety and security of its installations and ensure that it remains a state-of-the-art facility".

The actual construction of the new nuclear laboratory building - known as 'Wing M' - will begin later this month, the JSR said. "It will be a flexible infrastructure to meet future needs in a cost-effective manner and is indispensable for the JRC to be able to fulfil its obligations in the long term," it said.

Navracsics said, "These new facilities, built in accordance with high nuclear safety and security standards, will enable the JRC to continue carrying out state-of-the-art nuclear research. This will benefit EU Member States in terms of nuclear safety, security and safeguards." He added, "The new laboratory will also be instrumental for maintaining EU expertise and skills in the nuclear field by providing training and open access to students and researchers."

Once operational, Wing M will host activities currently carried out in other laboratories on the site. These obsolete facilities will then be closed and decommissioned.

The JRC is the European Commission's science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to EU policy. It draws on over 50 years of scientific work experience and continually builds its expertise based on its seven scientific institutes, which host specialist laboratories and unique research facilities. They are located in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

The JRC's nuclear work - funded by the Euratom Research and Training Program - has as its objective the pursuit of research, knowledge management and training activities with an emphasis on nuclear safety and security.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News