Co-funded European partnership for research in nuclear materials

Expected Outcome: this topic is a continuation for the co-funded European partnership for research in nuclear materials (CONNECT-NM) and constitutes the EU’s contribution to the 2026-2027 budgetary period. This action aims to provide additional funding to the co-funded European partnership on nuclear materials that brings together European entities that have a national mandate for research in materials science and deal with nuclear materials. It aims to pool their resources in order to achieve critical mass and improve safety, as well as efficiency and effectiveness, when implementing materials solutions in the nuclear domain across Europe. The scope of the partnership on nuclear materials covers the research interests of all Member States and Associated Countries dealing with nuclear materials research. It is not limited to countries that generate nuclear power. The grant to the partnership will contribute to the expected outcomes specified in topic HORIZON-EURATOM-2023-NRT-01-04. The consortium that won the grant under topic HORIZON-EURATOM-2023-NRT-01-04 is uniquely placed to submit a proposal to continue the envisioned partnership. The consortium for the present topic may include additional partners and is expected to add new activities outside the scientific scope of the CONNECT-NM. In line with the objectives of the Nuclear Safety Directive, this European partnership should contribute to the safe operation of existing and future advanced nuclear installations, including small modular reactors (SMRs). The extended partnership on nuclear materials will further contribute to enhancing interaction and cross-fertilisation between national players in the relevant key areas and ensuring improved knowledge management at the EU and Member State levels. Project results are expected to contribute to: further deepening knowledge about the main types of nuclear structural materials and fuels, with an emphasis on research into innovative materials solutions for the reactor systems under development (including light-water SMRs and other advanced reactors); improving the holistic approach to the simulation and predictive modelling for the materials of interest (in line with the ‘materials by design’ strategy); safely and securely assisting the NPP lifetime extension programmes via the integration of obtained knowledge into the relevant technical assessment and licencing procedures; further developing experimental abilities for the qualification of nuclear materials and fuels (encouraging, inter alia, neutron irradiation experiments); assuring the further developme…