Brussels, 07/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 7 March, the European Commission adopted a proposal to extend the budget of the 2007-2011 Euratom Framework Programme, which funds nuclear research, to cover the years 2012 and 2013. This will bring the effective duration of the Euratom Framework Programme into line with the seven-year period of the main Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7), which ends in 2013. Adoption of the proposal by the Council would allow the continuation of current research work, aimed notably at improving nuclear safety and radiation protection.
Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: “Euratom research has for many years made a key contribution to nuclear safety, efficiency and competitiveness and today's proposal will allow that to continue. Meanwhile, nuclear energy is a technology of choice for some member states while others choose not to use it. This is, and will remain, a matter for them”.
Euratom Framework Programmes are limited by the Euratom Treaty to five years, whereas the main FP7 lasts for seven years (2007-2013), thus necessitating the two-year extension of the Euratom element.
The envisaged €2.5 billion budget for 2012-13 includes just over €2.2 billion - or 86% of the overall sum - for nuclear fusion research, concentrating largely on the construction of the international experimental fusion reactor ITER in France. Funding for fission research projects, including radiation protection, accounts for €118 million. The nuclear research and safety assurance work of the Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) accounts for €233 million. The JRC will, therefore, maintain its nuclear research programme and continue to provide support for developing policy options for the most appropriate “energy mix” needed for the 21st century, consistent with the goals of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan). The € 2.2 billion budgeted for fusion in turn includes the additional €1.3 billion - above original projections - estimated to be required for ITER in 2012-2013. (L.C./transl.rt)