Presentation

CEA/DES (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission/Energies Division, http://www.cea.fr) is both the operator of important nuclear facilities all over the nuclear cycle, in charge of major new built or decommissioning projects and a R&D organisation with a dynamic policy of technology transfer. CEA is a key player in research, development and innovation in four main areas: defence and security, low carbon energies (nuclear and renewable energies), technological research for industry, fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences. CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners and works in partnership with many research bodies, local authorities and universities.

The CEA/INSTN, (National Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology) is a public higher education institution administered by the CEA under the joint authority of the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research, the Ministry of the Economy, Industry and the Digital Sector and the Ministry of the Environment, Energy. The INSTN was established in 1956. For 60 years now, its mission has been to transmit knowledge and know-how developed by the CEA and its industrial partners and thereby support the growth of the nuclear industry.

As a nuclear operator, CEA carries out construction and renovation of its facilities, as well as decommissioning after shut-down, which is a major issue for CEA. 21 out of 43 of its civilian nuclear installations are under decommissioning, with contamination levels sometimes very high, and a wide diversity of facilities, from laboratory scale to industrial plants.

In this perspective, CEA took advantage of its very specific position, being both operator and research organisation, to become a key player in research on techniques and technologies used in such Decommissioning.