title: Yhteinen tutkimuskeskus - Vuosikertomus 1995

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text: EUROOPAN YHTEISÖJEN KOMISSIO Bryssel, 17. 04. 1996 KOM(96)l58 lopull. YHTEINEN TUTKIMUSKESKUS VUOSIKERTOMUS 1995 (komission esittämä) HALLINTONEUVOSTON HUOMAUTUKSET YHTEISEN TUTKIMUSKESKUKSEN VUOSIKERTOMUKSEEN 1995 1995 - ENSIMMÄINEN VUOSI UUDESSA ROOLISSA Vuosi 1995 oli YTK:lle tärkeä. Neuvoston, Euroopan parlamentin ja komission kanssa vuonna 1994 sovittua YTK:n muutettua asemaa alettiin toteuttaa käytännössä. YTK:n uusi rooli edellyttää entistä monipuolisempaa kilpailutoimintaa, ja vuodesta 1995 alkaen YTK voi osallistua yhteisön ohjelmiin tasaveroisesti tutkimus- tai teollisuusympäristöstä olevien kansallisten kumppaniensa kanssa. Kuten tästä kertomuksesta käy ilmi, YTK vastasi vahvasti tähän uuteen haasteeseen ja saavutti kustannustenjakoperiaatteella toteutettavien toimintaohjelmien osalta kilpailussa lupaavia tuloksia yhdessä Euroopan unionin eri jäsenvaltioista ja ohjelmiin assosioiduista maista olevien kumppaniensa kanssa. Myös muussa kilpailuun perustuvassa toiminnassa saavutettiin hyviä tuloksia. Vaikka vuonna 1995 otettiin käyttöön uusia toimintamuotoja, YTK jatkoi menneiden vuosien tahtiin kolmansille osapuolille tekemäänsä työtä. Koska tilanne oli uusi, osallistumiselle kilpailuperusteiseen toimintaan vuonna 1995 asetettiin alustavat tavoitteet, ja hallintoneuvosto toteaa tyytyväisenä, että kaiken kaikkiaan tavoitteet ylitettiin. Kilpailuun perustuva toiminta on vain yksi osa YTK:n työtä; toisen osan muodostavat sen säännöllinen tutkimustyö ja Euroopan unionin politiikan tieteellinen ja tekninen tuki, jota annetaan erityisesti ympäristö-, energia-, maatalous- ja teollisuuspolitiikalle. Hallintoneuvosto arvostaa sitä, että YTK pyrkii jatkuvasti vastaamaan myönteisesti asiakkaiden toiveisiin. Tutkimustoiminnassa pyritään kiitettävästi tuottamaan teollisuudelle ja yhteiskunnalle hyödyllisiä tuloksia. Kertomuksessa esitellään tästä joitakin esimerkkejä, ja hallintoneuvosto aikoo edelleen kannustaa tutkimuskeskusta jatkamaan kehitystä tuloshakuisempaan suuntaan ja lisäämään tutkimustulosten kaupallista hyödyntämistä. YTK:sta on tehty monta arviota, joiden perusteella hallintoneuvosto on lisääntyvään merkityksellisyyteen Euroopan unionin politiikan kannalta. työn hyvään yleistasoon tyytyväinen YTK: n ja sen Hallintoneuvosto toi jo viime vuonna julki, mitä se odottaa YTK:n kehitykseltä vuodesta 1995 alkaen. YTK:n toiminnan seurantaa vahvistaakseen hallintoneuvosto on muun muassa järjestänyt uudelleen alakomiteansa voidakseen seurata yksityiskohtaisemmin YTK:n tutkimuslaitoksia. Suoritusmittareiden ja laadun arvioinnin käyttöön ottamiseksi tehdään jatkuvasti työtä. ARVIOITA YTK:STA tutkimuslaitosten arvioinneista saatuja suosituksia, Hallintoneuvosto käytti hyväkseen ulkoisten, riippumattomien asiantuntijoiden laatimia YTK:n ja jotka olivat saatavissa edellisen sen ohjelmakauden vuoden aikana. lopussa, ohjatessaan YTK:ta Hallintoneuvosto on tarkastellut koko kauden pohjalta tehtyjä suosituksia ja toteaa, että YTK:n johto on pyrkinyt toteuttamaan niitä, mutta huomauttaa samalla, ettäjotkin hyödylliset suositukset, erityisesti hallintoon ja henkilöstöpolitiikkaan liittyvät, on jätetty toteuttamatta YTK:sta riippumattomista syistä. (1992-1994) kuluneen YTK:N HALLINTOSÄÄNNÖT JA HENKILÖSTÖASIAT Hallintoneuvosto jatkaa painostustaan, jotta YTK voisi toteuttaa työtapojen muutoksen, joka mainitaan huhtikuussa 1994 laadituissa neuvoston päätelmissä. Tämä voi edellyttää sen toimintaa hallitsevien sääntöjen ja määräysten kehittämistä ja ehkä sen komission organisaatiossa olevan aseman muuttamista. Se johtanee myös suurempaan joustavuuteen talous- ja rahoitusasioissa ja jo havaittuun edistykseen varainhoidon hallinnan järjestelmissä. Hallintoneuvosto on esittänyt näitä tärkeitä asioita koskevat mielipiteensä tutkimuksesta vastaavalle komission jäsenelle Edith Cressonille. Vuoden loppupuolella sille tiedotettiin suunnitelmista laajentaa YTK:n itsenäisyyttä komissiossa sekä muista suunnitelluista organisaatiomuutoksista. Ensi askel on, että YTK saa erillisen pääosaston aseman vuoden 1996 alkupuolella (päätös tehtiin 16. tammikuuta 1996). 1 ^ Hallintoneuvosto on keskustellut komissaarin kanssa myös henkilöstöasioista ja aikoo seurata komission uuden, unionin tutkimustalousarviosta maksettua henkilöstöä koskevan politiikan YTK:Ile aiheuttamia seurauksia. Kuten monien muidenkin Euroopan tutkimuslaitosten myös YTK:n henkilöstön ikäjakauma on sellainen, että lähivuosina vapautuu paljon paikkoja. Vuonna 1995 vapautui viisi ylempää tutkimuslaitoksen johtajan virkaa, joista komissio täytti neljä hallintoneuvoston suosituksen perusteella ja joista yksi on vielä täyttämättä. Hallintoneuvosto toivottaa tervetulleiksi vuoden 1995 puolivälissä aloittaneet neljä uutta johtajaa. YTK:TA KOSKEVAN TIEDON LEVITTÄMINEN YTK:n uusi rooli edellyttää entistä runsaampaa tiedon levittämistä YTK:n toiminnasta kaikille asian koskemille tahoille kansallisella tasolla. Tässä tarkoituksessa hallintoneuvoston jäsenet järjestivät YTK:n kanssa vuonna 1995 jatkoa YTK:n tiedotuspäivien sarjalle ja esittelyjä YTK:n toimista eri jäsenvaltioissa yhteistyön edistämiseksi kansallisten laboratorioiden, korkeakoulujen ja yritysten ja YTK:n välillä. Hallintoneuvoston jäsenet osallistuivat YTK:n edustajien kanssa yhteisön ohjelmakomiteoiden kokouksiin, jotta YTK:n tutkimustoimintaa ja muuta yhteisön puiteohjelmien yhteydessä toteutettavaa tutkimustoimintaa voitaisiin sovittaa asianmukaisesti yhteen. Tätä YTK:n ohjelmista tehdyissä neuvoston päätöksissä määrättyä mielipiteenvaihtoa olisi tiivistettävä, ja sen olisi koskettava kaikkia vuoden 1996 tärkeitä ohjelmia. STRATEGIA YTK. n tehtävä - asiakaslähtöisen erittäin korkeatasoisen ja yhtenäisen tutkimustyön tekeminen yhteisön politiikan tukemiseksi - edellyttää, että YTK:Ha ja sen tutkimuslaitoksilla on selkeä, pitkäjännitteinen strategia. Hallintoneuvosto sopi vuoden 1995 lopulla YTK:n uudistetusta strategiasta ja on keskustellut tutkimuslaitosten perusstrategioista ohjenuorana keskukselle sen strategia-asiakirjassa mainittuihin nykyisessä lisääminen YTK: n kehittämisen toimenpiteisiin kuuluu mm. suoritusmittarien käytön auttamiseksi. toiminnassa. Vuoden tulevassa 1995 ja TEKNOLOGIAN ALAN ENNUSTEITA LAATIVA TUTKIMUSLAITOS (IPTS) Vuoden 1994 vuosikertomusta koskevissa huomautuksissaan hallintoneuvosto mainitsi tämän Sevillassa toimivan tutkimuslaitoksen uuden sijainnin ja sen tehtäväksi suunnitellun työn. IPTS:n uusi, vuonna 1995 laadittu ja komission hyväksymä työohjelma otettiin tyytyväisenä vastaan. Lisäksi hallintoneuvosto on tyytyväinen siitä, että tärkeä tekniikan seurantatoiminto on aloitettu; sen avasi komission jäsen Edith Cresson hallintoneuvoston puheenjohtajan läsnäollessa. Viimeksi mainittu korosti yhteistyötä, jota IPTS tekee kaikkialla jäsenvaltioissa ja Euroopan parlamentissa. SUURVUOREAKTORI Vuosi 1995 oli viimeinen Pettenissä Alankomaissa sijaitsevaa suurvuoreaktoria (HFR) koskevan Euratomin lisäohjelman vuosi. Suurvuoreaktorin tulevaisuudesta ja sille ehdotetusta uudesta monivuotisesta, vuonna 1996 aloitettavasta ohjelmasta keskusteltiin pitkin vuotta kaikilla tasoilla. Tässä yhteydessä laitoksen hallintoa tarkastettiin läpikotaisin, ja suuri osa sen kapasiteetista ohjattiin selvemmin suoraan kaupalliseen käyttöön, mistä sen tehokkuus ja talous hyötyvät. KIITOKSET Hallintoneuvosto arvostaa sitä, että sillä on ollut vuoden aikana useita tilaisuuksia olla yhteydessä tutkimuksesta vastaavaan komission jäseneen Edith Cressoniin, ja toivoo voivansa jatkaa keskusteluja YTK: n strategian kehittämisestä. Hallintoneuvosto esittää samalla kiitoksensa pääjohtajalle, muille johtajille ja koko YTK:n henkilöstölle kaikesta työstä, mitä he ovat tehneet vastatakseen eteensä tulleisiin haasteisiin. 2 Qk. YHTEINEN TUTKIMUSKESKUS tutkimuskeskus on Euroopan unionin yhteinen Yhteinen jonka on perustanut Euroopan komissio. Yhteisen tutkimuskeskuksen pääkonttori on Brysselissä. Viidellä paikkakunnalla - Belgiassa, Saksassa, Espanjassa, Italiassa ja Alankomaissa - sijaitsee kahdeksan tutkimuslaitosta, joista kukin on erikoistunut omaan tutkimusalaansa. tutkimuslaboratorio, Tutkimuslaitokset ovat seuraavat: IRMM Mittaus-ja vertailumateriaalien tutkimuslaito s GEEL(B) ITU IAM ISEI El IRSA 1ST IPTS Transuraanin tutkimuslaitos KARLSRUHE (D) Kehittyneiden materiaalien tutkimuslaitos PETTEN (NL) JA ISPRA (I) Tieto-ja järjestelmätekniikan tutkimuslaitos ISPRA (I) Ympäristöntutkimuslaitos Kaukokartoitussovellusten tutkimuslaitos Turvallisuusteknologian tutkimuslaito ISPRA (I) ISPRA (I) ISPRA (I) Teknologian alan ennusteita laativa tutkimuslaitos SEVILLA (E) YTK:n tehtävä on edistää ja tehdä asiakaslähtöistä, erittäin korkeatasoista ja yhtenäistä tutkimusta, joka tukee yhteisön politiikkaa. Koska Yhteinen tutkimuskeskus kuuluu kiinteästi Euroopan yhteisön tutkimuksen ja teknologisen kehittämisen järjestelmään, se osallistuu yhteisön tutkimuspolitiikkaan etenkin niillä aloilla, joilla sillä on erityisiä tai jopa ainutlaatuisia taitoja ja joilla sen puolueettomuus on merkittävää yhteisön politiikan tieteelliselle ja tekniselle tukemiselle. Tämä säännöllinen toiminta tapahtuu neuvoston osoittamien ja Euroopan unionin talousarviosta rahoitettujen YTK:n erityisohjelmien kautta. Lisäksi YTK toimii yhä enemmän kilpailuperiaatteella osallistuen yhteisön ohjelmiin - toimet - joihin kuuluvat myös kustannustenjakoperiaatteeseen perustuvat puiteohjelmien kilpaillen ja tai assosioitujen valtioiden korkeakoulujen kanssa, ja tarjoaa palvelujaan erilaisille asiakkaille maksua vastaan. tutkimuslaitosten jäsenvaltioiden teollisuuden, perusteella sanoen Yhteisen Henkilöstösääntöjen tutkimuskeskuksen virkamiesten ja määräaikaisessa työsuhteessa olevien, määrä oli 1 786 vuoden 1995 lopussa. Lukuun on lisättävä 319 tutkimuskeskuksessa työskennellyttä tutkijaa, joiden palkkion YTK maksoi erilaisista vastaanotto-ohjelmista. YTK sitoi vuonna 1995 määrärahoja kaikkiaan lähes 258 miljoonaa ecua. henkilökunnan, palkatun toisin Tämän vuosikertomuksen tarkoitus on antaa yleiskuva Yhteisen tutkimuskeskuksen toiminnasta vuonna 1995. Yksityiskohtaisempaa tietoa saa yksittäisten tutkimuslaitosten vuosikertomuksista. YTK julkaisee myös paljon tieteellisissä tieteellisiä kertomuksia, julkaisee kirjoituksia konferensseissa julkaisuissa (kaikista näistä kertomuksista on viitteet vuosittain julkaistavassa julkaisuluettelossa) ja järjestää seminaareja ja konferensseja tiedon levittämiseksi tieteellisistä tuloksistaan. ja 3 Sv 1. YHTEINEN TUTKIMUSKESKUS VUONNA 1995 TARKEA VUOS11995 Vuonna 1995 Yhteinen tutkimuskeskus alkoi toimia uudella lähestymistavalla. Lähestymistavan määrittelivät Euroopan unionin neuvosto, Euroopan parlamentti ja Euroopan komissio keskusteluissaan, jotka johtivat vuonna 1994 päätöksiin yhteisön tutkimuksen, teknologisen kehittämisen ja esittelyn puiteohjelmista ja sen jälkeen päätöksiin puiteohjelmien toteuttamisen erityisistä tutkimusohjelmista. Näihin kuuluu kaksi erityisesti YTK:ta koskevaa tutkimusohjelmaa vuosiksi 1995-1998, yksi Euroopan yhteisöä ja toinen Euroopan atomienergiayhteisöä varten. YTK teki sekä säännöllistä että kilpailuihin perustuvaa tutkimustyötä vuonna 1995 YTK:n asemasta 26. 4. 1994 tehtyjen neuvoston päätelmien mukaisesti; säännöllinen työ koski vakiintunutta tutkimusta ja yhteisön politiikalle annettavaa tieteellistä ja teknistä tukea. Kilpailutoimintaan kuuluivat osallistuminen kustannustenjakoperiaatteella toteutettuihin toimiin puiteohjelmissa, kilpailutetut tukitoimet komission osastoille, jotka vastaavat EU:n politiikan eri aloista, kilpailutettu toiminta yhteisön puiteohjelmien ulkopuolella ja ulkopuolisille osapuolille tehty sopimuksiin perustuva työ. Lisäksi juuri vuonna 1995 uusi komissio teki aloitteita teollisuuden ja tutkimuksen välisten siteiden kehittämiseksi. Tutkimuksesta vastaava komissaari Edith Cresson painottikin vahvasti tarvetta kaupallistaa YTK:n tutkimustuloksia entistä useammin ja parantaa tiedotusta YTK:n toiminnasta. Vuosi 1995 oli myös Euroopan unionin laajentumisen vuosi. Uudet jäsenvaltiot Itävalta, Suomi ja Ruotsi olivat jo osallistuneet YTK:n toimintaan vuonna 1994 ETA-sopimuksen aikana. Järjestelyyn kuului, että YTK-yhteistyötä voidaan jatkaa Islannin, Liechtensteinin ja Norjan kanssa vuonna 1995. SÄÄNNÖLLINEN TOIMINTA tutkimuskeskuksen säännöllisellä tuettiin neljännen puiteohjelman Yhteisen ja tavoitteiden saavuttamista EY:n tietoliikennetekniikka (tietotekniikka), teolliset teknologiat (valmistus- ja materiaalitekniikka, mittaus ja testaus), ympäristö (ympäristö ja ilmasto), biotieteet ja -tekniikka (maatalous ja kalastus, mukaan lukien maatalouteen liittyvä teollisuus, elintarviketeknologia, metsätalous ja maaseudun kehittäminen), muu kuin ydinenergia, kohdistettu sosiaalis-taloudellinen tutkimus, ydinfission turvallisuus ja lämpöydinf uusio. ja Euratomin hyväksi seuraavissa aiheissa: toiminnalla tieto- KILPAILUIHIN PERUSTUVA TOIMINTA - UUDET HAASTEET Huolelliset valmistelut alkoivat vuonna 1994, ja vuonna 1995 YTK vastasi kilpailutoiminnan saamien uusien tilaisuuksien haasteeseen. Uuden puiteohjelman ensimmäiseen ehdotuspyyntöön vastattiin yli 300 ehdotuksella yhdessä koko teollisuuden, tutkimuslaitosten ja korkeakoulujen yhteistyökumppanien kanssa kaikkialta EU:sta ja assosioiduista maista, ja onnistumisaste oli 28 %. YTK esitti ehdotuksia myös kilpailutettuihin avustustoimiin ja muihin yhteisön ohjelmiin kuin puiteohjelmiin,erityisesti Phare- ja Tacis-ohjelmiin, joissa saatiin sopimuksia ydinturvallisuustyöstä Keski- ja Itä-Euroopan maissa, Venäjällä ja muissa uusissa itsenäisissä valtioissa. Voidakseen tarttua näihin uusiin tilaisuuksiin YTK:n oli markkinoitava ahkerasti. Tilaisuudet mahdollisti komission) lainsäädännöllisiä, taloudellisia, varainhoidollisia ja hallinnollisia päätöksiä. Niihin kuuluu mm. syyskuussa 1995 tehty päätös muutoksista Euroopan unionin talousarvion varainhoitoasetukseen. (neuvoston, parlamentin joukko EY: n toimielinten suuri ja JVIyös ulkopuolisille tehtiin huomattavan paljon sopimuksiin perustuvaa työtä, ja vuonna 1995 allekirjoitettujen uusien sopimusten arvo oli selvästi yli 18 miljoonaa ecua. 4 *9^ KOMISSAARIN VIERAILU Komission jäsen Edith Cresson vieraili ensimmäisen kerran Yhteisessä tutkimuskeskuksessa 20 päivänä heinäkuuta 1995, jolloin hän kävi Ispran tutkimuslaitoksissa. Vierailua seurasivat käynnit syyskuussa ITU:ssa Karslruhessa ja joulukuussa IPTS:ssä Sevillassa, missä komissaari Cresson avasi henkilöstölle tutkimuslaitoksen uuden pitämissään puheissa hän kannusti YTK:ta jatkamaan ja teknologisen kehittämisen hyväksi. Hän hahmotteli komission näkemyksiä siitä, miten YTK:n on osallistuttava Euroopan unionin politiikkaan ja kilpailutettavaan toimintaan. tekniikanseurantatoiminnon. Vierailujen aikana työtään Euroopan tutkimuksen ilmoitti vuonna 1995 perustaneensa useita tutkimuksen erityisryhmiä Komissio seuraavilla aloilla: uuden sukupolven lentokone, multimediaohjelmat koulutuksen alalla, huomisen auto, rokotteet ja virussairaudet, tulevaisuuden junat ja rautatiejärjestelmät, eri ja kuljetusmuotoja ympäristöystävälliset vesiteknologiat. YTK:n henkilökuntaa on osallistunut useimpiin näistä erityisryhmistä, ja samanaikaisesti YTK:n johto on suunnitellut muutoksia YTK:n säännöllisiin tutkimusaloihin mukauttaakseen tutkimustyön komission asettamiin uusiin ensisijaisiin tavoitteisiin. merenkulkujärjestelmät tulevaisuuden yhdistävä kuljetus, teollisen UUDET JOHTAJAT Vuonna 1995 neljässä Yhteisen tutkimuskeskuksen tutkimuslaitoksessa (ISELssä, Ehssä, IRSA:ssa ja IAM:ssä) aloitti työnsä uusi johtaja, jonka komissio nimitti hallintoneuvoston ehdotuksen mukaisesti. TIEDOTUSALOITTEET jäsenten aloitteesta YTK:n ja teollisuuden, tutkimuslaitosten ja korkeakoulujen välisiä yhteyksiä lujitettiin myös tiedotuspäivät Lontoossa, Ateenassa, järjestämällä hallintoneuvoston Kööpenhaminassa, Milanossa ja työryhmissä hahmoteltiin uusia yhteistyönäkymiä. YTK:n johto ja henkilöstö ovat myös pitäneet jäsenvaltioissa lukuisia seminaareja YTK:n toiminnasta yleensä ja erityisesti toimista, joilla on tarkoitus edistää konkreettista yhteistyötä teollisuuden sekä kansallisella tai alueellisella tasolla tehtävän tutkimuksen kanssa. Tietoa YTK:n tehtävästä toimia EU:n politiikan tukena levitettiin edelleen muille komission osastoille kohdistetulla tiedotuksella, muun muassa tiedotuslehdellä ja kohdennetuilla seminaareilla. ja Wienissä. Tiedotuspäivillä esiteltiin tutkimuslaitoksia, STRATEGIA Ohjelmakaudella 1995-1998 Yhteinen tutkimuskeskus toimii aikaisemmalta ohjelmakaudelta saadun kokemuksen varassa ja toisaalta kohtaa haasteet, joita nopeasti ja jatkuvasti muuttuvat maailmanmarkkinat merkitsevät Euroopan teollisuudelle, ja Euroopan unionia kohtaavat uudet vaatimukset, joissa keskeistä on teollisuudelle ja yhteiskunnalle merkittävien tutkimustulosten kaupallistaminen. Siksi YTK järjestää vuosittain useita konferensseja ja seminaareja niissä viidessä Euroopan kaupungissa, joissa sen tutkimuslaitokset sijaitsevat. Kävijöiden määrä heijastaa tieteellisen yhteisön herkeämätöntä kiinnostusta YTK:ssa tehtyyn tutkimus- ja kehitystyöhön. tutkimuskeskuksen hallintoneuvosto johto keskustelivat vuoden kuluessa Yhteisen tutkimuslaitosten ja koko YTK:n strategioista lujittaakseen neuvoston, parlamentin ja komission päättämää uutta lähestymistapaa. Esille tuli korostettuna asiakaslähtöinen korkeatasoinen tutkimus, jolla on Euroopan unionille todellista merkitystä ja jota tehdään tehokkaasti ja vastaten joustavasti markkinoiden muuttuviin tarpeisiin. ja YTK: n toiminnalla on taipumus luoda yhteyksiä jäsenvaltioiden eri tieteellisillä ja teknisillä tasoilla toimivien ryhmien välille. Se edistää siten laboratorioiden ja tutkimuslaitosten yhteenkuuluvuutta kaikkialla Euroopan yhteisössä. 5 Os, 1. 1 SÄÄNNÖLLINEN TOIMINTA: YTK:N ERITYISET TUTKIMUSOHJELMAT Yhteisen tutkimuskeskuksen tärkein tehtävä vuonna 1995 oli tukea yhteisön puiteohjelmassa määrättyjen YTK:n erityisohjelmien toteuttamista niiden ensimmäisenä vuotena. Tämä tehtiin säännöllisen tutkimustoiminnan ja komission osastoille annetun säännöllisen tieteellisen ja teknisen tuen kautta. 1. 1. 1 Säännöllinen tutkimustoiminta Säännöllinen tutkimustoiminta muodosti 73 % YTK. n säännöllisestä toiminnasta vuonna 1995. Säännöllinen tutkimustoiminta kuuluu seuraaviin ohjelman alueisiin: * Valmistus-ja materiaalitekniikkaohjelmaa toteuttaa Kehittyneiden materiaalien tutkimuslaitos IAM; siihen kuului tutkimushankkeita kehittyneistä materiaaleista, pintatekniikasta, uusista ympäristöystävällisistä materiaaleista ja ainetta rikkomattomista arviointitekniikoista teollisuuden rakennekomponenttien tarkastuksessa. * Mittaus- ja testausohjelmassa Mittaus- ja vertailumateriaalien tutkimuslaitos IRMM toteutti tutkimushankkeita viitemittauksista ja Turvallisuusteknologian tutkimuslaitos 1ST arvioi rakenteiden luotettavuutta. ja vertailumateriaaleista * Ympäristö- ja ilmasto-ohjelman tutkimushankkeisiin kuuluivat Ympäristön tutkimuslaitoksen El: n toteuttamat ilmakehää, maaperää, veden pilaantumista ja jätteiden aiheuttamaa saastumista koskevat tutkimukset, Maan tarkkailukeskuksen (Centre for Earth Observation, CEO) - hajautetun perustaminen, eurooppalaisen Kaukokartoitussovellusten kaukohavaintotekniikan sovellukset sekä Turvallisuusteknologian tutkimuslaitoksen 1ST:n ja Tieto- ja järjestelmätekniikan tutkimuslaitoksen ISEI: n toteuttamat teollisuuden vaaroja koskevat hankkeet. ja tutkimuslaitoksen tiedotusjärjestelmän - asteittainen tiedonhallinta- toteuttamat IRSA. n * Muun energian kuin ydinenergian alan ohjelmaan kuuluivat Kehittyneiden materiaalien liittyvät tutkimuslaitoksen puhtaan tutkimushankkeet toteuttamat fotoenergiamuunninten standardointiin liittyvät tutkimushankkeet. teknologian materiaaleihin tutkimuslaitoksen IAM:n ja Tieto- järjestelmätekniikan toteuttamat ISEI:n ja tutkimuslaitoksen turvallisuusohjelmaan kuului * Ydinfission tutkimustoimia Turvallisuusteknologian tutkimuslaitoksen 1ST:n, Tieto- ja järjestelmätekniikan tutkimuslaitoksen ISEI:n ja Kehittyneiden turvallisuutta koskevista toteuttamista materiaalien tutkimuksista aina Turvallisuusteknologian tutkimuslaitoksen 1ST:n, Tieto- ja järjestelmätekniikan tutkimuslaitoksen ISEI:njaTransuraanin tutkimuslaitoksen ITU:n toteuttamiin ydinturvallisuuteen ja fissiokelpoisten aineiden hallintaan liittyviin tutkimuksiin. ITU:ssa tutkittiin ydinpolttoaineita ja aktinideja. reaktorien lukuisia IAM:n ja ohjelmaa (teknologia turvallisuus) lämpöydinfuusion tutkimukset. Tutkimuslaitoksen * Hallitun toteuttavat Turvallisuusteknologian tutkimuslaitos 1ST, Tieto- ja järjestelmätekniikan tutkimuslaitos ISEI ja Kehittyneiden materiaalien tutkimuslaitos IAM. * Kohdistettuun sosiaalis-taloudelliseen tutkimusohjelmaan kuuluvat Tieteen ja teknologian seurantakeskus ja Teknologian alan ennusteita laativan tutkimuslaitoksen IPTS:n tulevaisuutta ja koskevat konsulteilta, mahdollisuuksien mukaan myös tietoa tutkimuslaitoksilta puolueettomasti ja syvällisesti ja ennen kaikkea suodattaa aineistosta selviä suuntauksia tai tietoa tarvitusta toiminnasta muotoon, jota päätöksentekijät voivat käyttää. * Säännöllisen tutkimuksen avulla YTK voi levittää tieteellisen yhteistyön verkoston kaikkialle Eurooppaan. YTK on luonut kahden- ja monenvälisen yhteistyön avulla yli 800 yhteyttä erilaisiin yhteistyökumppaneihin pääasiassa Euroopan unionin alueella mutta myös muissa Euroopan maissa, Yhdysvalloissa ja Japanissa. kolmansien maiden -järjestöiltä, analysoida, prosessoida asiantuntijoilta, ja yhdentää kerättyä tehtävä on kerätä aineistoa jäsenmaiden ja * Säännöllinen tutkimus on ollut päällimmäisiä syitä siihen, että YTK on voinut kehittää sen omiin tutkimuslaitoksiin keskitettyjä eurooppalaisia tieteen verkostoja. 6 ©^ 1. 1. 2 Säännöllinen tieteellinen ja tekninen tuki yhteisön politiikalle YTK antoi tieteellistä ja teknistä tukea Euroopan unionin politiikalle komission osastojen pyynnöstä ja YTK:n nykyisistä erityisohjelmista 15 päivänä joulukuuta 1994 tehtyjen neuvoston päätösten mukaisesti. Nämä tieteelliset ja tekniset toimet muodostivat noin 27 prosenttia YTK:n säännöllisestä toiminnasta. Tukitoimet ovat asiakaslähtöisiä ja vastaavat puolueettomiin, EY:n direktiivien ja komission tai neuvoston päätösten tieteellisiin ja teknisiin vaatimuksiin tai Euratomin perustamissopimuksesta aiheutuviin velvollisuuksiin. Tutkimustyön tilaavan komission yksikön ja YTK:n tutkimuslaitosten välistä asiakas-alihankkija- suhdetta kuvastaa pääosastojen välisten yhteistyösopimusten laadinta ja allekirjoittaminen. YTK:n tuottamia palveluja muille komission pääosastoille valvoo virallinen pääosastojen välinen komitea, joka on perustettu komission päätöksellä. Ryhmällä oli vuonna 1995 kaksi kokousta, joissa läsnäoloaste oli korkea. Sen tehtävät ovat kaksijakoiset: se valvoo tehtävää työtä varmistaakseen, että tieto toiminnasta kulkee sujuvasti ja vastavuoroisesti (kaikille pääosastoille toimitettiin yli sata tiivistelmää kyseisistä tukitoimista vuonna 1995), ja suunnittelee seuraavan vuoden ja talousarvion asettamat rajoitukset. toimintaa ottaen huomioon ensisijaisiksi tavoitteet, uudet pyynnöt todetut tieteellisiä Näitä tietotekniikka, ympäristö ja ilmasto, maatalous ja kalastus, kohdistettu tutkimus ja ydinturvallisuus. toteutettiin seuraavilla puiteohjelman aloilla: sosiaalistaloudellinen tukitoimia teknisiä ja Kolme tärkeintä YTK: n tukitoimea ovat seuraavat: 1. YTK:n tuki ympäristöpolitiikalle muodostaa 46 % tieteellisen ja teknisen tuen talousarviosta; pääosasto XI:Ile annetaan tieteellistä ja teknistä apua ympäristöä pilaavia kemiallisia aineita, ilmansaasteita, veden laatua, kemiallisia jätteitä, teollisuuden riskejä ja ydinturvallisuutta koskevan lainsäädännön täytäntöönpanossa. Pääosastojen välinen yhteistyösopimus kaudelle 1995-1998 allekirjoitettiin joulukuussa 1995. 2. YTK:n tuki yhteiselle maatalouspolitiikalle muodostaa 16,5 % tieteellisen ja teknisen tuen talousarviosta. Pääosastojen välinen yhteistyösopimus kaudelle 1995-1998 allekirjoitettiin 17. 7. 1995. 3. YTK:n tuki ydinturvallisuudelle (Euratomin turvavalvonta pääosasto XVIhssä, Kansainvälisen atomienergiajärjestön IAEA:n turvavalvonnan tukiohjelma pääosasto l:ssä) muodostaa 32 % tieteellisen ja teknisen tuen talousarviosta. Pääosastojen välinen yhteistyösopimus kaudelle 1995- 1998 allekirjoitettaneen vuoden 1996 alussa. 7 G^ 1. 2 KILPAILUTETUT TOIMET toisin sanoen Yhteinen työskentely kolmansille osapuolille, Vuonna 1988 aloitettiin tutkimuskeskus alkoi tehdä sopimuksiin perustuvaa tutkimusta ulkopuolisille asiakkaille, ja tarkoituksena oli mitata YTK:n työn merkityksellisyyttä ja sen kilpailuasemaa, parantaa teknologian siirtoa loppukäyttäjille ja antaa Euroopan teollisuuden ja tutkijayhteisöjen käyttää hyväkseen YTK:n erikoisvälineitä ja -taitoja. Tämä oli ensimmäinen askel, kun YTK:ta alettiin avata kilpailulle. Neuvostossa ja Euroopan parlamentissa käydyissä keskusteluissa, jotka johtivat päätöksiin neljännestä puiteohjelmasta ja Euratomin puiteohjelmasta, korostettiin, että YTK:n on jatkettava ja vahvistettava siirtymistään kilpailullisempaan lähestymistapaan aidon asiakas- alihankkija-suhteen pohjalta, kuten todetaan huhtikuussa 1994 YTK:n asemasta tehdyissä neuvoston päätelmissä. Kuten neuvosto huomautti, sen päätelmien täytäntöönpano edellyttää useita oikeudellisia, varainhoidollisia, taloudellisia ja hallinnollisia asioita koskevia toimenpiteitä ja päätöksiä, joiden olisi parhaassa tapauksessa ollut tultava voimaan 1. tammikuuta 1995. Tärkein päätöksistä koski varainhoitoasetuksen muuttamista. Se edellyttää aina pitkiä menettelyjä ennen neuvoston päätöksen tekemistä, ja menettely saatiin päätökseen vasta syyskuussa 1995. Siirtymisen on tapahtua asteittain: noin 20 % YTK: n vuosien 1995-1998 kokonaistalousarviosta olisi ansaittava kilpailutetun toiminnan kautta. Tammikuun 1. päivänä 1995 YTK:n kilpailutettuun toimintaan kuului: tarkoitus -Osallistuminen kustannustenjakoperiaatteella ehdotuksia ehdotuspyyntöjen yhteydessä osallistuu ehdotuksiin, joita muut laboratoriot esittävät puiteohjelman yhteydessä. toimiin, jäsenvaltioiden yhteistyökumppanien kanssa joissa YTK esittää tai toteutettaviin -Neljänteen puiteohjelmaan kuuluvat kilpailutetut tieteelliset ja tekniset tukitoimet, joissa YTK voi vastata komission pääosastojen esittämiin yksittäisiin pyyntöihin kilpailun perusteella ehdotuspyyntöjen yhteydessä. -Puiteohjelmien ulkopuoliset muut tai konsortiojärjestelyin) osallistua useisiin yhteisön tukemiin toimiin (esim. Phare, Tacis, apu kehitysmaille) ja hakea yhteisön rahoitusta kyseisille toimille kilpailullisen lähestymistavan pohjalta. joissa YTK voi kilpailutetut toimet, (yksin -Sopimuksiin perustuva tutkimus, edellä mainittu alkuperäinen tapa työskennellä kolmannen osapuolen kanssa, joka nyt kuuluu YTK:n yleiseen kilpailuvälineistöön. Kilpailuun perustuvan toiminnan nopean kasvun valmistelut alkoivat jo vuonna 1994, mutta vasta vuosi 1995 oli YTK:Ile kokemuksista oppimisen vuosi. Oli opittava toimimaan uusien hallinnollisten jakamaanluovasti uudelleen voimavaroja ja henkilöstöä kilpailuhaasteiden edessä ja sopeuduttava täysin uuteen sisäiseen ja tutkimuslaitokset osoittautuivat erittäin motivoituneiksi, ulkoiseen joustaviksi ja innokkaiksi vastaamaan kilpailulliseen lähestymistapaan, johon niitä kannusti sisäinen kilpailutoiminnan erityisryhmä. ilmiöiden kanssa, opittava tilanteeseen. YTK: n ja oikeudellisten YTK jätti yhteensä 338 hanke-ehdotusta yhdessä jäsenvaltioissa olevien yhteistyökumppanien kanssa kustannustenjakoperiaatteella toteutettavista toimista vastauksena 15 erityisohjelman ensimmäisiin ehdotuspyyntöihin. Joulukuuhun 1995 mennessä komissio oli hyväksynyt niistä rahoitettaviksi 95, joten onnistumisaste oli kaikkiaan 28 %. Taloudellinen tulos - jota tosin on useista käsiteltävinä olevista hankkeista meneillään olevien sopimusneuvottelujen vuoksi vaikea laskea tarkkaan - on yli 10,5 miljoonaa ecua. On huomattava, että sekä ehdotustoiminta että sitä seuraavan arvioinnin tulokset ovat tuoneet ilmi, kuinka tärkeää ovat YTK:n työ ja sen juuret syvällä Euroopan teollisuudessa ja tiedeyhteisöissä. 8 0- Kilpailutettavan tieteellisen ja teknisen tukitoiminnan alalla annettiin 26,5 miljoonaa ecua sille neljäksi vuodeksi korvamerkityistä 128 miljoonasta ecusta komission eri osastojen käyttöön vuoden 1995 alussa, mutta maksusitoumuksia tehtiin vain 20 miljoonaa ecua vuonna 1995. Näistä YTK:n tutkimuslaitokset ovat onnistuneet voittamaan itselleen sopimuksia 11,9 miljoonan ecun arvosta joko yksin tai konsortiojärjestelyssä. YTK:n tutkimuslaitokset osallistuivat aktiivisesti vuonna 1995 kilpailutettuihin toimiin myös neljännen puiteohjelman ulkopuolella, mm. Phare- ja Tacis-ohjelmiin. Tällä erittäin kilpaillulla markkina-alalla YTK voitti kilpailuja noin 2,3 miljardin ecun edestä. Kolmansille osapuolille tehty työ sisälsi vuonna 1995 uusia sopimuksia tehtiin yli 18 miljoonan ecun edestä, kun koko markkinat lasketaan mukaan. Kun otetaan huomioon muilla tahoilla tehty merkittävän suuri työ, tämä merkitsee aikaisempien asemien säilyttämistä huomattavan hyvin. (Vuonna 1994 kolmansille osapuolille tehty työ toi 18 miljoonaa ecua. ) Taulukossa 1 on yhteenveto vuonna 1995 kilpailutetuissa toimissa ansaituista määristä: Taulukko 1 - kilpailutetut toimet Vuoden 1995 ansiot (milj. ecua) Vuoden 1995 ansiot määrärahoiksi kirjatut Vuoden 1995 Kustannusten- jakoperiaatteella toteutetut toimet Kilpailun tuki Kilpailutetut toimet puiteohjelman ulkopuolella Kolmansille osapuolille tehty työ YHTEENSÄ 10,8 11,9 2,3 18,5 43,5 (*) 3,9 4,8 1,3 18,5 28,5 (*) Ylijäämä siirretään vuoden 1996 määrärahoihin, kun menettelyt on saatettu päätökseen. Suurvuoreaktoria koskeva lisäohjelma Komissio käyttää Pettenissä sijaitsevaa suurvuoreaktoria (HFR) 25 päivänä heinäkuuta 1961 tehdyn Euratomin ja Alankomaiden välisen sopimuksen mukaisesti. Neuvosto hyväksyi 29 päivänä huhtikuuta 1992 nelivuotisen Pettenin suurvuoreaktorin käyttöä koskevan lisätutkimusohjelman, jonka Yhteinen tutkimuskeskus toteuttaa Euroopan atomienergiayhteisölle vuosina 1992-1995. 31 päivänä joulukuuta 1995 päättyneessä lisäohjelmassa HFR:n toiminta oli selkeästi ohjelman rahoittaneiden kahden osapuolen, Saksan ja Alankomaiden, yhteistyön tulosta. Tasaisesti kasvanut lisärahoitus saatiin ulkopuolisista sopimuksista. HFR:n käyttöä aiotaan jatkaa uuden lisäohjelman turvin, jossa entistäkin suurempi osa tuloista saadaan teollisuudelta ja jossa kustannuksia vähennetään jyrkästi. 99^ 1. 3 YHTEISEN TUTKIMUSKESKUKSEN TIEDOTUSPAIVAT - JULKAISUJA JA KONFERENSSEJA YTK:n toiminnan uusi lähestymistapa edellyttää jäsenvaltioiden teollisuuden, tutkimuslaitosten ja korkeakoulujen sekä YTK:n välistä läheisempää yhteistyötä. Yhteistyöhön kannustamiseksi ja YTK-tiedon lisäämiseksi Lontoossa, Ateenassa, Kööpenhaminassa, Milanossa ja Wienissä on järjestetty YTK-tiedotuspäiviä hallintoneuvoston jäsenten aloitteesta. Niissä YTK:n jäsenet ovat esitelleet keskusta ja samanaikaisesti tutkimuslaitoksia esittelevissä työryhmissä on rakennettu pohjaa osallistujien kanssa tehtävälle yhteistyölle. Tiedotuspäivät täydentävät niitä lukuisia esittelyjä, joita YTK:sta on pidetty tutkimuslaitoksissa, kansallisissa laboratorioissa ja erikoisalojen messuilla ja näyttelyissä, sekä YTK-aiheisen kirjallisuuden jakamista yms. YTK tarjoaa laajan valikoiman julkaisuja erilaisista tieteellisistä aiheista. Näihin kuuluu kirjoituksia tieteellisissä julkaisuissa, esitelmien käsikirjoituksia, EUR-kertomuksia ja katsauksia. Vuonna 1995 YTK julkaisi noin tuhat asiakirjaa, joiden tutkimuslaitoskohtainen jako ilmenee taulukosta 2. Luettelo YTK:n julkaisuista julkaistiin maaliskuussa 1995, ja siinä luetellaan kaikki vuonna 1994 ilmestyneet julkaisut. ilmestyy vuosittain julkaisuluettelossa. Viimeisin numero (15) Useimmat näistä julkaisuista saa pyydettäessä tiedotusosastolta Isprasta. Edellä mainitussa luettelossa mainitaan julkaisujen lisäksi kaikki YTK:n saamat patentit. Vuonna 1994 patentteja myönnettiin 22. lukuisia konferensseja ja seminaareja niissä viidessä Euroopan YTK järjestää vuosittain kaupungissa, tutkimuslaitokset sijaitsevat. Vuonna 1995 pidettiin yhdeksän joissa sen konferenssia, 94 kansainvälistä seminaaria ja kokousta sekä 135 vierailua eri tutkimuslaitoksiin. Näihin osallistuneiden vieraiden määrä - 11 000 - osoittaa, että tiedeyhteisö on jatkuvasti kiinnostunut YTK:ssa tehdystä tutkimus- ja kehitystyöstä. Tutkimus-laitos Yleinen hallinto IRMM ITU IAM ISEI El 1RS A 1ST IPTS Y h t e e n sä Taulukko 2 - YTK: n julkaisut vuonna 1995 EUR- kertomukset Konferenssi esitelmät Julkaistut artikkelit Yhteensä 1 40 15 49 26 37 23 16 1 7 111 113 201 155 188 151 149 22 208 1097 5 5 2 16 14 22 17 19 17 117 1 66 96 136 115 129 111 114 4 772 10 o- 1. 4 HENKILÖSTÖ ja Henkilöstösääntöjen perusteella palkattuun YTK:n henkilöstöön kuuluu virkamiehiä määräaikaisessa tieteellis-teknistä että hallinnollista joissa on sekä henkilöstöä. Joulukuun 1995 lopussa henkilöstösääntöjen perusteella palkatun henkilöstön lukumäärä oli 1 786, kun se joulukuun 1994 lopussa oli 1 845. työsuhteessa olevia, Taulukosta 3 ilmenee henkilöstösääntöjen perusteella palkatun henkilöstön jakauma vuonna 1995. Taulukko 3 - Henkilöstösääntöjen perusteella palkatun henkilöstön jakauma joulukuussa 1995 Tutkimuslaitos Henkilöstön määrä Pääosasto Ohjelmaosasto Varojen koordinointi - tieteellinen ja tekninen tuki, Ispra Mittaus-ja vertailumateriaalien tutkimuslaitos Transuraanin tutkimuslaitos Kehittyneiden materiaalien tutkimuslaitos Tieto- ja järjestelmätekniikan tutkimuslaitos Ympäristöntutkimuslaitos Kaukokartoitussovellusten tutkimuslaitos Turvallisuusteknologian tutkimuslaitos Teknologian alan ennusteita laativa tutkimuslaitos Komennuksella oleva henkilöstö Yhteensä 25 13 347 169 194 250 187 219 101 246 26 9 1786 Henkilöstösääntöjen perusteella palkatun henkilöstön lisäksi YTK:ssa toimii 319 tutkijaa erilaisissa vierailuohjelmissa: vanhempia tutkijoita, jotka otettaan vastaan vierailevina tutkijoina kansallisia asiantuntijoita, joita jäsenvaltiot lähettivät komennukselle YTK:non osallistumaan valittuun tieteelliseen työhön väitelleitä tutkijoita ja jatko-opiskelijoita, jotka opiskelevat stipendiohjelmien kautta Taulukosta 4 ilmenee näiden YTK:ssa joulukuun lopussa 1995 työskennelleiden tutkijoiden jakauma tutkimuslaitoksittain. Lisäksi kolmansista maista tulee vuosittain noin 20 tutkijaa apurahan turvin, jollaisia myönnetään IAEA:n komission kyseisten tutkijoiden kotimaiden tai Kansainvälisen atomienergiajärjestön kanssa tekemien sopimusten perusteella. Edellä mainittujen tutkijoiden lisäksi YTK:ssa työskentelee useita vanhempia tutkijoita ja noin 150 harjoittelijaa aiheuttamatta kustannuksia EU:n talousarviolle, yleensä lyhyitä jaksoja kerrallaan. 11 e^ Taulukko 4 - Vierailevat tutkijat, komennuksella olevat asiantuntijat ja stipendiaatit joulukuussa 1995 Vieraile-vat tutkijat Komen-nuksella olevat asian tuntijat Väitelleet tutkijat Jatko- opiskelijat Yhteensä 2 2 4 1 5 7 4 2 2 - 2 4 5 16 16 14 32 10 15 26 15 17 21 17 8 34 17 13 8 36 26 51 44 60 50 34 18 Tutkimuslaitos Mittaus-ja vertailumateriaalien tutkimuslaitos Transuraanin tutkimuslaitos Kehittyneiden materiaalien tutkimuslaitos Tieto- ja järjestelmätekniikan tutkimuslaitos Ympäristön tutkimuslaitos Kaukokartoitus- sovellusten tutkimuslaitos Turvallisuustekno logian tutkimuslaitos Teknologian alan ennusteita laativa tutkimuslaitos Yhteensä 27 13 151 128 319 12 Q^ 1. 5 VARAINHOITO YTK:n toteuttama talousarvio (maksusitoumusmäärärahat) vuonna 1995 käy ilmi taulukosta 5. Taulukko 5 - Vuoden 1995 toteutettu talousarvio (maksusitoumusmäärärahat), milj. ecua Säännölliset toimet EY:n erityisohjelma Euratomin erityisohjelma 152,761 75,301 Välisumma 228,062 Kilpailutetut toimet Osallistuminen kustannustenjakoperiaatteella toteutettaviin toimiin Kilpailutetut tieteelliset ja tekniset tukitoimet 0,027 Osallistuminen yhteisön toimintaan 0,045 puiteohjelman ulkopuolella Kolmansille osapuolille tehty työ 10,460 Välisumma 10,532 Suurvuoreaktori Yhteensä 18,548 257,142 Näihin maksusitoumusmäärärahoihin on lisättävä 0,564 miljoonaa ecua vuoden 1994 talousarviosta siirrettyjä määrärahoja, jotka tarkoitettiin ympäristöä ja avaruudesta käsin sopimusten tapahtuvaa täytäntöönpanoon; lupa siirtoon annettiin maaliskuussa 1995 (SIHT(95), 400 lopull. ). kaukohavainnointia tutkimuksesta koskevasta tehtyjen YTK sitoi määrärahoja yhteensä lähes 258 miljoonaa ecua: YTK:n erityisohjelmien toteuttamiseen (tutkimukseen ja säännöllisiin tukitoimiin komission osastoille) YTK:n kilpailutetun toiminnan toteuttamiseen EU:n talousarvion mukaisesti (osallistuminen kustannustenjakoperiaatteella toteutettuihin toimiin, kilpailutetut tukitoimet komission osastoille, YTK:n osallistuminen muuhun yhteisön toimintaan, Alankomaidenja Saksan hallitusten osallistuminen suurvuoreaktorin käyttöön ja YTK:n asiakkaiden osallistuminen niiden tilauksesta tehtävän työn toteuttamiseen). On huomattava, että taulukon 6 tiedot koskevat YTK:n vuonna 1995 tekemän työn aiheuttamia menoja. Kustannustenjakoperiaatteella toteutetut toimet, kilpailutetut tieteelliset ja tekniset tukitoimet ja osallistuminen muuhun yhteisön toimintaan olivat vuonna 1995 aloitettuja uudenlaisia YTK:n toiminnan muotoja. Useimmissa tapauksissa varsinaiset sopimukset tehtiin vasta vuoden 1995 lopussa. Tämän vuoksi vuoden 1995 aikana työtä ei vielä tehty kovin paljon. Vuoden 1995 aikana tehtyjä sopimuksia koskevat luvut ovat taulukossa 2. 13 O^ JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE 1995 ANNUAL REPORT / (Presented by the Commission) FOREWORD Following Article 7 of the Council Decision of 15 December 1994, adopting a specific programme for research and technological development, including demonstration, to be carried out for the European Community, on the one hand, by the Joint Research Center (JRC) and, on the other, by means of activities within the framework of a competitive approach and intended for scientific and technical support to Community policies (1995 to 1998) (94/918/EC); Article 7 of the Council Decision of 15 December 1994, adopting a specific programme of research and technological development, including demonstration, to be implemented by the Joint Research Centre for the European Atomic Energy Community (1995 to 1998) (94/919/Euratom); Article 5 of the Council Decision of 29 April 1992, adopting a supplementary research programme to be implemented by the Joint Research Centre for the European Atomic Energy Community (92/275/Euratom) during the period 1992-1995; it is foreseen that an annual report on the implementation of the activities of the JRC will be transmitted by the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee. / In fulfilment of this requirement, the enclosed document reports on JRC activities in 1995, and at the same time constitutes a contribution to the reporting on Community RTD (Research and Technological Development) activities required by Article 130P of the EC Treaty. This annual report is accompanied by the comments of the Board of Governors. OBSERVATIONS BY THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS ON THE JRC ANNUAL REPORT 1995 f 995 - THE FIRST YEAR UNDER MODIFIED ROLE 1995 was a significant year for the JRC. This was the year where the modified role of the JRC, as agreed with the Council, the Parliament and the commission in 1994, took effect. This modified role for the JRC called for a wider spectrum of competitive activities than was the case in the past, and from 1995 onwards the JRC could participate in Community programmes on an equal basis with its national partners from research and industry. As witnessed by the present report, the JRC responded in a nvnamic way to this new challenge and in the case of the shared cost action programmes, obtainec n the competition promising results together with its partners throughout the Member States of the European Union and other countries associated with the programmes. Good results were also obtained for the other modes of competitive activities. It is noteworthy that, in spite of the new modes introduced in 1995, the JRC kept up the pace with work for third parties in comparison with previous years. In this new situation, preliminary targets were set for participation in competitive activities in 1995 and the Board notes with satisfaction that overall, these targets were exceeded. Competitive activities is only one facet of the JRC work, another being its institutional research and scientific and technical support to the Union's sectorial policies, notably environment, energy, agriculture and industry. The Board appreciates the continuing concern of the JRC to respond positively to the requirements of customers. For the research activities there is a welcome drive towards producing useful results for the benefit of industry and society. The report highlights examples of this and the Board will continue to urge the Centre to pursue the necessary trend towards a further output-oriented JRC with an increased scope for the commercialisation of its research results. Based on frequent evaluations of the JRC, the Board feels satisfied with the generally high quality of the JRC work and its increasing relevance to the needs of the European Union's policies. The Board already noted last year its expectations for the development* for the JRC from 1995 onwards. Amongst the measures the Board has taken to strengthen its follow-up on the JRC activities is a restructuring of its Sub-Committees, allowing to follow in more detail the JRC institutes. Continuing efforts are being made to introduce performance parameters and quality assessment. EVALUATIONS OF THE JRC In its guidance of the JRC throughout the year the Board has drawn on the recommendations from the evaluations of the JRC and its Institutes by external, independent, experts available at the end of the previous 1992-1994 programme period. The Board has reviewed the full set of recommendations from this exercise and recognises the JRC's management efforts in working to implement them, while noting that some useful recommendations particularly related to administrative and staff policy matters have not yet been implemented for reasons beyond the control of the JRC. RULES GOVERNING THE JRC - STAFF ISSUES The Board continues to press for the JRC to be allowed to operate fully in a way that enables it to achieve the change in working methods envisaged by the Council Conclusions of April 1994. This may call for a further evolution of the rules and regulations governing its activities, possibly involving an evolution of its status within the Commission. This should also lead to an increased flexibility in budgetary and financial matters combined with the noted progress on the financial management systems. The Board has presented its points of view on these important matters to the Commissioner for Research, Mrs. Edith Cresson. Towards the end of the year it was informed of the imminent plans for giving the JRC a larger autonomy within the Commission and other organizational changes planned. Thus as a first step, the JRC will be given status as a separate Directorate General from early 1996 (Decided on 16 January, 1996). Thè Board has also discussed staff policy issues with the Commissioner and expects to follow the implications for the JRC under the new policy of the Commission on staff under the research budget of the Union. Like the staff of many other European research institutes, the JRC has an age distribution which will result in many vacancies in the coming few years. Five senior posts as Institute Director became vacant in 1995 and four of these were filled, following appointments by the Commission upon advice from the Board, while a fifth post is still to be filled. The Board welcomes the four new Directors who joined the JRC in mid-1995. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ON THE JRC The modified role of the JRC requires a more intense dissemination of information on JRC activities to all interested parties at a national level. As a contribution to this, in 1995 Members of the Board, together with the JRC, arranged for a continuation of the series of JRC Information Days and presentations of JRC activities throughout the Member States with the aim of fostering further collaboration between national research laboratories, universities, industry and the JRC. To attain proper coordination between the JRC research activities and other related research activities under the Community Framework Programmes, Members of the Board have participated with JRC representatives in meetings of the Community Programme Committees. These exchanges of views as prescribed in the Council decisions on the JRC programmes should be intensified and encompass all relevant programme activities in 1996. STRATEGY The fulfilment of the JRC's mission of performing customer-driven research of the highest quality and integrity in support of Community policies, calls for a clear long-term strategy for/the JRC and its Institutes. The Board agreed in late 1995 on an updated JRC strategy and has conducted discussions on the underlying Institute strategies as a guide for the Centre in its current and future activities. One of the measures envisaged in the 1995 strategy document is more extensive use of performance indicators to assist the development of the JRC. INSTITUTE FOR PROSPECTIVE TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES (IPTS) In its observations on the 1994 Annual Report, the Board mentioned the new location of this institute in Seville and the work planned. It is pleased to record the new work programme for IPTS, in 1995 and endorsed by the Commission. Moreover, the Board appreciates the defined inauguration of the important Technological Watch function by the Commissioner, Mrs. Edith Cresson, in the presence of the Chairman of the Board, who emphasised the collaboration IPTS has established throughout the Member States and with the European Parliament. HIGH FLUX REACTOR 1995 was the last year of the supplementary EURATOM programme for the High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten (NL). Throughout the year discussions have taken place at all levels on the future of the HFR reactor and its proposed hew multi-annual programme to begin in 1996. This has involved a complete overhaul of the management of the facility and an intensive drive towards a more direct commercial use of a considerable part of its capacity with the ensuing improvement in efficiency. and economy. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Board welcomes the several contacts it has had during the year with the Commissioner for Research, Mrs. Edith Cresson and looks forward to further discussions on the development of JRC strategy. At the same time the Board expresses its appreciation for the hard work of the Director General, his Directors and the entire JRC staff in addressing the challenges facing them. JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE 1995 ANNUAL REPORT / / / Report of the Commission TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE IN 1995 1. 1 INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES: JRC SPECIFIC RESEARCH PROGRAMMES 1. 1. 1 Institutional Research Activities 1. 1. 2 Institutional Scientific and Technical Support for Community Policies 1. 2 COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES Participation in shared cost actions Competitive scientific and technical support activities Other competitive activities outside the Framework Programmes Third Party Work HFR Supplementary Programme 1. 3 INFORMATION DAYS- PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCES. /. 1. 4 HUMAN RESOURCES 1. 5 FINANCES 2. ACTIVITIES OF THE JRC INSTITUTES IN 1995 2. 1 THE INSTITUTE FOR REFERENCE MATERIALS AND MEASUREMENTS 2. 2 THE INSTITUTE FOR TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS 2. 3 THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED MATERIALS 2. 4 THE INSTITUTE FOR SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND INFORMATICS 2. 5 THE ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE. ' 2. 6 THE INSTITUTE FOR REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS 2. 7 THE INSTITUTE FOR SAFETY TECHNOLOGY 8 10 10 14 18 18 18 18 18 19 19 20 22 23 23 26 28 31 35 38 41 2. 8 THE INSTITUTE FOR PROSPECTIVE TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES '. 44 Annex 1 Annex 2 46 48 JRC Annual Report 1995 THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE The Joint Research Centre is the corporate research laboratory of the European Union. It is established by the European Commission with headquarters in Brussels. Five separate sites, located in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, house eight different institutes, each with its own focus of expertise. These institutes are: IRMM The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements GEEL (B) ITU The Institute for Transuranium Elements KARLSRUHE (D) 1AM The Institute for Advanced Materials PETTEN (NL) and ISPRA (I) ISEI The Institute for Systems Engineering and Informatics ISPRA (I) El The Environment Institute IRSA The Institute for Remote Sensing Applications 1ST The Institute for Safety Technology ISPRA (I) ISPRA (I) ISPRA (I) IPTS The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies SEVILLE (E) The mission of the JRC is to promote and carry out customer-driven research of the highest quality and integrity in support of Community policies. The Joint Research Centre, being an integral part of the Community research and technological development system, contributes to Community research policy, particularly in those sectors in which it has special, if not unique, skills and in areas where its neutrality is essential for scientific and technical support for Community policies. These institutional activities are performed in executing the JRC specific programmes decided by the Council and funded by the European Union budget. Furthermore the JRC is increasingly engaged in competitive activities participating: on a competitive basis, with industry, research organisations and universities within the Member States or associated including shared cost actions under the Framework countries, in Community programmes, Programmes, and offering its services against payment to various customers. The statutory staff, comprising officials and temporary agents of the JRC, was 1. 786 at the end of 1995. To this number one must add 319 scientists who were active in the Centre and were paid by the JRC under various hosting schemes. The global credits committed by the JRC in 1995 were slightly lower than 258 Mioecu. This Annual Report is intended to give a general overview of JRC activities in 1995. Readers may find more details in the Annual Reports of the eight institutes. The JRC also publishes numerous scientific reports, presents papers to conferences and in scientific journals (all these reports are referred to in the Publication Bulletin which is published yearly), and organises workshops, seminars and conferences to disseminate its scientific output. 1. THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE IN 1995 8 1995 A SIGNIFICANT YEAR led, EAEC research, in 1994, to decisions on 1995 was the first year of a new approach for the JRC. This had been defined by the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the European Commission in discussions which the for Community Framework Programmes technological in activities development and demonstration and to subsequent decisions on the specific research programmes to the Framework implement Programmes. These include two JRC specific, 1995-1998, research programmes, one for the EC (European Community) and the other for the Energy Community). In conformity with the Council conclusions of 26 April 1994 on the role of the JRC, the Centre in institutional activities as well as competitive institutional activities, former covering the scientific and institutional research and technical support to Community policies. The competitive activities include participation in shared-cost actions under the Framework Programmes, competitive support measures for Commission services responsible for the various Union policies, competitive activities outside the Community Framework Programmes and contractual work performed for outside third parties. in 1995 has engaged (European Atomic appointed Commission for establishing better 1995 was, moreover, the year in which the newly launched bonds initiatives between industry and research. Within this frame the Commissioner for research, Mrs. E. Cresson, strongly emphasised the need for further commercialisation of JRC research results and for improved communication of JRC activities. Finally, 1995 also saw the enlargement of the European Union. The three new Member States (Austria, Finland and Sweden) had already participated in 1994 in JRC activities under the EEA (European Economic Area) Agreement. This framework allowed for the continuation, in 1995, of the JRC collaboration with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES The JRC institutional activities contributed to the 4th Framework the objectives of Industrial and Material Programme for the EC and the EAEC Framework Programmes via the lines of Information and (Information Communications Technologies Technologies Technologies), (Industrial Technologies, Measurements and Testing), Environment (Environment and Climate), Life Sciences and Fisheries, Technologies including agro-industry, technologies, forestry and rural development), Non-nuclear Energy, Targeted Socio-Economic Research, Nuclear Fission Safety and Thermonuclear Fusion. (Agriculture food and NEW CHALLENGES: COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES than 300 proposals were made Following extensive preparations begun in 1994, the JRC responded to the challenge set by the new opportunities opened up in 1995 for competitive activities. Together with partners from industry, research centres and universities throughout the Union and associated countries, in more response to the first call for proposals under the new Framework Programmes, with a success rate of 28%. The JRC also presented proposals for for competitive support activities and Community programmes outside the Frame work Programmes, notably PHARE and TACIS, where contracts were won for nuclear safety work in the Central and Eastern European countries, Russia and other Newly Independent States (NIS). Taking up these new opportunities required intensive marketing by the JRC. They were made possible by a series of legal, financial, budgetary and administrative decisions by the institutions (Council, Parliament, Community the necessary Commission). These amendments to the Financial Regulation for the European Union budget, decided on in September 1995. included Contractual work performed for external third parties was also notable and new contracts signed during 1995 amounted to well above 18 Mioecu. VISITS BY THE COMMISSIONER On 20 July 1995 Commissioner Mrs. E. Cresson, made her first visit to the JRC, starting with the Institutes at Ispra, followed by a visit to ITU in Karlsruhe in September and IPTS in Seville in December, where Mrs. Cresson inaugurated the JRC Annual Report 1995 new technological watch function of the Institute. In her address to the personnelduring these visits, she encouraged the JRC to continue its mission for Research and Technological Development in Europe. She outlined the views of the Commission on the contributions to be made by the JRC to the policies of the Union and on to engagement in competitive activities. Member States on JRC activities in general and in particular those aimed at stimulating industry and concrete collaboration with research conducted at a national or regional level. JRC availability in support of Union policies was further publicised by information activities directed to other Commission services, including a Newsletter and targeted seminars. In 1995 the Commission announced that it had established several task forces on industrial research in the areas of new-generation aircraft, multimedia educational software, the car of tomorrow, vaccines and viral diseases, the trains and railway systems of the future, intermodal transport, maritime systems of the future and environmentally friendly water technologies. « JRC staff have participated in most of these task forces and, in parallel, the JRC management has planned reorientations within the JRC institutional research areas, in order to match research to the new priorities set by the Commission. NEW DIRECTORS During the year, four new Directors of JRC Institutes, namely ISEI, El, IRSA and IAM, took up their posts, after appointment by the Commission acting on the advice of the Board of Governors. COMMUNICATION INITIATIVES Links between the JRC and industry, research centres and universities were also reinforced through the organisation of Information Days in London, Athens, Copenhagen, Milan and Vienna, on the initiative of Members of the Board of Governors. The Institutes were presented, while workshops outlined new perspectives collaboration. Likewise, members of JRC management and staff have given a number of seminars throughout the for STRATEGY The programme period 1995-1998 will see the JRC, on the one hand build on experience acquired from the previous programme period and on the other, meet the challenges that rapidly and continuously changing world markets impose on European Industry and the new demands facing the European Union, with an emphasis on the commercialisation of research results of value to industry and society. To this end, each year the JRC organises a number of conferences, workshops and seminars at its five sites in Europe. The number of visitors shows the constant interest of the scientific community in the contributions to research and development made by the JRC. / In order to consolidate the new approach of the JRC as prescribed by the Council, the Parliament and the Commission, the Board of Governors and the JRC management have, during the year, discussed strategies for the eight institutes and the JRC as a whole, leading to an emphasis on customer-driven, high quality research of real utility for the European Union, executed in an efficient way with a flexible responsiveness to changing market needs. JRC activities have the effect of creating links between teams in Member States situated at different levels of scientific and technological development. They thus contribute to rein forcing cohesion between laboratories and research institutes in all the Community regions. JRC Annual Report 1995 1. 1 INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES: JRC SPECIFIC RESEARCH PROGRAMMES The major task of the JRC in 1995 was to contribute to the implementation of the JRC specific programmes under the Communities' Framework Programmes in their first year of existence. This contribution was carried out through institutional research activities and through institutional scientific and technical support activities the Commission. the services of for 1. 1. 1 Institutional Research Activities institutional research activities In 1995, accounted for 73% of the JRC's institutional activities; the following Programme lines: they are carried out under • The Industrial Technologies and Materials Technologies programme is carried out by the Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) and encompassed research projects on advanced materials, on surface engineering, on new ecofriendly materials and on Non Destructive Evaluation techniques for the inspection structural components. industrial of • The Measurements and Testing programme encompassed research projects on reference measurements and materials, carried out by the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements the (IRMM); assessment of the reliability of structures, carried out by for Safety Technology (1ST). Institute and the on of projects • The Environment and Climate programme consisted on research atmospheric, soil, water and waste pollution, executed by the Environment Institute (El); on the gradual setting up of the Centre for Earth Observation a décentrai. ^d European information data management system,and on applications of remote sensing techniques, carried out by the Institute for Remote Sensing Applications (IRSA); and on industrial hazards carried out by the Institute the for Safety Technology (1ST) and by Institute for Systems Engineering and Informatics (ISEI). and • The Non-Nuclear programme consisted of research projects related to materials for clean technologies, carried out Energy 10 Institute by the for Advanced Materials (IAM), and to standardisation of photovoltaic devices, carried out by the for Systems Engineering and Informatics (ISEI). Institute • The Nuclear the Fission Safety programme encompassed a number of research activities from studies on reactor safety, ranging for Safety Institute carried out by Technology (1ST), by the Institute for Systems Engineering and Informatics (ISEI) and the Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM), to research activities on nuclear safeguards and fissile materials management, executed by the Institute for Safety Technology (1ST), the for Systems Engineering and Institute for the Informatics Transuranium Elements (ITU). ITU carried out research on nuclear fuels and actinides. (ISEI), and Institute • The Controlled (Technology and Safety) Institute Thermonuclear Fusion is programme carried out by for Safety Technology (1ST), the Institute for Systems Engineering and Informatics (ISEI), and the Institute for Advanced Materials'(IAM). the / includes function the activities of • The Targeted Socio-Economic Research the Science and programme and Technology Observatory the prospective work for Prpspective Technological Institute the Studies (IPTS). The essential role of to harvest the available Institute is from experts, consultants, contributions research organisations and in Member States and when possible in third countries, in order to analyse, process and integrate them impartially and in depth and, more importantly, to distil clear trends or needs for action in a usable form for decision makers. institutes the JRC While Part two of this document reports on the evolution in 1995 of these research activities, Institute by Institute, some salient results are highlighted here in order to illustrate how institutional to research enables develop scientific knowledge and to acquire specific to make a valuable contribution to the advance of science, to provide scientific evaluations, to spread know how and expertise in areas where new innovative applications could be of interest to coordinate scientific cooperation throughout Europe and sometimes, to develop European scientific networks centred on its own facilities. installations in order JRC Annual Report 1995 11 • Novel activities, making valuable contribu tions to science and technology for the benefit of European industry: A new composite material, made of a silicon long silicon nitride matrix reinforced with carbide fibres, has been elaborated at IAM Petten, using a liquid infiltration technique followed by sintering. An investigation of its the mechanical properties demonstrated effectiveness of the fibre reinforcement in increasing both the strength and toughness of the otherwise brittle silicon nitride matrix, due largely to the formation of weak interphase bounding (the SiC fibres are precoated with a 400 nm thick layer of pyrolitic carbon). Figure 1 illustrates the typical stress-displacement curves for the composites with and without an the composite fabricated with interphase; coated fibres exhibits a much better performance than the one elaborated with uncoated fibres. This new composite is a first- rate temperature applications of structural components in a number of advanced industrial applications, such as gas turbines. candidate high for A project for the synthesis of carbon nitride, a new product, has been set up within a network. its thermal, optical, mechanical functional characteristics The multiple aims of the project were: to assess the and tribological properties of the material and to evaluate for industrial use in optical applications, magnetic storage, hard disk techniques and advanced mechanical components. The network has aroused the interest of 22 research institutes and 11 industrial partners from 9 different countries. The experimental contribution of the I RM M will be the characterisation of the material by nuclear techniques. The IRMM will perform the analysis of materials layers for the light elements (H, B, C, N, O) using charged particle beams of the 7 MV Van de Graaff accelerator. Nuclear reaction analysis of carbon and nitrogen by (d,p) reactions as well as Rutherford backscattering will be performed. • The JRC has exploited spin-offs from its research activities in areas where a new Community policy could be emerging: For example, the European Commission, together with the Member States, is currently strengthening its policy on natural risks, in particular on the monitoring and prevention of floods. Flooding is a major threat in many regions of Europe, both north |SiC/SbN4 composite""") 0. 2 0J Displacamant (mm) 0. 4 0. 6 Fteiurc load-dlspfacfncnt eon» of Sla. N4 reinforced with SiC fibre wftooat coating and with Carbon Pyrolytir coating*. ofONERA(F Fig. 1 - Stress-displacement curves JRC Annual Report 1995 and south, and involves river basins that need monitoring in more than one country. The exchange of prevention and monitoring knowledge among Member States could thus be beneficial, even for events such as flash floods which have only local consequences. IRSA initiated a uniform land cover data base obtained with remote sensing techniques from most of Europe. Harmonised digital terrain models can be obtained with a sampling scheme of 20 by 20 m spatially and 6-7 m in elevation through optical sensors techniques using such as SPOT. New microwave sensors are being developed in order to reach a higher degree of accuracy. Specific projects carried out for specific users have also allowed IRSA to develop an expertise in hydrological modelling. A project called WETLANDS has improved our the hydrology of understanding of catchments (research conducted in 1995 on two test sites, in England and in Greece, both in collaboration with local organisations), and our ability to assess the impact of major proposed changes (such as river diversion or reservoir building) or to develop water management strategies. Another project, HYDRE, developed for a consortium of IRSA to Mediterranean regions, allowed study the evolution and hydric stress of the vegetation. Geocoded information on land cover is of prime importance for upstream runoff, as well as for downstream vulnerability assessment. In mountaineous areas, forests can slow runoff by a factor of 10 as compared to bare soil. Modelling runoff using land cover information is important for advance warning of floods during risk periods and for assessing mitigation measures. It can also be important in deciding on agricultural policies of fallow (set-aside) or afforestation which have indirect consequences on floods. The Institute for Remote Sensing Applica tions (IRSA) is in the process of setting up a scientific and technical support capacity for emerging Community policies concerning floods, thanks to its in-house expertise and the benefit of ongoing institutional research. > Institutional research activities also fostered spin-offs to specific applications. Two significant examples in the field of surface engineering at the Institute for Advanced Materials: 12 In the framework of a Eureka project led by IAM (IPACERC project), the development of a new processing technique for production of multi layer coatings has greatly increased (up to 500 times) resistance to erosion. These coatings will have applications the aeronautics field, particularly in helicopter engines. in Surface engineering technology was applied successfully in the biomaterials field, with three major achievements: improvement of the integration of prostheses in living tissues (hip, teeth) due to biocompatible coatings; reduction of wear of hip prostheses by surface engineering of mobile parts of joints; control of the proliferation of bacteria on the incorporating disinfectant prosthesis by elements on the surface of the prosthesis. These activities are conducted in conjunction with several medical Institutes in Italy, in France and in Germany. two These how institutional research can lead to applica tions useful to industry and society. examples illustrate • Institutional research enabled the JRC to spread a web of scientific cooperation all over Europe. Indeed, through bilateral or multilateral cooperation, the JRC has set up more than 800 connections with various partners, mainly within the European Union but also in other European countries, the USA and Japan. This is illustrated in Figure 2. • Finally, its institutional research has been one of the main factors enabling the JRC to scientific networks develop European centred on its own facilities. A vivid example can be found in the field of earthquake engineering: In spite of important advances in earthquake engineering and seismic design over the last two decades, recent seismk events in Europe (e. g. in Greece and Italy ) have shown how vulnerable developed societies still are to the effects of earthquakes, both in human and economic at terms. Research decreasing this vulnerability which, to a large extent, depends on the seismic response of structures is thus clearly needed. High level expertise in seismic design of structures has long been available in the European Union, as have been specialised for earthquake testing of structures, in particular shaking tables. facilities aimed JRC Annual Report 1995 13 unan Miauuiii 1111% Auéfe 47% Dslauni AtfL Dcnraik 2Û% Portugal 2fi% Gcniony 18. 4% NBnenaiBS 55% Lioarrboug 0. 1% bfy 11£% freece 2a% fréterai 0B% Fig. 2 - Distribution of JRC Cooperation by Country to research With the setting up in 1989, at the initiative of the JRC, of the European Association of Structural Mechanics Laboratories and the subsequent opening in 1992 of the ELSA Ispra, a new reaction wall facility at earthquake dimension was given engineering in Europe, and Community-wide and well co-ordinated projects in seismic design of structures were set up around the new facility. At present, more than 20 specialised laboratories in Member States are involved with the JRC in a major programme of pre-normative research, in support of Eurocode 8 the provisional European standards for designing civil engineering structures in seismic areas. (EC8), the initiative of DG Established at III (Industry) of the Commission and with the advice of the CE N experts in charge of EC8, the research project covers those priority topics which have to be addressed in order to improve the proposed European seismic design rules, and addresses new aspects of insufficiently engineering earthquake covered in the current, provisional version of the code. For the practical implementation of this the institutional activity at ELSA is a key element allowing the implementation of validation Community-wide project, JRC Annual Report 1995 experiments on large • and full - scale models of buildings and bridges. However, equally important is the significant support which has been obtained, firstly, frorr the Human Capital and Mobility (HCM) programme and, more recently, from the new Commission programme on Training and Mobility of Researchers (TMR). This support, added to ELS A's own institutional funding, has made it possible to set up two research networks, grouping respectively 18 and 11 European laboratories with the ELSA facility of the JRC. Moreover, substantial funding has also been obtained from the "Large installations" chapter of HCM and TMR to let researchers to have access to a consortium of shaking tables (NTUA, Athens; ISMES, Bergamo; University of Bristol; LNEC, Lisbon; CE A, Saclay) and to the ELSA reaction wall. In addition to the projects in support of Eurocode 8, organisations from the Member States grouped with the JRC in the European Association of Structural Mechanics Laboratories are participating jointly with in shared cost actions, the ELSA team the competitive support activities Commission and work for third parties. Industry is involved in research actions aimed for 14 and Fig. 3 • European Collaboration validating developing new at introducing construction technologies and durability better new materials with properties for new constructions as well as for repair and strengthening purposes. Figure 3 shows the operation in 1995 of European collaboration on earthquake engineering around the ELSA facility. 1. 1. 2 Institutional Scientific and Technical Support for Community Policies The JRC provided, Scientific and Technical Support to Union Policies at the request of the in conformity relevant Commission services, with the Council Decisions of 15 December 1994 (which adopted the actual specific programmes of the JRC). These Scientific and Technical the JRCs activities accounted Institutional activities. for 27% of The support activities are customer driven, in fulfilment of impartial and neutral scientific and technical requirements arising from E. C. directives, decisions of the Commission and the Council, or obligations stemming from the Euratom Treaty. The effective customer/contractor relationship the between requesting services of the in 1995 around the ELSA Facility Commission and the JRC Institutes is expressed in the elaboration and signing of inter-DG collaboration agreements. t General monitoring of such JRC services to the other Directorates General of the Commission inter-DG has been exercised by an official Committee, established by a Commission decision. This group met twice in 1995, with a high attendance. Its role is twofold: monitoring the work performed, so as to ensure a smooth, the mutual exchange of activities (over 100 abstracts related to these support activities were communicated in 1995 to all DGs), and planning activities for the following year, taking into account priorities, new requests and budget limitations. information on to the These Scientific and Technical Support activities following Framework were related programme lines: Information Technologies, Environment and Climate, Agriculture and Fisheries, Targeted Socio-Economic Research and Nuclear Safety and Safeguards. Table 1 shows the distribution of this support between the JRC Institutes and the Framework Programme lines. The three main JRC support activities are: JRC Annual Report 1995 15 1. JRC Support for the Environmental Policy, which accounts for 46% of the scientific and technical support budget, provides DG XI with scientific and technical assistance for the Table 1 - JRC Institutional S&T Support Activities Institutes IRMM ITU IAM ISEI El IRSA 1ST IPTS Framework Programma Unas Information Technologies Safety and Reliability of Systems Environment and Climate European Reference Laboratory for Air Pollution (ERLAP) European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) Support to the European Environment Agency (EEA) Quality Control of Consumer Products (Consumer Protection) Alpine Observatory • Industrial Reliability: Major Hazards Biotechnology Safety Foodstuff Analysis in Support of Industrial Policy European Community Pharmaceutical Information Network (ECPHIN) Methodologies for UCLAF Agriculture and Fisheries Remote Sensing for Agriculture Animal Identification European Office for Wine, Alcohol and Spirit Drinks (BEVABS) Reference Measurements and Materials for Quality Control of Foodstuffs • Targeted Socio-Economic Research Prospective Technological Studies Nuclear Fission Safety European Networks on Component Ageing and • Inspection Techniques Euratom Safeguards Support: General Euratom Safeguards Support: On-Site laboratories and ECSAM IAEA Safeguards Support • • • • JRC Annual Report 1995 • • • • • • • • \ • • / / • • • • • • • • •' • • the nuclear legislation on implementation of chemical pollutants, atmospheric pollution, water quality, chemical waste, industrial risks and inter-DG safety. the period collaboration agreement 1995-1998 was signed in December 1995. This work is part of the 5th EC Action Programme in the field of the Environment, and includes: The for - The European Reference Laboratory for Air Pollution (ERLAP) which was particularly active in the harmonisation of current EC Directives on air pollution, in the organisation of Quality Assurance Control the development and validation of new monitoring techniques. programmes and in - The European Tracer Experiment (ETEX), the capability of aimed at verifying atmospheric modellers to the forecast evolution of a cloud of an atmospheric in real time. ETEX was co- pollutant sponsored by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). the EC, tasks required - The European Chemicals Bureau (ECB), which is now handling ail the technical the and scientific notification of new chemicals, the risk chemicals, assessment classification and dangerous export/import for chemicals and chemicals. and control of testing methods labelling existing for of - The European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM), which, in collaboration with its advisory Committee, has defined criteria for identifying the Centre's priorities. Activities included pre- validation of non-animal test protocols, vaccine potency and safety testing, and integrated alternative approaches in toxicity testing studies which focussed on metabolism-mediated toxicity, and on in- vitro in blood tests for forming tissues. teratogenicity - The European Technical Office for Medicinal Products, established at El after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products and the Joint Research Centre. This office is established in both London and Ispra and is part of the European Technical Office for Medicinal Products (ETOMEP) Unit of the 16 it is Environment Institute of the JRC; dedicated to the development of technical systems necessary for the implementation of European Union on medicinal products. legislation - The Major Accident Hazards Bureau, in support of the "Seveso" Directive. The activity of the Bureau resulted in the preparation of a second report on lessons learned from accidents notified to the Commission; in the distribution of a pilot data base of the Documentation Centre on the Competent to Industrial Risk Authorities; and in substantial progress made by the working groups established to produce guidance for safety reports and safety management systems. - Support for of methodologies for E. U. antifraud policy (UCLAF). elaboration the - Support services related to the Alpine Observatory (Alpine Convention), initiated in 1995. The JRC also offers institutional support to the European Environment Agency (EEA- Council Regulation 1210/90). 2. JRC Support for the Common Agricultural Policy, accounts for 16. 5% of the Scientific and Technical Support budget. The inter-DG the period collaboration agreement 1995-1998 was signed on 17July 1995. The work is mainly in the following research areas: for - application of and remote sensing to agricultural statistics, with the aim of demonstrating developing methodologies which integrate can remote sensing data into the collection of statistics the monitoring of crop acreage and agricultural production in the EC for - monitoring and control of the Common research and Policy: Agricultural remote sensing development of new techniques improved for allowing monitoring and control of the Common Agricultural Policy. - implementation of Community wine sector legislation through the operation of the "European Office for Wine, Alcohol and Spirit Drinks" (BEVABS); some 4000 EU NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) wine JRC Annual Report 1995 17 data have been validated to be stored in the pertinent data bank. - research and development of new animal methods identification in order to prevent fraud. improved for - quality control of foodstuffs, by supplying certified reference materials, by providing suitable analytical procedures and by supplying and/or coordinating laboratory intercom parisons. 3. JRC Support for Nuclear Safeguards IAEA (Euratom Safeguards DG XVII, I) Safeguards support programme DG the scientific and accounts for 32% of inter-DG technical support budget. The the period collaboration agreement 1995-1998 is expected to be signed early in 1996. for Most of the work undertaken deals with the following tasks: • training of inspectors, harmonisation of in- inspection service nuclear safeguards the art practices, providing state of equipment and reference analyses of nuclear materials samples; - design of on-site for safeguards analysis at reprocessing plants such as Sellafield and La Hague; routine analysis of nuclear materials samples; laboratories examination of the purchase and testing the of major equipment construction of two analytical boxes and the training of analysts; including - work on non destructive assay, sealing and surveillance identification techniques, safeguards equipment, data information treatment, health physics and training. techniques, of testing Other Support activities deal with: institutional Scientific and Technical Safety and reliability of informatics systems Foodstuff analysis in support of the Industrial Policy Quality of (Consumer Protection) control consumer products Techniques components in support of DG XI and DG XVII. inspecting ageing nuclear for Table 1 of Annex 1 shows how these support activities are customer driven, }h fulfilment of impartial and neutral scientific and technical requirements arising from E. C directives, decisions of the Commission and the Council, or obligations stemming from the Euratom Treaty. Progress made in these programmes is reported in more detail in Chapter 2, dedicated to the activities of the individual JRC Institutes JRC Annual Report 1995 1. 2 COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES from JRC specialised The introduction, back in 1988, of Work for Third Parties, where the JRC carried out research on a contractual basis for external clients, was meant to provide a measure of the relevance of the JRC's work and its competitive position, to enhance the flow of technology transfer to the end users, and to let the European industry and research communities benefit facilities and competences. This was the first step in opening the JRC up to competition. The discussions in the European Parliament the Council and leading the Fourth the decisions on Framework Programme and the EURATOM Framework Programme emphasised the need for the JRC to pursue and reinforce its move towards a more competitive approach on the basis of a genuine customer/contractor relationship as stated in the Council Conclusions on the role of the JRC in April 1994. to As noted by the Council, the implementation of its conclusions implied several measures and decisions on legal, budgetary, financial and administrative matters which, ideally, should have been in force from 1 January 1995. The main decision concerned the modification of the Financial Regulation. This always involves a lengthy procedure, prior the Council decision, and was only achieved in September 1995. to It is intended that this transition be introduced gradually; around 20% of the global JRC budget for 1995-1998 should be earned through competitive activities. As of the 1st of January, 1995, JRC competitive activities included: - Participation in shared cost actions, where the JRC, in association with partners in the Member States, submits proposals in the context of call for proposals, or contributes to proposals submitted by other laboratories under the Framework Programmes; - Competitive scientific and technical support activities under the Fourth Framework Programme, where the JRC may respond to specific Commission Directorates-General which are allocated on a competitive basis the context of invitations to tender; requests from in - Other competitive activities outside Framework Programmes, where the the JRC 18 (alone or in a consortium arrangement) will be able to participate in various actions sponsored by the Community (e. g. PHARE, TACIS, assistance to developing countries, etc. ) and in the context of a competitive approach, will seek Community funding in relation to those actions; - Research under contract, the original Third operation mentioned Party Work mode of above, now part of the overall JRC compe titive portfolio. for this surge in Although preparations competitive activities had already started early in 1994, 1995 has been for the JRC a year of learning from experience: learning to cope with new administrative and legal issues, learning to redeploy creatively its resources and personnel to face the competitive challenge, and adapting to a internal and external environment. The JRC Institutes have shown a highly motivated, flexible and keen response to the competitive approach, stimulated by an internal task force on competitive activities. totally new As far as JRC participation in shared cost actions is concerned, the JRC together with partners in the Member States submitted a total of 338 project proposals in response to the first calls for proposals from 15 specific Programmes; by December, 1995 the Commission had accepted 95 of those proposals for funding, bringing the financial overall success rate to 28%. The to outcome for the JRC, although difficult calculate precisely due to the ongoing contract negotiations on several outstanding projects, will be in excess of 10. 5 Mioecu. It is important here to underline how both the proposal activity and the subsequent evaluation results have revealed to its full extent the relevance of the JRC's work and its deep roots in the European industrial and research communities. In the area of competitive scientific and technical support activities, of the 128 Mioecu earmarked within the 4th FWP for funding this activity over the 4-year period, 26. 5 Mioecu were made available to the services of the Commission early in 1995, but only 20 MioEcu have been committed in 1995. Of these, the JRC Institutes have managed to win about 11. 9 Mioecu of contracts, either alone or in a consortium arrangement. competitive activities outside Other the like TACIS, PHARE, Framework Programmes etc. , have seen a good 1995 level of activity on the part of the JRC institutes. In this highly JRC Annual Report 1995 19 competitive sector of the market, the JRC has won around 2. 3 Mioecu. The record for Third Party work shows, for 1995, new contracts (obtained on the market at large) in excess of 18 Mioecu. Considered in the context of the outstanding effort on the other fronts, this represents a remarkable hold on the previous positions. (Third Party work earned in 1994 amounted to 18 Mioecu). Table 2 provides a summary of the amounts for competitive activities: earned in 1995 Table 2 • Competitive activities Amounts earned in 1995 (Mioecu) Earned during 1995 Inscribed as 1995 credits (*) Shared Cost Actions Competitive Support Competitive Activities outside the FWP 10. 8 11. 9 2. 3 Third Party Work 18. 5 TOTAL 43. 5 3. 9 4. 8 1. 3 18. 5 28. 5 (*) The balance, will be, after conclusion of procedures, inscribed as 1996 credits. HFR Supplementary Pogramme The High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten is operated by the Commission in accordance with the Euratom/Netherlands agreement of 25 July 1961. On 29 April 1992, the Council adopted a four-year supplementary research programme to be implemented by the Joint Research Centre for the European Atomic Energy Community (1992-1995) concerning the operation of the High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten. Under the supplementary programme which was drawing to a close on 31 December 1995, the activities of the HFR were essentially the outcome of co operation between two partners, Germany and the Netherlands, which provided its financing. financing, which has steadily Additional increased, came from external contracts. It is intended to pursue the operation of HFR under a new supplementary programme, which would income see an even greater proportion of coming from the industrial sector and a drastic reduction in costs. JRC Annual Report 1995 1. 3 JRC INFORMATION DAYS - PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCES The new approach to the JRC activities calls for industry, a closer collaboration between research centers and universities in the Member States and the JRC. In order to stimulate this and to increase the awareness of the JRC, Information Days have been organised at the initiative of Members of the Board of Governors in London, Athens, Copenhagen, Milan and Vienna. JRC members have presented the Centre and in parallel workshops representing the Institutes have found grounds for new collaboration with the participants. These information days have thus supplemented the numerous presentations of the JRC given to visitors to the sites, visits made to national laboratories, representations of the JRC at specialised fairs and exhibitions, distribution of JRC literature, etc. The JRC offers a vast array of publications on scientific matters ranging from papers and articles in scientific magazines, conference papers, EUR reports and reviews. In 1995 the JRC published in total around 1. 000 papers and their distribution by Institute is shown in Table 3. The detailed list of JRC publications is published each year in the "Publications Bulletin". The last issue, No. 15, published in March 1995, gives all publications in 1994. Most of these publications are available upon request to the Public Relations Unit, Ispra. In addition the above to publications, mentioned Bulletin lists all patents obtained by the JRC. There were 26 patents granted in 1995. In 1995 in Europe. Each year the JRC organises a number of conferences, workshops and seminars at its five sites there were> 9 conferences, 94 international workshops and meetings and 135 visits to the various sites. The resulting total of more than 11. 000 visitors shows the constant interest of the scientific community to the contributions in research and development made by the JRC. 20 Table 3 • JRC Publications in 1995 Institute EUR Reports Conf. Papers Articles Published Pro vis. Total General Management Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements Institute for Transuranium Elements Institute for Advanced Materials Inst, for Systems Engineering and Informatics Environment Institue Institute for Remote Sensing Applications Institute for Safety Technology Institute for Prospective Technological Studies Total 5 5 2 16 14 22 17 19 17 117 1 66 96 136 115 129 111 114 4 772 1 40 15 49 26 37 23 16 1 7 111 113 201 155 188 151 149 22 208 1097 1. 4 HUMAN RESOURCES The JRC statutory staff is made up of officials and temporary agents, including both scientific- technical and administrative staff. By the end of December 1995 the statutory staff numbered 1. 786 agents, compared with 1. 845 in December 1994. Table 4 gives the distribution of statutory staff in 1995. Table 4- Distribution of statutory staff as of December 1995 Institute Directorate General Programmes Directorate Resources Coordination-Scientific & Technical Support Ispra Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements Institute for Transuranium Elements Institute for Advanced Materials Institute for Systems Engineering and Informatics Environment Institute Institute for Remote Sensing Applications Institute for Safety Technology Institute for Prospective Technological Studies JRC seconded staff Total Staff 25 13 347 169 194 250 187 219 101 246 26 9 1. 786 JRC Annual Report 1995 21 In addition to statutory staff, 319 scientists are also active in the JRC under various hosting schemes: Table 5 gives the distribution, by Institute, of these scientists, working at the JRC at the end of December 1995. senior scientists hosted as visiting scientists; national experts seconded to the JRC by Member States, to participate in selected scientific work; post-doctoral scientists and post-gratuate students trained through a programme of fellowships. In addition about 20 scientists each year come from a third country assisted by a grant within the framework of a Commission agreement with their countries or with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Besides the above mentioned scientists, several senior scientists and about 150 trainees work at the JRC Institutes at no cost to the EU budget, in general for short periods of time. %*Mj- Table 5 -Visiting scientists, seconded experts, granthoiders as of December 1995 Institutes Visiting Scientists Seconded Experts Post- Doctoral Scientists Post- Graduate Students Total * Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements institute for Transuranium Elements Institute for Advanced Materials Institute for Systems Engineering and Informatics Environment Institute Institute for Remote Sensing Applications Institute for Safety Technology Institute for Prospective Technological Studies 2 2 4 1 5 7 4 2 Total 27 2 - - 2 4 5 - -' 13 16 14 32 26 17 21 17 16 10 15 15 34 17 13 36 26 51 44 60 50 34 8 8 18 151 128 319 JRC Annual Report 1995 1. 5 FINANCES budget The as (commitments implemented by the JRC in 1995 is given in Table 6. credits) Table 6 -1995 Budget implementation in Mioecu (Commitments Credits) Institutional activities EC Specific Programme 152. 761 EAEA Specific Programme 75. 301 Subtotal 228. 062 Competitive activities Participation in shared cost actions — Competitive Scientific and Technical Support activities Participation in Community activities outside the FWP 0. 027 0. 045 Work for third parties 10. 460 Subtotal 10. 532 HFR Reactor 18. 548 i — — ~ — — — — — » — — •— Total 2S7. 142 22 To these commitment credits one must add 0. 564 Mioecu of credits carried over from the 1994 Budget for the execution of contracts related to research on the environment and on remote sensing from space, authorised in March 1995 (SEC(95) 400 final). Total JRC committed amounted to slightly lower than 258 Mioecu: financial resources the execution of (Research for for programmes support activities Commission) the JRC specific Institutional and the the services of in the framework of shared for the execution of JRC competitive activities within the EU budget actions, (participation competitive support activities for the services of the Commission, JRC participation in other Community activities, contributions from the the Dutch and German governments operation of the HFR and from JRC customers for the execution of work at their request. cost for It should be underlined that the figures in Table 6 refer to expenditure on work performed by the JRC in 1995. Shared cost actions and competitive scientific and technical support activities, as well as participation in other Community activities, were new types of JRC activity in 1995. In rnost cases contracts were only entered into at the end of 1995. As a result, only limited work was carried out during that year. Figures on contracts entered into during 1995 are provided in Table 2. JRC Annual Report 1995 23 2. ACTIVITIES OF THE J KC INSTITUTES IN 199D 2. 1 THE INSTITUTE FOR REFERENCE MATERIALS AND MEASUREMENT? the level. In 1995, The IRMM promotes European standards, reference materials and methodologies at the European Institute implemented its specific programme under the heading of Measurements and Testing and contributed to the Framework Programme line Industrial Technologies. Early in 1995, IRMM took over responsibility for managing the BCR's reference (Community Reference Bureau) materials: includes storage, stability control, distribution, sales administration and recertification of exhausted batches. this related is engaged in support activities for IRMM Community policies, to nuclear safeguards, the safety and quality control of consumer reference measurements and materials for quality control of foodstuffs. It also provides services and reference materials to various customers from the European Member States. products, and A. Institutional Activities Institutional Research Activities the Measurements One of the objectives of the work at the IRMM, within and Testing programme, is harmonisation and standard isation in analytical measurements. To this end the available measurements expertise and the refined analytical techniques of the Institute have been applied to prepare, characterise and certify high quality reference materials for both nuclear and appropriate non-nuclear fields, to be used for establishing a coordinated analytical measurement system at European level. Within this framework, responsibility for the management of reference materials under the standards, measurement and testing programme (formerly BCR) has been taken over by IRMM. Research on biological and environmental materials included attempts to isolate and stabilise chloroplast material suitable for the bio-assay of pesticide traces in drinking water control. Analytical research was pursued on metallothionein by electrochemistry and liquid chromatography, and on heavy metal traces of environmental or bio-medical relevance. The modern Ultra Clean Chemical Laboratory was used for the sub- characterisation JRC Annual Report 1995 boiling preparation of batches of high purity water and of acids for high accuracy analytical work. The IRMM also contributed to the improvement of the neutron interaction standards data sets (which serve to determine, inter alia, partial cross-sections) as collected in the High Priority Request List by the NEA Working Party on Evaluation Cooperation, under the auspices of the NEA Nuclear Science Committee and in collaboration with IAEA. For quality control certified activation analysis facility was set up collaboration with (Belgium). in the preparation of reference materials, a neutron in the SCK/CEN at Mol The proceedings of the International Multiple Group Analysis Users' Workshop were published. Work related to nuclear matters included, inter alia, the supply of targets for neutron cross- section measurements, fission fragment studies and other applications; the preparation and characterisation of 10B reference layers to be flux used measurement; the setting up of an improved electrodeposition method for the preparation of thin uranium and plutonium layers; the determination of uranium in environmental samples. accuracy neutron in high Also at the LINAC, high energy resolution measurements of the inelastic scattering cross- section of iron were made using a 60 m flight path. The spontaneous fission processes of plutonium isotopes and of 252Cf have been further investigated. At the 7 MV van de Graaff accelerator, neutron inelastic scattering was measured on natural molybdenum. In collaboration with KFA Julien (Germany), cross-sections for various activation reactions were measured on chromium isotopes. Improved experiments to determine reference cross-sections the 235u(n,f) and H(n,n) have been initiated. ratio of the In radionuclide metrology, an intercomparison of computer codes used for the analysis of 239pu/24opu alpha particle spectra has been pursued. Ultralow-background (3 spectrometry was used to characterise human bones for low radionuclide content in the underground laboratory of HADES (High Activity Disposal Experimental Site) at Mol (Belgium) in a European effort to obtain a natural matrix reference material. Similarly, detection limits in a biological matrix were for 2iopb determined. experimental the materials research projects setups two For complementary for hydrogen profiling have been installed at the 7 MV van de Graaff. At the 3. 5 MV van de Graaff machine, the stopping power for helium ions and protons of polyimide and VYNS (trade name of vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate co polymer) foils has been determined, as well as the uniformity of trace metals on filters for an aerosol reference material. Institutional Support Activities IRMM's support activities in 1995 were mainly related to Nuclear Safeguards, on request from DG I (External Relations), for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and DG XVII (Energy, Euratom Safeguards Directorate). Non- nuclear certified reference materials were also prepared for other DGs. IRMM acted in general as a Commission laboratory offering scientific/technical support to services which do not dispose of their own measurement back-up. Work on dried nitrate or metallic spike material improve safety at large was continued to reprocessing plants, and uranium and plutonium isotopic reference materials were prepared on behalf of DG I for IAEA. Low concentrations implied meticulous chemical work in IRMM's ultra clean chemical laboratory. 24 IRMM provided DG XVII with solutions for detector calibration needed in non-destructive assays of uranium and plutonium. Certified reference materials of soils, sediments and foodstuffs were prepared for DG III (Internal Market) and DG VI (Agriculture), for quality control to assist enforcement of European legislation. These activities were complemented by providing suitable analytical procedures and by initiating and/or coordinating laboratory intercomparisons. For DG VI, new activities were initiated on selenium speciation and sugar analysis. Cosmetics analyses and a product safety data bank were under development for DG XXIV (Consumer Policy). B. Competitive Activities Shared-Cost Actions its field of competence, In IRMM has contributed in 1995 to 8 SCA proposals, 3 of which have been accepted so far; these deal with: • the design, production and certification of sets of synthetic polymer reference materials consisting of a polyolefinic base material doped with heavy elements Cd, Cr, Hg and Pb at two different concentration levels; • the preparation and certification of calibrant solutions and fly ash samples for measure ments polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDF) contaminations in emissions at levels of 0. 1 ng/m3; of • the preparation and characterisation of catalytic converters with respect to Pt, Rh, Zr and Ce. Work for third parties IRMM services and reference materials are available on a commercial basis. As IRMM now manages the BCR's reference materials, these are also being made commercially available for non-nuclear applications. The International Measurement Evaluation Programme (IMEP) is arousing interest in a growing number of laboratories. The most recent IMEP round on trace elements in water in 28 attracted about 250 European countries. Regular The Evaluation Interlaboratory Measurement Programme (REIMEP), an external quality control exercise, recently brought together 20 laboratories JRC Annual Report 1995 25 laboratories worldwide in rounds on uranium oxide powder and two uranyl nitrate solutions. The supply of nuclear samples to external customers, in particular for reactor neutron dosimetry, was continued. Four new neutron dosimetry reactor pressure vessel surveillance (titanium metal and three Al-Co alloys) have been prepared. reference materials for JRC Annual Report 1995 2. 2 THE INSTITUTE FOR TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS the nuclear fuel cycle. The ITU performs activities in the field of the safety of Institute contributed to the Framework Programme line Nuclear Fission Safety with a particular emphasis on the safety of actinides in the nuclear fuel cycle. Other research themes were the safety of nuclear fuels, through the measurement and modelling of fuel properties, and the characterisation of spent fuel with a view to its long term storage. ITU also provided scientific and technical support for Community policies in the area of Nuclear Fission Safety, mainly in on-site laboratories at Sellafield and La Hague IAEA (Euratom Safeguards) and (International Atomic Energy Agency). In addition, it is engaged in several contracts at the request of various customers. the for A. Institutional Activities to ITU performs its activities under the "Safety of it nuclear fuels" part of the programme; contributes the Commission's sectorial policies on "Safeguards" and "Fissile Material Management", and through development of techniques and instruments, analytical services and expertise, and direct in field measurement support. research Institutional Research Activities in have been obtained superconductors Fuel Cycle Safety: Basic actinide research is being carried out to elucidate the electronic structure of actinide elements and their interest for chemistry and solid-state physics. Important results the uranium-based heavy- understanding of fermion with doped neptunium (Np) and plutonium (Pu). Other themes light/solids interactions; neutron experiments with Np compounds and neutron inelastic scattering, to better understand electron interactions in the 5f and 3d electron shells; X-ray synchrotron experiments on uranium oxide single crystals and uranium arsenide crystals, to help understand magnetic behaviour. include the theory of In the area of safety nuclear fuel, ITU is measuring and modelling fuel properties and fuel/cladding interactions in order to be able, in a few years, to design very high burn-up MOX (mixed U- Pu oxide) fuel pins that would be as reliable as present-day uranium fuel. Fission product release from irradiated fuel as used in 26 the PHEBUS reactor safety programme was measured up to complete evaporation of the fuel. The TRANSURANUS code was successfully used to describe high burn-up phenomena (rim effect). For the first time, the use of high resolution electron microscopy clearly revealed dislocation lines in U02 and the subgrain boundary formation as the first step in the formation of the rim-structure. In the area of the mitigation of long-lived actinides and fission products, in order to help further minimise the radiotoxicity of spent fuel and highly active waste, ITU collaborates with leading national laboratories, nuclear industry and Member State authorities to prepare samples for fuel irradiation, transmutation and recovery of actinides for example, technetium (Tc) samples for irradiation, pins with high Pu and Np content and a Pu-cerium inert matrix based pin within the EFTTRA (Experimental Feasibility of Targets for Transmutation) and (Transmutation and Burning of TRABANT Actinides in Triox) programmes. The feasibility of recovering actinides from irradiated fuel targets with 20% Am (americium) and 20% Np was demonstrated. Extraction chromatography was investigated for the separation of U and Pu from such fuels. A patent application was made for a method burning weapon-grade Pu in a Light Water Reactor with high proliferation resistance. Studies were carried out on fabrication procedures and the physical and chemical properties of inert matrix materials for the transmutation of actinides. Pellets of mixed oxide reference material and fuel pins with metallic fabricated and characterised. In the area of spent fuel characterisation with a too long term storage, analyses were per formed to provide reactor operators, the fuel cycle industry and licensing authorities with the necessary, relevant safety data, including those on radiotoxicity. For instance, the leaching and corrosion behaviour of natural uranium oxide and irradiated high burn-up fuel was investi gated using solutions simulating groundwater and salt brine, with attention paid to the mechanisms and kinetics of leaching. The structure of oxidised layers on leached uranium oxide was determined by the Rutherford backscattering/channeling techniques. The porosity in the outer rim of irradiated high burn-up fuel was quantitatively analysed in detail. fuel have been Institutional Support Activities In support of the energy policy (DG XVII), in the area of "Safeguards and Fissile Materials JRC Annual Report 1995 27 tested. In addition, Management", on-site laboratories were designed for safeguards analysis at reprocessing plants such as Sellafield and Cap de la Hague, and major analytical equipment such as robots, titrators, alpha- spectrometers, non-destructive measurement devices and detectors, was purchased and two analytical boxes were constructed, analysts were trained and routine analyses of nuclear material samples were performed. Some other examples of 1995 support activities: a performance evaluation of the MGA method (Multiple Group Analysis) for K-edge and neutron-gamma counting applications; a comparison of plutonium assay techniques; a detailed evaluation of isotope correlation techniques for the determination of Pu-242; samples preparation and measurements technology for safeguards samples with trace amounts of radionuclides in soils, vegetation and sediments from contaminated areas. ITU staff provided significant As before, analytical in-site support to the Safeguards Directorate fuel fabrication plants. The characterisation of vagabonding nuclear materials was continued whenever necessary. reprocessing and in in täytä tfcnvironmetrttfstäpks -<s -1 ^^W^^WWWfWWflW^W^WW^W'l'WWWWflWÉTOJW^ "MA £# cnnpro^émtra sensHm amfyWW r*dk>~ • new partitioning techniques • impact of accelerator based technologies on nuclear fission safety • thorium cycles as a nuclear waste manage ment option • revaporisation tests on samples from PHEBUS FP • source term for performance assessment of spent fuel as a waste form • supporting nuclear data for advanced MOX • fuels joint experiment on Americium transmuta tion These Cost-Shared Actions will contribute about 1 Mioecu. Competitive Support for Community Policies Following a call for tender from DG XIII, ITU has submitted, together with other partners, a project on "Enhanced Gas Cleaning by Infra- Sonic Particle Agglomeration and Deposition". The project was accepted at the end of 1995; the Institute's share is about 0. 1 Mioecu. Work for Third Parties / As in previous years, the Institute has carried out work for third parties, with major contracts in the areas of post irradiation examination of irradiated fuels, fabrication and characterisa tion of fuels for transmutation, and examina tion of high burn-up uranium oxide and mixed oxide fuels for different customers. During 1995, new contracts worth about 2. 1 Mioecu have been signed, while work from previous contracts continued. \ffâémkmrtt\ and' a mift'"k# htg&fr Other Competitive Activities \ -à M^^f^t^lsot<fpe4^¥él^}ére*fà&k»~ \ &r$* forckhdestine nudé*ré&M#&*. "fmSxsted to bewm'*$f Mfamotk ^mm^nasalreaay;0m^^ test **7 * •••< *,* i f \A„ ^ «. * s " B. Competitive Activities Shared-Cost Actions 8 proposals (made with EU partners) for the Nuclear Fission Safety programme were accepted in 1995. The projects concern: • evaluation of partitioning and transmutation strategies JRC Annual Report 1995 following offers submitted The the TACIS/PHARE programmes were accepted during 1995: to • Measurement of radionuclide release from Chernobyl reactor debris samples (TACIS- Ukraine) e Transfer of the nuclear safety code TRANSURANUS to the Bulgarian licensing authorities (PHARE-Bulgaria) A study proposal, concerning the establishment of a data bank on nuclear materials in the framework of illicit trafficking, was accepted by DG I. The contract will permit collaboration with two Russian experts at ITU for 12 months. The overall scope of the approved projects is about 0. 6 Mioecu. 2. 3 THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED MATERIALS IAM performs research on advanced materials. The Institute contributed to the Framework Programme lines "Industrial Technologies and Materials Technologies" and "Measurements and Testing", with an emphasis on standards for applications, development of new and component coatings, structural improved integrity and materials for clean technologies and fusion materials. IAM also contributed to the Framework Programme lines, Non-nuclear Energy, Nuclear Fission Safety and Controlled Thermo-nuclear Fusion. It also operated in 1995 the High Flux Reactor (HFR) for the Dutch and German authorities and was engaged in work on a contractual basis for industry. A. Institutional Activities Institutional Research Activities the Within Industrial Technologies and Materials Technologies programme, research activities performed in 1995 can be sorted approximately into four clusters: TheWRZKA tPACERC Project Helicopter engines are usually submitted to extremely bard erosion condkh>nst leading to rapid failures of their components. The engine manufacturer Turbomeca has deve loped a new type of multilayer tuating deposited by Physical Vacuum Deposition, showing an improvement by a factor of over 500 compared to conventional hard coatings already available. The new chatfenge & to apply this coating to the very complex shapes to be protected in a helicopter engine. Accordingly, the JRC has propose©*, m the frame of a EUREKA project, the development of a new induction Plasma AssistedChemical Vapor Deposition tt-PACVD) machine specially designed for this application* Plasma chemical Vapor Deposition wilt allow deposition at tow temperatures* Induction plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition will ensure good process homogeneity* which is an absolute must in this case. "Standards fpr Applications" area: research on mechanical performances of materials, testing, corrosion, components' integrity 28 neutron scattering, joining of ceramics and brittle materials. Also, activities linked with information technologies: high temperature materials data bases; the Information Centre on Materials Activities. typical end-users are The production and aeronautics industries. the energy "Development of New and Improved Coatings": wear and corrosion resistance improvement, chemical sensors, fatigue resistance, superhard surfaces and biome dical applications; new composite materials, with an emphasis on interfaces in fibre composites, and electrophoretic processing of ceramic matrix composites. Exploratory research projects included laser spallation testing methodology and high temperature superconductors. The typical end-users are in manufacturing industry, the car industry, aeronautics and electronics. • A new line for IAM will be support for industry through the provision of informa tion and prenormative know-how on eco- friendly materials, materials studies and an ECO materials database. Research work was done on coatings for waste incineration and coatings for dry machining in manufacturing technologies. The end-users are the waste management industry, in particular, the car industry and manufac turing industry. industry and, recycling the • Two projects focused on "Structural Compo nent Integrity": application and qualification of non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techni ques to assess defective and/or deteriorating industrial components; NDE and testing of structural components. the energy The end-users are mostly production industry, both conventional and nuclear, and the transport industry including aeronautics, rail and car manufacturers. Within the Non-Nuclear Energy programme, a new topic was introduced in 1995: "Materials for Clean Technologies". Two projects were carried out: microstructural engineering and ceramic catalyst support, both focusing on automotive catalytic converters. The potential users are the car industry, but also energy producters using conventional fuel sources. JRC Annual Report 1995 29 The European Pressum Equipment tesearcb&uwii(£PERQ ymZ&opeanPre&vre equipment Research Ço&itcff &PEKC} is en zss&datkm^ of Industries, laboratories, engineering asso ciations and government bodies, the jparpoisW wft&fc & to promote Evrùpem research in the domain of moment &£H€ & concerned. with research end development problems linked :-to cäBstroctfoo aoo* m~semt& activities* k deals with ali types of pressure mtfeereqwptfi&texdvdtà ;&H9C&tt e* e tleerin&hovse to «fefâr and coordinate die research programmes and exchange experience, it ha* en Important rote m the dissemination of «be results of research to industryr&ndwori&fn dose contact with the Commission of Urn European Communities *tf& regard to share&cost action proposals and support to CENwdOGltlr MCiAM Petten isthe operating agent in tfremtemethnat domain* ihereerept&ns to cooperate with the American Pressure Vessel Council and the Japanese Pressure Vessel Council Within the Nuclear Safety and Safeguards programme, and specifically the section on reactor safety, IAM is the operating agent for the already established European networks dealing with "Nuclear Components and Inspec tion". Projects in operation include an experi mental study on ageing, degradation of steel properties and subsequent annealing, and the Networks Reference Laboratory. the development of Within the Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion fusion programme, technology focused on the design of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The IAM contributed to this effort and supported ITER'S technological needs through its selection and characterisation of adapted materials. IAM also participated in the European longer term programme for the development of low activation materials. In parallel, irradiation experiments were perform ed in the HFR in support of NET/ITER. JRC Annual Report 1995 Institutional Support Activities Projects with the same range of scientific content as above were carried out in support of DG XI (Environment) through the European networks AMES, ENIQ and NESC, and DG XVII (Energy). An information and management transfer structure was set up to improve the technology transfer process. The European Network for inspection Quafmcatton(£NlQ) The $teeting committee of iNlQ. in which Ifee EVrxxteer power plant operators are the voting memoes, has approved e reference methodology for inspection qualification* Thk methodology hut aroused greet interest $\om indœtty m its field *ad k considered of prme importance for future development B. Competitive Activities Shared- Cost Actions IAM took part in 49 proposals, of/which 17 have been accepted so far. 9 of these will have immediate funding. The distribution of pro posals among the programmes is: 33 to Brite/Euram, 6 to Standard Measurement and Testing, 4 to Nuclear Fission Safety, 2 to Biomed-2, 1 to Environment and Climate, 1 to Esprit, 1 to Training and Mobility of Researchers and 1 to Joule. Competitive Support for Community Policies Information Two successful proposals were made to the Valorisation programme of DG XIII (Tele communications, Industries and Innovation). The first deals with an "Autono mous Solar System", the second with neural network techniques for non-destructive evalua tion (NDE) applications. This last proposal is a joint venture of both IAM and ISEI. Work for Third Parties New contracts signed in 1995 deal with the following topics: PC based High Temperature Materials Data Base Software, Non Destructive Evaluation Techniques, Aero-engine compo nents, coatings, corrosion studies on advanced materials for power generation. The overall turnover was comparable to last year's. 30 Other Competitive Activities IAM is a partner in a PHARE consortium dealing with the installation of a qualification system for in-service inspection of Nuclear Power Plants in the Czech Republic. IAM is also a partner in proposals made to TACIS in the fields of NDE, inspection and materials ageing. High Flux Reactor (HFR) The High Flux Reactor at Petten continued its operation in 1995 and its utilisation reached about 75% of the practical limits. The HFR noticeably strengthened its leadership as a supplier of radioisotopes for the radiopharma ceutical industry: nearly 65% of European production took place at HFR. The recent launching of the on-site molybdenum factory will further enhance HFR's role as a key facility for nuclear medicine, vital for millions of patients. The HFR also maintained its role as irradiation test bed for the Fusion community: six new experiments on first wall structural materials (mainly martensitic steels) and plasma facing irradiation components have started. The embrittlement project, part of the European Network AMES (Ageing of Materials and launched. A new Evaluation Studies), was the started on series was experiment transmutation of actinides and fission products to reduce the long term radiological impact of high level waste, as part of the European collaboration EFTTRA (Experimental Feasibility of Targets for TRAnsmutation). JRC Annual Report 1995 31 2. 4 THE INSTITUTE FOR SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND INFORMATICS understanding from a wide range of sources and perspectives. A set of criteria for "good practice" in the field is now being developed. ISEI performs Fission Safety The research on systems engineering and informatics. It contributed in lines 1995 to the Framework Programme Environment and Climate, Non-nuclear Energy, Nuclear and Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion, carrying out research on methodologies for environmental management and assessment of environmental quality, on solar energy by photovoltaics, on fission reactor safety and fissile material control as well as on fusion reactor operational safety. In addition, ISEI provided scientific and technical support for Community policies: in the field of the environment, among others on industrial safety and the reliability of systems including biosafety; in the field of agriculture, on animal identification; and in the energy sector, on nuclear safeguards for the Euratom ISEI is also safeguards and for the currently engaged in work carried out at the request of external customers. IAEA. A. Institutional Activities m^eMlMEKAproject between French 'ffi#h0jptfym^ to. develop § tää management its prmdpef ^é^^fé/k'm^prp^de e thorough assess*^ :*. _. k ^-'^^{JJ^^^I^'^IKJJ^JI^ related to" tel patters, themein features of ~*at^;ihe oteefopment of *r net**mking. '^^^d^^me^^^stem -'-Ai-1- so$rc«$0f, information represented * ^eh&er$r&ywemed M&k'&tf t'typ&^rtf'-fofotmatiïril'-. tty ofdtämpanspertivesinduditQ ' ^vffliA*r '»met &6s<ftffî+»t'ion'tmv ,a titstittt* iaékmïrLfr -end technîcef issues; # nevigatiorit as 'mfifa scenario^esthgMtr pêù^isstberfuÊ&&et* ti>ref$e*r$&jùd^ The Institute carries out research on the reliability and performance of complex systems; on socio-technical systems and risk manage ment; on expert systems; on parallel comput ing; on data bases; and it operates a major computer and network facility. Areas of expertise include: aviation safety, human factors, non-nuclear energies, fusion, fissile materials safeguard, industrial safety, environ mental planning. risk assessment and emergency • "Innovative Environmental Technologies": the application of decision support systems has been refined and a promising new method based on object-oriented program ming has been implemented, which will also be of use in ongoing work for external clients. ISEI joined the EUREKA project "Adage", which aims to develop a decision support system for comprehensive environ mental management via the thorough assess ment of alternative decisions. Institutional Research Activities Within programme, ISEI contributed to studies on: the Environment and Climate • "Global Change": an on-line information service called "European Wide Service Ex change" (EWSE) was developed for the Centre for Earth Observation (CEO). Other contributions include software engineering, user interface, quality assurance, satellite image compression techniques and network support. A pilot study related to a specific decision maker and the availability of data through EWSE was carried out. Within the Non-Nuclear Energy programme, the following activities were performed: • Photovoltaic: using a climatically controlled solar simulator, irradiation was carried out at various temperatures to study the effects of light-induced degradation on amorphous silicon modules. Results have been leading to a revision of the CEC ESTI 701 specification. An analysis of the spread in the character isation results for World Photovoltaic Scale samples (WPVS) has also been performed. Within the Nuclear Fission Safety programme, work was carried out on: • The "Integrated Assessment of Environ mental Quality" approach: aims to provide decision makers with alternative options for action, via a synthesis of information and • Nuclear fission safety and reactor safety: a benchmark exercise has been launched on expert in probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), level 2. A questionnaire has judgment JRC Annual Report 1995 been distributed to a network of more than 50 European institutions (research labora tories, regulators, industries, etc. ). The first phase, parameter estimation, also involves the Institute for Safety Technology (1ST), whose facility FARO has been adopted as a reference experiment. rmm âm^feB'tfmé>&rtdtur*t monitoring ipmtàfwws ^é^ki^^$trujcturf^$eit ^^^^c^&S^es m#tydafo'/,0*'''proper wefernif^ hast optical fibres witbwti en ''increase>f &é notch &foor+ Mwttfjfàt fine of research* à smart composite 'material laminate ym produced *t W f&4 ply graphke/epoxy beam end Mkhekm b&sed £ao> smk end cfymmc 'tifas^'were performed end resuié compared to theoretical predictions and to strain values mtmuqd^kr* &hwtiti$imi streto ,&*$$& bonded to thé' extern*?surface of: the ieminmjjthe ^re^f^tk^''^lMe0 good, particularly to the dynamic response. frestilu supplied by ^hé embedded sensing -net of ftlfcès [ (firmed< its' otegroostfc t&p&itity 'end allowed tike pfenning of future research steps. • Several types of activity have been carried- research on Nuclear out within the remote Safeguards. The activities on verification and surveillance included: distributed surveillance systems based on smart digital cameras and industrial field bus; remote control of a robotic arm for simple manipulation tasks; and the application of new compact laser range finders. In the field of international remote monitoring systems, various methods image compression and encryption over public communications networks were tested. digital for The LaSCo (Laboratory for Surveillance and Containment) has been equipped with test ing equipment for electromagnetic studies, to check the compliance of instruments with the new European legislation in this area. 32 The SILab (Seals and Identification Tech niques Laboratory) has successfully helped develop specific ultrasonic boards and soft ware to be used in the next generation of ultrasonic sealing systems at JRC Ispra. A design study was performed in collabora tion with ITU for the establishment at Obninsk of the "Russian Methodological and Training Centre" in the field of nuclear safeguards. This study has the conclusion of a TACIS contract. led to • Research activities related to Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion have been focused on ITER (International Thermonuclear Experi mental Reactor) as follows : Remote handling: computer simulation and tests on the ROBERTINO facility of the maintenance by remote operation of the the blanket components placed reactor have been completed. inside Safety studies: the mechanical integrity of the vacuum vessel of the reactor and blanket components under plasma disruptions has been investigated. Thermal transient anal yses after a reactor accident have been pursued. Institutional Support Activities requirement study of in support of UCLAF, • For the Commission Secretariat General, technical projects were scientific and completed the Commission antifraud service: a study of UCLAF's customers and the services they the require; a investigative process; an inventory of information resources; and an exploratory data analysis of fraud case data. New projects are under way: a feasibility study for IRENE 95 (the integrated information management system of the UCLAF); pattern recognition in databases of fraud cases; estimating the rates of commission vs detection/communication case harmonising of information flows across all sectors. fraud; fraud • Support to DG III (Industry) included a Information and the contribution Communications Technologies programme through R&D projects, industrial workshops, seminars and conferences (SAFECOMP 95). to • Support to DG VI (Agriculture): research, development and performance tests were carried out for the new methods of JRC Annual Report 1995 33 their measurement systems, identification of animals by means of tags the and framework of a major (antifraud) European animal tagging project. in • Support (Environment): for the to DG XI the memorandum of understanding creation of the Major Accident Hazard Bureau in support of,the "Seveso" Directive has been implemented. This Bureau, linked mainly to national authorities and industry, operates a Major Accident Reporting System (MARS) and a Community Documentation Centre for Industrial Risk (CDCIR). to DG XI and subsequently In 1995 the Bureau dealt with the production of reports on lessons learned from accidents notified to the Commission, with distribution of a data base on accidents as well as with coordination of technical groups on safety reports and management systems. The Bureau also organised a seminar on the the Seveso Directive, implementation of "Accident Emergency Response". Scenarios and the In field of safe applications of biotechnology, a high level EU-US meeting took place in June, dealing with field tests of genetically modified organisms. • In support of the Nuclear Safety Unit of DG XI, a first version of the European earthquake catalogue has been prepared and its further development is under consideration. • Support to provided the EURATOM Safeguards Directorate, DG XVII (Energy): SEI contributed to the fulfilment of Treaty equirements in the following areas: sealing identification techniques, surveillance and c safeguards equip techniques, testing ments, data and mtormation treatment, health physics and training. A new system for the automatic recorded surveillance images has been developed. A remote monitoring link between the JRC Ispra and the EURATOM Safeguards Directo rate in Luxembourg has been installed. A contribution to long-term energy scenarios, including the evolution of the nuclear energy industry, has been considered. reviewing of • Technical support is provided the EURATOM Safeguards Directorate and IAEA for the procurement and measurement of several hundred ultrasonic sealing bolts, installed on spent fuel transport and storage to JRC Annual Report 1995 containers at a European fuel reprocessing plant. B. Competitive Activities Shared-Cost Actions lines: advanced ISEI has been selected for 17 projects under the following communication technologies & services (ACTS); environment and climate; industrial and materials techno logies (BRITE-EURAM III); non-nuclear energy (JOULE R&D); nuclear fission safety; technology validation and technology transfer; telematics; training and mobility of researchers (TMR). Competitive Support for Community Policies ISEI has been selected for 36 projects launched by various DGs, namely: three projects from the Secretariat General, Antifraud Unit; three from DG lll-F on High Performance Computering Networks; two from DG XI on Environmental problems; twelve from DG Xlll-D on Technology transfer; thirteen from DG XVII on solar and rational use of energy; three from EUROSTAT on neural networks and other/applications to statistical problems. The effective work will begin early in 1996. Work for Third Parties is in a vast taking part, Four institutes from the JRC (ISEI, 1ST, IRSA and El) are together with 79 departments from the universities of Catania, regional Messina and Palermo, development project for Sicily which started in December 1994. ISEI was granted the general management and technical leadership of the project. A first six months report has been sent in July 1995 to the Sicily Region, and the second one in preparation. Results have been achieved in all major sub-projects. They deal with: a decision support system for water supply management; winter and summer campaigns for N02 monitoring with 300 detectors in Catania, Messina and Palermo; a mobile unit to measure pollution and the reliability of erosion of the soil; safety and installations; chemical and petrochemical optical for an historic building in Palermo with 3-D representation and structural analysis; sampling the Sicilian population for an analysis of trace elements in human body tissues. inspection methods Three new contracts have been established on risk analysis and information to the public A project to analyse the causes and consequences of stress at work in air traffic control has been carried out for the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricèrche (Italy). Other Competitive Activities 34 The European Solar Test installation has landed 10 new contracts, 8 for photovoltaic module qualification testing and 2 for reference device calibrations. In a contract with PNC Japan (Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation), good results have been obtained with new ultrasonic and associated compact instruments, for among the sealing of plutonium other transport containers at the PNC facility at Tokai Mura. identification equipment things, Portable equipment has been provided to IAEA for volume/mass determination in large tanks in bulk handling facilities. A design study is being performed for the establishment at Obninsk of the Russian Methodological and Training Centre, in the field of nuclear safeguards. It has led to the conclusion of a TACIS contract. Two 1994 actions in the Copernicus programme have started. JRC Annual Report 1995 35 2. 5 THE ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE El research contributed to the Framework Programme lines "Environment and Climate" and "Life Sciences and Technologies". The emphasis of El's research was on global change, e. g. biogenic emissions and aerosols, and on the management of soil and groundwater pollution sources, together with contributions in the field of the working environment, such as indoor air quality and trace metals impact on human health in the EU. A large part of the Institute's work has been devoted to support activities for Community policies: environmental policies, the agricultu ral policy, quality control of medicinal products and quality control o* foodstuffs. A. lnstitutional Activities The Environment Institute is actively involved in the research programmes, Environment and Climate, and Life Sciences and Technologies. The respective proportions of R&D activities vs. support for the Commission's sectoral policies are approximately 30 and 70 percent. Institutional Research Activities Laboratory experiments were also begun, to investigate isotopic effects on the uptake by soils of methane, a greenhouse gas. Analytical techniques and sampling devices field are also being developed measurements on N20 and CH4. for if' Aemsdfs *nd Climate Project !4ft* 'fyoject aims et understanding tfo? cbemicat and physical processes leading to ferosok in both the dean and anthropo^ gertkaiiy influenced marine, environment sMese^aerosofs are thought to hove en •jtnportant effect on -M* &*#& radiative^ imknçe mi end [po^^es modelitofy laboratory studies, in coilabcmtion with oth& foropeeo end international research ' dirmte. The,"> programme' field, work IWost aerosols effective^ scatter sun tight beck into space, leading to a cooling of the $arth. A study has been vmfartapm into the role of black carbon (BC) aerosols in the glohai radiative balance. BlacX carbon is tha£ tr^Ught-absùtb^ 'enhance greenhousewarming^ BC isïmatâfê- in (Biogenic Emissions • "Climate Change": Understanding tropospheric ozone the formation of (an important greenhouse gas) and its impact on atmospheric pollution is of major importance for the Mediterranean region. The BEMA the project Mediterranean Area) intends to assess the role of plant biogenic emissions in that area and is being developed at El, in collaboration with 17 European laboratories, under JRC coordination. Two major research campaigns were led in 1995, focused on citrus fields near the natural Valencia (France). El vegetation near Montpellier participated also in the EUPHORE project to build and exploit large outdoor photochemical reactor, completed in 1995 at CEAM (Centro de Estudios Ambientales del Mediterraneo) in Valencia, Spain. (Spain) and on a Field The role of natural and anthropogenic aerosols in the mitigation of the greenhouse effect was investigated, both in the field and on models. involved characterising the aerosol pollution drifting from the European continent, in preparation for the 1997 campaign of the ACE-2 (Aerosol Characterisation Experiment-2), in which over 40 European and US laboratories will participate. studies JRC Annual Report 1995 ofwe'^ojeM^l^^swdfém A major aspect aerosol dynamics of-Mfatp *&psit$^$ff study of formation 'a^'^row^'^f^ocmsse^ that determine the size distribution oft&esB aerosols, , v*"'-. 4?' '> t The bask mechanisms of aerosol formation}: are studied In the laboratory. A f adiH^ unique in Bvrope, has Men built M whidjt $0$ is photochemk&ily transformed into- sulfuric add, which subsequently nucleates and grows to form a sulfate aerosol. • "Pollution": Work on the management of soil and groundwater pollution sources was scaled up to include catchment areas. The evaluation of several alternative land use management strategies should allow the identification of critical subareas in an agricultural ecosystem. The MITO project aims, inter alia, to monitor algal blooms in the Mediterranean sea. The flow performance of cytometers was tested in order to detect, enumerate and characterise phytoplancton populations at the cellular level. This will lead fast, easy-to-use to a real-time monitoring system which quantifies the algal species responsible for red and green tides. Test materials were prepared (AQUACON project) for laboratory performance tests for waste (sewage sludge) and soil analysis, waste water analysis and the determination of metals in surface waters. The European Collaborative Action (ECA) on "Indoor Air Quality and its Impact on Man" now involves 15 countries, and El participates in its management and scientific secretariat. Research activities have included experiments ' on human exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), for the first time in a 30 m3 test chamber (Indoortron). A study of the impact of ad-/desorption phenomena, and the scaling up of small to large test chamber experiments have also been carried out. Auiomatk Measurement of Pollutants ^oocentra^on wriatœm. , 'Jhe continuous automatic measurement of ^„. T„. T„^,. ,. ,, _. _ „ _„. „ __,, reasons: Corderio:^iW '^oyer^cemM pfyjHgjhdç and fy order t* ' miïermté'pafticiïïmffi^ mat as 4$ idenWmion of ttywttm bfthe actual poitutamis}. Vn0j*täM$tty no instrument Gd&tedtokhstiih wwêtmadc capability t<>, ! "-measum for example, formaldehydeja very \'harmf$f' and widespread pollutant used widely in fodvstoy> The gap has now been $led at #>e invtronmam; institute* where a *dti?k»-for the automaatit sampling , and analysis of formaldehyde heavier aldehydes and ketones, hasbeensetup. This instrument can-opetat* unattended for nm weaK carrying out sampling and analysts of ambient air every 1$ minutes, A \ery Interesting feature of this instrument is that itc*obe used for the monitoring of different pollutants. Negotiationsare underway withe company, for die commend*! production of the monitor^ which has receked much attention at two exhibitions: HÊIECO '9$ in Athens and mCH *9$ln Milan* tissues Establishing baseline values for trace metals for clinical, in human body epidemiological and toxicological assessment studies, and studying the impact of trace the health of EU human metals on living/working populations environment, are the objectives of the EURO TERVIHT project. Prenormative research was carried out on exposure impact on health. their in 36 Attempts were made to further understand the biochemical mechanisms of trace metal toxicity at identifying low exposure, by critical organs and molecular targets, with impact on the potential emphasis on cardiovascular, immunological and repro ductive systems, which might show up later in life. Institutional Support Activities In 1995, El has been involved in issues of concern to Directorate General XI (Environ ment), DG III (Industry), DG VI (Agriculture) and DG XXIV (Consumer policy), and has organised a large number of relevant meetings, workshops and task forces. The European Reference Laboratory for Air Pollution (ERLAP) has been particularly active in the harmonisation of current EU directives on air pollution, organising Quality Assurance Control programmes and developing and validating techniques. new monitoring Activities intercomparison ("round robin") exercises, as/well as the development and validation of diffusive sampling techniques for measuring benzene and ozone in the air. included field ETEX, the European Tracer Experiment, aims at selecting atmospheric models able to forecast the evolution of a pollutant cloud in real time. Several thousand previously collected air samples were analysed at El via a special chromatographic technique. Results show that only a few diffusion models, even when coupled with meteorological models, are accurate enough to describe the pollutant cloud's evolution. ETEX was co-sponsored by the EC, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) has become fully operative 9 months ahead of schedule. It is now handling all the technical and scientific tasks required of the Commission for the notification of new chemicals in the areas of "Classification and Labelling", "Testing Methods" "Risk Assessment of Existing Chemicals" and "Export/import of Certain Dangerous Chemicals" (Directives 67/548/EEC and 92/32/EEC; Council Regulations (EEQ 2455/92 and (EEC) 793/93). A second phase of data collection for the Council Regulation on the Risk Assessment of Existing Chemicals was concluded, data was transmitted to competent authorities in the Member States, and a public (International Uniform version of IUCLID JRC Annual Report 1995 37 Chemicals Database) (excluding confidential data files), was made available on CD-ROM to the industry and general public. B. Competitive Activities Shared- Cost Actions 22 proposals have been accepted so far. The majority of these concern the Environment and Climate Programme, covering a wide range of activities closely related to the ongoing JRC Research Programme. However, projects within the Standard, Measurement and Testing, the Telematics Applications and the Nuclear Fission Safety programmes have been approved as well. Competitive Support for Community Policies El has answered calls for tender issued by several DGs of the Commission, and 11 proposals have been selected for funding, which may reasonably be expected to start early in 1996. The topics covered include: • Prenormative research, standardised as well as special analytical methods for foodstuffs analysis (DG III); • Information and communication systems within the framework of the European Medicinal Evaluation Agency (DG III); / • Development of analytical methodologies for dairy products (DCS VI); • Support to CORDIS information system (DG XIII); • Analytical procedures for custom control of special products, and for products classified according to their chemical composition (for DG XXI). Work for Third Parties A series of activities has been performed, mainly to provide local and regional authorities with appropriate tools for the management of surface bodies of water, toxic waste pollution problems and air pollution monitoring techniques. The European Centre for the Validation of (ECVAM), Testing Methods Alternative inaugurated in October 1994, has defined its priority criteria with its advisory Committee. Studies have been launched on the pre- validation of non-animal testing protocols, testing, and vaccine potency and safety integrated alternative approaches in toxicity testing, focusing on metabolism-mediated toxicity and on in vitro tests for teratogenicity in blood-forming tissues. The the feasibility of collaboration with European Environment Agency's Topic Centres on Air Quality (RIVM, NL) and on Inland Waters (Water Research Centre, UK) has been explored, preliminary activities (mainly on Air Quality Monitoring, Alpine Observatory, Inland Waters, Contaminated Sites and Mobile Laboratories) having been carried out. A European Technical Office for Medicinal Products was established at El after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the the European Agency Evaluation of Medicinal Products and the Joint Research Centre. This office is now called the ETOMEP Unit of the Environment Institute of the JRC, and is dedicated to the development of technical the implementation of European Union legislation on medicinal products. necessary systems for for Other work carried out by El included analytical work related to wine, food and cosmetics, and preparatory work in support of the Ecological Directive for surface bodies of water. JRC Annual Report 1995 2. 6 THE INSTITUTE FOR REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS IRSA performs The research activities on applications of remote sensing and contributed to the Framework Programme line Environment and Climate with its specific activities on the Centre for Earth Observation (CEO), remote techniques and monitoring, and sensing advanced Earth observation techniques. Through the use of satellite Earth observation data important scientific it also provides support for agricultural statistics. A. Institutional Activities Institutional Research Activities One of IRSA's important R&D fields is the exploitation of satellite data for the mapping of land cover and land degradation in Europe and in the world, and for the monitoring of bush and forest fires, under the research programme, Environment and Climate. IRSA is also develop ing and validating capabilities for remote detection, e. g. , of oil slicks or antipersonnel landmines. research involved The Centre for Earth Observation (CEO) project in 1995. its "pathfinder phase" completed Throughout the year the project ran a number of studies and workshops aimed at defining a final CEO concept and at establishing a design and implementation plan for the coming years. This and in-house consultation with present and future Earth observation data users and service providers throughout the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). The CEO project worked in close collaboration with a Pathfinder Phase steering committee, consisting of experts from all EU and EEA countries, nominated by the Board of Governors. The work was done in cooperation with European and global partners, including the European Space Agency (ESA), EUMETSAT, the European Environment Agency (EEA), the United States' NASA and National Océanographie and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) the of Japan. The concept should promotion of access to Earth observation data and services to scientific, commercial and governmental customers. include the state and evolution of Monitoring terrestrial vegetation cover the creation of vegetation maps, which indicate functional both land cover change and involved 38 vegetation parameters, such as seasonality or fire on a continental and, ultimately, global scale. forest information System ?995 saw die completion of the forest $âomaéfy<Jfam Remote- Sensing jfcwtfj i::prpjectsj:0£nning Phase in cooperation with' i$qmér&i$$ organisations - from france^ ''''<3erma'^:^mtden^'. d%e Orecft Republic, ftussia, Poland, Spaintkel&nd and finiand me major objective of the project is to contribute; to the development efa unified European ^ forest information System* providing y^oth. production related and \ environmental forest Information* m 1995 \ the project,[developeda régionalisation and final stratification of European forest i atosystém,,:,;*nd '$inal&*d\ the ^uaflMfr \$*fyOpa*p ^mst Nomenclature System,. ÏÔgr> '//'r"4. h. /' "' Using a ten year archive of satellite images, land cover maps and daily fire counts were prepared for Africa, and the same work has begun for South-East Asia. Portable stations receiving satellite data were also used in Central Africa and Madagascar to map and monitor bushfires, as part of local and' regional environmental management programmes. Data obtained from instruments on the European remote sensing satellites ERS-1 and ERS-2 are being evaluated to as aids to detection of measurement of burned areas. A database describing the entire tropical forest belt was interfaced with remote sensing data to provide the Tropical Forest Information System, which will be produced as an interactive CD-ROM for general dissemination. fire scars and in land use changes The mapping of land degradation linked to fire, soil erosion and the Mediterranean Member States of the EU, and the monitoring of forests on a pan-European scale under the FIRS project (Forest Information from Remote Sensing) were associated with fundamental research on image understanding techniques, which will facilitate the use of data from future European space borne sensors. The bidirectional reflectance properties of the Earth's surface have been studied thanks to advanced models radiation of interactions, to help in developing the next generation of satellite image processing algorithms and in exploiting data from future high performance sensors. surface JRC Annual Report 1995 39 Satellite based observations of sea surface temperatures and ocean colour over large areas provided information for the study of the marine biosphere. Image interpretation, data processing and the use of dynamic models were developed as means of assessing biomass production and carbon dioxide exchange by phytoplankton, ocean thermal dynamics, and the implications of both on the global climate system. The use of Earth observation data archives was coupled with new approaches to data management and analysis, and to strategy development for processing data from new sensors. Neural networks and virtual reality systems were tested as means of extracting information from future multidimensional data sets. In the European Airborne Remote Sensing Capability (EARSEC), tests on sensors and the development of the Synthetic Aperture Radar finalised. The geophysical processor were validation of EARSEC focused on developing oil slick detection at sea and ship routing applications. experiments defined by Advanced the European Microwave Signature Laboratory (EMSL) user group included in 1995 test series on "The scattering properties of non-vegetated soils" and "Imaging techniques". Plastic antipersonnel land mines are numerous in some heavily populated regions of the world, and detection of these dangerous objects is a high risk, yet vital, operation. In addition to the humanitarian threat, these objects can be seen as an environmental threat as their presence prohibits effective land use in 'contaminated' areas. A 1995 report based on EMSL results in evaluated possible the capacity objects manufactured from plastics by the application for of instance, remote sensing devices on land based vehicles or flying remote controlled platforms. improvements dangerous techniques using, remote sensing detect low to Institutional Support • Support for the European Environment Agency (EEA) focused on the creation of EEA's Land Cover Topic Centre, in collaboration with European organisations active in the field of Earth observation. various • Support for DG VI (Agriculture) consisted in to the application of remote sensing JRC Annual Report 1995 agricultural statistics, with the aim of developing and demonstrating method ologies for integrating remote sensing data into the collection of statistics for the monitoring of crop acreage and agricultural in the EU (Council Decision production 94/753/EC No. L299 of 22. 11. 1994). includes information (MARS) project The Monitoring of Agriculture with Remote two Sensing components. Firstly, MARS STAT, involving research on the development of an advanced agricultural system which integrates the various methods of crop production monitoring developed by the the MARS project, of development for techniques agricultural production monitoring in non European Union countries, and the development of new Europe's for monitoring techniques agricultural the land, using data European remote sensing satellites ERS-1 and 2. Secondly, MARS CAP, which deals with the verification of farmers' land use declarations, as governed by the Common Agricultural Policy. In 1995 MARS CAP/devolved to individual Member States, por MARS STAT, IRSA provided both technical support and a research programme, and for MARS CAP, technical support centred on quality control, and training and assistance for Member States' personnel and national companies. from B. Competitive Activities Shared-Cost Actions IRSA submitted 40 proposals, together with national partners, on a range of specific scientific subjects, of which 10 have been accepted. A proposal on imaging spectroscopy was also made, under the programme Training and Mobility of Researchers. If it is successful, IRSA will host 20 post-doctoral researchers over the next three years. Competitive Support for Community Policies IRSA answered calls for tender issued by several the Commission. Proposals were DGs of accepted in a number of key areas. For example: • Application of the MARS project for wine and olive production modelling (for DG VI); • An operational tropical forest monitoring programme, submitted by the Monitoring of Tropical Vegetation Unit (for DG XI); • Two joint bids with ISEI dealing with neural network applications, one to EUROSTAT concerning neural networks for land use classification, the other to DG III for the benchmarking of neural network systems. environmental resource inventories and marine pollution monitoring. Other Competitive Activities 40 Work for Third Parties Five contracts were carried out for customers in Belgium, France and Italy, on topics ranging from microwave measurements to regional A four year multi-country project for rapid environmental and agricultural monitoring and the PHARE statistics was accepted by the programme. Another development of systems for crop assessment and monitoring in Russia, was accepted by TACIS. project, on JRC Annual Report 1995 41 2. 7 THE INSTITUTE FOR SAFETY TECHNOLOGY Research on Safety Technology, performed at 1ST, contributed to the Framework Programme lines Measurement and Testing, Environment and Climate, Nuclear Fission Safety, and Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion. The overall mission of 1ST is to perform research contributing to safe civil engineering structures, nuclear reactors, fusion tests as well as relating to particular problems of the chemical industries and power utilities. The Institute is also engaged in several support activities related to Community policies in the field of energy, in the area of Nuclear Safeguards (Euratom Safeguards and IAEA). A. Institutional Activities Under the Nuclear Fission Safety programme the ISTs investigations deal essentially with defining safe operation conditions for industrial installations and for research, existing or planned. In particular, the Nuclear Safety and Safeguards programme covers a major part of ISTs activity. Major support is provided to the Euratom Safeguards Directorate of DG XVII and of DG I for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). ISTs support activity is generally closely blended with institutional research. New results were obtained from an important corium melt experiment on melt quenching in test vessel. The experiment the TERMOS simulated an in-vessel situation during a severe accident. interactions The first version of the CO M ETA code for calculating fuel/coolant is now completed and is used for routine pre- and post- test calculations of the FARO tests. External users include IKE, ENEA, and the University of Wisconsin. IKE introduced the fuel breakup model into the code. The experimental programme on the STORM facility started in June 1995. The advanced instrumentation for characterising aerosols was validated. The thermohydraulic behaviour in the mixing vessel and the deposition in pipes of thermohydraulic Sn-aerosols under varying conditions were tested (four tests with pre calculations, analysis, and post-tests calcula tions). The documentation of these tests is nearly complete. The 4th and 5th meetings of the international STORM user group were held in March and December. Five sets of aerosol problems are proposed as benchmarks for codes JRC Annual Report 1995 currently used for modelling thermohydraulics and aerosol physics in nuclear plants. Large discrepancies have been highlighted in the results for turbulent aerosol deposition and resuspension as calculated by various codes. To improve and assess these mathematical models, reliable measured data are needed for comparison purposes. Work in support of Phebus FP was jointly performed by a team of 1ST analysts and on-site staff at CEA Cadarache (F), to interpret the wealth of on-line and post-test measurements available from a first test (late 1993) with lightly irradiated fuel, and to prepare for the next test with irradiated fuel. The first test yielded some unexpected results, such as the advanced state of degradation of the fuel rods, the low deposition in the experimental circuit, and the persistence of gaseous radioactive iodine in the containment vessel. New and updated models were added to the ESTER (European Source Term Research Code) system. A new, extended version of ESTER was formally released at a User Group meeting in October. An extensive validation was carried out with the User Group. Non destructive testing instruments are being developed: a new PIN monitor now used in Mol (Belgium); a scanner for MTR fuel plate inspection at Romans sur Isère (France); a new gamma detection device fuel elements stored under water; and a new Plutonium scrap monitor. An unattended system for safeguarding low enriched U installa tions includes specific software and a novel neutron collar. to control Under the Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion programme, 1ST participated to the world-wide development of fusion technology focused on the design of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The overall system testing for the ETHEL tritium safety laboratory was completed. The various laboratory systems were tested and the necessary documentation prepared to carry out the necessary cold commissioning phase prior to nuclear tests with tritium. The Fifth Topical Meeting on Tritium Technology was hosted and the proceedings in the Fusion Technology were published Journal. R&D activity focused on fusion materials, waste studies, tritium control approaches and new measurement techniques. 1ST hosted a number tritium, e. g. on of experiments on the inbuilding characteristics, the behaviour of reduction of tritiated water on regenerable hot iron beds, and the performance of a tritium gas monitor based on scintillation principles. Within ETHEL, work continued on: characterising tritium recycling and outgassing from potential first wall materials under fusion reactor conditions; studying large scale gaseous detritiation techniques; and measuring the performance of various permeation barriers. An experimental plant for detritiating and conditioning activated/ tritiated solid fusion wastes is being assembled. Work under the Measurements and Testing programme concentrated on assessing the reliability of structures. Major pseudodynamic tests were performed in the ELSA facility on a frame under large composite steel/concrete conditions simulating severe earthquakes, in support of further improvement of Eurocode 8 (which applies to the design of civil engineering structures in seismic areas) and Eurocode 4. The dynamic properties of materials and critical structural components were studied in the LDTF facility, mainly in collaboration with industry. the validation and Tools were developed to simulate the seismic behavior of complete civil engineering structures. Significant progress was made in model prediction and comparison with experimental results, on the behaviour of masonry infills, and of reinforced concrete beam-to-column joints. A full documentation set (manuals and model description reports) has been completed large computer code for transient dynamic analysis of general 3D coupled fluid-structure systems, developed in collaboration with CEA (France). for PLEXIS-3C, a Facilities and calculation tools for industrial reliability research within the Environment and Climate programme became fully operational. The FIRES facility was used for, amongst other things, complex polymerization tests as a service to the chemical industry. Control system development was supported and experimen tally verified, in collaboration with TU Stuttgart (Germany), to demonstrate Kalman filter based control and for the application of neural network control algorithms. Venting tests were to performed simulate horizontal vessel discharge and situations in heat exchangers. The DRACULA facility produced reference data for the design of emergency pressure relief systems in large plants. the COLUMBUS facility in The first commercial version of the RELIEF code for emergency pressure relief design was 42 completed, including industrial verification. It combines complex modelling with extreme user friendliness. In an application test, a plant manager was able to install the software on his PC and to simulate various venting scenarios for his plant in less than two hours. software advanced simulation The for detonation/deflagration modeling, REACFLOW, was released in a 2D version. New software modelling of two-phase flow and for the dispersion of heavy gas releases was further developed. Institutional Support Activities in PERLA to safeguards In the way of support activities for the harmonisation of in-service nuclear safeguards inspection practices, training courses were given inspectors, including Russian inspectors and operators and industrial experts, and in-field support was given to safeguards inspectors during physical inventory verifications (PIV). State of the art equipment and reference analyses of nuclear materials samples were also provided. Non destructive assays were also performed. B. Competitive Activities Shared- Cost Actions 18 out of 52 proposals were successful. They refer to the BRITE programme, the Environment and Climate programme, the ESPRIT HPCN the Nuclear Fission Safety programme, programme and the Technology Transfer programme. ELSA, the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment, has been recognised as a Large-Scale Facility for European users within the Training and Mobility of Researchers programme. A research network of 12 European organisations has been approved for research in support of Eurocode 8. Competitive Support for Community Policies 1ST has answered calls for tender from several Directorates-General. Some proposals are at an advanced stage of discussion, in particular, support for the development of EUROCODE 8 for DG III. Work for Third Parties authorities Work was requested from 1ST by various associations. industries, Developments the response of plain and reinforced concrete structures to impulsive loading. Major contracts and include simulation of JRC Annual Report 1995 Sizeable marketing on advancing new competitive activities and promoting the results achieved on industrial reliability. focused efforts displayed at three 1ST activities were exhibitions: the Loss Prevention Symposium in Antwerp, INCHEM 95 in Tokyo, and RICH in Milan. Initial sales and third party contracts point to a successful and positive trend for the future. 43 were also signed with the USNRC, for severe studies with FARO, and with the accident Portuguese General Directorate for Monuments (DGEMN) for an experimental investie,. * on of the structural reliability of the monastery Sâo Vicente de Fora in Lisbon. JRC Annual Report 1995 2. 8 THE INSTITUTE FOR PROSPECTIVE TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES The role of IPTS is to be constantly aware of all relevant, significant and outstanding scientific and technological events and trends in Europe, particularly those that call for action at EU level. The Institute contributed to the Framework line, Targeted Socio-Economic Programme Research. The essential tasks of IPTS are: to harvest available to analyse, process and integrate it impartially; and to identify clear trends or calls for action for decision makers. information; The main current tasks at IPTS are setting up the European Science and Technology Observatory (ESTO), and carrying. out technological prospective studies. A. Institutional Activities IPTS moved to Seville in 1994 and under the Targeted Socio-Economic Research line of the Fourth Framework Programme was given a reinforced objective and corresponding human and financial resources. A large part of 1995 has thus been devoted to the preparation of an operational work plan. The general purpose is to harvest available contributions from experts, consultants, and institutes in the Member States where possible, also in third countries, to be able rapidly to analyse, process and integrate them impartially and in depth and, even more importantly, to distil clear trends or calls for action in a form usable by decision-makers. organisations research Although IPTS's activities and resources are formally broken into specific research on the one hand, and support of EU policies on the other, all projects address directly or indirectly and the public need understanding. Unavoidably, the distinction between the two types of activities may be somewhat blurred. knowledge for Institutional Research Activities The Observatory at IPTS forms an integral part of the Institute's work and is currently focused on selected fields, but a network of similar organisations operating at national level is being set up to extend its range and to satisfy the much broader function of a truly European Science and Technology Observatory. All interested partners share the responsibility of carrying out a "technology watch" as a joint venture. The technology watch function has been designed to support decision making and 44 is complemented by specific in-depth prospect ive analyses aimed at shedding light on the interface between scientific & technical aspects, on the one hand, the economy & society, on the other. is one of Since employment the major preoccupations of EU institutions and society, the driving force behind all of IPTS' activities is the compound notion "Technology-Competi tiveness-Employment" (TCE). In 1995, IPTS undertook prospective studies on specific subjects related either to a technology (e. g. biotechnology), a field (e. g. individual mobility) or a cross-cutting issue or aspect. For regional relevant instance, work dimension more specifically, the Mediterranean area was carried out, within the framework of both integrated development and specific sectors (renewable energies, water problems). the to Institutional Support Activities Prospective technological studies on materials, recycling and energy feedstock chemical from municipal plastics waste, recovery in 1994 on behalf of DG XI launched (Environment), resulted in four preliminary surveys: • current projects on mechanical recycling of municipal plastics waste; • current legislative activity in plastics waste management; • current projects on plastics recycling by chemolysis; • current projects on energy recovery from municipal plastics waste. Three new families of energy technologies were studied in 1995 and joined the series of prospective analyses launched in 1994 for DG XVII (Energy): photovoltaics, CO2 disposal and storage technologies, and C02 biological sequestration. A new update of the report on Climate Change Research and Policy (Forward Studies Unit and DG XVII) covers the monitoring and assessment of recent research results on climate sensitivity, with emphasis on past climate changes and on modelling as well as a synthesis of the results of the Climate Change Convention in Berlin, in 1995. JRC Annual Report 1995 45 Two new case studies for the "Business and the Environment" series have been completed for he Forward Studies Unit, one on "Waste '*•* nimisation", the other on "Cleaner Techno- gies in an SME". This series is designed to give j-> accurate measure of some aspects of competitiveness and employment in companies eager to respond to environmental pressures. In the context of work carried out for DG XVI (Regional Policy), cooperation with the Japanese agency NISTEP has continued, aimed at comparing the European and Japanese experiences in regional development from an RTD policy perspective. This project will be completed in 1996. to requests from In response the STOA (Scientific and Technical Option Assessment) panel of the European Parliament, IPTS has launched the three following projects: • "The role of biotechnology in the competi tiveness of the European pharmaceutical industry": Scientific, economic, legal and social considerations are to be reviewed in comparing the EU position with its major competitors. The project provides a factual overview of R&D and innovation efforts in the pharmaceutical sector, and a prospective description of the priorities in research for prospects and the new drugs and expectations for new medical therapies. The expected socio-economic benefits of new drugs in the context of European health care systems are analysed. to Its objectives issues related • "The Car of The Future, the Future of the Car": Key issues for future transport systems are linked to achieving sustainable condi tions from an environments, social and economic point of view. The project focuses technological, social and economic on aspects of individual are to develop mobility. strategies for solving the conflict between demand for mass individual mobility on the one hand, and ecological pressure, safety problems and congestion on the other hand. Its first stage concentrates on technological aspects such as new engine concepts, with focus on zero-emission/e-cars and the related light potential energy storage systems, weight materials, recycling aspects and telematics for increased road use efficiency. The results are presented in a set of reports. Socio-economic-political aspects are also JRC Annual Report 1995 dealt with, e. g. driver behaviour/mentality and acceptance problems related to various technological options. THE IPTS HEPOHT firm s '-' ". _•»* • *• Fig. 4-The Monthly Report of IPTS the rapid development of • "Multimedia Information Superhigh-ways": The project focuses mainly on issues arising from these technologies and the services they provide, such as access devices, pricing/billing to users, priority systems, interconnection and interoperability issues, contents and security concerns, etc. A first report also deals with effects on and the direct employment: as with most innovative technologies, a loss of jobs will be felt in the short term while in the medium/long term, economic per the formance will have positive effects. This entails recycling the labour force, the costs of which are, at this stage, difficult to estimate. Aspects linked to social and individual aspects such as exclusion or changes in human relations are also discussed. increased general indirect B. Competitive Activities IPTS has entered For the first time the competitive market for research contracts. Its proposals relate mainly to non-nuclear energy (5 proposals submitted, 3 funded), agro-food, the environment, international cooperation on water resources, and biomass (for various Mediterranean programmes managed by DG I B). Most of the work will be carried out in 1996. JRC INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES Table 1 of Annex 1 INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES DECISIONS, DIRECTIVES, REGULATIONS OF THE COUNCIL AND COMMUNICATIONS OF THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES OF THE JRC Environment and Climate European Reference Laboratory for Air Pollution (ERLAP) European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) • Support to the European Environment Agency (EEA) Work in support of Directives 80/779 EEC, 89/427 EEC, 82/884 EEC, 85/203 EEC and 92/72 EEC Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament (93/C1/02), OJ No. C1/3 of 5. 01. 1993 on the European Chemicals Bureau (ECB). Work in support of Directives 67/548 EEC, 92/32 EEC Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament SEC(91)1794 final of 29. 10. 1991. Establishment of a European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM). Work in support of Directive 86/609 EEC -~————————————————————^———————————^—— Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1210/90 of 7. 5. 1990 on the creation of the European Environmental Agency (OJ No. L120/1,11. 5. 1990) (see in particular Article 15 and Annex A Cooperation with the JRC) European Community Pharmaceutical Information Network (ECPHIN) Work in support of Directives 93/39 EEC, 93/40 EEC and Council Regulations 93/2309 EEC and EEC 2377/90 Quality Control of Consumer Products (Consumer Protection) On Cosmetics: 6th modification of Regulation EC/76/768 on Safety of Products: General Safety Directive 92/59/EEC of 29. 6. 1994. ^—_—________^____——————_______________——— Industrial Reliability: Major Hazards Biotechnology Safety - Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament; Work in support of Directive 82/501 EEC Methodologies for UCLAF Agriculture and Fisheries Remote Sensing for Agriculture vN Decision of the Council of 14. 11. 1994 on Remote Sensing applications to Agricultural Statistics for the period 1994-1998 (94/753 / EEC, OJ No. L299/27, 22. 11. 1994) o- INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES DECISIONS, DIRECTIVES, REGULATIONS OF THE COUNCIL AND COMMUNICATIONS OF THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES OF THE JRC Animal Identification European Office for Wine, Alcohol and Spirit Drinks (BEVABS) Reference Measurements and Materials for Quality Control of Foodstuffs Nuclear Safety and Safeguards Euratom Safeguards Support: General Euratom Safeguards Support: On-Site laboratories and ECSAM IAEA Safeguards Support Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament (COM(93)360/3). Work in support of Council Regulations (EEC) No. 2048/89, 2348/91 and 2347/91 and Commission Regulation No. 2676/90 Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament of 24. 3. 1992 (SEC (92)515 final, concerning the Commission Decision on on-site laboratories, for the period 1991-1996 (see in particular A rt 16 Cooperation with the JRC) Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament COM(94)383 final, of 7. 9. 1994 concerning the illicit circulation of radioactive material Communication from the Commission to the Council COM (80) 681 final, concerning an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the International Atomic Energy Agency on the one hand and the Commission on behalf of the European Atomic Energy Community, on the other, on cooperation in the field of research and development in Safeguards 1S Annex 2 GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ADAGE Aide à la Décision Aménagement Gestion de l'Environnement AQUACON Analytical Quality Control ARTINA Analysis of Radioisotope Traces for the Identification of Nuclear Actinides BRITE-EURAM Basic Research in Industrial Technologies for Europe- European Research on Advanced Materials CEA CEN Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (Paris - France) Comité Européen de Normalisation CORDIS Community Research and Development Information Service ELSA ENIC European Laboratory for Structural Assessment European Network for Inspections Qualification ESPRIT-HPCN European Strategic Programme for Research and Development in Information ESTI European Solar Test Installation EURATOM European Atomic Energy Community EUREKA European Research Coordination Agency EUROSTAT European Statistical Office FWP Framework Programme IPACERC Induction Plasma Assisted CVD of Erosion Resistant Coatings JOULE Joint Opportunities for Unconventional or Long-Term Energy Supply MITO NASA NEA NESC Microphyte Toxins National Aeronautics and Space Administration Nuclear Energy Agency (Paris - France) European Network for Evaluating Steel Components NET/ITER Next European Torus / International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor PHARE PHEBUS RIVM Poland - Hungary: Assistance for Economic Restructuring French Test Reactor (Cadarache - France) Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (The Netherlands) ROBERTINO Facility f or the Blanket Handling Device Development in 1:3 Scale SCK/CEN SPOT TACIS Studiecentrumm voor Kernenergie/Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires (Mol-Belgium) Système Probatoire pour l'Observation de la Terre Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States and Georgia THERMIE Technologies Européennes pour la Maîtrise de l'Energie USNRC United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission 11 ISSN 1024-4492 KOM(96) 158 lopullinen ASIAKIRJAT FI 01 15 Luettelonumero : CB-CO-96-170-FI-C ISBN 92-78-02640-9 Euroopan yhteisöjen virallisten julkaisujen toimisto L-2985 Luxemburg