COMET COordination and iMplementation of a pan- European instrumenT - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

COMET COordination and iMplementation of a pan- European instrumenT for radioecology Hildegarde Vandenhove SCK•CEN hvandenh@sckcen.be

COMET objectives • COMET overall objective : strengthen the pan-European research initiative in radioecology by: – Developing innovative mechanisms for joint programming and implementation (JPI) for radioecological research in concert with the mechanisms for JPI developed by OPERRA – Initiating innovative research on key needs jointly identified by the radioecology community and the (post) emergency management (NERIS) and low-dose research communities (MELODI), and strongly engage with collaborators from countries where major nuclear accidents have occurred. – Under an enlarged consortium and facilitated by the flex funds further conduct priority research identified following the joint programming mechanisms developed under COMET. – Develop strong mechanisms for knowledge exchange and dissemination to enhance and maintain European capacity, competence and skills in radioecology.

COMET’s broad relation to other organisational structures – Will build upon, and compliment, the foundations laid by the European Radioecology Alliance (ALLIANCE) and the ongoing FP7 STAR Network of Excellence in radioecology – Will collaborate with European platforms on nuclear and radiological emergency response and recovery (NERIS) and low dose radiation risk (MELODI) and relevant training networks (e.g. EUTERP) – Will collaborate with OPERRA (Open Project for the European Radiation Research Area)

13 partners Institut de Radioprotection et de Belgian Nuclear Research Surete Nucleaire (France) Centre (Belgium) Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority Radiation and Nuclear (Norway) Safety Authority (Finland) Stockholms Universitet (Sweden) Natural Environment Research Council (UK) Bundesamt fuer Strahlenschutz (Germany) Universitetetet for Miljo of Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Biovitenskap (Norway) Medioambientales y Tecnologicas-CIEMAT (Spain) Chernobyl Center for Nuclear Safety Radioactive Waste and Radioecology (Ukraine) National University Cooperation Glowny Instytut Gornictwa Fukushima University (Japan) (Poland)

OPERRA Scientific ALLIANCE community, IUR, MELODI IAEA, … NERIS, … WP2 Pan-European network Mechanisms for joint Open calls programming and implementation in Open calls Radioecology Management Board EC Steering Committee WP3 WP4 WP1 Beyond the state of Beyond the state of Management the art research the art research bridging with NERIS bridging with MELODI and accident sites and accident sites WP5 Enhance and maintain European capacity and skills by knowledge exchange

Repartitioning of budget EC – contribution: 3410 kEUR Partners contribution: 1874 kEUR 6

WP1 – Project Management and Co-ordination Lead: SCK•CEN

Objectives • Coordination of project and consortium, applying best management practices ensuring correct positioning of project & radioecology within the emerging radiation protection platforms – Task 1.1 Legal, contractual & administrative management – Task 2.1. Financial management and association of Competitive call projects within COMET – Task 1.3. Management of the project consortium and bodies • Executive Committee – WP-leaders • Management Committee – Representative of each partner = decision making body • Steering Committee – External advice – Task 1.4. Project assessment and adjustment 8

Management structure

WP2 - Joint programming and implementation – Expanding Alliance Lead: STUK

WP2: Objective Overall objective: build upon the foundations laid by the FP7 STAR NoE and the European Radioecological Alliance (ALLIANCE) to strengthen the pan-European research initiative on the impact of radiation on environment and man • Further develop the strategic research agenda (SRA) created under STAR/ALLIANCE • Develop innovative JPI mechanisms of radioecological research in close collaboration with the ALLIANCE and platforms like NERIS and MELODI. JPI mechanisms should progress to be consistent with mechanisms developed within OPERRA • Identify and integrate national radioecology programmes to create a framework for future research activities in close collaboration with the OPERRA and PREPARE projects.

WP2: Tasks • Task 2.1 Evolving towards a pan-European network – Scope and role of ALLIANCE strengthened – Participation of new member states will be enhanced – Connections to existing platforms/networks will be improved • Task 2.2. Developing mechanisms for joint programming and implementation • Task 2.3 Infrastructures – evolving from STAR to the ALLIANCE – Databases, (access to) infrastructure, Observatory sites • Task 2.4 Co-ordination with national programmes – Identify and integrate national radioecology programmes to create a framework for future research activities • Task 2.5 Co-ordination with training and educational platforms

VISION ● In collaboration with ALLIANCE, establish a pan-European Centre of Excellence for Radioecology, with programme of activities supported by the radioecological community ● Strong ties will be created with European stakeholders, the wider international radiological sciences and ecotoxicology communities. ● Through COMET, the ALLIANCE will be positioned as a strong component of the Horizon 2020 Radiation Protection Federating Association. NERIS E&T networks MELODI Federating Association Radiation Protection Mechanisms for joint programming COMET & implementation SRA RTD Knowledge exchange /E&T OPERRA, National PREPARE, CINCH, programmes EURADOS , …

WP3 - Improving and validating radioecological models Lead: NRPA

WP3: Overall objectives • Strengthen pan-European links between radioecology and the emergency and post- accident communities • Undertake joint research activities to improve and validate radioecological models of interest to both communities • Better protection of humans and the environment in existing, planned and emergency exposure situations 15

Research focus in WP3, 1/2 • Quantifying dynamic parameters • Improving models, dynamic-mechanistic • Reducing uncertainty by probabilistic methods • Region specific parameters 16

Research focus in WP3, 2/2 • Research of relevance to post-accident – obtain better parameter values including those associated with human food-chain modeling for the Decision Support Systems (eg. ARGOS and RODOS) – compare the performance and robustness of model predictions for short and medium/long term after an accident between existing modeling tools and the next generation dynamic models. 17

Task 3.1 Initial Research Activity (IRA) • Improved parameterisation of key transfer processes, with a specific focus on dynamic modelling approaches • D3.1 Detailed plan for the IRA (Month 5)  duration 2 years • D3.2 Report summarising the results and advances (Month 32) 18

Task 3.1 Initial Research Activity (IRA) • 1. Marine modelling – improving predictions of concentrations in and exposures of marine biota and humans through sophisticated modelling, e.g. trophic transfer modelling and by combining transfer modelling with sediment modelling. • 2. Forest modelling - reducing the uncertainties in assessments of short and long term impacts of radioactive contamination in forested areas through model development and parameterization of key processes controlling the transfer of radionuclides. • 3. Human food chain modelling - improving human food chain modelling through regional customization of parameter values, using Bayesian methods and studying the long-term dynamics of soil-to-plant transfers for specific soil types and for long-lived radionuclides. • 4. NORM modelling - acquiring data necessary for the parameterization of key processes, and improving existing models or developing parametric models linking observed accumulation, mobility, and transfer with environmental parameters and processes. • 5. Particle behaviour - improving our ability to describe the processes of hot particle transformation in the environment and radionuclide leaching in various media. • 6. ICRP reference sites - providing the data to derive a taxonomically based model of radionuclide transfer for wildlife independent of site- 19 specific factors.

Task 3.2 Identification of the common research needs for the radioecology and the emergency/post-accident communitites • Critical review of the SRA`s of STAR/ALLIANCE and NERIS • Workshop 7 October 2013 • Outcomes to form basis for our proposal for potential Competitive Call subjects delivered to the Expert Panel for the December 2013 COMET call. 20

Task 3.3 Innovative research execution • Implementation of research projects selected under the Competitive Call • Proposals that include research or validation at the Observatory / Field Sites (Chernobyl, Upper Silesia, Fukushima) will be of particular interest • D3.3 Midterm report on progress of new research projects (Month 33) • D3.4 Results from and validation of new research projects (Month 47)

Task 3.4 Integration, validation and implementation of RTD results • Validation of research results and new modelling approaches on the Observatory / Field Sites • Intercomparison of existing and new modelling approaches • Dissemination/integration workshop (Month 48)

WP4 - Shared challenges in chronic low dose effects and risk assessment Lead: IRSN