[en] Climate warming is already here and the increase of temperatures in France is obvious and greater than that of the mean earth temperature because continents warm up more quickly and high latitudes warm up more quickly than lower ones. Today's uncertainties are more on the assessment of feedback reactions than on the greenhouse gas effect itself. For instance an increase of temperature infers a greater concentration of water vapour in the air and a lesser surface covered by snow at the world scale, both consequences nurturing a further temperature increase. Climate shows a very strong inertia: if strong measures were taken today to reduce carbon emissions, the impact on the climate would appear in 20 or 30 years because of climate inertia and its sensitivity to carbon. Today's climate is the consequence of the carbon released in the atmosphere during the last decades. (A.C.)

[en] A radiation source is composed of one or several nuclides conditioned in a solid, liquid, or gaseous matrix, delivering a certain level of radioactivity (from a few Becquerel to several hundreds of tera-Becquerel). The choice of the type of source depends on its use. Located in the Tricastin site (France), LEA is an ORANO laboratory whose aim is to supply the industry and research centers with radiation sources in compliance with French legislation. LEA has a wide spectrum of authorizations and capabilities to design, import, distribute and recover radiation sources. LEA is recognized worldwide for its know-how in source calibration. Tens of thousands of radiation sources are used daily in France. Some sources are specially designed for particular purposes. For instance LEA manufactures the primary rods for EPR reactors. These primary rods integrate high-activity ²⁵²Cf that delivers the neutron flux necessary to initiate the chain of fission reactions. (A.C.)

[en] The workshop program committee developed a concept paper in preparation for the workshop with the following objectives in mind: - Provide the FSC with the possibility to learn from UK stakeholders about their concerns, views, roles and interactions. - Share collected experience and learnings from the FSC based on 20 years of collaboration; - Examine the concrete approaches of stakeholder involvement in the process of decommissioning a nuclear facility in the UK. - Promote a neutral, respectful and learning dialogue on the subject. - Enhance international collaboration on the subject for the long term. The workshop was divided into the following four sessions: 1. Opening remarks, objectives and a presentation by the NDA setting the stage of the workshop? 2. Two separate panels focusing on: - The viewpoint of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs), - The viewpoints of the FSC, and the UK regulators. 3. Open dialogue among all participants, including the FSC and CDLM participants. 4. Summary of the main takeaways and ending with a roundtable discussion. The discussion brought forward a good overview of the current situation in the UK and also reflected the following main issues related to stakeholder involvement in the field of decommissioning: - Trust and confidence are a vital part of engaging stakeholders. Openness and transparency, as well as consistency between involved entities, are key. - The usual top-down approach ('Decide- Announce-Defend') was widely applied in the last century, leaving a feeling of no engagement nor involvement; the partnership approach which followed showed significant improvements, however, in the view of some stakeholders, the UK 'new build' policy has cast a shadow, reversing the improvements achieved in previous years. - Large quantities of consultations ('consultation fatigue') creates frustration and leaves the impression of promoting participation for the purpose of legitimisation. - It is noted that consultation is not equal to engagement. - Stakeholder confidence means a long term engagement and needs to be built and maintained. Long time frames mean that it is challenging to maintain sustainable engagement mechanisms. - Capacity building and youth engagement is a very important aspect. This requires 'future citizens' and multigenerational aspects to engagement. - The geographical context matters and local perspective (project level) is quite different as at the national policy level; different concerns/ interests (national/regional/local). - It is important to include NGOs - their perspectives are important and valued both on a national NGO as well as local site stakeholder group level (which are the most affected). - Better and more sustainable decisions can be reached through stakeholder involvement. - NGOs with different amounts of resources can create an imbalance; dependencies have to be carefully evaluated and the independence of each actor is crucial. - Clarity of expectations and roles is crucial; UK regulators have a clear role regarding environment and society. - Specific/clear communication for different target groups is important, including different channels (disseminating information, local liaison, social media, etc.). - Verifying how information is received and understood (level of scientific depth) provides a challenge for engaging diverse groups of stakeholders. - Engaging and building confidence with stakeholders requires time and have a cost, so there is a need to be focused and deliberate

[en] Ireland has a world-class power sector despite - or perhaps because of - having a small, poorly-interconnected grid. The expertise embedded in the power sector is reflected in its successful integration of world-leading quantities of variable, non-synchronous power generation into the electrical grid with little impact on system reliability to date.

[en] Improved knowledge of the contributing sources of uncertainty in projections of Arctic sea ice over the 21st century is essential for evaluating impacts of a changing Arctic environment. Here, we consider the role of internal variability, model structure and emissions scenario in projections of Arctic sea-ice area (SIA) by using six single model initial-condition large ensembles and a suite of models participating in Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. For projections of September Arctic SIA change, internal variability accounts for as much as 40%–60% of the total uncertainty in the next decade, while emissions scenario dominates uncertainty toward the end of the century. Model structure accounts for 60%–70% of the total uncertainty by mid-century and declines to 30% at the end of the 21st century in the summer months. For projections of wintertime Arctic SIA change, internal variability contributes as much as 50%–60% of the total uncertainty in the next decade and impacts total uncertainty at longer lead times when compared to the summertime. In winter, there exists a considerable scenario dependence of model uncertainty with relatively larger model uncertainty under strong forcing compared to weak forcing. At regional scales, the contribution of internal variability can vary widely and strongly depends on the calendar month and region. For wintertime SIA change in the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian and Barents Seas, internal variability contributes 60%–70% to the total uncertainty over the coming decades and remains important much longer than in other regions. We further find that the relative contribution of internal variability to total uncertainty is state-dependent and increases as sea ice volume declines. These results demonstrate that internal variability is a significant source of uncertainty in projections of Arctic sea ice. (letter)

[en] The present law lays down the third-party liability regime for the compensation of nuclear damage caused by a nuclear incident. Any person who claims to have suffered nuclear damage and who has brought proceedings for compensation within the period applicable pursuant to Article 2262 of the Civil Code may amend their claim to take into account any aggravation of the damage, even after the expiry of that period, provided that final judgment has not been entered. The courts of Luxembourg shall have jurisdiction to hear proceedings concerning nuclear damage arising from a nuclear incident provided that such actions involve Luxembourg territory, or residents or persons on Luxembourg territory at the time of the events giving rise to the damage. In the event of a nuclear incident, proceedings concerning civil liability shall be governed by Luxembourg law

[en] The Spanish Society for Radiological Protection (SEPR) is a scientific and technical organization that aims to bring together all radioprotection professionals from all the sectors of activity where ionizing and non-ionizing radiation is produced. The development of the SEPR’s Strategic Plan every 5 years is the cornerstone of all the different activities that the Society carries out. This document establishes the SEPR goals and objectives for that period, as well as the activities planned to achieve them. It is a living and open document that draws on past experiences while looking to the future. The Strategic Plan 2019–2023, approved on June 2019, is the Third Strategic Plan of the SEPR. In its preparation, account has been taken of the experience obtained in the application of the two previous Strategic Plans, as well as of the new demands of the general public and of professionals in the area of radiological protection that have become apparent during the previous period. This paper describes the development of the current Strategic Plan, as well as the Plan itself, and briefly analyzes its implementation in the Conclusion. (memorandum)

[en] In the social conflicts of the Federal Republic of Germany, Protestantism always felt compelled to take a public stand. Particularly in the case of environmental issues, Protestants were under the tension of, on the one hand, representing creation as advocates and, on the other hand, acting as mediators to give space to all positions in the debates. The ambivalent history of nuclear power in the Federal Republic of Germany was such a tense field of debate, especially in the late 1950s and early 1970s, because it was still undecided. Tim Schedel uses historical case studies to convey the Protestant strategy of advocacy mediation through religious language. On this basis, he discusses current concepts of translation of religious language and puts his own conception up for discussion.

[en] The changeover to renewable energies and the changes in the existing economic, technical and social systems that are necessarily associated with it are repeatedly described as a generational task - a task that requires long-term action and decision-making. However, neither the political nor the economic system has so far been designed for such complex long-term action. Whereas the imperatives for action in politics include quick successes that increase legitimacy and the chances of re-election, the economy is primarily oriented towards efficiency and profit. As a result, the energy transition, which is technically feasible in principle, is primarily oriented towards short- to medium-term political and economic success criteria, and long-term concerns such as questions of ecology and sustainability are only of secondary importance. The study therefore addresses the question of how and in what form long-termism can be created, ensured and/or maintained in relation to politics and political governance. In doing so, an institutionalist perspective is adopted. The entire study is based on a focused pairwise comparison of qualitative case studies on energy policy governance in Germany and Great Britain in the period from 1989 to 2017.

[en] The FS working group "Non-ionising Radiation" (AKNIR) pursues one of its main objectives within the German Radiation Protection Association (Fachverband für Strahlenschutz e.V.) with the development of various guidelines on the topics it covers in the field of non-ionising radiation (NIR). (FS). Both the development and the systematics of the individual guides are oriented in particular towards being able to present information documents for the respective experts on the one hand, but also for an interested public on the other. To this end, the guides themselves are subject to constant updating, taking into account the state of the art in science and technology.