Kick-off of PEPR SCIAM

PEPR SCIAM launching meeting

The french national programme “Upstream Science for Fission Nuclear Energy” (SCIAM) was officially launched on Friday, 4 September 2026, at the Irène Joliot-Curie Laboratory of Physics of the Two Infinities (IJCLab) in Orsay, in the presence of Mr. Thierry Dauxois, Chief Executive Officer of CNRS, and Ms. Anne-Isabelle Etienvre, General Administrator of CEA.

It has a budget of €18 million over six years, and it is operated by CEA and CNRS. It brings together 27 research laboratories and involves ASNR (french agency for nuclear and radiation safety), universities and engineering schools.

The PEPR SCIAM aims to further generate cutting-edge knowledge for nuclear energy. it will invest in experimental infrastructures, and train a new generation of researchers. Its ultimate goal is to address a key challenge of the transition to decarbonised energy.

It is structured around 4 main research projects:

• Nuclear reactions of actinides,
• Corium behaviour in the event of a severe nuclear accident,
• Radionuclide behaviour within fuel cycle and in the environment,
• Material irradiation and its evolution in reactors