The security of supply of VVER nuclear fuel has become and will remain of vital importance in countries operating VVER-type reactors, and due to the strongly interconnected European grid network, this is also instrumental for Europe as a whole. The aim of SAVE project is to strengthen VVER fuel security of supply in Europe and Ukraine by qualifying a reliable and safer sovereign VVER-440 fuel design, by developing a fast-track licensing path and improving European capabilities for VVER-440 fuel design qualification. Through a strong European collaboration, a large qualification campaign will be performed within European test facilities to assess the performance of the new, safer and sovereign VVER-440 fuel assembly design. SAVE will prepare in-reactor qualification with mutualised LFAs (Lead Fuel Assemblies) programs, which will significantly accelerate design readiness for fuel reloads. SAVE will also define the plans to enable fully European manufacturing route and address the needs on Core Monitoring Systems, to initiate the next steps of development. To contribute to these objectives and increase the security of supply in Europe, the SAVE project is gathering 17 partners from 8 European countries, within a consortium composed of experienced and highly qualified European actors in nuclear fuel and VVER technologies, including nuclear utilities, TSOs, research entities, leading industrial actors and universities.

Nuclear power and non-power technologies are technically very complex facilities that operate in the increasingly challenging regulatory framework and market conditions. Development, construction, operation, decommissioning, waste management and oversight of these facilities require personnel with excellent education, skills and motivation: nuclear specialists, that are equipped to work in multidisciplinary, multicultural and competitive environments. ENEN# stands for the largest and most integrative nuclear Education and Training (E&T) efforts up to date. Attraction of excellent new talents followed by outstanding development through E&, cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary activities are the overarching objectives. Excellent workforce should remain the basic enabler of safe long-term operation of existing and development of advanced facilities. A detailed insight into the EU supply and demand of nuclear human resources for power and non-power applications will be developed. This will include industries, academia, technical safety organizations and regulators. Higher number of nuclear talents will be achieved through dedicated career related events and competitions for high school pupils and teachers, students (BSc, MSC, PhD), postdocs and lifelong learners. A strong mobility program will support over 100 person-years of nuclear career enhancing experience to about 1.000 learners with over 2,5 million EUR. Cross-border and cross-disciplinary mobility within and beyond EU will be promoted in cooperation with JRC, OECD/NEA and partners from USA, China, Korea and Japan. A single hub will be established to provide information on available educational, training and job opportunities. Appropriate connections with the complementary NRT-12 project facilitating access to research infrastructures will be maintained. A centralized platform with coherent information on vocational training programs, developed during the project, will be established.

The main objective of the proposed CORONA II project is to enhance the safety of nuclear installations through further improvement of the training capabilities aimed at building up the necessary personnel competencies. Specific objective of the proposed CORONA II project is to proceed with the development of state-of-the-art regional training center for VVER competence (which will be called CORONA Academy), whose pilot implementation through CORONA project (2011-2014) proved to be viable solution for supporting transnational mobility and lifelong learning amongst VVER operating countries. The project aims at continuation of the European cooperation and support in the area for preservation and further development of expertise in the nuclear field by improvement of higher education and training. This objective will be realized through networking between universities, research organisations, regulatory bodies, industry and any other organisations involved in the application of nuclear science, ionising radiation and nuclear safety. The proposed CORONA Academy will maintain the nuclear expertise by gathering the existing and generating new knowledge in the VVER area. It will bring together the most experienced trainers in the different aspects of the area within EU and abroad, thus overcoming the mobility challenge that stands ahead the nuclear education and training community. The selected form of the CORONA Academy, together with the online availability of the training opportunities will allow trainees from different locations to access the needed knowledge on demand. The available set of courses will cover the whole range of training of VVER specialists from the university until reaching high professional skills and competences in the area.