Regular Article

Coordination of the European Research Community on Nuclear Materials for Energy Innovation: the research agenda of the CONNECT-NM co-funded European partnership

¹ CIEMAT, Energy Materials Division Avda. Complutense, 40 28040 Madrid Spain
² EERA Rue de Namur 72 1000 Brussels Belgium
³ NCBJ ul. Andrzeja Sołtana 7 05-400 Otwock-Świerk Poland
⁴ Newcleo S.p.A Via Giuseppe Galliano 27 10129 Torino Italy
⁵ ENEA-NUC-ING C.R. Casaccia 00123 Roma (RM) Italy
⁶ Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing Campus E3 1 66123 Saarbrucken Germany
⁷ VTT Kivimiehentie 3 02150 Espoo Finland
⁸ CEA, DES, IRESNE, DEC, Centre de Cadarache 13108 Saint-Paul Paul-Lez-Durance France

^* e-mail: marjorie.bertolus@cea.fr

Received: 8 December 2024
Received in final form: 28 April 2025
Accepted: 3 June 2025
Published online: 22 July 2025

Abstract

CONNECT-NM is a recently launched co-funded European partnership that deals specifically with boosting innovation in the field of nuclear materials. It pursues five research lines, dedicated to: (1) knowledge and data management; (2) advanced materials development and manufacturing; (3) materials and component qualification (testing, standardization and design rules); (4) non-destructive examination and materials health monitoring; (5) advanced materials modelling and characterization. The present paper details the methodology and the scientific and technical expected results for each of these research lines, in pursuit of the corresponding five nuclear materials-dedicated end-products, respectively: knowledge organisation system, materials acceleration platforms and advanced manufacturing processes, qualification test-beds and accelerated qualification paths, intelligent materials health monitoring and advanced predictive methodologies. The work to be performed in connection with prioritization of research activities, education and training, access to infrastructures, communication, dissemination and results exploitation is also discussed, together with the expected impact.