Regular Article

Advancing sustainability and innovation in waste management and decommissioning within the Euratom HARPERS project

¹ Institute for Energy Technology, Os alle 5, 1777, Norway
² SCK CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400, Belgium
³ EC DG RTD Euratom Unit, Belgium
⁴ UK NNL, Chadwick House Birchwood Park Warrington, Cheshire, WA3 6AE, United Kingdom
⁵ GRS gGmbH, Schwertnergasse 1, 50667 Cologne, Germany
⁶ ORANO 125 avenue de Paris, 92320 Châtillon, France

^* e-mail: reka.szoke@ife.no

Received: 12 March 2025
Received in final form: 21 April 2025
Accepted: 3 June 2025
Published online: 20 August 2025

Abstract

The HARPERS (HARmonised PracticEs, Regulations and Standards in waste management and decommissioning Harpers [1]) project aims to clarify and demonstrate the benefits of aligned methodologies and approaches in the fields of decommissioning and radioactive waste management. The duration is from June 2022 to June 2025, spanning a period of 3 years, and it builds on the outcomes of previous Euratom initiatives such as SHARE (NFRP-2018-5 Stakeholder-based Analysis of Research for Decommissioning (SHARE) [2]), EURAD (NFRP-2018-6 European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management [3]), and PREDIS (NFRP-2019-2020-10 Pre-disposal Treatment of European Radioactive Waste Streams (PREDIS) [4]). By leveraging these foundations, HARPERS enhances collaboration across the European nuclear research community, engaging with key platforms including SNETP (Home – SNETP), DigiDECOM (DigiDECOM – IFE), OECD NEA (Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) – Home), IG-DTP (IGD-TP | Safe Solutions for Radioactive Waste), IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency | Atoms for Peace and Development), ENSREG (ENSREG |), and ERDO (Home – ERDO Association for Multinational Radioactive Waste Solutions). By fostering harmonization and stakeholder-driven approaches, HARPERS directly supports the objectives of the Euratom Research and Training Programme. The Euratom Research and Training Programme is a multi-annual framework programme, implemented by the European Commission, under the provisions of the Euratom Treaty, in which all EU Member States participate. The Programme promotes nuclear research and training, while fostering collaboration and innovation in key areas such as decommissioning and radioactive waste management. Through coordinated research actions and strategic partnerships involving Member States and international organizations, Euratom aims to keep Europe at the forefront of nuclear science and technology. HARPERS contributes to this vision by promoting more consistent and efficient practices across Europe’s nuclear landscape. This paper presents the objectives and key achievements of the HARPERS project to date. It includes a brief overview of two related projects, PARCOVAL (PAlladium Recovery for CO2 VALorisation https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101166280 [5]) and MaLaR (MaLaR Novel 2D-3D Materials for Lanthanide Recovery from Nuclear Waste [6]), and highlights the outcomes of the online stakeholder engagement workshops conducted during HARPERS’ first year. It also outlines the methodology used to prioritize topics based on stakeholder input during Phase 1, and describes the main deliverables planned for Phase 2.