Future cooperation over the safe operation of Europe’s ageing complement of nuclear power stations has been discussed by a key meeting of specialists from existing European Union (EU) member states and eastern European countries applying for membership or will join next May.

Staged by the EU’s Joint Research Centre at its Institute for Energy at Petten in the Netherlands, the meeting examined “future networking opportunities for nuclear plant life management.” The meeting in particular examined the 2003-6 work programme of the EU’s SAFELIFE project, which is supposed to coordinate Europe’s research and development into the issue, notably improving the safety of Soviet-era reactors.