R&D: Gen IV, materials, modelling, fuel cycle

Updated: 5 October 2025. Objective: strengthen scientific sovereignty and accelerate the maturation of critical building blocks through test infrastructure and multi-year funding.

R&D Innovation Europe

Priorities

  • Materials and ageing
  • Fuels and fuel cycle
  • Modelling, data, HPC

Infrastructure

  • Test platforms (irradiation, corrosion, thermohydraulics)
  • Data sharing and common protocols
  • Competitive access to major facilities

Governance

  • Multi-year programmes and milestones
  • Public-private partnerships
  • Openness: publications and operating experience

Argument

R&D is not a luxury: without test infrastructure and data, we lose time relearning the same lessons.