Session: 08-02: New Facility Planning/ Environmental Management (EM)/ Health & Safety

Paper Number: 111005

111005 - Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation (Minder) 

Training and building capacity in Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation (D&ER) is challenging and complex as these activities demand the integration of a series of cross-cutting disciplines, along with effective project planning and managerial skills. Also, the involvement of stakeholders with very different perspectives and agendas (e.g., policymakers, regulators, implementers, and local communities) is challenging to deal with. Therefore, training events on these topics tend to be implemented at a high level, i.e., raising awareness. As a result, efforts towards building capacity in these areas may end up not producing the intended outcomes. Extensive D&ER programmes have been implemented in many countries. While some of these countries have achieved substantial progress with their programmes, many others face significant difficulties implementing their D&ER programmes. One of the main constraints usually reported is the lack of skilled professionals in the abovementioned areas. The demand for expertise in these areas, i.e., professionals with solid technical and scientific backgrounds who grasp the complexities and multidisciplinary character of D&ER programmes, is already a problem for many organizations, and the existing gap will soon increase. The existence of a considerable number of radioactively contaminated sites worldwide and nuclear and non-nuclear facilities that need to be decommissioned is a situation that poses a significant challenge to our society. Not addressing current legacies and not managing wastes from decommission in a sustainable manner means transferring these burdens to the next generation. 

Taking all of the above in consideration, a proposal for a Joint Master in Nuclear Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation (MINDER) was developed and presented to the European Commission Erasmus Mundus Programme. The proposal has been well evaluated (93 %) and is now under further development. MINDER is being developed with the vision of providing top-quality and broad multidisciplinary education in D&ER to students to i) conduct analyses of complex D&ER multidisciplinary problems, ii) design sustainable solutions for these problems, and iii) develop sustainable implementation strategies for identified solutions MINDER also contributes to digital transformation, inclusion, and diversity and fighting climate change. . It combines the expertise and experience of prominent groups in D&ER, within and outside the EU. The MINDER Consortium is composed of Porto University (coordinator, UPORTO/Portugal), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB, Belgium), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU, Norway), Fukushima University (IER/FU, Japan), Florida International University (FIU, USA), Institute of Radiation Protection (IRD, Brazil) and will eventually have the support of Associated Partners such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, Austria); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL, USA), Oregon State University (OSU, USA), and WISMUT GmbH (Germany). These partners will provide access to world-class infrastructure for research and development and opportunities for graduating students to continue their studies.

Acknowledgements: This project is funded by the European Union under the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters - ERASMUS-EDU-2022-EMJM-DESIGN, Type of action: ERASMUS-LS, Proposal number: 101082655.

Presenting Author: Maria de Lurdes Dinis Porto University, Faculty of Engineering, CERENA Research Center

Presenting Author Biography: Maria de Lurdes Dinis is a Professor at the Mining Engineering Department in the Engineering Faculty of Porto University, Portugal. She has a PhD and an MSc in Environmental Engineering from Porto University, a five-year study program in Mining Engineering and 25 years of experience in environmental issues related to radioactive contamination. More than 15 years in engineering education on environmental mining impact and environmental remediation. Her research activities have been focused on the environmental impacts of uranium mining and environmental remediation. She has several years of collaboration with NATO and also with the IAEA.