Joint NVS – BVS/ABR Scientific meeting on ‘Nuclear power and radiation protection: past, present and future’
November 14 @ 10:00 - 17:00
This Autumn Symposium, organized by the NVS and the BVS-ABR, will take place on Friday, November 14, 2025, at the NBC in Nieuwegein (the Netherlands). This event can be attended online or in person at the same cost. In both cases, a certificate of participation will be issued.
It promises to be an international symposium with speakers from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and the IAEA in Vienna. Entitled ‘Nuclear power and radiation protection: past, present and future’, we look back at the evolution of radiation protection policy and its application in nuclear energy, including the impact of a nuclear power plant on the environment. Presentations are planned by the Dutch regulator ANVS, the Belgian operator ENGIE, and the Belgian partners IRE and SCK CEN.
We will also look ahead to new reactor types. On the one hand, there are the so-called ‘Small Modular Reactors’ (SMRs), reactors with a relatively small unit size that are intended to be mass-produced in a factory. This can significantly reduce the construction time at the site. The presentations will also discuss other advantages and focus on specific radiation protection aspects. The morning session will conclude with another new development, the molten salt reactor. This presentation will discuss the advantages/disadvantages of this type of reactor, the effects on radiation protection, and its status.
The afternoon session will shift the focus to the decommissioning of nuclear installations. The first presentation will examine the ins and outs of the decommissioning plan in more detail. This will be followed by a description of how a research reactor was decommissioned and the most important points that emerged from this process. The IAEA will then explore the clearance concept in more depth, using a number of practical examples.
As the final step in the ‘Atomausstieg’, the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany have been decommissioned. This means that Germany has now built up a wealth of knowledge and experience with the clearance concept. The presentation on this topic will summarize the experiences to date. The final presentation of the symposium will be given by the mayor of the municipality of Borsele. This municipality has been named as one of the four sites for the construction of two new nuclear power plants in the Netherlands. The presentation will discuss the role of the mayor in the process.
The working language of the symposium is English.
Programme
10h00 – Welcome and introduction (BVS-ABR – NVS)
10h00-10h30 – 10 years of Dutch legislation in nuclear installations (Patrick Arends, ANVS, NL)
10h30-11h00 – 10 years of operational radiation protection in a nuclear power plant (Laurens Raes, Kerncentrale Doel, BE)
11h00-11h30 – Break
11h30-12h00 – Environmental impact of nuclear power plants (Thomas Ost, IRE, BE)
12h00-12h30 – Radiation protection in small modular reactors (SMR) (Riccardo Rossa, UGent-SCK CEN, BE)
12h30-13h00 – Thorizon’s molten salt reactor (Sander de Groot, Thorizon, NL)
14h30-15h00 – Aspects of radiation protection in the dismantlement of the research reactor Thetis (Myriam Monsieurs, UGent, BE)
15h00-15h30 – Break
15h30-16h00 – Clearance: concept and international experience (Chantal Mommaert, IAEA, AT)
16h00-16h30 – German experience with clearance (Thomas Pöhlsen, TŰV Nord, Germany)
16h30-17h00 – Social participation and future perspectives (Gerben Dijksterhuis, NL)
17h00 – Closure
Please note that this event will also be streamed live. The streaming link will be shared to participants who have registered an payed via the BVS-ABR or NVS channels. A certificate of participation will be issued for both physical attendance and live streaming. To receive the certificate of participation, you must be present for at least 90% of the symposium. The certificate will be sent by email after the event.
Registration for BVS-ABR members is possible via the ‘tickets’ below. Please beware that there is an early bird. The price for online participation is identical to the on-site participation.
June 1, 2025: open registrations (early bird, € 60 for BVS-ABR members)
October 15, 2025: start late registration (€ 80 for BVS-ABR members)
November 7, 2025: online streaming link will be sent to the registered participants
November 14, 2025: Symposium NVS-BVS-ABR
Location
The symposium will be held at the NBC, Blokhoeve 1, 3438 LC Nieuwegein. This location is easily accessible from the A12, A2, and A27 motorways and has ample (free) parking in front of the building. Participants who prefer to use public transport can take the express tram to Nieuwegein from Utrecht Central Station. This departs every 7 minutes and has a stop at Zuilenstein in front of the conference center. Travel time is approximately 15 minutes.
Exhibition During the symposium, various companies will present their services and products.
This Autumn Symposium, organized by the NVS and the BVS-ABR, will take place on Friday, November 14, 2025, at the NBC in Nieuwegein (the Netherlands). This event can be attended online or in person at the same cost. In both cases, a certificate of participation will be issued.
It promises to be an international symposium with speakers from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and the IAEA in Vienna. Entitled ‘Nuclear power and radiation protection: past, present and future’, we look back at the evolution of radiation protection policy and its application in nuclear energy, including the impact of a nuclear power plant on the environment. Presentations are planned by the Dutch regulator ANVS, the Belgian operator ENGIE, and the Belgian partners IRE and SCK CEN.
We will also look ahead to new reactor types. On the one hand, there are the so-called ‘Small Modular Reactors’ (SMRs), reactors with a relatively small unit size that are intended to be mass-produced in a factory. This can significantly reduce the construction time at the site. The presentations will also discuss other advantages and focus on specific radiation protection aspects. The morning session will conclude with another new development, the molten salt reactor. This presentation will discuss the advantages/disadvantages of this type of reactor, the effects on radiation protection, and its status.
The afternoon session will shift the focus to the decommissioning of nuclear installations. The first presentation will examine the ins and outs of the decommissioning plan in more detail. This will be followed by a description of how a research reactor was decommissioned and the most important points that emerged from this process. The IAEA will then explore the clearance concept in more depth, using a number of practical examples.
As the final step in the ‘Atomausstieg’, the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany have been decommissioned. This means that Germany has now built up a wealth of knowledge and experience with the clearance concept. The presentation on this topic will summarize the experiences to date. The final presentation of the symposium will be given by the mayor of the municipality of Borsele. This municipality has been named as one of the four sites for the construction of two new nuclear power plants in the Netherlands. The presentation will discuss the role of the mayor in the process.
The working language of the symposium is English.