CityU delegates discuss collaboration with French nuclear experts
David Cheng
A delegation from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) led by Professor Way Kuo, University President, discussed the possibility of joint teaching and research activities in nuclear and radiation risk management, public policy research, and training in nuclear safety, nuclear security and radiation protection with representatives from the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) on 29 November.
CityU’s delegation included Professor Lu Jian, Dean of College of Science and Engineering, Professor Yan Houmin, Head of the Department of Management Sciences and designated Dean of the College of Business, and Dr David Cheng Xing, Associate Vice-President for Mainland and External Affairs.
During the visit, IRSN experts gave presentations on the economic impact of a nuclear accident, the risks that low doses of radiation pose to human health, the methodologies used by French scientists and economists to assess and prevent nuclear accident, and the French experience of nuclear disaster prevention.
In addition to talks on possible collaborations in future research and teaching activities, including summer schools on nuclear safety topics and two-way exchanges of faculty and researchers in the field, the delegates visited the IRSN Simulator and Crisis Emergency Center.
Mr Jacques Repussard, IRSN Director General, and Professor Kuo signed a collaboration agreement under which the two institutions may collaborate in containment safety; reactor core safety; thermo hydraulics; accident and severe accident analysis; emergency crisis management and responses, uncertainty analysis tools for assessing capabilities of radioactive waste repository; and epidemiology.
The two sides are also working on an agreement that would give CityU the right to use the very valuable CATHARE2 software, a key code for the simulation of nuclear energy reactor operations that IRSN, a French national laboratory, and two global 500 companies spent nearly thirty years developing. Faculty and students at CityU would benefit greatly from the availability of the software for teaching and research purposes.