The CEA A key player in technological research
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA ) leads research, development and innovation in four main areas: low-carbon energy sources, global defence and security, information technologies and healthcare technologies.
The CEA's leadership position in the world of research is built on a cross-disciplinary culture of engineers and researchers, ideal for creating synergy between fundamental research and technological innovation, cutting-edge facilities (a supercomputer, research reactors, large-scale physics instruments and high-power lasers, etc.), and, lastly, strong involvement in the industrial and economic fabric.
The CEA has ten centres across France. It works in partnership with many other research organisations, local authorities and universities. Within this context, the CEA is a stakeholder in a series of national alliances set up to coordinate French research in energy (ANCRE), life science and healthcare (AVIESAN), digital science and technology (ALLISTENE) and environmental science (AllEnvi).
Particular attention is given to education and public information to promote knowledge transfer and stimulate debate between society and the scientific community.
Recognised as an expert in its research fields, the CEA is an integral part of the European research area and has increasing presence at the international level.
A variety of programmes hinged on four main themes:
Low-carbon energy sources
Meeting the demand for energy is a major international concern. Through its research and development activities in the field of low-carbon energy sources, the CEA works to find ways of providing safe, clean and economically competitive energy, with a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
It works with industry to optimise the existing fleet of nuclear power reactors and develop technical solutions for managing radioactive waste. To this end, it is building a new irradiation reactor called the Jules Horowitz reactor (RJH). It participates in international research programmes on nuclear reactors and fuels for the future. The goal is to produce energy more safely and economically and with less waste. For this reason, the French Government has set the CEA the highly challenging task of building a prototype for a generation IV fast reactor by 2020, which will represent a significant step towards sustainability and even greater safety for the nuclear industry. The CEA also conducts programmes on the health and environmental impact of nuclear Jules Horowitz reactor (RJH) energy.
Its research activities also contribute to the boom in new energy technology, with growing interest in hydrogen, solar (photovoltaic) power and energy-efficient buildings, energy storage technology, nanomaterials and second- and third-generation biofuels.
Thermonuclear fusion, which, once perfected, could provide an almost infinite source of energy in the future, is another key research theme. In this area, the CEA plays a major role in ITER, the international experimental reactor project.
Upstream of its energy research and development programmes, it heads a number of programmes concerning materials, chemistry and the interactions between radiation and matter.
Information technologies and healthcare technologies
With its high-level technological research capabilities in the field of micro- and nanotechnology, the CEA supports France's industrial innovation policy. The industrial applications of its research work are to be found particularly in the field of telecommunications and communicating objects. It also puts its expertise to work in the fields of robotics, virtual reality and software technology for embedded and interactive systems, sensors and signal processing.
The CEA is also involved in medical research, drawing on its expertise in biotechnology and nuclear medicine technology (biomolecular labelling, medical imaging). Activities in this area draw on the resources provided by large-scale research and technology platforms, such as NeuroSpin for very high-field Analysis room at the CEA-SHFJ brain imaging and MirCen for clinical imaging, and by (Service hospitalier Frédéric Joliot Génoscope and CNG, respectively France's national sequencing and genotyping centres, both located at the Genomics Institute in Evry. These applied programmes are built on fundamental research in the fields of nanophysics, molecular engineering, materials science and cryotechnology.
National defence and global security
Maintaining France's long-term nuclear deterrent capability, is a key area where the CEA has special responsibility. Its activities cover every stage in the life of the warheads on the country's aircraft and ballistic missile submarines. When nuclear testing came to an end, the CEA set up the Simulation programme, which makes use of significant experimental and computing resources such as Airix, the “Mégajoule” Laser and the Tera supercomputer. In 2010, the Gramat Research Centre in south-western France became part of the CEA, bringing with it its expertise in explosives science and electromagnetism. The CEA is also responsible for the design and maintenance of nuclear propulsion reactors on board the country's submarines and aircraft carriers. Since the 11 September 2001 attacks, the CEA has reinforced its risk assessment and prevention systems to Simulation programme ward off nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical threats. Lastly, it works with national and international bodies where it helps to enforce international treaties such as the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
CEA KEY FIGURES (as at the end of 2009):
Workforce: 15,718 employees
Budget: €4 billion: - €2.4 billion for civil programmes, - €1.6 billion for defence programmes.
CEA civil programmes receive 44% of their funding from the French government and 34% from external sources (partner companies, national incentive funding programmes, local government and the European Union). The remaining 21% come from two funds dedicated to the clean-up of nuclear facilities in both the civil and defence sectors. Defence programmes are, for the most part, funded directly by the French Ministry of Defence (91%).
Other figures: - Nearly 580 priority patent applications filed in 2009, - 120 new companies set up since 1984 in the innovative technology sector, - 51 joint research units link the CEA to its research partners, - 25 correspondent research laboratories (LRC) associated with the CEA.