Institute for transuranium elements : activity report 2003

The activity report 2003 of the Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU) of the Joint Research Centre describes the progress made during the first year of the 6th Framework Programme of the European Commission. In the first part of the report an overview with a summary of the scientific objectives, important events, facts & figures and quality management of ITU is given. In the second part of the report, a more in-depth technical description of progress made in the seven actions is given, including highlight articles on important progress made during 2003. Topics covered focus on: - Spent Fuel Characterisation: A review article describing the "Spent Fuel Behaviour in view of Geological Disposal", - Safety of Nuclear Fuels: Behaviour of Fission Products in Severe Accidents, - Partitioning and Transmutation: First Demonstration of Minor Actinide Recovery from Genuine High Active Concentrate, - Basic Actinide Research: superconductivity in Americium Metal as a Function of Pressure, - Alpha-Immunotherapy / Radiobiology: deciphering the Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Killing, - Measurement of Radioactivity in the Environment: Complementary Instrumental Analytical Techniques for the Analysis of Very Sensitive Environmental Samples, - Safeguards Research and Development: International Collaboration for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Nuclear Materials.