The Summer School will take place at ENEA Brasimone Research Centre.
The ENEA Brasimone Research Centre (Camugnano, BO) is one of the leading national and international research centers dedicated to the study and development of technologies in the fields of Generation-IV fission and magnetic confinement fusion.
The Centre is located in an area of interest between Emilia-Romagna and Toscana regions, approximately 60 km southwest of Bologna. The facility overlooks the Brasimone artificial lake, created in the 1910s for hydroelectric power generation.
The Centre collaborates with research institutions from leading technological countries in the fields of nuclear safety, materials characterization, and the use of liquid metals. It has a park of advanced experimental infrastructures and is open to researchers, fellows, students, and PhD candidates from international research institutions and universities.
A distinctive feature of Brasimone is its historical link to fast-reactor technology: from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, the site hosted the construction yard for the PEC (Prova Elementi Combustibile - Fuel Element Test Facility) experimental fast reactor programme. PEC was designed as a sodium-cooled fast reactor (118 MWth) to test fuel elements under thermal and neutron conditions representative of fast power reactors, including operation near limits and under transient thermo-hydraulic conditions. Although PEC was never brought into operation and the nuclear programme was halted after the 1987 referendum, the infrastructure, experimental halls and design archive have been progressively repurposed and now support state-of-the-art research on liquid-metal cooled systems, advanced structural materials and fusion-relevant technologies at the Brasimone Centre.
The Centre hosts facilities for experimental testing, materials characterization laboratories, and prototypes including collaborations with Newcleo for advanced LFR systems.
