A nuclear decommissioning and waste management overview for post-graduate students.

• Are you fascinated by the idea of making a nuclear site suitable for conventional purposes?
• Would you like to work in an emerging field with great perspectives on career development and serve the noble cause of environmental remediation?
• Do you want to discover more about the nuclear life cycle, the decommissioning process in practice, as well as its challenges and implications for involved industries and society?
• Are you eager to learn from the experts and become an asset for the decommissioning industry?

If your answer is “yes” and you are a post-graduate student in engineering, science or technology and you wish to enrich your CV during the summer holidays, then the Summer School on Nuclear Decommissioning and Waste Management is tailored for you!

Participation

The DSS is taking place in person in the premises of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (JRC) in Ispra, Italy. Make this 16th Edition of the DSS your lucky one and cease the opportunity to be one of the 40 admitted students who will benefit from this unique practice-oriented training.

The Summer School is supported by the European Commission Joint Research Centre and is thus free of charge for admitted students. The financial support will cover the course fees, accommodation (5 to 6 nights, full board) and local transport. Accepted applicants are expected to organise and pay for their own travel costs to and from Ispra and any other personal expenses. (Travel costs may be subject to partial reimbursement through the EU ENEN2plus project).

The course is addressed to European students, or to third-country students studying at a European university and holding a valid EU visa, who - by the starting date of the Summer School - will have completed their undergraduate studies in engineering, science, or technology.

Preference will be given to students already enrolled in a master's or doctoral program.

The 2026 Edition of the Summer School on Nuclear Decommissioning and Waste Management is organised within the frame of the European Learning Initiatives for Nuclear Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation (ELINDER). ELINDER aims to raise the interest of students and professionals in the important and emerging field of decommissioning and environmental remediation and to stimulate relevant career perspectives, by offering a set of learning opportunities that combine theory and practice.

Through classroom training, visits of nuclear facilities and case studies, the 16th edition of the Decommissioning Summer School (DSS) offers insights to the promising field of nuclear decommissioning and related activities, like waste management and radiation protection.

When a nuclear facility ceases its normal operation, a multifaceted process starts, including dismantling, decontamination, and other activities. “Decommissioning” means all these steps leading to the release of a nuclear facility from regulatory control. In the European Union, several nuclear facilities are closed or may stop their operation in the coming decade. The need to proceed with decommissioning creates a potential for new industrial activities.

In this context, the annual Decommissioning Summer School (DSS) contributes to the acquisition of multidisciplinary competences required to support the emerging decommissioning market.

This is a 5-day learning path that introduces the students to the following subjects:

• International status of the play in nuclear decommissioning
• Radioactivity and radiation protection fundamentals
• Decommissioning planning process
• Technological aspects of characterisation, decontamination, dismantling and site release
• Management of the radioactive waste
• Societal aspects of decommissioning

Students who wish to obtain a course certificate are welcome to sit an optional final test.

You can consult the indicative course programme here. 

• 24 NOVEMBER 2025

Indicative_programme_DSS_JRC_2026_en English (137.67 KB - PDF) Download