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Our know-how

The institute’s strength unquestionably lies in the know-how of our teams.

Its 650 researchers/engineers and 250 experimental technicians are committed to the research and development of groundbreaking nuclear systems, rigorously striving to push the boundaries of innovation. Our staff also includes 150 doctoral and post-doctoral researchers tasked with exploring some very specialised R&D fields. Their level of excellence guarantees our institute a leading position in the international arena of research. The synergy of our teams helps us remain at the forefront of nuclear research and technology to consistently produce new innovations.

Although our institute has only just been formed, its teams have been building and sharing their wealth of knowledge and know-how since the inception of the CEA Cadarache Centre more than 60 years ago.

Our top-tier teams

Our teams are constantly striving to develop new concepts and technologies that can be used to design, develop, test and validate our ideas.

The nuclear field in which we work involves a significant number of constraints, which requires us to provide a very high level of reliability. The facilities and devices developed by our teams are very often one-of-a-kind worldwide. We have several research platforms with cutting-edge equipment that are used to test and validate our models. This allows us to maintain a virtuous circle: experimentation, instrumentation, modelling and simulation.

The many software programs and computer codes developed by the CEA can be combined to model and simulate complex nuclear systems, e.g. reactors, fuels and interactions between the different materials and environments involved in our concepts. These tools allow us to explore fields that often remain out of reach, to better understand the physics behind the phenomena involved, and to compare digital models with experimental data so design costs and lead times can be optimised.

Our geographical location

A strategic location.

The entire institute is located at the CEA Cadarache centre. This means that our experimenters and programmers can frequently meet onsite to discuss their research and work on joint actions, which forms the backbone of our R&D. Very few organisations can boast such a wealth of experimental and digital resources in a single location, making it possible to cover the different subjects associated with nuclear systems.​