Guests highlight ‘critical role’ in shaping the future of the industry.
The Brussels-based European Nuclear Society (ENS) celebrated its 50th anniversary on 15 September with a special event bringing together members from across generations, international partners and guests from the global nuclear community.
The celebration was hosted by the Austrian Nuclear Society at the Technical University of Vienna (TU Wien) and included keynote speakers such as William Magwood, director-general of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, Aline des Cloizeaux, director of the IAEA’s nuclear power division, Sama Bilbao y León, head of the World Nuclear Association, Jan Panek from the European Commission energy directorate, and Ulla Engelmann, director at the JRC in Germany.
A highlight of the event was an online address by Casimir-Pierre Zaleski, ENS president from 1981 to 1983 and one of the society’s founding members.
ENS was created in 1975 out of the need for closer cooperation across Europe’s nuclear sector. Established initially by 11 organisations, the society has grown to represent 22 national nuclear societies from Europe and beyond, representing 13,500 professionals.
Over five decades, ENS has acted as a hub for knowledge exchange and collaboration. It launched Nuclear Europe, once one of the largest print magazines in the field, supported the creation of organisations such as NucNet (1990), Women in Nuclear (1992), and established internal networks including the ENS Young Generation Network (1995) and the High Scientific Council (2002).
ENS has also organised more than 100 scientific conferences across nuclear disciplines, providing a platform for innovation, dialogue, and policy engagement, and has been instrumental in the Nuclear4Climate initiative focused on nuclear power as one of the tools to tackle climate change.
Speaking at the event, Bilbao y León underlined the critical role of nuclear societies in shaping the future of the industry.
“I cannot overstate how important the role of nuclear societies is, as associations of individual nuclear experts, in moving forward the next generation of nuclear leaders,” she said.
“There is a role that each and every one of the members of the nuclear sector should embrace: to inspire youngsters to consider a career in science and technology… even… in nuclear science and technology.”
Reflecting on the 50-year milestone, ENS leaders emphasised the society’s role as both a bridge between generations and a catalyst for international cooperation, underlining the continuing importance of its mission for the decades ahead.
At a time when nuclear energy may be once again increasingly at the centre of global attention, many see ENS as having a vital role to play in supporting what could become a new renaissance for the sector.
