Training, concrete, criticality… Discover the 2026 Sfen Awards

Since 1983, the Sfen Awards have recognised the women, men and teams who contribute to advancing knowledge, developing nuclear technologies and passing on expertise. For the 2026 edition, the Sfen Awards Committee reviewed 53 applications and selected a list of winners reflecting the diversity of the nuclear sector: training, research, public information and industrial innovation.

Sfen Grand Prize

INSTN and Atomic Engineering: 70 years serving nuclear skills

The Grand Prize is awarded to the Institut national des sciences et techniques nucléaires (INSTN), which has been part of the history of French nuclear energy for 70 years. Today, it plays a central role in meeting the sharp increase in the sector’s training needs.

In partnership with universities and higher education institutions, it offers more than 40 qualifications ranging from baccalaureate level to seven years of higher education. In addition, it provides more than 280 training courses, attended by some 6,600 trainees each year. Reactor and nuclear facility operation, nuclear safety, radiation protection, decommissioning, materials, radiopharmacy and low-carbon energy systems: its offering covers all areas specific to nuclear energy and its applications.

This distinction comes as the French nuclear sector estimates that it will need to recruit and train 100,000 people over the next ten years. By continuously developing its training programmes, teaching tools and partnerships, INSTN represents one of the sector’s main assets in meeting this challenge.

Education and Training Award

A reference work on criticality safety

Matthieu Duluc is the author of the book “Criticality Safety: From Physical Phenomena to Nuclear Safety Analysis”. With more than twenty years of experience at IRSN and then Framatome, Matthieu Duluc has written the first French-language book devoted to this highly specialised field. Across 650 pages, he progressively guides readers from the definition of criticality risk through to its analysis in reactors, laboratories, plants and transport operations. He presents the fundamentals of nuclear physics and neutron physics, the phenomenology of criticality accidents, the different control methods, materials and operations presenting risks, computational codes and French regulations. Operating experience from emblematic accidents, including the Tokai-mura accident in September 1999, complements this approach.

Special Mention – JAL22: the Mille Bornes of a reactor outage

A special mention is awarded to Sophie Courtefois and Julien Valero, from REEL, for “JAL22, an educational game serving the nuclear sector”. Inspired by the famous Mille Bornes game, this collaborative game turns the sequence of a reactor outage into an engaging format, from the first operations through to the loading of the first fuel assembly into the reactor vessel, known as “JAL22”.

Jean Bourgeois Award

A thesis to better assess the seismic performance of buildings

The award for the best thesis goes to Louis Collin for his work on characterising and modelling the influence of masonry elements on the dynamic response of reinforced-concrete structures. Defended in November 2025 at Université Paris-Saclay, his thesis was carried out at the Laboratoire de mécanique Paris-Saclay, in partnership with EDF R&D.

The subject addresses an important issue for the nuclear sector: how can the contribution of masonry walls be better taken into account when assessing the seismic performance of nuclear buildings? Bricks and their cement joints can indeed modify the dynamic behaviour of reinforced-concrete structures. Louis Collin designed an experimental system combining several cameras, digital image correlation and a digital twin to precisely measure the displacements and deformations of the masonry structures tested. By consistently linking experimentation, measurement and modelling, his method represents an advance for experimental civil engineering, beyond the nuclear sector alone.

Jacques Gaussens Award

Thermal-hydraulics serving innovative reactors

The Young Researcher Award recognises Laura Matteo, a research engineer at the CEA’s Systems Pre-design and Optimisation Laboratory in Cadarache. Her work focuses on thermal-hydraulic modelling and the pre-design of energy conversion systems for nuclear applications.

A graduate of Grenoble INP-Phelma, Laura Matteo joined the team developing the CATHARE two-phase thermal-hydraulics code at CEA Paris-Saclay in 2013. Just two years after joining, she proposed her own PhD research topic, focusing on modelling cavitation in pumps for sodium-cooled fast reactors. At Cadarache, the researcher developed a preliminary sizing method for turbomachinery. Initially integrated into a design-support platform for molten salt reactors, this method is now being extended to other reactor technologies as well as cryogenic applications.

Bertrand Barré Award

The first atomic piles illuminated by modern simulation

The Bertrand Barré Award for Public Information was presented to Andrea Zoia, Davide Mancusi and Alain Gagnepain for their lecture series “The Chicago Piles: a scientific adventure that changed the world”. Since an initial presentation at the Italian Consulate in Paris in 2023, their lectures and webinars have been hosted by universities, companies, research centres and learned societies in France and abroad.

The series recounts the history of Chicago Pile-1, the first atomic pile to sustain a chain reaction, on 2 December 1942, followed by that of Chicago Pile-2, which operated for just over ten years at Argonne. It tells the story not only of the technologies, but also of the human adventure: that of Enrico Fermi, Leó Szilárd, Leona Woods and all the teams involved in the particular context of the Manhattan Project.

Technological Innovation Award

A digital twin to optimise machining

The Technological Innovation Award was presented to a team comprising Thomas Charrel, Mickaël Gay and Jan Kolmacka from Framatome; Philippe Lorong, lecturer and researcher at the École nationale supérieure d’arts et métiers; Ugo Masciantonio from Cetim; and Habib Karaouni from Safran. Their innovation, called “Digital Twin Machining”, uses numerical simulation to prepare and optimise machining operations.

When vibrations occur during machining, they can affect a component’s surface finish, compromise its conformity and sometimes damage the tool. Based on the Nessy2M software, developed jointly by the four partners, the solution can simulate different conditions before machining begins. In particular, it provides data on cutting forces, power consumption, form defects and expected surface roughness. By virtually testing different machining conditions, the solution makes it possible to verify the feasibility of an operation on a given machine and quickly identify the most suitable parameters. It therefore helps limit vibrations, preserve tools and control the final quality of components so that they meet the required specifications. ■