Foreword

At the time of writing this text, the pandemic that has been disrupting our country for more than a year now, was still far from over. From the very beginning and without jumping to any conclusions about how long the pandemic would last, the CEA invested heavily in making sure its staff and facilities were protected, while pursuing its research programmes assiduously and playing its part in the fight against the virus as you will find out below.

Throughout this entire year, the CEA has proven its ability to mobilise its teams to meet the milestones of its programmes for French defence and security matters. At the same time, it has managed to reorganise its research in the energy field when it set up a new division - called exactly that, i.e. the Energy Division in February based on an integrated approach to energy systems.

In the same spirit of meeting the State’s key national priorities, discussions were organised on two important topics: the CEA’s digital resources which were in high demand during the thick of the pandemic and the post-lockdown resumption of activities, and the CEA’s strategy for fundamental research in the near future. This work should be completed by mid-2021 after which discussions will start on the CEA’s position with respect to health technologies, another field in great demand during the pandemic.

For over a year now with this pandemic, new methods of working have emerged and some work practices have had to adapt to the new conditions, such as in human resource management. This new framework has not dampened the scientific engagement of the CEA teams as reflected in their successful track record during this unusual period, which presented in this report.