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- Bottomley, D., et al.
(author)
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Severe accident research in the core degradation area : An example of effective international cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) by the International Science and Technology Center
- 2012
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In: Nuclear Engineering and Design. - : Elsevier BV. - 0029-5493 .- 1872-759X. ; 252, s. 226-241
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) was set up in Moscow to support non-proliferation of sensitive knowledge and technologies in biological, chemical and nuclear domains by engaging scientists in peaceful research programmes with a broad international cooperation. The paper has two following objectives: to describe the organization of complex, international, experimental and analytical research of material processes under extreme conditions similar to those of severe accidents in nuclear reactors and, to inform briefly about some results of these studies. The main forms of ISTC activity are Research Projects and Supporting Programs. In the Research Projects informal contact expert groups (CEGs) were set up by ISTC to improve coordination between adjacent projects and to encourage international collaboration. The European Commission was the first to use this. The CEG members - experts from the national institutes and industry - evaluated and managed the projects' scientific results from initial stage of proposal formulation until the final reporting. They were often involved directly in the project's details by joining the Steering Committees of the project. The Contact Expert Group for Severe Accidents and Management (CEG-SAM) is one of these groups, five project groups from this area from the total of 30 funded projects during 10 years of activity are detailed to demonstrate this: (1) QUENCH-VVER from RIAR, Dimitrovgrad and IBRAE, Moscow, and PARAMETER projects (SF1-SF4) from LUCH, Podolsk and IBRAE, Moscow; these concerned a detailed study of bundle quenching from high temperature; (2) Reactor Core Degradation; a modelling project simulating the fuel rod degradation and loss of geometry from IBRAE, Moscow; (3) METCOR projects from NITI, St. Petersburg on the interaction of core melt with reactor vessel steel; (4) INVECOR project, NNE Kurchatov City, Kazakhstan; this is a large-scale facility to examine the vessel steel retention of 60 kg corium during the decay heat; and finally, (5) CORPHAD and PRECOS projects, NITI, St. Petersburg undertook a systematic examination of refractory ceramics relevant to in-vessel and ex-vessel coria, particularly examining poorly characterised, limited data or experimentally difficult systems.
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2. |
- Journeau, C., et al.
(author)
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Safest roadmap for corium experimental research in Europe
- 2018
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In: ASCE-ASME J of Risk & Uncertainty in Engineering Systems Part B. - : ASME Press. - 2332-9017 .- 2332-9025. ; 4:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Severe accident facilities for European safety targets (SAFEST) is a European project networking the European experimental laboratories focused on the investigation of a nuclear power plant (NPP) severe accident (SA) with reactor core melting and formation of hazardous material system known as corium. The main objective of the project is to establish coordinated activities, enabling the development of a common vision and severe accident research roadmaps for the next years, and of the management structure to achieve these goals. In this frame, a European roadmap on severe accident experimental research has been developed to define research challenges to contribute to further reinforcement of Gen II and III NPP safety. The roadmap takes into account different SA phenomena and issues identified and prioritized in the analyses of severe accidents at commercial NPPs and in the results of the recent European stress tests carried out after the Fukushima accident. Nineteen relevant issues related to reactor core meltdown accidents have been selected during these efforts. These issues have been compared to a survey of the European SA research experimental facilities and corium analysis laboratories. Finally, the coherence between European infrastructures and R&D needs has been assessed and a table linking issues and infrastructures has been derived. The comparison shows certain important lacks in SA research infrastructures in Europe, especially in the domains of core late reflooding impact on source term, reactor pressure vessel failure and molten core release modes, spent fuel pool (SFP) accidents, as well as the need for a large-scale experimental facility operating with up to 500 kg of chemically prototypic corium melt.
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3. |
- Magallon, D, et al.
(author)
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European expert network for the reduction of uncertainties in severe accident safety issues (EURSAFE)
- 2005
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In: Nuclear Engineering and Design. - : Elsevier BV. - 0029-5493 .- 1872-759X. ; 235:2-4, s. 309-346
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- EURSAFE thematic network was a concerted action in the sixth framework programme of the European Commission. It established a large consensus among the main actors in nuclear safety on the severe accident issues where large uncertainties still subsist. The conclusions were derived from a first-of-kind phenomena identification and ranking tables (PIRT) on all aspects of severe accident also realised in the frame of the project. Starting from a list of all severe accident phenomena containing approximately 1000 entries and established by the twenty partner organisations, 106 phenomena were retained eventually as both important for safety and still lacking sufficient knowledge. Ultimately, 21 research areas for addressing these phenomena regrouped according to their similarities were identified. A networking structure for implementing and executing the necessary research was proposed, which promotes integration and harmonisation of the different national programmes. A severe accident database structure was proposed to ensure preservation of experimental data and enhanced communication for data exchange and use for severe accident codes assessment. The final product, named EURSAFE, is a website network, http://asa2.jrc.it/eursafe, connecting nodes located at partner sites. As the result of an action involving R&D governmental institutions, regulatory bodies, nuclear industry, utilities and universities from six EU Member States (Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, UK) plus JRC, three European third countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland), and USA, EURSAFE represents a significant step towards harmonisation and credibility of the approaches, and resolution of the remaining severe accident issues.
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4. |
- Mlassoedov, A., et al.
(author)
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Severe accident facilities for European safety targets : The safest project
- 2015
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In: International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics 2015, NURETH 2015. - : American Nuclear Society. - 9781510811843 ; , s. 4604-4616
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Severe accident with core meltdown is a threat to the containment integrity. As Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents demonstrate, significant release of radioactive products into the environment can have severe consequences both for people's health and the country's economy. Severe accidents arc the focus of considerable research involving substantial human and financial resources worldwide. The research field encompasses many challenging phenomena, complicated by high temperatures and presence of radioactive materials. No individual country has sufficient resources to address all important phenomena within the framework of a national research programme, therefore optimised use of resources and the collaboration at European and international level is very important. One of the mam objectives of the SAFEST project of the 7th EU framework programme is integrating European severe accident research facilities into a pan-European laboratory for study of corium behaviour in severe accidents The resources of this laboratory will be provided to other interested European partners for better understanding of possible accident scenarios and phenomena in order to improve safety of existing and. in the long-term, of future reactors. The SAFEST consortium will be able to address several severe accident issues related to accident analysis and corium behaviour. It will be a valuable asset for the fulfilment of the severe accident R&D programmes that arc being set up after Fukushima and the subsequent European stress tests, addressing both national and European objectives.
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