The European Journal of Physics N (EPJ-N)
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A scenario study on the transition to a closed nuclear fuel cycle using the nuclear energy system modelling application package (NESAPP)
No full textThe paper presents the results of a case study on evaluating performance and sustainability metrics for Russian nuclear energy deployment scenarios with thermal and sodium-cooled fast reactors in a closed nuclear fuel cycle. Ten possible scenarios are considered which differ in the shares of thermal and sodium-cooled fast reactors, including options involving the use of mixed uranium-plutonium oxide fuel in thermal reactors. The evolution of the following performance and sustainability metrics is estimated for the period from 2020 to 2100 based on the considered assumptions: annual and cumulative uranium consumption, needs for uranium enrichment capacities, fuel fabrication and reprocessing capacities, spent fuel stocks, radioactive wastes, amounts of plutonium in the nuclear fuel cycle, amounts of accumulated depleted uranium, and the levelised electricity generation cost. The results show that the sustainability of the Russian nuclear energy system can be significantly enhanced through the intensive deployment of sodium-cooled fast reactors and the transition to a closed nuclear fuel cycle. The authors have highlighted some issues for further considerations, which will lead to more rigorous conclusions regarding the preferred options for the development of the national nuclear energy system
Generation of thermal scattering files with the CINEL code
No full textThe CINEL code dedicated to generate the thermal neutron scattering files in ENDF-6 format for solid crystalline, free gas materials and liquid water is presented. Compared to the LEAPR module of the NJOY code, CINEL is able to calculate the coherent and incoherent elastic scattering cross sections for any solid crystalline materials. Specific material properties such as anharmonicity and texture can be taken into account in CINEL. The calculation of the thermal scattering laws can be accelerated by using graphics processing unit (GPU), which enables to remove the short collision time approximation for large values of momentum transfer. CINEL is able to generate automatically the grids of dimensionless momentum and energy transfers. The Sampling the Velocity of the Target nucleus (SVT) algorithm capable of determining the scattered neutron distributions is implemented in CINEL. The obtained distributions for free target nuclei such as hydrogen and oxygen are in good agreement with analytical results and Monte-Carlo simulations when incident neutron energies are above a few eV. The introduction of the effective temperature and the rejection step to the SVT algorithm shows improvements to the neutron up-scattering treatment of hydrogen bound in liquid water
Plant system study of France–Japan common concept on Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor
No full textThis paper provides an overview of plant system studies to establish a common technical view for Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) concept (the common SFR concept) between France and Japan based on ASTRID 600 and the new concept with downsized output (ASTRID150). One of important issues on a reactor structure design is to enhance seismic resistance to be tolerable against strong earthquake such that postulated in Japan. A concept of High Frequency Design (HFD) is shared, in which the natural frequency of the reactor structure should be higher than that of peak acceleration of vertical floor seismic response with a horizontal seismic isolation system. The design options related to HFD have been examined and design recommendations are established. ASTRID 600 adopted a gas power conversion system to strictly eliminate the chemical reaction risks due to the proximity of sodium and water in the steam generator units. On the other hand, a steam generator (SG) is thought to be a concept with high technical readiness level and is a reference option in Japan and a backup option in France. Then, design comparison of the SG with single-walled helical coil tubes was mainly conducted in this study from the viewpoint of safety and so on. A common concept of a decay heat removal system is discussed to achieve practical elimination of loss of decay heat removal function. A fuel handling system studies are performed to eliminate and ex-vessel storage of spent fuels in sodium to reduce a construction cost. An adequate confinement system is investigated to achieve practical mitigation of large radiological release to the environment even under the condition of core destructive accident
Modelling and CFD analysis of the DYNASTY loop facility
No full textIn this paper, CFD assessment of the DYNASTY natural circulation loop, adopting a RANS turbulence modeling approach, is performed using the OpenFOAM open source toolbox. The DYNASTY facility is designed to investigate the stability and dynamics of heat-generating fluids, in particular molten salts, in a natural or forced circulation regime and as such, it is one-of-a-kind, large scale facility for studying the natural circulation in presence of distributed heating. In this work, a CFD model of the facility is set up and validated by comparing the model results to experimental data obtained during the initial testing campaign of the facility, with water as working fluid. In particular, the equilibrium state of the system is investigated in terms of the mass flow dynamic behaviour and the temperature difference across the cooler section of the loop. It is shown that the CFD simulations adopting the k − ω SST turbulence model best reflect the experimental results. The CFD results are also in agreement with a simplified 1D modeling as well as an analytical solution
RadoNorm – towards effective radiation protection based on improved scientific evidence and social considerations – focus on RADON and NORM
No full textRadoNorm aims to manage risks from exposures to radon and naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) to promote effective radiation protection based on improved scientific evidence and social considerations. It supports the European Member States and the EU Commission (EC) in implementing the Basic Safety Standards for protection against ionising radiation hazards at the legislative, executive, and operational levels (Directive 2013/59/EURATOM). The project is grounded on (1) implementation of multidisciplinary and innovative research and technologies, (2) integration of education and training, and (3) dissemination of project results targeting a broad stakeholder community including the public, regulators, and policymakers. The objectives are achieved through scientific research-related topics (exposure, dosimetry, biology, epidemiology, societal aspects), cross-cutting topics (education and training, dissemination, ethics) and project management. The project will yield guidelines at legal, executive and operational levels. It will enable consolidated and harmonised decision-making in the field of radiation protection, considering societal aspects and sustainable knowledge transfer. The project contributes to EC activities to strengthen radiation protection in a consistent and joint manner, as has already been done through the establishment of radiation protection platforms, the promotion of projects (e.g., DoReMi, OPERRA) and the partnership CONCERT-EJP. The outcomes may also impact future recommendations
ARIEL & SANDA nuclear data activities
No full textNuclear data are fundamental quantities for developing nuclear energy concepts and research. They are essential for the simulation of nuclear systems, safety and performance calculations, and reactor instrumentation. Nuclear data improvement requires a combination of many different know-hows that are distributed over many institutions along Europe. In the EURATOM call for Nuclear Fission and Radiation Protection NFRP-2018, two nuclear data projects were started in September 2019: the Coordination and Support Action ARIEL (Accelerator and Research reactor Infrastructures for Education and Learning) and the Research and Innovation Action SANDA (Solving Challenges in Nuclear Data for the Safety of European Nuclear facilities). The ARIEL project integrates education and training of young scientists and technicians with access to neutron beam research infrastructures and supports scientific visits to conduct short-term research projects relevant to thesis works. The SANDA project is focuses on research innovation actions, including detector and nuclear target development, important nuclear data measurements, nuclear data evaluation, and validation. A description of these ongoing projects, including the first results, is the subject of this article
PARUPM: A simulation code for passive auto-catalytic recombiners
No full textIn the event of a severe accident with core damage in a water-cooled nuclear reactor, combustible gases (H2 and possibly CO) get released into the containment atmosphere. An uncontrolled combustion of a large cloud with a high concentration of combustible gases could lead to a threat to the containment integrity if concentrations within their flammability limits are reached. To mitigate this containment failure risk, many countries have proceeded to install passive auto-catalytic recombiners (PARs) inside containment buildings. These devices represent a passive strategy for controlling combustible gases, since they can convert H2 and CO into H2O and CO2, respectively. In this work, the code PARUPM developed by the Department of Energy Engineering at the UPM is described. This work is part of the AMHYCO project (Euratom 2014–2018, GA No. 945057) aiming at improving experimental knowledge and simulation capabilities for the H2/CO combustion risk management in severe accidents (SAs). Thus, enhancing the available knowledge related to PAR operational performance is one key point of the project. The PARUPM code includes a physicochemical model developed for the simulation of surface chemistry, and heat and species mass transfer between the catalytic sheets and gaseous mixtures of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, air, steam and carbon dioxide. This model involves a simplified Deutschmann reaction scheme for the surface combustion of methane, and the Elenbaas analysis for buoyancy-induced heat transfer between parallel plates. Mass transfer is considered using the heat and mass transfer analogy. By simulating the recombination reactions of H2 and CO inside the catalytic section of the PAR, PARUPM allows studying the effect of CO on transients related to accidents that advance towards the ex-vessel phase. A thorough analysis of the code capabilities by comparing the numerical results with experimental data obtained from the REKO-3 facility has been executed. This analysis allows for establishing the ranges in which the code is validated and to further expands the capabilities of the simulation code which will lead to its coupling with thermal-hydraulic codes in future steps of the project
A multivariate representation of compressed pin-by-pin cross sections
No full textSince the 80’s, industrial core calculations employ the two-step scheme based on prior cross sections preparation with few energy groups and in homogenized reference geometries. Spatial homogenization in the fuel assembly quarters is the most frequent calculation option nowadays, relying on efficient nodal solvers using a coarse mesh. Pin-wise reaction rates are then reconstructed by dehomogenization techniques. The future trend of core calculations is moving however toward pin-by-pin explicit representations, where few-group cross sections are homogenized in the single pins at many physical conditions and many nuclides are selected for the simplified depletion chains. The resulting data model requires a considerable memory occupation on disk-files and the time needed to evaluate all data exceeds the limits for practical feasibility of multi-physics reactor calculations. In this work, we study the compression of pin-by-pin homogenized cross sections by the Hotelling transform in typical PWR fuel assemblies. The reconstruction of these quantities at different physical states of the assembly is then addressed by interpolation of only a few compressed coefficients, instead of interpolating separately each homogenized cross section. Savings in memory higher than 90% are observed, which result in important gains in runtime when interpolating the few-group data
Fission yields and cross sections: correlated or not?
No full textCross sections and fission yields can be correlated, depending on the selection of integral experimental data. To support this statement, this work presents the use of experimental isotopic compositions (both for actinides and fission products) from a sample irradiated in a reactor, to construct correlations between various cross sections and fission yields. This study is therefore complementing previous analysis demonstrating that different types of nuclear data can be correlated, based on experimental integral data
Nuclear data assimilation, scientific basis and current status
No full textThe use of Data Assimilation methodologies, known also as a data adjustment, liaises the results of theoretical and experimental studies improving an accuracy of simulation models and giving a confidence to designers and regulation bodies. From the mathematical point of view, it approaches an optimized fit to experimental data revealing unknown causes by known consequences that would be crucial for data calibration and validation. Data assimilation adds value in a ND evaluation process, adjusting nuclear data to particular application providing so-called optimized design-oriented library, calibrating nuclear data involving IEs since all theories and differential experiments provide the only relative values, and providing an evidence-based background for validation of Nuclear data libraries substantiating the UQ process. Similarly, it valorizes experimental data and the experiments, as such involving them in a scientific turnover extracting essential information inherently contained in legacy and newly set up experiments, and prioritizing dedicated basic experimental programs. Given that a number of popular algorithms, including deterministic like Generalized Linear Least Square methodology and stochastic ones like Backward and Hierarchic or Total Monte-Carlo, Hierarchic Monte-Carlo, etc., being different in terms of particular numerical formalism are, though, commonly grounded on the Bayesian theoretical basis. They demonstrated sufficient maturity, providing optimized design-oriented data libraries or evidence-based backgrounds for a science-driven validation of general-purpose libraries in a wide range of practical applications