SCINTILLA A European project for the development of scintillation detectors and new technologies for nuclear security

Europe monitors transits using radiation detectors to prevent illicit trafficking of nuclear materials. The SCINTILLA project aims to develop a toolbox of innovative technologies designed to address different usage cases. This article will review the scope, approach, results of the first benchmark campaign and future plans of the SCINTILLA project.Comment: To appear on the Proceedings of the 13th ICATPP Conference on Astroparticle, Particle, Space Physics and Detectors for Physics Applications, Villa Olmo (Como, Italy), 23--27 October, 2013, to be published by World Scientific (Singapore

Технологии информационной власти в условиях глобализации

Представлен анализ эволюции дискурса по проблеме современной власти в направлении изменений технологий информационной власти в условиях глобализации. Исследуется проблема развития новых технологий формирующейся информационной власти в условиях глобализации

Thermal hydraulic analysis of Alfred bayonet tube steam generator

The paper analyzes the performance of ALFRED steam generator from the thermal-hydraulic point of view highlighting the effect of some design features. The parameters object of the study are the regenerative heat transfer, the dimension of the inner tube and the length of the bayonet. The system code RELAP5-3D/2.4.2 has been chosen for the analysis. Sensitivities analysis allowed the determination of the different design parameters influence, here briefly summarized. The increase of regenerative heat transfer affects the efficiency of the steam generator through a degradation of the outlet steam quality: the number of bayonet tubes required to remove the nominal power increases with the increase of the global heat transfer coefficient of the inner tube. A higher inner diameter results in a larger surface area for the regenerative heat transfer and in a higher heat transfer coefficient in the annular region because of the reduction of the cross section. The result is an improvement of the performances of the steam generator thanks to the dimension reduction of the annular gap. Finally, if the height of the bayonet tube is reduced by 1 meter, the number of bayonet tubes required to remove the nominal power increases up to 20%

A reduced order model for investigating the dynamics of the Gen-IV LFR coolant pool

In the control field, the study of the system dynamics is usually carried out relying on lumped-parameter or one-dimensional modelling. Even if these approaches are well suited for control purposes since they provide fast-running simulations and are easy to linearize, they may not be sufficient to deeply assess the complexity of the systems, in particular where spatial phenomena have a significant impact on dynamics. Reduced Order Methods (ROM) can offer the proper trade-off between computational cost and solution accuracy. In this work, a reduced order model for the spatial description of the Gen-IV LFR coolant pool is developed for the purpose of being employed in a control-oriented plant simulator of the ALFRED reactor. The spatial modelling of the reactor pool is based on the POD-FV-ROM procedure, previously developed with the aim of extending the literature approach based on Finite Element to the Finite Volume approximation of the Naviera-Stokes equations, and building a reduced order model capable of handling turbulent flows modelled through the RANS equations. The mentioned approach is employed to build a ROM-based component of the ALFRED simulator for the coolant pool. The possibility of varying the input variables of the model has been also undertaken. In particular, the lead velocity at the Steam Generator outlet has been considered as a parametrized boundary condition since it can be a possible control variable. The results have turned out to be very satisfactory in terms of both accuracy and computational time. As a major outcome of the ROM model, it has been proved that its behaviour is more accurate than a 0D-based model without requiring an excessive computational cost

Descriptive geometry in the life of the future engineer

The discipline "Descriptive Geometry and Engineering Graphics", relating to the disciplines of general education cycle, being very time-consuming, "opens the door" for future creativity and thetransfer of technical ideas, which are currently very relevant in the educational process

Theory, design and CFD analysis of a multi-blade screw pump evolving liquid lead for a GEN-IV LFR Nuclear Power Plant

In this presentation, a theoretical and computational analysis is presented of a multi-blade screw pump evolving liquid Lead as primary pump for the reference conceptual design of the Advanced Lead Fast Reactor European Demonstrator (ALFRED). The pump is analyzed at design operating conditions from the theoretical point of view to determine the optimal geometry according to the velocity triangles and then modeled with the 3D CFD code ANSYS CFX. The choice of a 3D simulation is dictated by the need to perform a detailed spatial simulation taking into account the peculiar geometry of the pump as well as the boundary layers and turbulence effects of the flow, which are typically tri-dimensional. The use of liquid Lead impacts significantly the fluid dynamic design of the pump because of the key requirement to avoid any velocity-related erosion phenomenon. Albeit some erosion-related issues remain to be fully addressed, the results of this 3D analysis show that a multi-blade screw pump could be a viable option for ALFRED from a thermo-fluid-dynamic point of view

Sicurezza e sostenibilità dell’energia nucleare da fissione: reattori veloci refrigerati a piombo

L’impiego pacifico di energia nucleare, ad oggi basato sullo sfruttamento di neutroni termici e combustibile arricchito in Uranio-235 refrigerato ad acqua, ha ben risposto alla crescente domanda di energia elettrica cui assistiamo da alcuni decenni. Tuttavia, sebbene gli standard di sicurezza già raggiunti nel settore siano sicuramente i più elevati nel mondo industriale, con i reattori attualmente operanti, le riserve di combustibile attualmente conosciute e la quantità di rifiuti nucleari attualmente prodotta, la sostenibilità a lungo termine di questa fonte di energia, nel modo in cui oggi viene impiegata, è un qualcosa su cui riflettere. I reattori di “quarta generazione” potrebbero rappresentare la valida risposta alla richiesta di un’energia nucleare da fissione che sia più sostenibile. Fra questi, appare particolarmente promettente il reattore a neutroni veloci refrigerato a piombo liquido (LFR). La progettazione di un reattore LFR dimostrativo europeo (denominato “ALFRED”) è la sfida raccolta dal progetto europeo “LEADER”, coordinato da Ansaldo Nucleare S.p.A.. Il presente articolo riassume i vantaggi offerti dai reattori LFR, descrive il reattore ALFRED e mette in evidenza i temi su cui concentrare i futuri sforzi della ricerca internazionale