Identification and categorisation of safety issues for ESNII reactor concepts. Part I: Common phenomena related to materials

International audience; With the aim to develop a joint proposal for a harmonised European methodology for safety assessment of advanced reactors with fast neutron spectrum, SARGEN-IV (Safety Assessment for Reactors of Gen IV) Euratom coordination action project gathered together twenty-two partners' safety experts from twelve EU Member States. The group consisted of eight European Technical Safety Organisations involved in the European Technical Safety Organisation Network (ETSON), European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), system designers, industrial vendors as well as research and development (RandD) organisations. To support the methodology development, key safety features of four fast neutron spectrum reactor concepts considered in Deployment Strategy of the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP) were reviewed. In particular, outcomes from running European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative (ESNII) system projects and related Euratom collaborative projects for Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors, Lead-cooled Fast Reactors, Gas-cooled Fast Reactors, and the lead-bismuth eutectic cooled Fast Spectrum Transmutation Experimental Facility were gathered and critically assessed. To allow a consistent build-up of safety architecture for the ESNII reactor concepts, the safety issues were further categorised to identify common phenomena related to materials. Outcomes of the present work also provided guidance for the identification and prioritisation of further RandD needs respective to the identified safety issues. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-NDlicense

Pion emission in 2H, 12C, 27Al, gamma pi+ reactions at threshold

The first data from MAX-lab in Lund, Sweden on pion production in photonuclear reactions at threshold energies, is presented. The decrease of the total yield of pi+ in gamma + 12C, 27Al reactions below 200 MeV as well as differential, dsigma/dOmega, cross sections follow essentially predictions from an intranuclear cascade model with an attractive potential for pion-nucleus interaction in its simplest form. Double differential, d2sigma/dOmegadT, cross sections at 176 MeV show, however, deviations from the model, which call for refinements of nuclear and Coulomb potentials and possibly also for coherent pion production mechanisms.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure

Spallation reactions. A successful interplay between modeling and applications

The spallation reactions are a type of nuclear reaction which occur in space by interaction of the cosmic rays with interstellar bodies. The first spallation reactions induced with an accelerator took place in 1947 at the Berkeley cyclotron (University of California) with 200 MeV deuterons and 400 MeV alpha beams. They highlighted the multiple emission of neutrons and charged particles and the production of a large number of residual nuclei far different from the target nuclei. The same year R. Serber describes the reaction in two steps: a first and fast one with high-energy particle emission leading to an excited remnant nucleus, and a second one, much slower, the de-excitation of the remnant. In 2010 IAEA organized a worskhop to present the results of the most widely used spallation codes within a benchmark of spallation models. If one of the goals was to understand the deficiencies, if any, in each code, one remarkable outcome points out the overall high-quality level of some models and so the great improvements achieved since Serber. Particle transport codes can then rely on such spallation models to treat the reactions between a light particle and an atomic nucleus with energies spanning from few tens of MeV up to some GeV. An overview of the spallation reactions modeling is presented in order to point out the incomparable contribution of models based on basic physics to numerous applications where such reactions occur. Validations or benchmarks, which are necessary steps in the improvement process, are also addressed, as well as the potential future domains of development. Spallation reactions modeling is a representative case of continuous studies aiming at understanding a reaction mechanism and which end up in a powerful tool.Comment: 59 pages, 54 figures, Revie

Identification and Categorisation of Safety Issues for ESNII Reactor Concepts. Part I: Common phenomena related to materials

With the aim to develop a joint proposal for a harmonised European methodology for safety assessment of advanced reactors with fast neutron spectrum, SARGEN_IV (Safety Assessment for Reactors of Gen IV) Euratom coordination action project gathered together 22 partners’ safety experts from 12 EU Member States. The group consisted of eight European Technical Safety Organisations involved in the European Technical Safety Organisation Network (ETSON), European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), system designers, industrial vendors as well as research & development (R&D) organisations. To support the methodology development, key safety features of four fast neutron spectrum reactor concepts considered in Deployment Strategy of the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP) were reviewed. In particular, outcomes from running European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative (ESNII) system projects and related Euratom collaborative projects for Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors, Lead-cooled Fact Reactors, Gas-cooled Fast Reactors, and the lead-bismuth eutectic cooled Fast Spectrum Transmutation Experimental Facility were gathered and critically assessed. To allow a consistent build-up of safety architecture for ESNII reactor concepts, the safety issues were further categorised to identify common phenomena related to materials. Outcomes of the present work also provided guidance for identification and prioritisation of further R&D needs respective to the identified safety issues.JRC.F.5-Nuclear Reactor Safety Assessmen

Identification and categorisation of safety issues for ESNII reactor concepts. Part I: Common phenomena related to materials

International audienceWith the aim to develop a joint proposal for a harmonised European methodology for safety assessment of advanced reactors with fast neutron spectrum, SARGEN-IV (Safety Assessment for Reactors of Gen IV) Euratom coordination action project gathered together twenty-two partners' safety experts from twelve EU Member States. The group consisted of eight European Technical Safety Organisations involved in the European Technical Safety Organisation Network (ETSON), European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), system designers, industrial vendors as well as research and development (RandD) organisations. To support the methodology development, key safety features of four fast neutron spectrum reactor concepts considered in Deployment Strategy of the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP) were reviewed. In particular, outcomes from running European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative (ESNII) system projects and related Euratom collaborative projects for Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors, Lead-cooled Fast Reactors, Gas-cooled Fast Reactors, and the lead-bismuth eutectic cooled Fast Spectrum Transmutation Experimental Facility were gathered and critically assessed. To allow a consistent build-up of safety architecture for the ESNII reactor concepts, the safety issues were further categorised to identify common phenomena related to materials. Outcomes of the present work also provided guidance for the identification and prioritisation of further RandD needs respective to the identified safety issues. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-NDlicense