snetp working group etkm - subgroup4 current and future uses
TRANSCRIPT
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SNE-TP – Working Group ETKM – Subgroup 4
Current and Future Uses of Nuclear Infrastructure in
Europe
February 2010
Composition of the Subgroup:
Chair: Michel GIOT (UCLouvain, and SCK•CEN, Belgium)
Members : Jean CHIPOT (IRSN, France), Gérard LABADIE (EdF, France),
Joseph MAGILL (JRC/ITU, Germany), Jean-Philippe NABOT (CEA, France)
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Executive Summary and Recommendations
The mission that was given on 11th June 2008 to Subgroup 4 of the Working Group ETKM
was summarised as follows:
“To identify facilities to support the E&T and R&D requirements in up-skilling the future
workforce to meet the challenges for near term to long term activities”.
The required identification implied acquiring reliable information about the numbers of
students and trainees presently using nuclear research infrastructure, and the numbers of those
who could be accommodated additionally to meet future challenges. Within Europe, such
quantitative information is not easily accessible. For this reason, it was decided to send a
questionnaire to collect such data directly from the operators of the facilities (offer side), and
from the persons in charge of the E&T programmes (demand side). Two aspects were found
particularly relevant: access to research reactors, and access to thermal-hydraulic test
facilities. Simulators were also considered as relevant for this study.
The results of the survey are summarised in three tables. An extensive list of identified
facilities with short descriptions can be found in the report.
It appears that about 50% of the research reactors are used for laboratory sessions for BSc and
MSc courses. Only a few of these reactors are dedicated to training. If we consider a period of
120 h of operation as necessary for didactical purposes, then only 8 reactors out of 53 reactors
meet this criterion. From the survery, there is an interest in increasing the number of
accommodated students (presently 2750 students) by about 50 - 100 %. if the numbers of
technicians and supervisors were increased accordingly. This potential is much higher in the
field of thermal-hydraulics, where a factor 3 seems feasible.
Globally, the numbers of PhD and MSc theses are the same (around 70 per year) both for the
use of research reactors and for the use of thermal-hydraulic/severe accident facilities. This
can be explained by the fact that it is difficult to do real experimental research on a reactor
within one academic year. In addition, the use of thermal-hydraulic facilities is by far less
extended than the use of research reactors (around 20 PhD theses and 20 MSc theses per
year).
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Contrary to the experimental reactors, the thermal-hydraulic and severe accident facilities are
not aged. There is not much duplication in these facilities. However, mobility and
accessibility should be improved.
Simulators are better used for the practical sessions dealing with the power plant steady state
and transient operations. However, not enough of these simulators are available for education
and training purposes.
Small nuclear research facilities located at universities or in research centres are in general
used more intensively for teaching nuclear engineering than large research infrastructure.
Therefore special attention should be given to the ageing of the "small" facilities and their
replacement.
There is no systematic use of research facilities for the teaching purposes. Hence, there is a
need to promote a more coherent and extensive use of experimental facilities at universities.
In this respect, a database of the courses offered by all operators would be useful. A pool of
facilities could be offered to all current education and training courses in Europe. This could
be achieved through the proposal of specific projects with different time lengths (bachelor,
master and PhD projects, etc.).
The access to nuclear infrastructure could also be improved by setting up “experimental
weeks or short weeks”. This consists in identifying a set of short educational experimental
campaigns taking place at different locations in Europe and built according to a same format
under QA.
An EU organisation like ENEN could contribute to establishing and maintaining such a
database of courses and of “experimental weeks or short weeks”. A specific “education
venture” could coordinate the participation of the students in the best way feasible. Finally, to
meet the need for mobility grants, a foundation supporting the student mobility, possibly to a
large extent operated independently of the industry, could dramatically improve the students
mobility.
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Table des matières Executive Summary and Recommendations ........................................................................................... 2
1. Introduction – Methodology ........................................................................................................ 5
2. Analysis of the use of the Research Reactors for E&T ............................................................... 6
2.1 Scandinavia ......................................................................................................................... 6
2.2 Poland and the Baltic countries ........................................................................................... 7
2.3 The United Kingdom and Ireland......................................................................................... 9
2.4 Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg ........................................................................ 10
2.5 France ................................................................................................................................ 11
2.6 Germany, Switzerland and Austria .................................................................................... 13
2.7 Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Greece ...................................................................... 14
2.8 Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary ............................................................................ 17
2.9 Romania and Bulgaria ....................................................................................................... 19
Summary Table .................................................................................................................................. 20
Conclusions of chapter 2 ............................................................................................................... 21
3. Analysis of the use of the Thermal-Hydraulic facilities for E&T ............................................. 22
3.1 Scandinavia ....................................................................................................................... 22
3.2 Poland and the Baltic Countries ........................................................................................ 25
3.3 The United Kingdom and Ireland....................................................................................... 25
3.4 Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxemburg ....................................................................... 25
3.5 France ................................................................................................................................ 28
3.6 Germany, Switzerland and Austria .................................................................................... 32
3.6 Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Greece ...................................................................... 37
3.7 Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary .............................................................................. 43
3.8 Romania and Bulgaria ....................................................................................................... 46
Summary Table .................................................................................................................................. 47
Conclusions of chapter 3 ............................................................................................................... 49
4. Analysis of the demand and expectations.................................................................................. 50
Conclusions of chapter 4 ............................................................................................................... 55
5. Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................................................... 57
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 58
Annex: ............................................................................................................................................ 59
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1. Introduction – Methodology
The mission that was given on 11th
June 2008 to SG4 of the Working Group ETKM was
summarised as follows:
“To identify facilities to support the E&T and R&D requirements in up-skilling the future workforce to
meet the challenges for near term to long term activities. Facilities to include centres of excellence for
both experimental and theoretical studies.”
The required identification implies acquiring reliable information about the numbers of
students and trainees presently using the nuclear research infrastructure, and the numbers of
those who could be accommodated additionally to meet the challenges. Such quantitative
information at European scale is not easily accessible. This is why it was decided to ask data
directly to the operators of the facilities (offer side), and to the persons in charge of the E&T
programmes (demand side). Two aspects were found particularly relevant: the access to
research reactors and the access to thermal-hydraulic test facilities. Simulators were also
considered as relevant for this study.
Two educational levels were considered: the Doctoral and the Master levels. One should note
that for each level, a large set of disciplines are involved, from nuclear engineering to
radiobiology, from material sciences to radiation protection. We think that they all have to be
considered together, because the challenge to meet includes the whole spectrum of
professionals from operators of NPP‟s to regulatory authorities, from designers and code
developers to scientists. However, it appears that research reactors and thermal-hydraulic test
facilities are mainly used in engineering and in physics.
The present report analyses the results of the questionnaire survey (see questionnaire in the
Annex). In chapter 2 the analysis of the use of all presently operating Research Reactors for
E&T is examined, while in chapter 3 the thermal-hydraulics facilities are reviewed. One
knows that the access to large infrastructure is demanding in terms of efforts needed to offer
valuable lab sessions for groups of students or trainees having a reasonable size, and
sometimes risky for the preparation of a thesis where results have to be obtained in a short
time span. One can thus expect some limitation of the use of large infrastructure for teaching.
Chapter 4 reports on the point of view of the users, and reflects their major concerns.
Conclusions and recommendations are proposed at the end of chapters 2, 3 and 4. Chapter 5
presents the final conclusions and recommendations.
Finally, note that the problem of ageing of the facilities is not directly addressed in this report.
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2. Analysis of the use of the Research Reactors for E&T
This chapter is based on the answers given to the first part of the questionnaire. Here we start
from the present Research Reactors (RR), and we try to get quantitative data related to their
use for Doctoral Theses and studies at Master level, including Master Theses. In particular,
we want to determine the intensity of the use of this infrastructure. Are the RR‟s fully booked
for practical sessions and experiments used for PhD and Master Theses?
For the Colleagues who accepted to provide us with such data, the answer to these questions
was not obvious, even if they were personally involved in the management of a RR. First,
they noted that the research installations are often heavily loaded with commercial irradiations
and research programmes. The reactors produce data which sometimes are used by students
fully dedicated to the research programmes, but are also sometimes indirectly connected to
these experiments. For example, some students benefit from data coming out of previous
reactor experiments to validate a neutronic model or code. Should these students be counted
in our statistics?
For the Doctoral Theses, and even more for the Master Theses, the time required to set up an
experiment in a reactor, run it and analyse the results is incompatible with the duration of
thesis preparation. An unforeseen delay in the preparation of an experiment, or simply the
duration of the licensing process can kill a thesis. This is why it can be commendable to use
new but existing data.
Finally, some RR‟s (e.g. ORPHEE in France) are dedicated to research in solid state physics.
On a given neutron beam, several experimental benches are available. They are used by local
and foreign scientists staying during a few days or a few weeks. Only parts of them are
doctoral students. How to evaluate their numbers?
These warnings should be kept in mind when reading this chapter. For the sake of clarity, we
analyse the situation of the EU countries by grouping them into regions.
2.1 Scandinavia
The situation in Scandinavia is contrasted and somewhat unexpected;
Denmark has no PR1 and no RR
2 in operation.
Sweden operates PR‟s, but has no RR. The Swedish students travel to Espoo (FiT-1), Prague,
Mol and Budapest for reactor teaching, and even to Kyoto.
1 PR = Power Reactor
2 RR = Research Reactor
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Norway has no PR, but operates two RR‟s; they are at Halden the HBWR3, and at Kjeller,
JEEP II. According to the reports that we have received, it seems that these facilities are not
currently used for doctoral research. In addition, they are not used for training BSc or MSc
students in nuclear engineering or nuclear physics because such BSc‟s and MSc‟s are not
delivered by the Norwegian universities. However, in Finland it is typical that all doctoral
research is not carried out in the projects of the university itself. Research carried out at the
Halden reactor in different OECD projects has formed an essential part of some Finnish PhD
theses of both universities recently.
Finland operates (and builds) PR‟s, and VTT operates one RR: FiR-1
FiR-1 (Triga Mark II 250 kW) is operated by VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland).
This RR has been converted in a BNCT4 facility but there is also isotope production included.
The research is mostly focused on medical applications. However, reactor physical PhD
studies on dose calculations have been carried out recently. Additionally, FIR-1 is used for
basic laboratory exercises by students pursuing MSc studies in nuclear physics or nuclear
engineering at the Aalto University School of Science and Technology (former Helsinki
University of technology, TKK) or at the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) in
Finland as well as at the KTH Stockholm or at the Uppsala University in Sweden.
At the moment the Finnish education needs are met with FiR-1. However, there is constant
threat to shut down FiR-1in a few years. It has an operation license until the end of the year
2011 and its operation costs are mostly covered by medical research funding. If it is shut
down, then corresponding facilities must be found abroad.
Note that Uppsala University (Sweden) frequently uses full-scale reactor simulators in its
teaching, through collaboration with the industry-operated educational company KSU5. KTH
has its own compact simulator in house. Uppsala University is presently launching a BSc
programme in which these simulators will be more frequently used than in their MSc and PhD
education. A discussion is in progress whether full-scale simulator training could partly
reduce the need for research reactor tutorials. In parallel, KTH is investigating the possibilities
to procure a dedicated small-size training reactor. Thus, there is progress along more than one
line in Sweden at present.
2.2 Poland and the Baltic countries
Poland has no PR but operates one RR: MARIA. MARIA is operated by the Institute of
Atomic Energy in Swierk for the production of radio-isotopes, the behaviour of materials
under nuclear radiations and studies with neutron beams. PhD theses are produced in some of
3 HBWR = Halden Boiling Water Reactor
4 BNCT = Boron Neutron Capture Therapy
5 KSU = Kärnkraftsäkerhet och Utbildning AB
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these fields in the Institute. However, there seems to be no use of the facility for the education
in nuclear technologies. For the moment the nuclear energy education seems to be
concentrated at the Faculty of Energy and Fuels (where the group of scientists move from
Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science) of the AGH University of Science and
Technology of Krakow. According to Jerzy Niewodniczański, former President the National
Atomic Energy Agency: “Poland is a “non-nuclear island” surrounded by nuclear power
plants in neighbouring countries; however Poland is quite advanced in non-power nuclear
technologies.” The Regulatory body has expressed the view that as soon as the decision of
nuclear power will be taken, education / training for nuclear industry will have to be initiated
and to be initiated in three separate groups: i) Education of educators; ii) training of nuclear
inspectors; iii) education / training of nuclear power staff, at the beginning for the
construction period, and later for the NPP operation. To run such education / training
activities, Poland will need to have special nuclear engineering courses at the universities and
nuclear R&D programmes at the universities and at the research labs. Assistance from the
international organisations (IAEA, NEA/OECD) and from the advanced nuclear power
countries will be needed.
We note that the Faculty of Physics of the Warsaw University of Technology is already
planning new courses in the nuclear disciplines.
Latvia operates no PR and no RR.
Estonia operates no PR and no RR. Tartu University is presently recruiting a professor of
nuclear energetic and safety for its Institute of Physics. A master will be organised in co-
operation with Tallinn University of Technology.
Lithuania operates a PR, and has no RR. We found some information in a paper by Ziedilys
et al. (2004)6. Preparation of national highly qualified specialists for nuclear industry started
in 1978 in the Department of Thermal and Nuclear Energy of Kaunas University of
Technology (KTU). At the beginning, the same study programs and curriculum of other
higher schools of the former Soviet Union were used. After a pause beginning in 1986 the
education process of nuclear energy specialists was restarted at KTU in 1991 and has been
continuing successfully in close collaboration with Ignalina NPP, Lithuanian Energy Institute,
Obninsk University of Atomic Energy and several organizations of western countries.
At present, a modern, western type system of studies has been implemented at KTU. It
consists of 4 levels: Bachelor level (undergraduate studies), Master of Engineering level
(professional studies), Master of Science level (graduate studies) and PhD level (post –
graduate studies).
Another main source of qualified specialists of nuclear energy is the training system,
implemented at INPP7.
6 Nuclear education and training in Lithuania in the context of EU accession , S. Ziedelis, J. Gylys, V.
Gediminskas, and D. Brandisauskas, International Conference on Nuclear Knowledge Management 7 - 10
September 2004, Saclay, France. 7 INPP = Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant
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2.3 The United Kingdom and Ireland
The United Kingdom operates PR‟s, one civil RR and several RR‟s for military purposes:
The CONSORT reactor is licensed to and operated by Imperial College and is the last
remaining civil research reactor in the UK. It is a low power (100 kW) pool type MTR reactor
and operates to provide training, commercial and analytical services. The reactor is used by
several UK academic institutions to provide both undergraduate and postgraduate training in
the areas of practical reactor control and radiation based experiments. Additionally training is
held for UK regulators and the capability to support UK strategic needs outside of academia is
maintained. Outside of the mainstream commercial activities of radioisotope production and
materials analysis, the typical annual usage for academic training and research projects has
been around:
No. of PhD over 5 years: 3 (Neutron Activation Analysis based)
BSc or MSc use training: 10 -15 days
Lab hours of use over year (analytical): 150 hours (Neutron Activation Analysis)
No. student/year: 75 (split between various groups and courses)
% foreign students: not recorded
Maximum capacity student/year: 20 per training day (typically 100 per year)
MSc dissertation over 5 years: 1 (reactor secondary shutdown system)
NEPTUNE and VIPER. There are no links between these reactors on the one hand and
education / training of engineers for the civilian NPP‟s on the other hand.
NEPTUNE is a low energy reactor owned by Rolls Royce Marine Power Operations
Limited's (RRMPOL) in its Manufacturing Site at Raynesway, Derby. The site produces
nuclear reactor cores and other associated nuclear propulsion components for Royal Navy
Submarines. The work is carried out exclusively in support of the Ministry of Defence's
(MOD) nuclear submarine programme.
VIPER, at Aldermaston belongs to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment of the
British Ministry of Defence.
Let us finally note that VULCAN, Naval Reactor Test Establishment (Dounreay), is a MOD8
establishment having prototype nuclear propulsion plants of the type operated by the Royal
Navy submarine fleet. Rolls-Royce operates the site on behalf of the MOD. Reactors
developed include the PWR1 and PWR2 reactors.
Ireland has no PR and no RR.
8 MOD = Ministry of Defence
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2.4 Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg
Belgium operates 7 PR‟s and has 3 RR‟s, BR1, BR2 and VENUS/GUINEVERE
BR2 is a Material Testing Reactor, used for the testing of fuels and materials for different
reactor types and for the European fusion programme. It is also an important instrument for
production of radioisotopes and for silicon doping.
VENUS is a zero power critical facility for the detailed analysis of core configurations,
including MOX and high burn-up fuels. It has just been transformed become GUINEVERE,
the first zero-power fast lead reactor coupled to a 14 MeV neutron generator (GENEPI).
BR1 is presently the main resource for teaching. It is a 4 MWth graphite-moderated, air-
cooled reactor. It is used as a neutron source for activation analysis, dosimetry calibration,
neutronography and reference reactor experiments.
During the last five years, 13 PhD students made use of these facilities. In BR1, about 10
sessions, each of 4 to 8 hours are organised each year, and are attended by 40 to 60 students at
Master level. Several sessions are organised for students of foreign universities. If the number
of students were to increase, 6 x 20 students could be accommodated. In the last 5 years, 19
Master theses made use of the facilities. SCK•CEN has also non-reactor, radiation facilities
such as hot-cells, calibration lab that are used by BS/MS and PhD students for their thesis
work. In total 169 students used the infrastructure and the knowhow of SCK•CEN the last 5
years (50 BNEN students, 53 PhD and 66 BS/MS students)
Luxemburg has no PR and no RR.
The Netherlands operate one PR and 3 RR‟s, HFR, LFR, HOR, and a subcritical assembly
called DELPHI.
The High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten is owned by the Institute for Energy (IE) of the Joint
Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC). Its operation has been entrusted
since 1962 to the Netherlands Energy Research Foundation (ECN) and later on the Nuclear
Research and consultancy Group (NRG). Since February 2005, NRG became also the license
holder of the HFR. The HFR operates at a power of 45 MW: it is a tank in pool type Materials
Testing Reactor (MTR) which has 20 in-core and 12 poolside irradiation positions plus 12
horizontal beam tubes. The current irradiation programs address areas in:
R&D for nuclear fission energy,
Transmutation studies of actinides and long-lived fission products,
R&D for thermo-nuclear fusion energy,
Irradiations and radio-isotope production (30% of the world production of Mo-99),
Neutron-based research and inspection services.
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In the past MSc and PhD students have been involved in investigations like the ones
mentioned above. This is planned to be continued, also for its successor PALLAS.
The Argonaut-type Low Flux Reactor (LFR) in Petten is in operation since 1960. In 1983
several modifications to the reactor installation were made and its power level was increased
to 30 kW. The LFR is utilized for: (a) thermal neutron activation analysis, (b) fast neutron
effect studies on a.o. biological specimens by means of a thermal-to-fast neutron converter,
(c) neutron radiography development studies, (d) training and education purposes.
In view of its favourable neutron-gamma ratio future utilization of the LFR for neutron
capture-gamma ray spectrometry studies is being considered. In the past MSc and PhD
students have been involved in investigations like the ones mentioned.
Concerning education and training it should further be noted that the LFR is also used for the
basic training of reactor operators for HFR and Dutch and Belgian nuclear power stations
(approx. BSc level) 4 times per year (8 trainees at the time).
NRG Petten also owns a basic principle PWR simulator, which has been used for both
training of (future) reactor operators as well as MSc/PhD students. After some idle time, this
simulator will be transferred to Delft University of Technology (TU-Delft) and will be
accessible to MSc/PhD students training again.
The “Hoger Onderwijs Reactor” (HOR) at TU-Delft has been used by 20 Master students
and 50 PhD students during the last five years. The section Physics of Nuclear Reactors of the
department of Radiation, Radio-nuclides and Reactors (R3) operates a new subcritical
assembly, called DELPHI, for training and research. The DELPHI assembly contains 168
fuel pins made of 3.8% enriched UO2 fuel positioned in a square lattice of 13x13 positions.
On the DELPHI assembly, 10 sessions for students at Master level are organised each year,
for a total of 80 hours. Each session is attended by two students. Doubling this capacity would
be feasible. Note that 20 master theses making use of the facilities were prepared at TU-Delft
during the last 5 years.
2.5 France
France has a large park of 59 PR‟s and operates 12 RR‟s; according to their locations, these
RR‟s are:
- Saclay : OSIRIS, ORPHEE, ISIS
- Cadarache : EOLE, MINERVE, MASURCA, CABRI, AZUR
- Grenoble : High Flux Reactor (HFR)
- Valduc : SILENE, CALIBAN, PROSPERO
- Valrhô : PHENIX (shut down since June 2009)
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On average, each year, at each reactor 2 to 3 PhD students start to prepare a thesis. One can
thus estimate that a maximum of 15 PhD students have used each of the 12 French RR‟s,
which means 180 PhD students in total. These figures can be put in perspective knowing that,
at the Nuclear Division of CEA (CEA/DEN):
- 1199 PhD students were working for their theses on 1st March 2009;
- 414 PhD students were selected in 2008, and started to work for their thesis at the
autumn 2008, among which
o 74 at the Directorate of Nuclear Energy
o 32 at the Directorate of Military Applications
o 118 at the Directorate of Technological Research
o 135 at the Directorate of Material Sciences
o 56 at the Directorate of Life Sciences.
Let us now consider the use of the reactors for training at Master level. Only three reactors are
used for this purpose:
ISIS: In Saclay, the ULYSSE reactor was designed and constructed in the building of INSTN
for the purpose of being used as a teaching tool for students and trainees. The reactor was
mainly operated for education and training since July 1961 and was shut down in February
2007. In 2002, CEA decided to shut down the ULYSSE Reactor and after some hesitation the
decision was taken to refurbish and transfer the E&T activities to the ISIS Reactor.
ISIS (700kW) is the model reactor of OSIRIS which will be definitely shut down in 2015. In
principle the operation of ISIS will continue after OSIRIS shut down but an authorization
must be obtained from the Nuclear Safety Authority. The existing reactor responds fully to the
teaching needs in Saclay and to the substantial increase of the number of students and
trainees. Presently, approximately 100 sessions of E&T, equivalent to 300 hours are
organised. The number of participating students in 2008-09 is 140 students, among which
approximatively 10% of foreign students.
MINERVE and AZUR are running in Cadarache. MINERVE is an experimental reactor
mainly devoted to neutronic studies of lattices of different reactor types. It achieved its first
criticality in 1959 at the CEA centre in Fontenay-aux-Roses and was transferred to Cadarache
in 1977. Part of its activity is devoted to education to meet the needs of INSTN. The Jules
Horowitz Reactor which is under construction will not be used for E&T, and for the near
future, discussions are underway to determine which facilities will continue hosting students
for their lab sessions which are part of our educational programmes, mainly on the Master
level. Presently, about 15 lab sessions equivalent to 45 hours are organised per year using
MINERVE. In 2008-09, there are 46 students (2008-09). For AZUR, approximately 40
sessions, equivalent to 120 hours are organised for training military staff.
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2.6 Germany, Switzerland and Austria
Germany operates PR‟s and has 7 RR‟s; by alphabetical order, they are:
AKR-2 operated by the Technical University Dresden was used by 5 PhD students during the
last five years. In addition, 720 students at Master level, 10% of which being foreign students
benefit from lab sessions on this reactor each year. This corresponds to a running time of 120
hours. The capacity could be increased to 800 students. In addition, 3 students prepared their
Master thesis with AKR-2 during the last five years.
BER-II the Berlin Experimental Reactor II, operated by the Hahn-Meitner Institute is not
used for nuclear technology E&T.
FRM-II of the Technische Universität München is not used for teaching at Master level.
However a few PhD theses are related to the core and fuel design changes required by the
conversion to LEU.
FRMZ, the Forschungsreaktor Mainz, is a TRIGA-MARK II research reactor of the Institut
für Kernchemie (Institute for Nuclear Chemistry) of the university of Mainz.
SUR FURTWANGEN operated by the Fachhochschule Furtwangen: The reactor is used for
lectures and practical exercises on nuclear energy and radiation measurement techniques (ca.
30 students per year) and it is used for lectures on radiation security (20 students per year).
Also student projects and bachelor theses are supervised (2 per year). The SUR-Furtwangen
became part of “Kompetenzverbund Kerntechnik Baden-Württemberg”. In that framework
common projects with KIT in Karlsruhe have been done.
SUR STUTTGART of the Institut für Kernenergetik und Energiesysteme of the Universität
Stuttgart (SIEMENS Unterrichtsreaktor SUR 100) is used for 50 sessions per year, totalising
60 hours. They benefit to 200 students, among which 10% are foreign students. The
maximum number of students that could be accommodated is 300. One Master thesis was
prepared with the use of the reactor during the last 5 years.
SUR ULM of the Institut für Strahlenmesstechnik of the University of Applied Science Ulm
(SIEMENS Unterrichtsreaktor SUR 100) is used for about 100 sessions per year. It is used for
conducting a range of different reactor practicals, addressing the needs of different categories
of students. Each year, about 220 students use the reactor for an average of 200 hours. About
10% are foreign students. Most of the bachelor students come from Medicine technology and
Energy technology. The maximum number of students that could be accommodated is 300.
One Bachelor thesis was prepared with the use of the reactor during the last 5 years.
Switzerland operates PR‟s and three RR‟s: CROCUS, PROTEUS and Basel University‟s
AGN-211-P reactor.
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PROTEUS is a zero-power research reactor, operated by the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). Its
main usage is the execution of integral experiments for the validation of design tools for
advanced reactor systems. During the last five years, the reactor was used by 4 PhD students.
It does not contribute to undergraduate teaching in terms of offering reactor practicals.
However, since the establishing of the joint EPFL-ETHZ Master program in Nuclear
Engineering, 1-2- students/year carry out their Master research in the context of experiments
conducted at this reactor.
CROCUS, operated by the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne (EPFL) is a zero-power
reactor, used mainly for teaching purposes. It is used for conducting a range of different
reactor practicals, addressing the needs of different categories of students. These range from
2nd year Physics Bachelor students to Nuclear Engineering Master classes. Each year, about
120 students use the reactor during 70 lab sessions of different types, for an average of 150
hours. During the last five years, 2 theses at Master level used the CROCUS reactor.
The AGN-211-P reactor at the University of Basel is a 2 kW reactor, used mainly for teaching
and neutron activation analysis (NAA). Due to its neutron flux the program in NAA is unique
for Switzerland. Regular courses for NAA are offered to Bachelor and Master students in
natural sciences from various Swiss Universities. In addition NAA is applied for
quality checks of food samples by the consumer administration. It is further used for various
courses in reactor physics and radiosafety. In summary the reactor is used by about 80
students with diverse interests during a total of about 90 hours each year. A proposal for a
Master level course is planned.
Austria has no PR, but operates one RR: TRIGA II in Vienna University of Technology /
Atominstitut. At least 25 PhD students in various fields have used it during the last five years.
For students at Master level, the capacity of the facility is almost at the limit: 8 one week
courses are organised each year; they involve about 60 students, of whom about 15% are
foreigners. In addition, about 50 Master theses did make use of the reactor during the last five
years.
2.7 Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Greece
Portugal has no PR, but operates one RR: RPI
RPI, the Portuguese Research Reactor is operated by the “Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear”.
The number of PhD students is comprised between 2 and 6 per year, the total number being
12 over five years. Each year 5 to 10 sessions, 2 to 3 hours long are organised. Normally,
there are 10 to 15 Portuguese students at Master level attending the lab sessions. However,
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last year 26 foreign students were involved with the CHERNE9 network. According to the
staff of RPI, 10 more students could be accommodated without major changes. In addition,
one or two students prepare their Master thesis using the reactor.
Spain operates PR‟s, but has no RR.
However, at the “Universitad Politécnica de Madrid”, for teaching at Bachelor or Master
level, the simulator of the decommissioned ZORITA NPP, an old PWR, has been installed in
2008. A few pilot sessions, representing 20 hours in total were programmed for 25 students.
In the next years, a participation of 40 students per year is expected, among which 10 to 20%
of ERASMUS students. If necessary, 50 students per year could be accommodated in several
groups.
Italy has no PR, but operates four RR‟s.
AGN 201 COSTANZA, operated by the Department of Nuclear Engineering of the
University of Palermo, is a small research reactor designed and produced by Aerojet General
Nucleonics (San Ramon, California) to be used in education, research, medical diagnosis and
industrial process control. Two lab sessions are organised per year for a total duration of 20
hours. Five students at Master level attended these lab sessions, while two identical lab
sessions could be easily organised for 5 more students. During the last five years 2 Master
theses were made with the support of the reactor.
LENA TRIGA II PAVIA is the reactor of the “Laboratorio Energia Nucleare Applicata”
(L.E.N.A.) of the University of Pavia. During the last five years, it was used by one PhD
student for research purposes, and by 6 PhD students for education. For 25 students at the
Master level (5% foreigners), 5 lab sessions (20 hours) were organised. During the last five
years, 6 Master theses made use of the reactor. If needed, the number of students could be
multiplied by a factor of 3, i.e. 75 students.
RVS TAPIRO, the experimental fast reactor in the Casaccia Research Centre of ENEA
during the last four years was employed by University Sapienza of Rome for 2 PhD students
in a research activity: “Neutron flux calculation in the U-C and U-Fe interfaces” for the new
VHTGR (Very High Temperature Gas Reactor) design; and by one PhD student for the same
reactor equipment upgrade and by another PhD student for education support. The same
reactor was used, during the last three years, for 75 students at the Master level in 3 laboratory
sessions on start-up and full power operation, period stable calculation and control rod
calibration (24 hours). In the last two years, 3 Master theses using the reactor were elaborated.
9 CHERNE is an open European academic network for cooperation in Higher Education on Radiological and
Nuclear Engineering
16
The TRIGA RC-1 reactor of the Casaccia ENEA research Centre, was jointly used by
Sapienza Rome University of Rome and ENEA researchers for the course of “Reactor
Physics” at the Master level, with special regard to experimental measurements to verify the
accuracy of the Monte Carlo computer code MCNP-X and the deterministic computer code
ERANOS. Three PhD students made use of this facility in the last five years and during the
last three years the same reactor was employed for 6 theoretical lectures (24 hours) and 3
experimental sessions (24 hours) for 25 students per year at the Master level. During the last
two years, 3 Master theses were developed with the use of this reactor.
Slovenia operates one PR and one RR:
A TRIGA Mark II with pulse capability is operated by the Jožef Stefan Institute (Ljubljana).
During the last five years it was used by 5 PhD students. Each year, it welcomes 30 students
at master level, among whom 5 to 10% of foreign students, for 3 to 5 lab sessions representing
in total 100 hours. The number of Master theses implying the use of the reactor is about 150
for the last five years.
A maximum number up to about 100 could be accommodated each year.
Greece has no PR, but operates two RR‟s.
At Athens, DEMOKRITOS (GRR-1), the research reactor installed at DEMOKRITOS,
Agia Paraskevi, Athens is under refurbishment and is foreseen to be in operation at 2011.
At Thessaloniki, GR-B Subcritical Reactor of Nuclear Chicago Corporation is installed in
the Nuclear Physics Laboratory of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, since 1972.
Each year about 200 students at BSc (1 exercise) and MSc (2 exercises) are welcomed in the
frame of the Nuclear Physics practical work.
The reactor was used for research reasons by 3 PhD students over the last five years. For BSc
the practical work represents 12 weeks/year x 200 students and 2 weeks x 20 students. There
are no foreign students. The number of MSc theses using the reactor during the last five years
is 5.
The number of accommodated bachelor students cannot be increased (the tendency is to
decrease). For master students it is possible to increase the numbers of identical lab sessions
at about 30%. At this time master students are about 20 in Nuclear Physics and Elementary
Particle Physics.
Note that the reactor operates all the year for student practical work and research. Stops of
some (about 10 days) for service are needed every year. In this case it is necessary to move
the Am-Be source outside the reactor. For safety reasons the system of source displacement
needs an automation mechanism.
17
2.8 Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary
The Czech Republic operates PR‟s and three RR‟s: LR-0, LVR-15 and VR-1.
The first two facilities are located at Nuclear Research Institute Řež, while the third one
belongs to the Czech Technical University in Prague, faculty of nuclear engineering, cathedra
of nuclear reactors.
LR-0 is a zero power critical assembly suitable for determination of the neutron-physical
characteristics of VVER and PWR reactor lattices and shielding.
LVR-15 is a light-water moderated and cooled tank nuclear reactor with forced convection.
The fuel type IRT-2M enriched to 36% and a combined water-beryllium reflector are used.
The reactor serves as a radiation source for:
“material testing experiments at water loops and at irradiation rigs, activation analysis with a
pneumatic rabbit system, experiments at beam tubes in the field of nuclear and applied
physics, irradiation of iridium for medical purposes, irradiation for radio-pharmaceuticals
production, irradiation of silicon mono crystals, experiments at the thermal column in the field
of neutron capture therapy”.
Three PhD students and 5 students at Master level made use of these facilities in the last five
years. These reactors were not used for other teaching purposes, since the Czech Technical
University of Prague (Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering) operates the
VR-1 reactor “Sparrow”.
The VR-1 training reactor is a pool-type, light water reactor based on Uranium enriched to
19.7%. The neutron moderator is light demineralised water, which is also used as a neutron
reflector, as biological shielding, and as a coolant. Heat is removed from the active core by
natural convection.
The reactor has the shape of an octahedral body and is manufactured from special shielding
concrete. There are two pools in the reactor – stainless steel vessels marked as H01 and H02.
Both are practically identical, bu their functions are different. The reactor vessel H01 is
designed for the active core and the other one, H02, is a handling vessel. This arrangement
was chosen predominantly to provide adequate radiation protection and to make some
manipulations easier.
The Department of Nuclear Reactors of the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical
Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague guarantees the operation and
organizes the usage of the VR-1 training reactor and focuses to education and research in the
field of nuclear engineering. The reactor (such as educational tours with practical
demonstrations, various experimental tasks, training courses) is provided not only to the
department‟s own students, but also to other students from about 15 different faculties of
Czech Universities (members of the association CENEN) and to an increasing number of
18
secondary schools. The Department cooperates with several other foreign universities
equipped with similar nuclear facilities (e.g. TU Budapest, TU Vienna, TU Delft etc).
Co-operation through a network (CNEN) has been established in the Czech Republic.
Slovakia operates PR‟s, but no RR.
Hungary operates PR‟s, and two RR‟s Training Reactor and BRR
The Institute of Nuclear Techniques of the Budapest University of Technology and
Economics operates a Training Reactor. The training reactor is a swimming pool reactor
which was designed and built between 1969 and 1971 by Hungarian nuclear and technical
experts. It first went critical on May 20, 1971. The maximum power was originally 10 kW.
After upgrading, which involved modifications of the control system and insertion of one
more fuel assembly into the core, the power was increased to 100 kW in 1980.
The main purpose of the reactor is to support education in nuclear engineering and physics;
however, extensive research work is carried out as well. Neutron irradiation can be performed
using 20 vertical irradiation channels, 5 horizontal beam tubes, two pneumatic rabbit systems
and a large irradiation tunnel. The reactor core is made up of 24 EK-10 type fuel assemblies,
which altogether contain 369 fuel rods. The fuel is 10%-enriched uranium dioxide in
magnesium matrix. The pellets are filled into aluminum cladding at a length of 50 cm. The
total mass of uranium in the core is approximately 29.5 kg. The horizontal reflector is made of
graphite and water, while in vertical direction water plays the role of reflector. The highest
thermal neutron flux is 2.7×1012
n/cm2s, measured in one of the vertical channels.
During the last five years, five PhD students have used this reactor in the preparation of their
theses. Per year 150 lab sessions totalizing 600 hours are organised for 180 students. About
20% of these students benefit from a mobility grant. If the number of students were to
increase, 300 students maximum could be accommodated. We note that during the last five
years 34 students used the facility in the preparation of their Master theses.
The Atomic Energy Research Institute of Budapest operates the Budapest Research Reactor
(BRR). The Budapest Research Reactor (BRR) is a tank-type reactor, moderated and cooled
by light water. The reactor, which went critical in 1959, is of Soviet origin. The initial thermal
power was 2 MW. The first upgrading took place in 1967 when the power was increased from
2 MW to 5 MW, using a new type of fuel and a beryllium reflector. A full-scale reactor
reconstruction and upgrading project began in 1986, following 27 years of operation since
initial criticality. The upgraded 10 MW reactor received the operation license in November
1993.
About 15 PhD students and 5 students at Master level were involved in the last five years. No
lab session is organised at Master level, but if this was required, 10 students could be
accommodated simultaneously, and one session per month could be offered.
19
2.9 Romania and Bulgaria
Romania operates PR‟s and two RR‟s: TRIGA II dual core
TRIGA II Pitesti Pulsed and TRIGA II Pitesti SS core are operated by the Institute for
Nuclear Power Research at Pitesti.
The TRIGA Annular-Core Pulsing Reactor (ACPR) is a pool type pulsed reactor whose
salient features are (1) the large pulsing power capability which allows the moderately
enriched fuel to be heated over the melting temperature of UO2 by nuclear fission, and (2) the
large (214 mm in diameter) dry irradiation space located in the center of the reactor core
which can accommodate a sizeable experiment. The center of the core is the experimental
cavity to which the experimental capsule is inserted through the vertical loading tubes. The
pulse operation is made by quick withdrawal of transient control rods out of the core by the
pneumatic driving system.
The fuel of the TRIGA Steady-State Material Testing Reactor has been converted from HEU
to LEU.
The ICN Pitesti reactor is used to train students from the University Politehnica of Bucharest,
carrying out the laboratory of "Experiments in Nuclear Reactors ": cca. 40 students per year,
for cca. 16 hours, usually in the spring semester. A nuclear education network is in the
process to be established in Romania.
Bulgaria operates PR‟s and owns IRT- Sofia
The research reactor IRT, Sofia, of the INRNE-BAS (Bulgarian Academy of Science) is in
process of conversion and refurbishment into a low power reactor in accordance to the
Bulgarian Government Decision from 2001. The activities for IRT conversion and
refurbishment are supported by the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria, the IAEA
project BUL/4/014, the US DOE program RRRFR for spent nuclear fuel return back to
Russia, the US DOE program RERTR for conversion to LEU fuel, the EC PHARE program
for radiation monitoring system, and National Science Fund project NIK-02/2007 for BNCT
information system.
There is thus momentarily no use of the reactor for education and training. However, the
formation of the Nuclear TEChnology and Education Center (NuTEC) within the structure of
the INRNE in 2007 has been initiated. NuTEC is based on the research reactor IRT and 12
other QQS certified labs.
20
Summary Table
Table 1 summarises the data obtained:
Table 1.- Quantitative use of Research Reactors: data from the operators
Country Name PhD Use for BSc or MSc
# PhD (5years)
Yes or No
Lab.sess. Lab. hrs.
# stud. per y.
% for. Max.# Stud./y.
MSc theses (5years)
Norway HBWR 0 N
JEEP II 0 N
Finland FiR-1 3 Y 5 = 100h 80 45 150 4
Poland MARIA 0 N
United Kingdom
CONSORT 3 Y 10-15 days = 150 h
75 NR 100 (20/day)
1
NEPTUNE 0 N
VIPER 0 N
Belgium BR1 13 Y 10 =40 to 80h
40 to 60
10 120 19
BR2 N - - - -
VENUS/G N - - - -
The Netherlands
HFR 1 Y - ? - - -
LFR 1 Y 48h 32 ? 32 0
HOR 50 Y - 20 ? 40 20
DELPHI - Y 80h 20 ? 40 0
France OSIRIS 180 Y
ORPHEE N
ISIS N 100=300h 140 10 - -
EOLE N
MINERVE Y 15=45h 46 - 100 0
MASURCA N
CABRI N
AZUR Y 40=120h Military training
SILENE N
CALIBAN N
PROSPERO N
(PHENIX) N
Germany AKR-2 5 Y 40=120h 720 10 800 3
BER-II 0 N
FRM-II ? N
FRMZ ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
SUR FURT. 0 Y 60h 50 - 100 0
SUR STUT. 0 Y 50=60h 200 10 300 1
SUR ULM 0 Y 100=200h 220 22 300 1
21
Switzerland PROTEUS 4 N
CROCUS 0 Y 70=150h 120 10 150 2
AGN-211-P 0 Y 90h 80 0 80 0
Austria TRIGA II 25 Y 8=192h 60 15 60 50
Portugal RPI 12 Y 10hto30h 12 +26 stud
22 1
Italy AGN 201 C 0 Y 2=20h 5 0 10 2
LENA TRIG 7 Y 5=20h 25 5 75 6
RSV TAPIRO 3 Y 4=32h 25 0 30 3
TRIGA RC1 3 Y 13=80h 45 0 75 8
Slovenia TRIGA II 5 Y 3to5=100h 30 5 to 10
100 150
Greece GRR-1 NA - - - - - -
GR-B 3 Y 12=36h 220 0 220 5
Czech Republic
LR-0 3 N - - - - 5
LVR-15
VR-1 17 y 145=435h 260 ? 700 42
Hungary Training R 5 Y 150=600h 180 20 300 34
BRR 15 Y 0 0 0 10 5
Romania TR ACPR 0 N
TR SS MTR 0 Y 16 h 40 NR NR 0
Bulgaria IRT 0 N/A
Total EU - 358 - 3104 to 3164 h
2745 to 2765
- 3914 362
Conclusions of chapter 2
Three observations are made:
1) Only 28 out of the 53 listed research reactors are effectively used for laboratory
sessions at BSc and MSc levels. Only a few are really dedicated to civilian training; if
we take the criterion of 120 hours of operation for didactical purposes, only the 8
following reactors are left: CONSORT (UK), ISIS (F), AKR-2 (D), SUR-ULM (D),
CROCUS (CH), TRIGA II (A), VR1 (CZ), Training Reactor (H), and hopefully in the
future IRT (BLG) within the NuTEC structure.
2) We can see that, globally, the numbers of PhD and MSc theses are the same, which
can be explained by the fact that it is difficult to do real experimental research on a
reactor within one academic year.
3) There is a substantial potential for increase in the number of accommodated students:
at least 50 %, may be much more if the numbers of technicians and supervisors were
increased accordingly.
In addition, we note the comments of some operators:
- There is a strong need for new and more efficient experimental infrastructures, in
particular for both research and teaching, in particular for Doctoral and
Bachelor/Master theses.
22
- Running experimental facilities and a fortiori a research reactor in a university has
become very difficult for financial reasons, and also due to enforcement of safety
and security regulations. A share of the EU funding should be devoted specifically
to universities wishing to better qualify from the point of view of experimental
facilities. Additionally, the links between universities and organisations operating
a (small) research reactor should be strengthened.
3. Analysis of the use of the Thermal-Hydraulic facilities for E&T
A list of heavy liquid metal test facilities can be found in Knebel et al. (2004)10
.
3.1 Scandinavia
For Scandinavia many information can be found in the report by Tuunanen, J. and
Tuomainen11
.
Norway does not operate thermal-hydraulic facilities.
Sweden: At KTH, the TALL thermal-hydraulics facility is used, as well as a well-equipped
severe accidents laboratory. About 10 PhD students used these facilities during the last 5
years.
TALL is a medium-size experimental facility (fig.1) constructed at KTH (Sweden), to study
the steady-state and transient thermal-hydraulics performance of LBE-cooled reactors, with
the primary purpose of supporting the European Transmutation Demonstration (ETD) using
LBE cooled Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS). A whole series of transient experiments were
performed on the TALL test facility, whose aim was to provide a data base for validation of
computer codes which may be used for the analysis of the safety of those systems. The LBE
loop is of full height and was scaled such that the prototypic (power/volume) ratio would
represent the main components. Single fuel pin experiments were made to evaluate the heat
transfer in turbulent conditions across a real cladding.
10 Knebel, J.U., Fazio, C., Alamo, A., Benamati, G., and Arien, B., TESTRA CLUSTER
“Heavy Liquid Metal Thermal-hydraulics, Materials Corrosion and Behaviour
under Irradiation”, ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp6-euratom/docs/euradwaste04pro_5-
knebel_en.pdf, 2004. 11 Tuunanen, J. and Tuomainen, M., Final Report of the "Nordic Thermal-Hydraulic and
Safety Network (NOTNET)" – Project VTT Processes, Finland NKS-107, ISBN 87-7893-
166-5, April 2005.
23
Fig.1- TALL Facility at KTH
In addition, KTH has a high-pressure (up to 25 MPa) two-phase flow loop for heat transfer,
dryout and post-dryout studies in annuli and tubes, a Plexiglas mockup of 5x5 rod bundle for
air-water tests, and the MAGNE loop for natural circulation studies.
Vattenfall Utveckling has operated in Elvkarleby since 1943 and the laboratories serve the
whole Vattenfall group. The experimental capabilities include a fluid mechanics laboratory.
Finland: The experimental research at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT)
started in 1970's with reflooding tests on REWET-I and REWET-II test rigs focusing mostly
on VVER-440 type reactor conditions. The work was first carried out as a part of VTT but in
2001, the experimental team was moved to LUT. The construction of the EPR plant in
Olkiluoto by Teollisuuden Voima Oyj has promoted the improvement of PWR research
capabilities. In 2004 the other Finnish NPP operator Fortum Oyj gave up experimental work
at its hydraulic laboratory and the research work at LUT has further extended. The
experimental capabilities in the current laboratory include:
• PACTEL (PArallel Channel Test Loop) (fig. 2) is an out-of-pile integral facility designed to
simulate the major components of the primary loop of a commercial PWR type VVER-440
during postulated small- and medium-size break LOCA‟s, natural circulation and operational
transients.
• PWR PACTEL is a modified version of the original PACTEL facility having two vertical
steam generators, its construction was completed in 2009. Optionally either horizontal
(PACTEL) or vertical steam generators (PWR PACTEL) can be chosen for experiment
configuration. Currently PWR PACTEL operates in natural circulation.
• PPOOLEX is a BWR condensation pool test rig where gas or steam tests with or without
pump and strainers can be carried out.
• VEERA test rig for boron mixing and precipitation studies, used also for reflooding studies.
• Different pressure vessels and pools used in several test programmes (e.g. SWR1000
hydraulic scram and boron injection system tests). A multipurpose transparent flow test
facility has been constructed and used for demonstrations.
24
a b
Fig.2- PACTEL at LUT; a: picture of the loop; b: schematics of PACTEL PWR.
• Separate effect test facilities are constantly constructed for different purposes (e.g. EPR
corium cooling channel test rig, BWR 90+ isolation condenser and core catcher test rigs).
During the last five years three students prepared their PhD thesis in LUT. However, also
other PhD theses e.g. in VTT have been based on experimental results of LUT, altogether
about one PhD thesis per year. MSc theses can typically include the construction of a smaller
separate effect test facility in LUT. Another common subject is computer simulation of the
experiments; these theses are carried out in VTT as well, and also by students studying in
other universities than LUT. In average two MSc theses per year are based on experimental
thermal hydraulic studies of LUT.
Mostly smaller facilities are used for laboratory demonstrations for students. The simulation
calculations of large integral test facilities are overly complicated to be used as rehearsals. All
the facilities are however at least visited by all nuclear engineering MSc students in LUT.
25
In the thermal hydraulic area, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland mostly
concentrates on using and developing tools for nuclear reactor safety analysis. The
experimental capabilities in severe accidents include particle bed dryout test rigs HECLA and
COOLOCE. Both PhD and MSc students of different universities are working in projects
concerning the tests on these facilities. Aerosol physics is another nuclear area where VTT
has experimental facilities and there are also constantly PhD and MSc theses carried out
concerning them.
3.2 Poland and the Baltic Countries
In Poland and in the Baltic Countries there are no thermal-hydraulic facilities used for nuclear
energy education and training.
3.3 The United Kingdom and Ireland
No nuclear thermal-hydraulic facility is presently available in the UK or in Ireland.
3.4 Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxemburg
In Belgium, there are presently two facilities that could contribute to doctoral research.
However, these facilities have not been used for PhD or Master studies during the last five
years.
At the SCK•CEN several experimental setups (SLEEVE, beam-surface impact studies in
WebExpIr, ultrasonic visualisation under PbBi,...) investigating outgassing, cleaning and
conditioning of PbBi to allow its application as spallation target and/or cooling material in
advanced nuclear systems.
The WEBEXPIR (Windowless target Electron
Beam EXPerimental IRradiation) program (fig.3)
was set-up as part of the MYRRHA R&D efforts on
the spallation target design, in order to answer
different questions concerning the interaction of a
proton beam with a liquid PbBi free surface.
Fig.3- WEBEXPIR (SCK•CEN)
26
At the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) a water test facility has been built to study
the windowless concept of an ADS (Accelerator Driven System) (fig. 4). One PhD student is
involved in this study.
Fig.4- Experimental facility at UCL for the study of a windowless spallation target; left:
diffuser; right: test loop
In The Netherlands, at the Delft University of Technology (TU-Delft), the GENESIS and
CIRCUS facilities are available: they accommodated 5 PhD students during the last five
years; in addition, lab. sessions are organised for about 4 students per year, and this number
could be doubled if required. Finally, about 20 students have prepared their bachelor and
master projects with these facilities.
The GENESIS facility (fig.5) represents a down-scaled version of the ESBWR (Economic
Simplified Boiling Water Reactor). The scaling fluid that is used in the facility is Freon-134a,
which enables operation at much lower pressures and temperatures (11.4 bar and 45°C) than
in a water-based system. The physics taking place in the ESBWR has been preserved as much
as possible by properly adjusting the geometry of the whole loop (i.e. core, chimney, steam
separator unit and downcomer), the friction distribution and the applied power.
The CIRCUS (CIRCUlation during Start-up) facility (fig.6) provides possibilities for studies
on the low-power, low-pressure stability of a natural circulation BWR. In this regime,
flashing becomes a dominant phenomenon. CIRCUS consists of four parallel heated
rods/coolant channels, including bypass channels and four riser sections. The risers are of
variable length and can be combined (one riser per two or four heated channels) or used
separately. Power and pressure are prototypical; water-steam is being used as coolant mixture.
The new DELIGHT (DElft LIGHT water reactor) facility (fig.7) is a scaled version of the
SCWR (SuperCritical Water Reactor). The facility is based on the Freon R23, which shows
27
Fig.5- GENESIS at TU-Delft Fig.6- CIRCUS at TU-Delft
Fig 7 – Schematic overview and picture of the new DELIGHT facility at TU-Delft
very good similarities with water under the conditions studied. By using this Freon, the
pressure can be reduced from 250 bars (water) to 57 bars (R23). Moreover, the temperatures
28
are significantly lower (-21 to 100°C instead of 280 to 500°C). The facility contains a riser
section in order to study the natural circulation driven SCWR.
3.5 France
The experimental facilities are mainly those of the “Direction Energie Nucléaire” (DEN/DTN
and DEN/DM2S) of the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA):
Poseidon platform in Cadarache for hydrodynamics,
Amethyst platform in Grenoble for thermal-hydraulics,
Saphyr platform in Grenoble for severe accidents,
Mistra and Gamelan facilities in Saclay for gas thermal-hydraulics.
There are other facilities at DAM (military applications) and DRT (Technological Research).
They are not reported here.
Rough estimation: 5 to 10 new PhD students per year are using one of these facilities during
their 3-year period of work. This results totally in 25 to 50 PhD students during the last five
years.
CEA/DEN experimental facilities are not designed for teaching purposes at Master level: it is
not possible to have several students at once to operate them. Furthermore the staff is not
prepared and available to look after students. Operating costs are also too high for education
in many facilities.
Fig.8 – The Poseidon platform at Cadarache
29
New infrastructures should be designed and scaled specifically for this purpose (or at least
taking into account this need): choice of the fluid, operating conditions (e.g. low pressure, low
power), robust instrumentation... to reduce as much as possible the operating constraints and
costs.
Fig. 8 gives some information about the POSEÏDON platform. It consists in a set of test
benches and test loops of the Laboratory Hydromechanics of Core and Circuits (LHC).
Research tools on fuel assemblies, bundles and control lines, steam generators, thermal
fatigue in the mixing Tees, instrumentation, etc.
The AMETHYST platform (Advanced Multi Experiments for Thermal-hydraulics in
Single and Two phase flows) puts together the thermal-hydraulic facilities dedicated to the
single- and two-phase systems in order to optimize their control systems, their management
(including the instrumentation), and the human resources.
The equipment involves two parts:
The nuclear two-phase thermal-hydraulics equipment with phase change, dedicated to
the cooling of the core of PWR‟s: three steam/water loops operate at the conditions of
power reactors (15.5 MPa) or at the conditions of the future research reactor (RJH) (<
1MPa); two other loops operate with Freon (OMEGA and PATRICIA). In addition,
SULTAN RJH is dedicated to the core thermal-hydraulics of RJH.
The single-phase thermal-hydraulics loops deal with the long term storage of waste
with natural or mixed convection heat transfer (VALIDA), or the vitrification process
of high level waste (VITRIFICATION).
The SAPHYR platform aims at studying several single physical phenomena involved in the
Severe Accidents. It includes small and medium scale experiments with advanced
instrumentation for analytical studies, and is complementary to the PLINIUS platform. It uses
stimulant materials both for physical chemistry and thermal-hydraulics experiments.
SAPHYR consists in six facilities as shown in Fig. 9.
The MISTRA experimental programme is part of CEA‟s programme on severe accidents
occurring in Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) or naval nuclear reactors, and is focused on
containment thermal-hydraulics and the hydrogen risk.
The scale of the facility (volume: 100 m3, height: 7 m, diameter: 4m) makes it well suited to
the study of turbulent convective flow with condensation and generally, gas mixing in large
free or compartmented volumes. Numerous measurement points near the wall and in the
containment gas volume are simultaneously recorded to set up spatial mappings, leading to a
fine analysis of the physical phenomena: temperature, gas composition (mass spectrometer),
velocity/turbulence (LDV) and condensed mass flow rate.
30
ARTEMIS
Simulation and
characterisation
of the Corium-
Concrete
interactions
MICRONIS
Charactérisation of single phases
during vapour explosion
ANAIS
Production of energetic interaction
water / metallic baths
CINOG
Oxidation
characterisation
of claddings by
steam
BALL TRAP
Boiling characterisation of
dispersed liquid phases mixtures
TREPAM
Characterisation of single phases
of steam explosion
Fig. 9 - Six facilities of the SAPHYR platform
Using Helium and air as stimulant fluids, the GAMELAN facility supports the study of
continuous or accidental releases of Hydrogen. It enables to measure the velocity distribution
in jets and wakes, both in free or confined media.
The PLINIUS experimental facilities at CEA is composed of four facilities devoted to the
corium behaviour and to physical properties studies:
31
Fig.10 - VULCANO at CEA/Cadarache
VULCANO (Versatile UO2 Lab for
Corium ANalysis and Observation) (fig.
10) is a rotating plasma arc furnace able to
melt about 80 kg of corium at temperatures
of up to 3000°C (in or ex-vessel corium)
and to pour the melt according to different
configurations: spreading, interaction,
solidification, studies, …
COLIMA (COrium LIquid and MAterials)
(fig. 11) is a 1.5 m3 controlled atmosphere
vessel, with an internal pressure which can
rise to 0.3 MPa. Induction heating can
maintain some kilograms of corium at a
very high temperature (up to 3000°C) to
study the thermal exchanges, aerosol
release and the thermo-physical interaction
studies.
Fig.11 - COLIMA at CEA/Cadarache
VITI (VIscosity Temperature Installation) (fig.12) has been developed to perform viscosity
and surface tension measurements on corium by aerodynamic levitation up to 2500°C.
Samples of a few milligrams of corium can be implemented. It is also used for small mass
experiments for properties estimation or material compatibility tests.
KROTOS facility (fig.13) is dedicated to steam explosion phenomenon studies. About 5 kg
of corium at more than 2850°C are dropped in water. Thermal, optical and pressure
instrumentation, along with fast imaging, constitute the instrumentation. The KROTOS
facility for corium-water interaction tests has been transferred from JRC Ispra (Italy) and has
been rebuilt at CEA - Cadarache on the PLINIUS platform.
32
Fig.12 – VITI at CEA/Cadarache Fig.13 – KROTOS at CEA/Cadarache
3.6 Germany, Switzerland and Austria
In Germany, at Forschung Zentrum Dresden (FZD), respectively 6 and 3 PhD students did
make use of the TOPFLOW and ROCOM facilities during the last five years. For Master
theses, the numbers are respectively 6 and 2 students.
The multipurpose thermal-hydraulic test facility TOPFLOW (fig.14) was designed to
investigate stationary and transient phenomena in two-phase flows with the purpose of
development and validation of models used in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes.
TOPFLOW is able to obtain pressures up to 7 MPa and temperatures up to 286 °C, as well as
water mass flows up to 50 kg/s and steam mass flows up to 1.4 kg/s. The maximum power of
the electric heater amounts to 4 MW. Furthermore, an air/ water operation is possible with air
volumetric flows up to 900 m³/h under normal conditions and water mass flows up to 50 kg/s.
Currently TOPFLOW consists of three test sections. These are two vertical 9 m long pipes,
one with an inner diameter of 50 mm and the other with an inner diameter of 200 mm, a steam
drum with a volume of 8 m³ and a possible operation pressure up to 7 MPa, as well as a
pressure tank for flow-mechanic analysis in thin-walled experimental rigs.
The test facility ROCOM (Rossendorf Coolant Mixing Model) was erected for the
investigation of coolant mixing in the reactor pressure vessel of pressurized water reactors
(PWR). ROCOM is a 1:5 model of the PWR KONVOI.
33
Fig.14 – TOPFLOW facility at FZD
The test facility DEBRIS (fig.15) at IKE (Institute of Nuclear Technology and Energy
Systems, University of Stuttgart) is used in reactor safety research on late phase severe
accident studies of light water reactors with formation of particulate beds (debris) inside the
reactor pressure vessel. The objectives of the experimental investigations are to analyse the
coolability potential of inductively heated particulate beds. The major task of the experiment
is providing a database for developing and validating numerical codes. Therefore, the
determination of the pressure drop at steady-state boiling as well as the determination of the
dryout heat flux for different bed configurations are of importance. Moreover, quenching
experiments of highly superheated particle beds serve for a better understanding of the
thermal behaviour of particulate beds. The set-up consists of a crucible, which is mounted in a
pressure vessel designed for pressures up to 40 bar (see fig.15). It allows water feeding to the
bottom of the crucible as well as to the top. The crucible used for boiling and dryout
experiments is made out of PTFE and has an inner diameter of 125 mm and a height of
870 mm. In quenching experiments a crucible made of ceramics with an inner diameter of
150 mm is used. The height of the particulate bed is about 640 mm and consists of
preoxidized stainless steel balls or non-spherical particles (debris from PREMIX experiments
from Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, FZK). In order to heat the debris-bed, a 2-winding
induction coil is used. The RF-generator operates at a frequency of 200 kHz and has a
nominal output power of 140 kW. The test section resp. particle bed is instrumented with
more than 50 thermocouples at different axial and radial bed positions. 8 differential pressure
probes are used to determine the axial pressure drop along the bed height.
34
47
Reflux
Condenser
Control
Volume
Temp.,
H=50 mm
Control
Volume
Pressure,
H=100 mm
dp1
dp2
dp3
dp4
dp5
dp6
dp7
Overflows
Water Injection
PL0
PL1
PL2
PL3
PL4
PL5
PL6
PL7
40
90
140
190
240
290
340
390
440
490
540
590
640
dp8
ambient
resp. Pl7
0
z52 56
49 50 51
2
4
6
8
1 0
1 3
5 7
9
17
1 2
1 4
1 6
1 8
20
22
24
26
28
30
32
34
36
27
19
1 1
1 3
21
25
29 31
33
3738
40
42
44
46
43
4845
41
39
23
1 5
35
Fig. 15 – Schemes of DEBRIS test facility and test section plus photograph of test vessel at IKE,
University of Stuttgart
35
Test Facility for Thermal Fatigue and Fluid Mixing in T-Junction Piping. The test
facility for thermal fatigue and fluid mixing in T-junction piping (fig.16) is presently
constructed in the framework of a collaboration of IKE (Institute of Nuclear Technology and
Energy Systems) and MPA (Materialprüfungsanstalt) of the University of Stuttgart. The
facility will serve for experimental and theoretical investigations in material sciences as well
as in thermohydraulics where thermal fatigue problems (high- and low cycle fatigue) arise due
to thermal stresses in materials induced by hot/cold mixing fluid flows. Therefore, a closed-
loop set-up is designed, in which typical piping structures of nuclear power plants like a T-
junction can be studied applying single-phase fluid flows under realistic pressure and
temperature conditions (p=75 bar, T=280 °C). Especially the fluid mixing of hot (up to 280
°C) and cold (Tamb) water in a T-junction with accompanied fluid flow – wall surface
interaction is of major interest. Another task is the study of crack development and
propagation in pipe walls dependant on fluid flow boundary conditions. All experimental data
are used for validation of numerical models in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and
structural mechanics as well as coupled simulations.
Fig.16 – Scheme of test loop for thermal fatigue and fluid mixing in T-junction piping at
IKE/MPA, University of Stuttgart
36
For experimental data acquisition, sophisticated non-intrusive flow measurement techniques
such as PIV/LIF (particle image velocimetry, laser induced fluorescence) are implemented,
furthermore the test sections are instrumented with highly sensitive strain gauges, pressure
transducers and temperature probes, etc.. The initial operation of the test facility is envisaged
end of 2010 respectively beginning of 2011.
The thermal-hydraulic phenomena and effects which occur in the essential operating and
transient conditions in the primary circuit of a PWR reactor can be
visualised in a glass model. Such glass model (fig.17) has been used for this purpose during
many years. It is presently located in the building of the simulator centre of the Society for
Simulator Training (GfS) in Essen. In order to help observe the thermal-hydraulic processes,
all process parameters are being recorded and displayed on a screen behind the glass model
along with a schematic diagram.
Fig.17 – The Glass Model at GfS, Essen Fig.18 – PANDA at PSI
In Switzerland, the PANDA facility is presently in a refurbishment phase at the Paul
Sherrer Institute (PSI).
PANDA (fig.18) is a large-scale thermal-hydraulics test facility designed and used for
investigating containment system behaviour and related phenomena for different ALWR
(Advanced Light Water Reactor) designs and for large-scale separate effect tests. The Passive
Containment Cooling System (PCCS) are simulated in PANDA by six cylindrical pressure
vessels (Reactor Pressure Vessel-RPV, Drywells 1 and 2, Gravity Driven Cooling System-
GDCS, Suppression Chambers 1 and 2) and four condensers (three Passive cooling
condenser- PCC1, PCC2, PCC3 and one Isolation Condenser –IC. The height of the facility is
25 m, the total volume of the vessels is about 460 m3 and the maximum operating conditions
37
are 10 bar at 200 o
C. The RPV is electrically heated with a maximum power of 1.5 MW.
Various auxiliary systems are available to record and control the initial and boundary
conditions of the tests. The PANDA instrumentation includes more than 1000 sensors for
measuring temperature, pressure, levels, flow rate, etc. Beside classical
thermal hydraulic instrumentation PANDA has 2 Mass spectrometers which allow the
measurement of gas mixture (steam, air, hydrogen) composition in up to 120 locations.
Additional instrumentation was introduced to gain information on local velocities by pulse-
heated time-of-flight anemometers and speed-of-sound sensors. The accuracy of the existing
PIV set-up was increased. In its present configuration, PANDA is being used for basic
phenomena (plume, jet, condensation) studies, safety component tests (spray, cooler,
recombiner), system response (rapture disk opening, PCCS) within the OECD project SETH-
2. The dense instrumentation makes PANDA also applicable for advanced Lumped Parameter
(LP) and CFD code assessment and validation.
No thermal-hydraulic facility is operated in Austria.
3.6 Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Greece
There is no thermal-hydraulic facility in operation in Portugal.
In Spain, CIEMAT has a specific Laboratory for Analysis of Safety Systems (LASS) in
which several issues related to severe accidents have been investigated in the last 20 years.
Presently, most of activities are related to aerosol behaviour studies under dominant risk
accident sequences. The research carried out in the last 4 years has involved 3 PhD students.
These facilities would be suitable for master or bachelor projects. Longer plans, such as PhD
theses would require CIEMAT to be involved in a no-less than 3 years experimental projects,
which is harder to ensure. Presently, one of those 3-year projects is underway.
Fig.19 – PECA facility at CIEMAT
38
Three facilities belong to the LASS; they are devoted to the experimental study of
decontamination of gaseous systems by sprays (GIRS, Gas Iodine Removal by Sprays), the
catalytic recombination of hydrogen and oxygen system efficiency (RECA, Recombination
Efficiency of Catalytic systems), and the particle retention systems (PECA, Plant for
Experiments on Collection of Aerosols).
The PECA plant (fig.19) is involved in ongoing project ARTIST. In particular, data are being
collected on hydrodynamics and retention of aerosols on the secondary side of a shell-and-
tube heat exchanger during accidental SGTR sequences.
In Italy, at the Politecnico di Torino, a facility scaled 1/1, simulating a windowless target of
the Accelerator Driven Systems, has been used by 2 PhD students during the last five years.
Several other facilities are currently used for teaching 6 lab sessions during a total of 100
hours at Master level; they benefit to 100 students, working in small groups, and involve the
characterisation of a centrifugal pump, the experimental evaluation of heat exchangers
efficiency, the pressure drop measurement in loops either for single-phase or for two-phase
flow and the void fraction measurement in vertical and helicoidal channels. During the last
five years, they contributed to 10 Master theses. If needed, the number of students could be
doubled.
At the University of Rome, two facilities are operated: STAF and VASIB. They can be used
by PhD students.
STAF (Scambio Termico Alti Flussi) – The experimental facility is designed to perform
experiments of critical heat flux in tubes using water as the process fluid. The maximum
operating pressure is 7 MPa, with a maximum inlet temperature (at the pump) of 75 °C, a
maximum flow rate of 2000 kg/h, and an available electrical power of 90 kW for the test
section. The fluid can be preheated using additional 60 kW. The fluid velocity depends on the
diameter of the test section, and has reached up to 40 m/s. The facility is also hosting tests of
rewetting, with a wall temperature up to 700 °C and using a 1-D liquid spray (uniform
distribution of droplet size in the spray) with liquid drops from 0.2 to 2.5 mm.
VASIB (VAlvole di SIcurezza in Bifase) – The experimental facility is designed to perform
two-phase flows (under critical and non critical conditions) in safety valves, orifices and long
conduits using water-steam flow. The maximum operating pressure is 1.8 MPa, the maximum
flow rate is 1500 kg/h, the maximum temperature is 205 °C, and the maximum vapour quality
is 20%. The available electrical power is 150 kW. The facility can be also used for critical
heat flux, flow pattern and heat transfer tests.
At the University of Pisa, three test facilities are available: ANGIE, CONAN and CVE.
39
The CONAN facility (CONdensation with Aerosols and Non condensable gases), installed at
the Scalbatraio Laboratory has been used for 1 PhD and 8 Master theses during the last five
years. The facility is suited for performing experiments on filmwise condensation in the
presence of non condensable gases in a 2 m long, 0.34 m x 0.34 m square channel. The
facility is currently used for research purposes in the frame of the SARnet NoE and for
supporting BSc, MSc and PhD studies.
The ANGIE facility, also installed at the Scalbatraio Laboratory has also been used for 1 PhD
and 8 Master theses. The facility is suited for performing tests relating natural and gas-
injection enhanced circulation tests aiming at studying the fluid-dynamic behaviour of ADS
reactors. The present operating fluid is water. The facility is currently used for research
purposes and for supporting BSc, MSc and PhD studies.
The CVE facility (Chambre View Explosion ) for studying hydrogen and methane explosions
in a confined environment, has been used for 2 PhD and 6 Master theses during the last five
years. The facility is currently operated for research purposes and for supporting BSc, MSc
and PhD studies.
At the Brasimone Research Centre of ENEA, molten metal facilities are operated: CIRCE,
CHEOPE, LIFUS and NACIE. Students of the University of Pisa have made used of these
facilities for their theses: 1 PhD and 2 Master theses on the LIFUS facility, 2 Master theses on
CIRCE, and 1 Master thesis on NACIE.
CIRCE (CIRColazione Eutettico) (fig.20) is a pool type facility with internal LBE
circulation, for separate-effects and integral system tests, located at Brasimone. CIRCE
features a full-length, reduced-diameter mock-up of the Demonstration Facility primary vessel
filled with 100 t of molten LBE. The 1.1 MW thermal power, supplied to the primary loop by
electrical heaters, is removed by an intermediate heat exchanger looped on a circuit filled with
organic diathermic fluid and with an air cooler. The test vessel size is 1.2 m in diameter per 9
m height and the maximum operating temperature is 500°C. The facility is designed for
accommodating different testing devices.
The CHEOPE facility (CHEmistry and OPErations) (fig. 21) has been built in ENEA for
preliminary testing of operations using liquid metals and as a small test facility for different
European projects studies (such as MEGAPIE and MYRRHA). It consists of a tank filled with
400 L of LBE at a design temperature of 450°C. The flow-rate is only 1 L/s for a maximum
pump pressure of 6 bar and the installed electric power supply is 180 kW (including test
section requirements).
LIFUS 2: In the framework of Fusion Technology R&D in the past years several studies have
been done in order to clarify the corrosion mechanisms and to assess the corrosion rate of
different steels in presence of Pb-17Li. In this context, corrosion of candidate structural
materials for thermonuclear reactors in flowing Pb-17Li has been study in LIFUS 2 facility
(fig.22) at ENEA site of Brasimone. LIFUS 2 is an eight-shape loop with a cold part working
40
at temperatures of about 300 °C and the hot part, containing the test section with the corrosion
and low cycle fatigue specimens, operated in the range of 400-500 °C. The corrosion
properties of different kinds of martensitic and austenitic steels have been studied in this loop
as a function of temperature of the molten alloy and its velocity.
Fig. 20 – CIRCE LBE facility at ENEA-
Brasimone
Fig.21 – CHEOPE LBE facility at ENEA-
Brasimone
Fig.22 - LIFUS at ENEA Brasimone
Fig.23- NACIE at ENEA Brasimone
41
NACIE (fig.23) is a HLM rectangular loop which basically consists of two vertical pipes
(O.D. 2.5”) working as riser and downcomer, connected by means of two horizontal branches
(O.D. 2.5”). The adopted material is stainless steel (AISI 304) and the total inventory of LBE
is about 1000 kg; the design temperature and pressure are 550 °C and 10 bar respectively. In
the bottom part of the riser a heat source is installed through an appropriate flange, while the
upper part of the downcomer is connected to an heat exchanger. The aim of NACIE loop is to
set up a support facility able to qualify and characterize components, systems and procedures
relevant for HLM nuclear technologies.
At the ENEA Frascati Research Centre (now located in Rome Tor Vergata University –
Faculty of Physics) the STARDUST facility is suited for performing tests relating to dust re-
suspension and transport in accident conditions typical of ITER fusion reactor or in the
reactor coolant system of LWRs. BSc and MSc students performed their theses in the frame
of this cooperation. One PhD and 4 Master theses of the Pisa University, as well as 2 Master
theses of the University of Rome were performed on STARDUST during the last 5 years.
At the ENEA Research Centre of Casaccia, the experimental facility NICOLE (Naturally
Induced circulation COoling Loop for Emergency) (fig.24 and 25) has been designed and
built to experimentally analyze the transient performance of an emergency heat removal
system conceived for reactor MARS. It has been operated to simulate systems to face run-
away reactions also for chemical reactors and decay heat removal in nuclear reactors plants.
The NICOLE facility consists essentially in a heat generator, a water pool (heat sink) and a
water circulating loop. The heat generator is in a steel cylinder, 1.7 m diameter and 2.6 m
high. Thermal power (up to 50 kW) is generated by 8 electrical heaters immersed in a
diathermic oil volume. A heat exchanger transfers thermal energy to the heat sink (the water
pool) through a natural convection circulating water loop. The pool water inventory and its
initial temperature can be controlled to modify the boundary conditions during experiments.
The NICOLE plant is controlled by a computerized system, by which also transient conditions
in the power generation or circulating loop pressure drops can be selected by the user.
Fig.24 - NICOLE facility heater at ENEA / Casaccia
42
Fig.25 - Nicole Facility at ENEA / Casaccia
The Politecnico di Milano has access to the experimental facilities SPES at SIET labs
(Piacenza), at prototypical conditions, i.e. high pressures (>10 bar) and high temperatures
(>150°C). During the last five years 3 PhD theses and 5 master theses did use these facilities.
In addition, 2 laboratory sessions, in total 8 hours, are organised each year for 20 students.
The number of students could be increased to 75 if needed.
SPES (Simulatore Pressurizzato per Esperienze di Sicurezza) (fig.26) is an experimental
facility simulating the primary loop of a PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor). This facility
43
maintains the same height ( ~ 30 m) of the reference nuclear power plant, while the volume
and power are scaled 1:400. The facility has all the devices to simulate and study the
behaviour of a nuclear power plant both during operational and accidental transients. Power
(~ 7 MW) is supplied by Joule effect by means of a hundred rods of the same size as the real
ones.
Fig.26 – SPES 2 at SIET labs., Piacenza
Slovenia and Greece do not operate experimental thermal-hydraulics facilities.
3.7 Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary
In the Czech Republic, the Nuclear Research Institute Řež does not operate thermal-
hydraulics facilities/severe accident facilities. However, there are currently under construction
several TH loops, in particular: SCW loop, SCCO2 loop and He loop. They could be used in
the near future for doctoral research and/or for bachelor/master theses.
In Slovakia, the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava operates a VVER 440 fuel
assembly model for measuring flow rates and temperature distributions. The experimental
44
equipment was built in the laboratory of the Institute of Thermal Power Engineering of the
Mechanical engineering faculty. The physical model is made in the scale 1:1,125. The model
serves for the determination of the temperature and velocity profiles in the plane at the fuel
assembly model inlet and in two planes at the model outlet. Transparent part enables the flow
visualisation by means of the coloured water injection into the main stream.
The experimental apparatus is represented in the Fig. 27. The fuel assembly model is
located at the measuring platform, the water in the main tank is heated up to the operating
temperature by the boiler and heat exchanging bundle in the main tank. The additional water
is injected in the measured zone through the distributing system into the fuel rods bundle. For
the visualisation purposes the additional water is coloured direct in the auxiliary tank.
The water flow is measured using a diaphragm in the lower part of the circulating
piping and the data are used for the water flow control for the different regimes of
experiments. Furthermore the water flow rates were compared with those calculated from the
velocity profiles at the measuring plane. The temperatures are measured by means of
thermocouples, which are located together with velocity probes on the traversing system. All
data are collected and proceeded in the main computer, and later evaluated and analysed.
Fig.27- VVER 440 fuel assembly model at the Slovak Institute of Technology in Bratislava
45
In Hungary, the Atomic Energy Research Institute (AEKI) of the Hungarian Academy of
Sciences operates the CODEX facility (Core Degradation Experiments), but for PhD and
Master studies.
AEKI has a particle image velocimetry (PIV) test bench, and a big thermal-hydraulic facility:
PMK-2. During the last five years, 2 PhD theses and 2 Master theses used these installations.
In particular, the PIV test bench is used each year for 4 lab sessions, with a total of 16 hours
and 12 students. This last number could be increased to 100 if necessary. At the PMK-2
facility, one six hour lab session is organised each year for 10 to 15 students from Slovakia.
Organising one session each month for a group of 10 students could be possible.
The PMK-2 (fig.29) is a scaled-down model of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant equipped with
VVER-440/213-type reactors of Soviet design. It is a full pressure model of the plant with a
volume and power scaling of 1:2070. Due to the importance of gravitational forces in both
single- and two-phase flow the elevation ratio is 1:1 except for the lower plenum and
pressuriser. The six loops of the plant are modelled by a single active loop. The coolant is
water under the same operating conditions as in the plant, so transients can be started from
nominal operating conditions. The core model consists of 19 electrically heated rods with
uniform power distribution. In the core the heated length, spacer type and elevations, as well
as the channel flow area are the same as in the Paks NPP. The main circulating pump of
PMK-2 serves to produce the nominal operating conditions and to simulate the flow coast-
down following pump trip. The pump cannot be applied to two-phase conditions; therefore it
is accommodated in a by-pass line. The flow coast-down is modelled by closing a control
valve. For natural circulation the by-passed cold leg part is opened. The horizontal design of
the VVER-440 steam generator is modelled by horizontal heat transfer tubes between hot and
cold vertical collectors in the primary side. In the secondary side of the steam generator the
steam/water volume ratio is maintained. From the emergency core cooling systems the four
Fig.28 – PMK-2 at AEKI, Budapest Fig.29 - Layout of TRATEL at BME / NTI
46
hydroaccumulators of the Paks NPP are modelled by two vessels. They are connected to the
downcomer and upper plenum similar to those of the reference system. The high and low-
pressure injection systems are modelled by the use of piston pumps.
TRATEL - TRAnsparent Thermal-hydraulics TEst Loop: A low-power, low-pressure
water loop made of glass was installed at the Institute of Nuclear Techniques, Budapest
University of Technology and Economics (BME NTI) in 2009 (fig.29). The system mimics
the primary circuit of a VVER-440 PWR with an electrically heated core simulator and
pressurizer, hot- and cold legs with loop seals, primary pump and steam generator model. The
loop is equipped with a state-of-the-art digital I&C system. The test loop can be used to
demonstrate the behaviour of the coolant in the primary circuit during normal operation and
LOCAs. No PhD and/or BSc/MSc theses could be made yet, because the facility was installed
only recently. The test loop is designed typically for thermal hydraulics laboratory exercises.
PIV/LIF: At BME NTI a PIV/LIF (Particle Image Velocimetry/Laser Induced Fluorescence)
measurement system has been installed to investigate natural circulation, mixing and plume
behaviour. In the past one year one Master thesis, two BSc theses and one Student Scientific
Research work were completed. The PIV/LIF system will contribute as a measurement data
provider for the validation of Computational Fluid Dynamics calculations creating the
opportunity for further PhD, MSc and BSc theses.
3.8 Romania and Bulgaria
Romania and Bulgaria do not operate thermal-hydraulic facilities.
47
Summary Table
Table 2 summarizes the data obtained.
Table 2.- Quantitative use of Thermal-hydraulic / Severe Accident facilities: data from the operators
Country Institut. Name PhD Use for BSc ou MSc
# PhD
/5 years
Yes
/ No
Lab.sess.
Lab. hrs.
# stud.
per y.
Max.#
stud./y
MSc
theses
(5years)
Denmark N/A
Norway N/A
Sweden KTH TALL 10 N
Finland LUT PACTEL
PWRPACTEL
PPOOLEX
VEERA
5 Y 5 = 10h 80 150 10
Poland N/A
Latvia
N/A
Estonia N/A
Lithuania N/A
United
Kingdom
N/A
Ireland N/A
Belgium SCK•CEN several 0 N
UCL Water test fac. 0 Y 0 0 - 0
The
Netherlands
TU-Delft GENESIS 5 Y ? 4 8 20
DELIGHT
CIRCUS
Luxemburg NA
France CEA POSEÏDON 25
to
50
N
AMETHYST
SAPHYR
MISTRA
GAMELAN
PLINIUS 5 Y - - - 5 to 10
Germany FZD TOPFLOW 6 Y - - - 6
ROCOM 3 Y - - - 2
U.Stuttgart DEBRIS 0 Y 0 0 10-20 3
GfS Glass model ? ? ? ? ? ?
Switzerland PSI PANDA 3 Y 0 0 10 5
Austria NA
48
Spain CIEMAT GIRS 3 Y 0 0 - 0
RECA
PECA
Italy Pol. Torino Windowless
ADS
2 Y 0 0 - 0
others 0 Y 6= 100 h. 100 200 10
Univ.
Rome
STAF 0 Y 0 0 - 0
VASIB 0 Y 0 0 - 0
Univ. Pisa ANGIE 1 Y 0 0 - 8
CONAN 1 Y 0 0 - 8
CVE 2 Y 0 0 - 6
ENEA
Brasimone
CIRCE 0 Y 0 0 - 2
CHEOPE 0 Y 0 0 - 0
LIFUS 1 Y 0 0 - 2
NACIE 0 Y 0 0 - 1
ENEA-
Univ.
Rome (Tor
Vagata)
STARDUST 1 Y 0 0 - 6
SIET SPES 3 Y 2 = 8h. 20 75 5
Slovenia NA
Greece NA
Czech
Republic
NRI Facil. under
construction
Slovakia NA
Hungary BUTE CODEX 0 N
AEKI PIV 2 Y 4 = 16 h. 12 100 2
PMK2 Y 1 = 6 h. 10 to
15
120
BME NTI PIV/LIF 1 Y 14 =56 h. 20 40 2
TRATEL - Y 14 sess.
=56 h.
20 100 -
Romania NA
Bulgaria NA
Total EU 79 to
104
- 252 h 266 to
271
813 to
823
103 to 108
49
Conclusions of chapter 3
The following observations can be made:
1) The test facilities could be classified according to various criteria:
a. Some of them are very large and complex water test facilities, like PACTEL,
TOPFLOW, ROCOM, PANDA, SPES and PMK2 or grouped into platforms
like in France;
b. A second group includes heavy liquid metal facilities, like TALL, VICE,
CIRCE, CHEOPE, LIFUS and NACIE;
c. A third group consists in facilities devoted to the analysis of severe accidents,
like GIRS, RECA, PECA, CONAN, etc.
d. A last group involves various specific water test facilities like GENESIUS,
CIRCUS and others.
2) Accurate data are difficult to collect because of the wide variety of test facilities of the
last category.
3) It appears that there is presently not much duplication within the experimental
facilities.
4) Contrary to the experimental reactors, the thermal-hydraulic and severe accident
facilities are not aged.
5) Like for the reactors, the numbers of doctoral and master theses are similar to each
other (here around 20 per year). However, these numbers are much lower than for the
theses using reactors.
6) The potential for increasing the number of students is much higher than in the field of
reactors: according to the information received from the operators of the facilities, a
factor of 3 seems feasible.
50
4. Analysis of the demand and expectations
In this chapter, we present and discuss the data obtained from the users of the infrastructure
for their teaching and training activities. We basically have to consider two kinds of users:
those who take benefit from facilities that they operate themselves, and those who have to rely
on infrastructures located outside their own premises. Finally, it appears from the answers to
the questionnaire that some teaching institutions do not use experimental reactors or thermal-
hydraulic loops for teaching; in most cases they are equipped with simulators.
Table 3 presents the data in short. At several places, an asterisk (*) indicates that additional
information can be found in the text outside the table. Contrary to tables 1 and 2, the countries
are listed in alphabetical order in the first column. For each of them, we mention the teaching
institution in the second column and the title(s) of the delivered diploma(s) in the third
column. The corresponding educational profiles differ from each other: here we deal with a
broad spectrum of subjects on energy including nuclear topics; in other cases, the profile is
almost entirely nuclear. The table is mainly focused on the use of Research Reactors (fourth
column, with the name of the used RR) and to a lesser extent to Thermal-hydraulic
infrastructure (last column TH) because of the fact that small TH test benches are usually used
while big TH facilities are more dedicated to research, as we have seen in chapter 3. The
numbers of lab sessions and their numbers of hours equivalent per academic year are
indicated in the sixth column, the numbers of students per year in the seventh column, and the
percentage of foreign students in the eight column. Note that some reactors are used by
different higher education institutions: this is why the numbers in tables 1 and 3 can differ
from each other. In the last but one column, we have reported the answers to the question:
“Do the existing facilities respond to your teaching needs?” More information about this
satisfaction or dissatisfaction expression can be found in the text.
51
Table 3.- Quantitative use of Research Reactors / Thermal-hydraulic facilities: data
from the users Country Institution Programme RR Lab.sess
Lab.hrs/
y
Stud.
/y
%
forei
gn
Adeq
to
needs
T
H
Austria Vienna University
of Technology/
Atominstitut
BS/MS reactor
physics, neutron
& solid state
physics, I&C,
radiochem., supra
conductiv.
TRIGA* 8 60 15 Y N
Belgium BNEN
consortium (6
universities)
MS Nuclear
Engineering
BR1 1 = 8hrs 10 10 Y N
Bulgaria Technical
University of
Sofia
MS Nuclear
Power
Engineering*
N N/A 15 0 Y N
Sofia University
„St Kliment
Ohridski‟
BS/MS Nuclear
Engineering
N N/A 6 0 Y N
BS/MS Nuclear
Chemistry and
Radiochemistry
N N/A 8 0 Y N
Czech
Republic
Czech Technical
University
MS Nuclear
Engineering
VR-1 145=
435h
260 45 Y N
Finland Helsinki
University of
Technology
MS Engineering
Physics and
Maths./Nucl.
Engng.
FiR-1 2=50h 30 0 Y* N
Lappeenranta
University of
Technology
MS Nuclear
Engineering
FiR-1 1=5h 20 0 Y* Y
*
France INSTN * Génie Atomique
and
MS Nuclear
Energy*
ISIS 100 =
300 h
140 10 * N
*
MINERVE 15 = 45 h 46
AZUR 40 =
120 h
*
Germany
Technical
University
Dresden
MS Nuclear
Engineering
AKR-2 40=120h 720 10 Y Y
*
Technical
University
Munich
BS/MS Nuclear
Engng., Dipl.ing.
Mechanical
Engng. with
elective courses*
FRM-II 35h 150 30 Y Y
Technical
University
Stuttgart
Dipl.-Ing., Dr.-
Ing. In
Mechanical
Engineering
SUR100 50=60h 205 10 Y Y
Karslruhe
Institute of
Technology
BS/MS
Mechanical
Engineering
SUR100 5=40h 20 2
Y Y
Greece National
Technical
University Athens
MS Mechanical
eng., energy eng.
option
DEMOKR
ITOS*
- - - - -
Aristotle
Technical
MS Physics* GR-B 12=36h 200 +
20 =
0 Y N
52
University
Thessaloniki
220
Hungary Budapest
University of
Technology and
Economics
BS/MS Physics;
BS/MS Energy
Engineering/Nucl
ear Energy
Training
Reactor
BRR
152 =
606 h
180 20 Y Y
*
Italy Politecnico
Torino
BS Energetic
Engineering;
MS Energetic and
Nuclear
Engineering
No 0 0 0 N Y
*
Pisa University BS Nuclear,
Safety and
Protection
Engineering;
MS Nuclear and
Industrial Safety
Engineering
No 0 0 0 N Y
Politecnico
Milano
MS Nuclear
Engineering
TRIGA
(Pavia
Univ.)
5 = 20h 25 5 Y Y
Palermo
University
? COSTAN
ZA
2 = 20h 5 0 Y N
Lithuania Kaunas
University of
Technology
BS/MS Nuclear
Energy
? ? ? ? ? ?
The
Netherlands
TU-Delft Various BS/MS HOR+
DELPHI
4 = 20h
25
? Y Y
NRG Various BS/MS LFR+HFR 4=48h 32 ? Y N
Poland AGH-UST
Krakow
MS Nuclear
Physics
- 0 3 0 * N
MS Advanced
Energy Systems
15
Romania University
Politehnica
Bucharest
BS Nuclear
Energy and
Technol.;
MS Nuclear
Engineering
TRIGA
(Pitesti)
28h 34 0 Y N
Slovenia University
Ljubljana
+ JSI
MS Nuclear
Engineering
TRIGA 3-5 =
100h
30 5-10 Y N
Spain University
Politecnica
Catalunya
MS Nuclear
Engineering
Simulator*
SIREP-
1300
10=20h 18 10 N N
University
Poliécnica Madrid
BS Engineer in
Energy;
MS Nuclear
Science and
Engineering
Abroad
And
simulator
6=21h 40 15 Y N
CIEMAT +
University
Autonoma Madrid
MS in Nuclear
Eng. and
applications
No 0 0 0 0 0
Sweden KTH Stockholm MS Nuclear
Energy
Engineering
Abroad ? ? ? ? ?
University
Uppsala
MS engineering
physics
Abroad 4=32h 60 0 Y N
53
Chalmers
University of
Technology
MS Nuclear
Engineering
? ? 20 ? ? ?
Switzerland EPFLausanne
BS/MS Physics
and Mech.Engng;
Joint Master in
Nuclear
Engineering
CROCUS 70 =
150h
120 0 Y ?
PSI Research
including PhD
and Master
PROTEUS - - - Y ?
University of
Basel
BS/MS Physics Swimming
Pool
Reactor
30=150h 80 0 Y
United
Kingdom
University
Manchester
et al. (NTEC)
MS Nuclear
Science and
Technology
TRIGA
(Vienna)
2 one
week
courses
12 0 Y N
*Additional information:
*Austria: the Atominstitut Vienna has developed co-operation with ILL and FRM-2.
*Bulgaria: the Technical University of Sofia has major duties for training and qualification of
engineers in the field of technical science (i.e. mechanical and thermal-hydraulic aspects of
NPP, TSOs in the nuclear sector), while the Sofia University 'St. Kliment Ohridski' is
responsible for qualification of physicists and chemists in neutron and reactor physics, radio-
chemistry and radioecology needed for NPP, Nuclear Regulatory Agency etc. Qualification of
teachers and work with secondary schools is also foreseen.
*Finland:
- FiR-1 is under threat to be shut down in a few years. Then e.g. the Wigner course should be
utilized more extensively, so far only one student per year from Aalto has been participating it
due to funding difficulties.
- The MSc students of Lappeenranta University of Technology have in addition of the
demonstrations at the LUT thermal hydraulic facilities had the opportunity to have a whole
day session at the Loviisa NPP full scope simulator as a part of their nuclear thermal
hydraulics course.
*France: CEA-INSTN, although being an educational institution involved in higher
education does not host any students after their graduation from high schools. They organise
jointly, in close collaboration with universities and engineering schools more than 40 Master
degrees related to the research activities of the CEA. In general their participation is limited
to the organisation of the second year for master degrees (called M2 in the French educational
system). In addition, they organise a limited number of educational programmes at the
undergraduate level (licence).
54
The main master degrees organized by CEA-INSTN are:
a) Nuclear engineering:
- “Génie Atomique” course;
- Nuclear Energy, (M1 and M2) with five majors: Nuclear Engineering, Design
of NPP‟s, Operation of NPP‟s, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Decommissioning and Waste
Management.
b) Other nuclear disciplines:
- Radiation and Energy;
- Science of the Fusion;
- Nuclei, Particles, Astro-particles and Cosmology;
- Radiochemistry: from Nuclear to Environment;
- Separative chemistry: materials and procedures, application to the nuclear
fuel cycle;
- Materials for the structures and for Energy applications;
- Modelling and Simulation;
- Dismantling of Nuclear Facilities;
- Scientific and Technological Management of Radioactive Waste;
- European Master Programme in Molecular Imaging;
- Radio-physics and Medical Imaging;
- Medical Physics;
- Radiation Protection;
- Qualification degree (master after the Master degree) in Radiological and
Medical Physics;
- Policy and Economy for Energy and Environment;
- Economy of sustainable development: Environment and Energy.
c) Undergraduate level (licence)
- Dismantling, Waste Management, Cleanup and Industrial Risks
Presently (January 2009), for E&T no use is made of the Thermal-hydraulic / Severe
accidents facilities, but it is recognised that it would be worth to include practical sessions on
thermal-hydraulics. Topics that could be investigated experimentally (in addition to
theoretical lectures, exercises or computation) are mainly: heat transfer and pressure drops,
natural circulation, two-phase flow patterns (e.g. air-water column) and eventually two-phase
flow instabilities. However, the existing facilities, being too large and dedicated to research
do not respond the current needs.
INSTN uses Codes (FLICA, CATHARE) as well as the post accidental simulators SIPACT to
cover the educational and training needs in its centres of Saclay and Cadarache.
Note that AZUR is used for E&T in the military context.
*Germany: at the Technical University Dresden, the needs for education in thermal-
hydraulics / severe accident presently are fully covered by BORAN, a BWR model. The total
55
number of hours of use of the facility per year is 8, involving 25 students. On average 5% of
foreign students benefit from this activity.
For the Technical University Munich, the data given are for this year 2010. Please note that
the nuclear engineering department is just 3 years old, with Masters and Bachelors started in
2009 and 2010 respectively. Most of the students attending the 7 courses offered by the
department of nuclear engineering are in the Dipl. Ing. Mechanical engineering programme
and take the courses as elective ones, especially those graduating with majors in Energy
Engineering and Power Engineering.
*Greece: At Athens, the DEMOKRITOS reactor is in refurbishment. At Thessaloniki
University, research activities concentrate on activation analysis, dosimetry and neutron
detectors development.
*Hungary: at the Budapest University for Technology and Economics, 4 lab sessions per
year on the PIV test bench, representing 16 hours are organised for 12 students on average (no
foreign student).
*Italy : at the Politecnico Torino, 6 lab sessions on TH facilities are organised per year,
totalising 100 hours. They benefit to 100 students.
*Poland: the adequacy to the needs depends on the future development of nuclear energy in
the country.
*Spain : the University Politecnica Catalunya (UPC) is interested in using foreign
education/training reactors. After having followed the course on Nuclear Reactor Physics, (5
ECTS) and may be also the course on Nuclear Power Plant (5 ECTS), and the course on
Safety and Radiation Protection (5 ECTS), the students could attend a one week experimental
course on a research reactor (like Prague, Vienna, Budapest, etc.....). There would be no need
to repeat the associated theoretical topics. The ENEN Wigner course is too long (3 weeks) for
this purpose. However, sending every year 10 students to a one week experimental course
requires a specific financial support: minimum support:
cost of 5 days of experimental reactor (facility cost) and instructor costs;
travel expenses from UPC-Barcelona to the experimental reactor;
accommodation for students 6 days.
Conclusions of chapter 4
Based on the above results we suggest the following conclusions and recommendations:
1) Small nuclear research facilities, like those located at university premises or in
research centres are in general more intensively used for teaching nuclear engineering
than large research infrastructure. Therefore a special attention should be given to the
ageing and the need of replacement of these “small” facilities.
56
2) The need to promote a more extensive use of experimental facilities by universities
becomes obvious when one notes that some students do graduate in nuclear
engineering in Europe without having seen a reactor at work. Too many sources of
funding are spent for computational and theoretical work while experimental work is
not always favoured especially at universities.
3) A data base of courses offered by all operators would be useful. In some cases, the lab
sessions currently organized have a limited scope: sub-critical multiplication, rod
calibration, use of neutron detectors, shielding for neutrons, and production of
radioisotopes. A more comprehensive set of lab sessions would probably be required.
4) Simulators are better used for the practical sessions dealing with the whole power
plant steady state and transient operations.
5) The access to nuclear infrastructure could be improved by setting up “experimental
weeks or short weeks”. This has been already experienced in other fields of
engineering education. In nuclear engineering, such opportunities already exist and are
utilized as far as practical. This consists in identifying a set of short educational
experimental campaigns (needs preparation of experiment and related documentation)
taking place at different locations in Europe and built according to a same format:
Day 1 – description of the facility and its operation (lessons + tour), description of the
experiment(s)
Day 2 – execution of the experiment(s)
Day 3 – first elaboration of the results, Q&A.
Further, deeper elaboration of the results and experience could be carried out at the
domestic university.
6) To achieve the “experimental weeks or short weeks” there is a need for mobility
grants for students. A foundation supporting the student mobility, possibly to a large
extend operated independently of the industry, could dramatically improve the
situation.
7) A pool of facilities could be offered to all the education and training ongoing courses
and masters in Europe. A possible way to do it could be through the proposal of
specific projects with different time lengths (bachelor, master and PhD projects, etc.).
So, the specific “education ventures” could coordinate the participation of their
students in the best way feasible.
8) The ENEN Association could play an important role in the co-ordination and
advertisement of the “experimental weeks or short weeks”, and the pooling of
facilities.
57
5. Conclusions and recommendations
1) The present report is based on a questionnaire aimed at providing original and reliable
data on the use of nuclear research infrastructure for E&T. Although many scientists
and academics have contributed to the collection of the data, there remains a large
margin of uncertainty in the generated figures. This is because not all research centres
and universities could be contacted, and also because the impact of the use of the
nuclear research facilities on theses (doctoral and Master) is not always direct, but can
be indirect.
2) Less than 40% of the research reactors are used for laboratory sessions at BSc and
MSc levels. Only a few are really dedicated to training; if we take the criterion of 120
hours of operation for didactical purposes, only 7 reactors out of 49 reactors are left.
3) We note that, globally, the numbers of PhD and MSc theses are the same both for the
use of research reactors and for the use of thermal-hydraulic/severe accident facilities.
This can be explained by the fact that it is difficult to do real experimental research on
a reactor within one academic year. In addition, the use of thermal-hydraulic facilities
is by far less extended than the use of research reactors.
4) For the use of research reactors, there is a significant potential for increase in the
number of accommodated students: at least 50 %, may be much more (100 % ?) if the
numbers of technicians and supervisors were increased accordingly. This potential is
much higher in the field of thermal-hydraulics, where a factor 3 seems feasible.
5) Contrary to the experimental reactors, the thermal-hydraulic and severe accident
facilities are not aged.
6) It appears that there is not much duplication in the facilities. However, mobility and
accessibility should be improved.
9) Small nuclear research facilities (research reactors and thermal-hydraulic facilities),
like those located at university premises or in research centres are in general more
intensively used for teaching nuclear engineering than large research infrastructure.
58
Therefore a special attention should be given to the ageing and to the need of
replacement of these “small” facilities.
10) The use of research facilities to teach practical courses is not systematic: there is a
need to promote a more extensive use of experimental facilities by universities. In this
respect, a data base of courses offered by all operators would be useful. In some cases,
the lab sessions currently organized have a limited scope: sub-critical multiplication,
rod calibration, use of neutron detectors, shielding for neutrons, and production of
radioisotopes. A more comprehensive set of lab sessions would probably be required.
An international “education venture” like ENEN could be given the role of
establishing and maintaining such a data base.
11) Simulators are better used for the practical sessions dealing with the whole power
plant steady state and transient operations. They are not yet enough present in the
education landscape.
12) Although such opportunities already exist and are utilized as far as practical, the
access to nuclear infrastructure could be improved by setting up “experimental weeks
or short weeks”. This consists in identifying a set of short educational experimental
campaigns (needs preparation of experiment and related documentation) taking place
at different locations in Europe and built according to a same format under QA.
13) To achieve the “experimental weeks or short weeks” there is a need for mobility
grants for students. A foundation supporting the student mobility, possibly to a large
extent operated independently of the industry, could dramatically improve the
situation.
14) A pool of facilities could be offered to all the education and training ongoing courses
and masters in Europe. This could be achieved through the proposal of specific
projects with different time lengths (bachelor, master and PhD projects, etc.). So, the
specific “education ventures” could coordinate the participation of their students in the
best way feasible.
15) An EU organisation could play an important role in the co-ordination and
advertisement of the “experimental weeks or short weeks”, and the pooling of
facilities.
Acknowledgements
The authors express their gratitude to all scientists who kindly contributed to the data included
in this report.
59
Annex:
Q U E S T I O N N A I R E
1.- From the offer side: if your institution operates a research reactor and/or thermal-
hydraulics / severe accident facilities, please answer these questions:
1.1 Research reactors
1.1.1 Which reactor(s) is(are) used for doctoral research?
1.1.2 How many PhD students did make use of this(these) reactor(s) during the last 5 years?
1.1.3 Which reactor(s) is(are) used for teaching at bachelor or master level?
o how many lab sessions are organized per year? Total number of hours of use of the facilities per year?
o how many students benefit from one or several of these lab sessions per year?
o Among these students what is currently the percentage of foreign students benefiting from a mobility grant?
o if the number of students were to increase, how many students could be accommodated in total in these lab sessions, possibly after increasing the numbers of identical lab sessions?
60
o how many bachelor/master theses did make use of the reactor(s) during the last 5 years?
1.2 Thermal hydraulics / severe accident facilities
1.2.1 Which thermal-hydraulics / severe accident facilities are used for doctoral research?
1.2.2 How many PhD students did make use of these facilities during the last 5 years?
1.2.3 Which facilities are used for teaching at bachelor or master level?
o how many lab sessions are organized per year? Total number of hours of use of the facilities per year?
o how many students benefit from one or several of these lab sessions per year?
o Among these students what is currently the percentage of foreign students benefiting from a mobility grant?
o if the number of students were to increase, how many students could be accommodated in total in these lab sessions, possibly after increasing the numbers of identical lab sessions?
o How many bachelor/master theses did make use of these facilities during the last 5 years?
61
1.3 Include any suggestion for a better use of the existing facilities that you operate (reactors or others) or express the needs for new infrastructures.
2.- From the demand side: if your institution is in charge of a bachelor or master
(regular or postgraduate) in nuclear engineering or in nuclear sciences, please answer
these questions:
62
2.1 Identify the bachelor and/or master programme(s) offered by your institution
2.2 Do(es) this(these) programme(s) involve experiments or demonstrations requiring the use of big infrastructures?
2.3 Indicate which research reactor is presently used for your teaching needs.
o how many lab sessions are organized per year? Total number of hours of use of the facilities per year?
o how many students are presently involved per academic year?
o among these students what is currently the percentage of foreign students benefiting from a mobility grant?
o does the existing reactor respond to your teaching needs? Please, comment.
63
2.4 Indicate which thermal-hydraulics / severe accident facilities are presently used for your teaching needs.
o how many lab sessions are organized per year? Total number of hours of use of the facilities per year?
o how many students are presently involved per academic year?
o among these students what is currently the percentage of foreign students benefiting from a mobility grant?
o do the existing facilities respond to your teaching needs? Please, comment.
2.5 How could the use of foreign research reactors and facilities help you respond to your teaching needs? Any suggestion is welcome.