Safe ExploitAtion Related CHemistry for HLM reactors

Objective

"In accordance with the ESNII roadmap MYRRHA will be the first HLM cooled nuclear system to be deployed in Europe. The SEARCH project aims to support the licensing process of MYRRHA by investigating the safe chemical behaviour of the fuel and coolant in the reactor. The control of the oxygen content and the management of impurities in the melt will be studied. A second critical issue in the safety assessment of a nuclear system is the compatibility of the fuel with the coolant after fuel pin leakage or a core melt. The full analyses of these scenarios using validated codes require more experimental data on ""basic"" properties of the interactions between the materials involved. For that the heat transfer coefficients of a wire-spaced fuel bundle and the basic chemical behaviour of a mixture of fuel, coolant and clad materials range will be studied at relevant temperatures. The compatibility experiments will be done with UO2, PuO2 and unirradiated MOX fuel, addressing the energy release, solubility in the coolant and fuel-coolant-clad compound formation. Fuel dispersion in the coolant will be simulated by a suitable numerical approach, aiming to address the migration of the fuel and the possibility to have criticality problems due to fuel accumulation. The prevention of risks to the general public will be studied by looking into the escape of radioactive materials including fission products and heavy volatile elements as Po and Hg into the environment. The kinetics and efficiency of methods to capture these elements in the covergas system will be examined. The evaporation of Po and Hg from LBE will be measured to obtain a full data set for licensing. Issues related to Po management will be also addressed by an ab initio theoretical approach, predicting its solubility in LBE, the interaction with noble metals to select possible getters and studying formation of Po-compounds."

Fields of science

• engineering and technology › environmental engineering › energy and fuels

Programme(s)

• FP7-EURATOM-FISSION - EURATOM: Nuclear fission and radiation protection

Topic(s)

• Fission-2011-2.2.1 - Support for ESNII

Call for proposal

FP7-Fission-2011
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

CP-FP - Small or medium-scale focused research project

Coordinator

STUDIECENTRUM VOOR KERNENERGIE / CENTRE D'ETUDE DE L'ENERGIE NUCLEAIRE

Address

Avenue Herrmann Debroux 40
1160 Bruxelles
Belgium

Activity type

Research Organisations

EU contribution

€ 618 497

Administrative Contact

Ludo Veuchelen (Mr.)

Participants (12)

REGIA AUTONOMA PENTRU ACTIVITATI NUCLEARE DROBETA TR. SEVERIN RA SUCURSALA CERCETARI NUCLEARE PITESTI

Participation ended

Romania

Address

Cimpului 1
0402 Mioveni - Arges

Activity type

Public bodies (excluding Research Organisations and Secondary or Higher Education Establishments)

Administrative Contact

Luminita Savoiu (Ms.)

AGENZIA NAZIONALE PER LE NUOVE TECNOLOGIE, L'ENERGIA E LO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO SOSTENIBILE

Italy

EU contribution

€ 351 003

Address

Lungotevere Grande Ammiraglio Thaon Di Revel 76
000196 Roma

Activity type

Research Organisations

Administrative Contact

Mariano Tarantino (Dr.)

KARLSRUHER INSTITUT FUER TECHNOLOGIE

Germany

EU contribution

€ 627 835

Address

Kaiserstrasse 12
76131 Karlsruhe

Activity type

Higher or Secondary Education Establishments

Administrative Contact

Natascha Wallburg (Ms.)

NUCLEAR RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY GROUP

Netherlands

EU contribution

€ 40 000

Address

Westerduinweg 3
1755 LE Petten

Activity type

Other

Administrative Contact

Dietrik W. Emmens (Mr.)

CENTRO DI RICERCA, SVILUPPO E STUDI SUPERIORI IN SARDEGNA SOCIETÀ A RESPONSABILITÀ LIMITATA

Italy

EU contribution

€ 85 000

Address

Localita Piscina Manna Edificio 1
09050 Pula Cagliari

Activity type

Research Organisations

Administrative Contact

Alessandro Milletti (Dr.)

UNIVERSITEIT GENT

Belgium

EU contribution

€ 135 000

Address

Sint Pietersnieuwstraat 25
9000 Gent

Activity type

Higher or Secondary Education Establishments

Administrative Contact

Nathalie Vandepitte (Ms.)

UNIVERSITA DI PISA

Italy

EU contribution

€ 51 765

Address

Lungarno Pacinotti 43/44
56126 Pisa

Activity type

Higher or Secondary Education Establishments

Administrative Contact

Nicola Forgione (Dr.)

INSTITUT VON KARMAN DE DYNAMIQUE DES FLUIDES

Belgium

EU contribution

€ 153 000

Address

Chaussee De Waterloo 72
1640 Rhode Saint Genese

Activity type

Research Organisations

Administrative Contact

Jean-Marie Buchlin (Prof.)

REGIA AUTONOMA TEHNOLOGII PENTRU ENERGIA NUCLEARA - RATEN

Romania

EU contribution

€ 29 750

Address

Strada Campului 1
115400 Mioveni

Activity type

Public bodies (excluding Research Organisations and Secondary or Higher Education Establishments)

Administrative Contact

Luminita Savoiu (Ms.)

JRC -JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE- EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Belgium

EU contribution

€ 224 000

Address

Rue De La Loi 200
1049 Brussels

Activity type

Research Organisations

Administrative Contact

Jacqueline Ribeiro (Dr.)

PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUT

Switzerland

EU contribution

€ 445 000

Address

Forschungstrasse 111
5232 Villigen Psi

Activity type

Research Organisations

Administrative Contact

Irene Walthert (Ms.)

CHALMERS TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLA AB

Sweden

EU contribution

€ 216 674

Address

-
41296 Goeteborg

Activity type

Higher or Secondary Education Establishments

Administrative Contact

Karin Westerlund (Ms.)