Project description
Safe operation of nuclear reactors
As the global fleet of nuclear reactors ages, ensuring their safe and efficient operation is a challenge. There is a pressing need for advanced monitoring techniques to detect anomalies such as excessive vibrations, flow blockages, and coolant perturbations, which can jeopardise plant safety and reliability. In this context, the EU-funded CORTEX project will introduce a non-intrusive core monitoring technique that harnesses fluctuations in neutron flux. By differentiating anomalies based on their characteristics, location, and type, it will allow utilities to detect operational problems early, ensuring timely actions and enhancing the availability of clean, base-load electricity. CORTEX will also develop in-situ monitoring techniques applicable to existing and future reactor designs.
Objective
The CORTEX project aims at developing an innovative core monitoring technique that allows detecting anomalies in nuclear reactors, such as excessive vibrations of core internals, flow blockage, coolant inlet perturbations, etc. The technique will be based on primarily using the inherent fluctuations in neutron flux recorded by in-core and ex-core instrumentation, from which the anomalies will be differentiated depending on their type, location and characteristics. The method is non-intrusive and does not require any external perturbation of the system. The project will result in a deepened understanding of the physical processes involved. This will allow utilities to detect operational problems at a very early stage and to take proper actions before such problems have any adverse effect on plant safety and reliability. With an ageing fleet of nuclear reactors utilizing more challenging fuel assembly designs, core loadings, and operating more often in load-follow, new operational problems have been observed during the last decade and will become more frequent in the future. By making the detection and characterization of anomalies possible, the availability of nuclear-generated electricity will be further improved. This will contribute to a lowering of the CO2 footprint to the environment and to a higher availability of cheap base-load electricity to the consumers. By implementing the technique in the existing fleet of reactors, the technique will have a major impact. Moreover, the technique, being generic in nature, can be applied to future reactor types and designs. In order to develop a method that can reach a high Technology Readiness Level, the consortium was strategically structured around the required core expertise from all the necessary actors of the nuclear industry, both within Europe and outside. The broad expertise of the consortium members ensures the successful development of new in-situ monitoring techniques.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectrical engineeringpower engineeringelectric power generation
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsignal processing
- engineering and technologyother engineering and technologiesnuclear engineering
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencemachine learningdeep learning
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaresoftware applicationssimulation software
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
412 96 GOTEBORG
Sweden
See on map
Participants (19)
75015 PARIS 15
See on map
30539 HANNOVER
See on map
1015 Lausanne
See on map
50667 Koln
See on map
85748 GARCHING B MUNCHEN
See on map
4658 DANIKEN
See on map
606 8501 Kyoto
See on map
75011 Paris
See on map
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
1121 Budapest
See on map
106 82 ATHINA
See on map
5232 Villigen Psi
See on map
01069 Dresden
See on map
80333 Muenchen
See on map
250 68 Husinec Rez
See on map
28040 Madrid
See on map
46022 Valencia
See on map
37923 KNOXVILLE TN
See on map
LN6 7TS Lincoln
See on map
51105 Koln
See on map