News from ETSON and its members*
28 Dec 2022 | PSI | | MC-EBIS-ICP-MS – a unique dual Ion Source Mass Spectrometer This highlight presents a successful, in-house developed integration of an Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS) able to ionize gases to high charge states with a customized commercial MC-ICP-MS. The successful joining of the two ion flight paths is a milestone towards comprehensive routine analyses of solids, liquids, and gases using THE SAME MASS SPECTROMETER, the latter analyses free from atmospheric contamination. After implementation of an introduction system for gas mass spectrometry, routine analyses will comprise isotope ratio and relative abundance determinations of fission gases in used nuclear fuel. In addition to the unique versatility of the MC-EBIS-ICP-MS, inclusion of the EBIS further opens the little-studied field of mass spectrometry of highly charged ions. |
28 Dec 2022 | Vuje | | VUJE supplies diagnostic system (DS) to Mochovce MO34 nuclear power plant The Mochovce NPP Unit 3 is expected to be fully operational in 2023. Along with the commissioning of the NPP Mochovce Unit 3, the commissioning of the operational diagnostics system of the primary circuit also takes place. |
28 Dec 2022 | PSI | | Deciphering the molecular mechanism of water boiling at heterogeneous interfaces Water boiling control evolution of natural geothermal systems is widely exploited in industrial processes due to the unique non-linear thermophysical behavior. Even though the properties of water both in the liquid and gas state have been extensively studied experimentally and by numerical simulations, there is still a fundamental knowledge gap in understanding the mechanism of the heterogeneous nucleate boiling controlling evaporation and condensation. In this study, the molecular mechanism of bubble nucleation at the hydrophilic and hydrophobic solid–water interface was determined by performing unbiased molecular dynamics simulations using the transition path sampling scheme. Analyzing the liquid to vapor transition path, the initiation of small void cavities (vapor bubbles nuclei) and their subsequent merging mechanism, leading to successively growing vacuum domains (vapor phase), has been elucidated. The simulations reveal the impact of the surface functionality on the adsorbed thin water molecules film structuring and the location of high probability nucleation sites. |
28 Dec 2022 | PSI | | Taking good and safe care of the retired … nuclear fuel After several years of loyal and reliable services during heavy duty operation in a reactor, nuclear fuel must be discharged and go into retirement. For Switzerland, the final place of retirement is planned to consist of a deep geological repository where the used nuclear fuel will be disposed. Before the repository is constructed, the used fuel will need to be stored in wet pools and/or dry storage casks. During all this time, safe handling of the fuel will remain the top priority for operators and regulators. To gain better knowledge on the relevant phenomena which could potentially affect the fuel thermo-mechanics and safety characteristics during long storage periods as well as to allow predicting their evolution, simulation models are being developed at PSI within the DRYstars project. A first milestone was recently achieved with the development of models coupled to state-of-the-art fuel performance codes for each of the three main categories of phenomena considered as having high safety relevance for storage, namely helium behaviour, creep behaviour and hydrogen behaviour. |
15 Nov 2022 | ETSON | | IRSN welcomes young researchers and engineers from ETSON members to Cherbourg for their Summer Workshop As part of the Junior Staff Programme (JSP) of the European Nuclear Safety Organizations Network (ETSON), IRSN welcomed more than twenty participants to Cherbourg on the general theme of the release of radioactive material - sea and atmosphere - and radioactive waste. |
15 Nov 2022 | ETSON | | First ETSON Conference in Munich meets with positive response Around 60 ETSON members met in Munich from 11 to 13 October 2022 for the first ETSON Conference. Representatives of the 14 European Technical Safety Organisations (TSOs) and Japan were present. Despite the current war, Ukraine was able to show its presence online and was represented with a virtual keynote speech to kick off the event. In addition to the member organisations of the ETSON network, experts from the European Commission (EC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also attended the conference. The event replaced the IAEA TSO Conference that was originally scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg. |
26 Sep 2022 | RATEN ICN | | New Method for Fracture Mechanics Test on the Gen IV Innovative Materials To ensure the structural integrity of components which are on use in nuclear installations, it is necessary to know their resistance to the initiation and propagation of cracks. Because of their dimensions it is a quite demanding task to prepare the standard fracture mechanics specimens for a classical ASTM test. All the above-mentioned led to the need of introducing a new method for assessing the fracture material properties of tubes with thin walls, called Pin-Loading Test (PLT). |
26 Sep 2022 | LEI | | Towards Harmonisation in Licensing of Future Nuclear Power Technologies in Europe In the framework of the Euratom Research and Training Programme, HARMONISE (a project expected to start in mid-2022) will study relevant research and cooperation activities in standardization and nuclear safety considering also the lessons learnt from the stress tests performed in the EU. The project is coordinated by LEI and involves nine ETSON members along with partners representing research organisations, regulators and industry. |
26 Sep 2022 | ENEA | | Raman spectroscopy as a powerful tool for characterization of graphite used in nuclear plants Graphite used in nuclear plants must be disposed of properly. Prolonged aging, even at room temperature, can lead to the formation of different species, such as graphite oxide, which has the possibility of being dispersed into the environment much more easily and this entails a risk that must be taken into consideration |
26 Sep 2022 | NRA | | Uncertainty treatment for clearance measurement Clearance measurement should be performed as a conformity assessment of the evaluated contamination values to the regulatory limit, considering the measurement’s uncertainty, including the uncertainty of the ratio of the activity concentration of the difficult to measure nuclide to that of the key nuclide. The key issues for the treatment of these uncertainty were summarized. |
26 Sep 2022 | RATEN ICN | | Investigations for Use of Advanced CANDU Bundles Designs with Increased Numbers of Elements Advanced concepts of CANDU fuel bundles with more than 37 elements are analyzed comparatively to the 37-rods standard fuel bundle design from the safety performance point of view. |
26 Sep 2022 | LEI | | OpenFOAM turbulent combustion solver development at Lithuanian Energy Institute Scientists of Lithuanian Energy Institute have been developing an open-source turbulent combustion solver flameFoam, based on OpenFOAM toolkit. Code to code analysis and comparisons with experiments showed that flameFoam mostly corresponds to the state-of-the-art currently achieved in the field. |
26 Sep 2022 | ENEA | | Application of Non-Parametric Control Charts (Statistical Process Control) to radioxenon distribution at International Monitoring System stations of the CTBTO Application of statistical non-parametric methods to radioxenon distributions in atmosphere in order to study the atmospheric background fluctuations and the influence of anthropogenic activities. |
26 Sep 2022 | NRA | | An empirical method for estimating source vicinity ground-motion levels of inland crustal earthquakes with sources difficult to identify in advance NRA Secretariat experts developed an empirical method for estimating source vicinity ground-motion levels on hard bedrock and annual exceedance probabilities for inland crustal earthquakes with sources difficult to identify in advance. |
26 Sep 2022 | LEI | | Lithuanian Energy Institute contributes to fusion research at JET facility For the examination of plasma and impurity transport in the DT experimental campaign, energy balance, dependency on discharge, and the time evolution of radiation loss profiles are provided by LEI scientists. Indeed, the record braking pulse is also being analyzed here at LEI. |
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