NEA Monthly News Bulletin - December 2012

New at the NEA

Twenty years of information exchange on occupational exposure

On 12-16 November, the NEA celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE) with a series of meetings in Paris. Launched by the NEA in 1992, the ISOE programme improves the management of occupational exposures at nuclear power plants through the collection and analysis of occupational exposure data and trends, and through the exchange of lessons learnt among utility and national regulatory authority experts. Since 1993, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has co-sponsored the programme, thus allowing the participation of utilities and authorities from non-NEA member countries. Further information on the ISOE programme is online.


New publications

Nuclear Energy and Renewables: System Effects in Low-carbon Electricity Systems
ISBN: 978-92-64-18851-8, 252 pages.

Read the Executive Summary.

 

Nuclear safety and regulation

NEA launches new safety benchmark

The newly launched Benchmark Study of the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (BSAF) began in November with a first Management Board meeting and technical workshop.  Eight countries comprising France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States are participating. The objectives of the benchmark study are to improve severe accident (SA) codes and models and to further the understanding of severe accident progression. The project is key to improving the current knowledge base regarding the status of the cores in units 1 to 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, in preparation for fuel debris removal and as a part of the Japanese government's R&D roadmap for the mid- to long-term in preparation for the decommissioning of units 1 to 4. The first phase of this multi-phase initiative will run from November 2012 to the end of March 2014. The activities of the subsequent phases will be discussed in 2013. Further information on the BSAF benchmark is online.

Launch of HYMERES, a hydrogen mitigation research project

The Hydrogen Mitigation Experiments for Reactor Safety (HYMERES) Project has been launched as a four-year research programme (2013-2016) using Switzerland's PANDA facility and France's MISTRA facility to provide data for resolving complex, safety-relevant issues for the analysis and mitigation of a severe accident caused by hydrogen release into a nuclear power plant containment. The project will involve Canada, the Czech Republic, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Korea, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

PKL-2 and ROSA-2 safety projects hold joint final workshop

The joint concluding workshop of the Primary Coolant Loop Test Facility (PKL-2) and the Rig of Safety Assessment (ROSA-2) projects attracted 65 participants from 14 countries and two international organisations. Forty-five presentations were made on the PKL-2 and ROSA-2 projects as well as several others on the analyses of the counterpart test in the PKL and ROSA facilities; analytical studies on core exit temperature (CET) behaviour; and general analyses related to the PKL-2 and ROSA-2 tests including application to a reactor case. The workshop conclusions and the final summary report on the two projects will be issued by the NEA Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) and made publicly available. Further information on the PKL-2 and ROSA-2 projects is online.

SERENA project holds final workshop in Cadarache

On 5-7 November, the Steam Explosion Resolution for Nuclear Applications (SERENA) project held its concluding seminar in Cadarache, France. The seminar, which was hosted by France's Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (atomic and alternative energy commission, CEA), attracted 75 participants from 13 countries. Forty presentations were made on the experimental results of the SERENA project, phenomenology and model development, lessons learnt from the reactor safety point of view and perspectives on the project's main conclusions. The conclusions of the seminar and the final summary report on the project will be issued by the NEA Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) and made publicly available. Further information on the SERENA project is online.


Nuclear development

New activities for the Working Party on Nuclear Energy Economics

On 7-8 November, the NEA Working Party on Nuclear Energy Economics (WPNE) held its ninth meeting to discuss the renewal of its mandate and activities for the 2013-2014 biennium. Future studies that could be undertaken with WPNE involvement include a study on the socio-economic impacts of nuclear energy and a review of new nuclear construction methods, financing and markets. Meeting participants also discussed the main technical outcomes and key policy messages of the new NEA publication on Nuclear Energy and Renewables: System Effects in Low-carbon Electricity Systems.


Radioactive waste management

Decommissioning and dismantling in the UK

On 12-14 November, the 13th plenary meeting of the NEA Working Party on Decommissioning and Dismantling (WPDD) was held in Penrith, Cumbria in the United Kingdom. Over 50 participants discussed issues concerning technical and strategic aspects of nuclear site restoration; the status of decommissioning in the UK; record, knowledge and memory preservation for decommissioning; and other aspects of common interest. The meeting was followed by a half-day technical site visit to Sellafield.

International co-operative programme on decommissioning

On 15-16 November, the NEA hosted the management board meeting of the International Co-operative Programme for the Exchange of Scientific and Technical Information concerning Nuclear Installation Decommissioning Projects. The meeting reviewed the Technical Advisory Group's activities in 2012 and accepted four new decommissioning projects: the CEA Waste Storage Facility #56 at Cadarache in France, the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, the Vattenfall Europe Nuclear Energy Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant in Germany, and the MR/FRT Research Reactors of the Kurchatov Institute in Russia. Further information on the programme is online.


Radiological protection

ISOE management and activities

The Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE) Working Group on Data Analysis (WGDA) met on 12-13 November and agreed on creating new data analyses, a new questionnaire for decommissioning reactors and an implementation plan for an electronic reporting module. On 14-15 November, the ISOE Management Board also met to discuss managerial issues and details of programme implementation. On 15-16 November, the ISOE Expert Group on Occupational Radiation Protection in Severe Accident Management and Post-accident Recovery (EG-SAM) worked on a draft interim report which will be used as input for the organisation of an international workshop in 2014. Further information on the ISOE programme is online.


Data Bank

NEA Data Bank newsletter

Computer program services

New computer programs available

27-NOV-12

CCC-0783

RASCAL 4.1, Radiological Doses from Accidental Release to Atmosphere
(Arrived)

26-NOV-12

DLC-0256

ZZ-VIP-MAN, Computational Phantom
(Arrived)

26-NOV-12

CCC-0755

CINDER 1.05, Actinide Transmutation Calculations Code
(Tested)

26-NOV-12

CSNI2016

THAI, OECD/NEA Thermal-hydraulics, Hydrogen, Aerosols, Iodine (ThAI) Project
(Arrived)

21-NOV-12

CCC-0726

CNCSN 2009, One, Two- and Three-Dimensional Coupled Neutral and Charged Particle Sn Parallel Multi-Threaded Code System
(Tested)


An online archive of previous editions is available here.

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