NEA Mandates and Structures
Working Party on Scientific Issues and Uncertainty Analysis of Reactor Systems (WPRS)
| Chair(s): |
Kostadin IVANOV, United States
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Secretary: |
Oliver BUSS
(oliver.buss@oecd-nea.org)
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| Vice-Chair(s): |
Hakim FERROUKHI, Switzerland
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| Member(s): | All NEA member countries* |
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| Russia (Suspended*) |
| *Russian Federation suspended pursuant to a decision of the OECD Council. |
| Full participant(s): |
European Commission
Under the NEA Statute
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| Observer(s)(International Organisation): |
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
By agreement
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| Date of creation: | 30 June 2004 |
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| End of mandate: | 30 March 2027 |
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Mandate (Document reference):
- Summary Record of the 15th meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee held on 9-11 June 2004 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2004)3]
- Summary Record of the 21st meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee held on 9-11 June 2010 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2010)3]
- Summary Record of the 9th meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems (WPRS) held on 17 February 2012 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPRS(2012)7]
- Summary Record of the 24th meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee held on 12-14 June 2013 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2013)2]
- Summary Record of the 27th meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee held on 22-24 June 2016 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2016)2]
- Summary Record of the 30th meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee held on 12-14 June 2019 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2019)2]
- The NSC Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems (WPRS): Proposal for Prioritisation and Restructuring [NEA/NSC/WPRS/DOC(2020)19]
- Revised mandate of the Working Party on Scientific Issues and uncertainty analysis of Reactor Systems (WPRS) [NEA/NSC/WPRS/DOC(2020)18]
- Summary record of the 31st meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee held on 23-25 September 2020 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2020)20]
- Summary Record of the 21st meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues and Uncertainty Analysis of Reactor Systems held on 23 February 2024 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPRS(2024)X] (forthcoming)
- Mandate of the Working Party on Scientific Issues and Uncertainty Analysis of Reactor Systems (WPRS) [NEA/NSC/WPRS(2024)1]
Mandate (Document extract):
Extract from document [NEA/NSC/WPRS(2024)1]
Background
The Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems (WPRS) was created by the Nuclear Science Committee (NSC) in 2004 to deal with reactor physics, fuel cycle, fuel behaviour, thermal hydraulics and dynamics/safety of present and future nuclear power systems. Following the review and prioritisation of work of all substantive bodies of the NSC, in 2020 WPRS has been renamed Working Party on Scientific Issues and Uncertainty Analysis of Reactor Systems.
Scope
Under the guidance of the NSC, the WPRS will deal with reactor physics, radiation transport and dosimetry, core thermal-hydraulics, fuel performance, and associated multi-physics aspects, including coupling with other physics such as structural mechanics, and chemistry for present and future nuclear power systems. As such, it will study the modelling and simulation (M&S) of reactor systems, verification and validation and uncertainties quantification (VVUQ) associated with single and multi-physics phenomena as well as related artificial intelligence and machine learning applications.
Reactor types considered include, but are not limited to the following:
- Current fleet of light-water and heavy water reactors (LWRs/HWRs) as well as present generation of fuel designs.
- Evolutionary and innovative LWR/HWR systems along with advanced and accident tolerant fuel designs.
- Reactor cores with advanced fuel designs including high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU).
- Next generation reactor systems, including high-temperature gas-cooled thermal (HTGR) or fast reactor (GFR), sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR), and molten salt thermal or fast reactor (MSR) systems.
- Reactor systems of different scales including large scale reactors, small modular reactors (SMRs), and micro-reactors.
- Nuclear systems for space applications.
- Accelerator driven and other sub-critical systems.
- Fusion systems.
Objectives
- To provide Members with up-to-date information, preserve knowledge on, and develop consensus regarding reactor physics, thermal-hydraulics, fuel performance, radiation transport and dosimetry, and multi-physics aspects associated with nuclear power systems, aimed at providing the technical underpinnings of assessment of system performance and safety.
- To provide advice to the nuclear community on the developments needed to meet the requirements (data and methods, validation experiments, scenario studies) for the assessment of different reactor systems.
- To preserve and evaluate experimental data within the scope of the WPRS.
- To provide training and educational material to the nuclear community, to assist with developing future technical expertise within member countries. Workshops will be held on WPRS benchmarks, which will be aimed at:
- disseminating information and advancing progress in the deliverables of the benchmarks;
- education and training on single and multi-physics VVUQ;
- fostering collaborations between technical experts and young professionals.
Working Methods
The WPRS will report to the NSC. The WPRS will meet once per year, with additional meetings in support of particular activities ongoing in the subsidiary groups reporting to the WPRS.
Interactions
The WPRS will liaise closely with other relevant NEA working parties, especially those operating under the guidance of the NSC and the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI), to ensure the respective programmes of work are complementary, to provide advice and support where required and undertake common work where appropriate. In particular, close working relationships will be maintained with the NSC Working Party on Scientific Issues of Advanced Fuel Cycles (WPFC), the Working Party on Materials Science Issues in Nuclear Fuels and Structural Materials (WPFM), the Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS), the Working Party on International Nuclear Data Evaluation Co-operation (WPEC) as well as with the CSNI Working Group on Analysis and Management of Accidents (WGAMA) , the CSNI Working Group on Fuel Safety (WGFS), the CSNI Expert Group on Small Modular Reactors (EGSMR) as well as the NEA Global Forum on Nuclear Education, Science, Technology, and Policy. Links to the IAEA related activities will be maintained.
Deliverables (2024-2027)
The deliverables of WPRS are technical reports, proceedings of seminars or workshops, state-of-the-art reports, and technical or collective opinion papers, databases, and comparison or benchmark studies. The WPRS will also organise specialist meetings and workshops to further its objectives. The detailed list of deliverables will be tracked in the semi-annual NSC progress reports. The WPRS will work with its expert groups and technical review group, to produce the deliverables contained in their mandates:
- International Reactor Physics Experiments Evaluation Project Technical Review Group (IRPhETRG);
- Expert Group on Physics of Reactor Systems (EGPRS);
- Expert Group on Reactor System Multi-Physics (EGMUP);
- Expert Group on Reactor Core Thermal-Hydraulics and Mechanics (EGTHM);
- Expert Group on Reactor Fuel Performance (EGRFP).
