NEA Mandates and Structures


Expert Group on Structural Materials Modelling

Chair(s): Secretary:  Davide COSTA
(davide.costa@oecd-nea.org)
Vice-Chair(s): Lorenzo MALERBA, Spain
Member(s):All NEA member countries*
Russia (Suspended*)
*Russian Federation suspended pursuant to a decision of the OECD Council.
Full participant(s): European Commission
Under the NEA Statute
Observer(s)(International Organisation): International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
By agreement
Date of creation:30 June 2009
End of mandate:29 June 2021

Mandate (Document reference):

  • Summary Record of the 20th meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee held on 10-12 June 2009 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2009)3]
  • Summary Record of the 6th meeting of the Working Party on Multi-scale Modelling of Fuels and Structural Materials for Nuclear Systems held on 7-8 April 2011 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPMM(2011)2]
  • Summary Record of the 8th meeting of the Working Party on Multi-scale Modelling of Fuels and Structural Materials for Nuclear Systems held on 11-12 June 2012 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPMM(2012)2]
  • Summary Record the 23rd meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee held on 13-15 June 2012 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2012)3]
  • 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 25th meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee held on 11-13 June 2014 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2014)2]
  • Summary Record of the 26th meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee held on 10-12 June 2015 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2015)2]
  • Extended and revised at the 13th meeting of the WPMM in May 2017 [NEA/NSC/WPMM/DOC(2017)2]
  • Mandates of the Working Party on Multi-scale Modelling of Fuels and Structural Materials for Nuclear Systems (WPMM) Expert Groups [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPMM(2019)1]

Mandate (Document extract):

Extract from document  [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPMM(2019)1]

Scope

Under the guidance of the Nuclear Science Committee (NSC) and under the mandate of the Working Party on Multiscale Modelling of Fuels and Structural Materials for Nuclear Systems (WPMM), the objective of the Expert Group on Structural Materials Modelling (EGSMM) is to provide targeted critical reference reviews of the state-of-the-art of modelling techniques applied to structural nuclear materials. These should highlight weak and strong points of the applied approaches and describe, as much as possible, how existing work contributes to enhancing our understanding of radiation damage processes in structural nuclear materials, with the promise of one day providing predictive tools. Based on the reviews, conclusions about priorities in the field should be described.

Objectives

The objective of the EGSMM is to provide a critical review of the state-of-the-art concerning the use of multiscale modelling to describe the changes induced by irradiation in structural nuclear materials (SNM).

More in detail, the objectives of the expert group are to:

  1. review, based on literature data and direct experience of the experts, significant existing examples of application of the multiscale modelling approach to SNMs;
  2. evaluate up to what extent the existing work and results come close to the goal of not only reliably reproducing experimental data, but also providing keys to understand and interpret existing experimental results, with a view, in the long-term, to predicting the behaviour of SNMs under unexplored conditions and/or support the choice and the development of new materials;
  3. explore the possibility of computing materials properties via data driven model generation and validation;
  4. identify key problems that should be addressed as priorities within ad-hoc established Task Forces (in terms of physical phenomena to be quantitatively described, materials and materials properties to be addressed, review of experimental and modelling techniques to be developed);
  5. foster exchange of experience and dissemination of knowledge, e.g. by organising or participating in the organisation of international workshop(s) on the subject;
  6. liaise with the Expert Group on Innovative Structural Materials (EGISM) established under the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle (WPFC) to facilitate collaboration and information exchange.

This expert group is expected to work closely with the Expert group on Multiscale Modelling Methods (EGM3).

Deliverables

A technical report produced by a newly established Task Force on the review of experimental techniques for determining irradiation effects in structural materials and modelling methods for interpretation of experimental results.