Reactor safety

At a glance

As part of the “Reactor safety” topic, Jülich researchers are cooperating with experts from Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to develop background knowledge and computer programmes that are required to increase the safety of nuclear reactors. Their expertise ranges from the assessment of severe accidents and improved safety strategies in nuclear facilities to the evaluation of new reactor designs, such as small modular or gas-cooled reactor concepts.

Challenges

New nuclear power plants are being built all over the world, and even neighbouring European countries such as France, the Netherlands, and Belgium continue to rely on nuclear energy. It is therefore highly important to help shape the safety standards of such reactors through domestic research. Key issues include: How can fault systems be predicted more accurately? How reliably do safety systems work even under extreme conditions – for example the neutralization of hydrogen or filter systems – which are intended to ensure the integrity of the outer concrete shell of the containment building to protect the population? And how can accident management can be improved?

Solutions

The research work of recent decades and the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi show how important it is to understand transport and mixing phenomena within the containment building of a nuclear power plant and the connected buildings. Knowledge of the spatial distribution of gases and aerosols – airborne substances that transport radioactivity – under the atmospheric conditions of an accident forms the basis for improved safety systems and optimized emergency management. It provides relevant information for subsequent analyses of possible hydrogen explosions and the potential escape of radioactive substances.

Research at Jülich is focused on four key areas. The first area involves the condensation of water vapour on the inner wall of the concrete dome, which changes the heat, mixture, and flow conditions in the reactor; the second focuses on the distribution of radioactive aerosols and particles in the event of fires or core meltdown. The third area concerns the conditions and processes that can adversely affect the operating behavior of safety systems for neutralizing hydrogen – known as recombiners. The fourth area is the simulation and analysis of the thermo-fluid dynamics in the containment vessel of a damaged nuclear power plant.

To support this research, Forschungszentrum Jülich has unique and large-scale experimental test facilities for generating experimental data that enable the development of computer-aided methods and tools. With the help of the enormous computing capacities of the supercomputers on campus, these state-of the-art models help to address current research issues relating to the safe operation of European nuclear power plants and new reactor concepts.

As part of international projects and networks, Jülich research supports the further development of energy-independent systems for controlling hydrogen gas, passive cooling and safety systems, and strategies for retaining radioactive particles in water bodies.

The Jülich researchers are in close contact with national and international institutions for reactor safety. Their knowledge is also utilized in international student projects. This ensures that the latest findings from nuclear safety research are passed on to the next generation of radiation protection experts and developers of nuclear reactors.

Contact

Jülich Contact Person
  • Institute of Energy Technologies (IET)
  • Electrochemical Process Engineering (IET-4)
Building 14.14 /
Room 3019
+49 2461/61-5530
E-Mail
  • Institute of Fusion Energy and Nuclear Waste Management (IFN)
  • Nuclear Waste Management (IFN-2)
Building 05.3 /
Room R 290
+49 2461/61-5869
E-Mail

Research Groups

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Last Modified: 11.10.2024