Unipi Team Leader: Prof. Walter Ambrosini, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale
An intercontinental collaboration paves the way for next-generation nuclear energy
Nuclear energy has an important role to play in the effort to reduce dependence on the combustion of fossil fuels for electricity. Nuclear reactor designs are categorised according to 'generation', with Generation IV being currently under development and deployment. An international task force is collaborating to develop six nuclear reactor technologies for deployment between 2020 and 2030, among them the supercritical water-cooled reactor. One of the main challenges is the demonstration of its passive safety systems. The EU-funded ECC-SMART project is addressing this challenge by assessing the feasibility of a small modular reactor cooled by supercritical water and identifying its passive safety features. The project encompasses the design and pre-licensing requirements as well as a roadmap for demonstration of safety.
Objective
The ECC-SMART is oriented towards assessing the feasibility and identification of safety features of an intrinsically and passively safe small modular reactor cooled by supercritical water (SCW-SMR), taking into account specific knowledge gaps related to the future licensing process and implementation of this technology. The main objectives of the project are to define the design requirements for the future SCW-SMR technology, to develop the pre-licensing study and guidelines for the demonstration of the safety in the further development stages of the SCW-SMR concept including the methodologies and tools to be used and to identify the key obstacles for the future SMR licencing and propose strategy for this process. To reach these objectives, specific technical knowledge gaps were defined and will be assessed to achieve the future smooth licensing and implementation of the SCW-SMR technology (especially behaviour of materials in the SCW environment and irradiation, validation of the codes and design of the reactor core will be developed, evaluated by simulations and experimentally validated). The ECC-SMART project consortium is consisted of EU, Canadian and Chinese partners to use the trans-continental synergy and knowledge developed separately by each partner. The project consortium and project scope were created according the joint research activities under the International Atomic Energy Agency, Generation-IV International Forum umbrella and as many data as possible will be taken from the already performed projects. This project brings together the best scientific teams working in the field of SCWR using the best facilities and methods worldwide, to fulfil the common vision of building a SCW-SMR in the near future.
Coordinator
CENTRUM VYZKUMU REZ SRO, Czechia
Other participants
- JRC -JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE- EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Belgium
- CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIONES ENERGETICAS, MEDIOAMBIENTALES Y TECNOLOGICAS-CIEMAT, Spain
- INSTITUT JOZEF STEFAN, Slovenia
- UNIVERSITA DI PISA, Italy
- THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD, United Kingdom
- SLOVENSKA TECHNICKA UNIVERZITA V BRATISLAVE, Slovakia
- EUROPEAN NUCLEAR EDUCATION NETWORK, Belgium
- BUDAPESTI MUSZAKI ES GAZDASAGTUDOMANYI EGYETEM, Hungary
- THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM, United Kingdom
- REGIA AUTONOMA TEHNOLOGII PENTRU ENERGIA NUCLEARA - RATEN, Romania
- IPP CENTRE LLC, Ukraine
- Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy, Finland
- CANADIAN NUCLEAR LABORATORIES LTD, Canada
- SHANGHAI JIAO TONG UNIVERSITY, China
- KARLSRUHER INSTITUT FUER TECHNOLOGIE, Germany
- KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLAN, Sweden
- VYSOKA SKOLA CHEMICKO-TECHNOLOGICKA V PRAZE, Czechia
- UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BEIJING, China
Start date 1 September 2020
End date 31 August 2024
Project cost € 8 911 950
Project funding € 3 997 237,50
Unipi quota € 118 000
Call title NFRP-2019-2020
Funding scheme RIA - Research and Innovation action
Unipi role Partner