|
|
|
|
Nuclear Energy Agency Online BulletinCovers new material for May 2004:
New publications New publicationsPublications on sale can be ordered at the OECD bookshop: www.oecd.org/scripts/publications/bookshop/redirect.asp. Basic Studies in the Field of High-temperature Engineering Geological Disposal: Building Confidence Using Multiple Lines of Evidence
Free publications are available at www.nea.fr/html/pub/webpubs/. Paper copies may be requested by sending an e-mail to nea@nea.fr. Engineered Barrier Systems (EBS): Design Requirements and Constraints
Stakeholder Participation in Radiological Decision Making: Processes and Implications
Nuclear safety and regulationIn a ceremony held on 27 April 2004 at the PKL large-scale test facility in Erlangen, Germany, the new NEA PKL joint project was launched. "PKL" is the abbreviation of the German term for primary system which constitutes one of the two coolant systems in pressurised water reactors (PWR). "The PKL facility is a unique installation in Europe for researching safety issues for pressurised water reactors" said Rüdiger Steuerlein, Managing Director of Framatome ANP GmbH, which operates the test facility.
Framatome ANP's facility in Erlangen is the sole operating system test facility in Europe that models western PWRs on a 1:1 scale. It comprises the entire primary system with an electrically heated core, essential secondary system components and the key operating and safety systems for a 1300 megawatt PWR plant. It has been in use for almost 30 years researching topical safety issues concerning pressurised water reactors.
The findings from the PKL tests will not only be used for driving forward technological development and answering questions raised by licensing authorities and authorised inspection agencies; they will also be used to validate simulation programmes for the analytical description of accident sequences and in operator training. The key criteria for NEA involvement in the test project was the international relevance of this issue and the fact that the facility can, in future, be of special scientific benefit to the participating countries and organisations. The joint project is scheduled to run until 2006. Roughly a dozen NEA member countries will fund 50% of the programme; the remaining half will be funded by German utilities, Framatome ANP and the German government. More information about the project is available at www.nea.fr/html/jointproj/pkl.html. Nuclear scienceThe Joint Tenth International Conference on Radiation Shielding (ICRS-10) and Radiation Protection and Shielding (RP&S-2004) was held on 9-14 May in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. The joint conference was the largest of its kind so far: 350 participants from 31 countries presented 380 papers over the course of 40 sessions. The topics encompassed a wide range of activities including: nuclear power; fusion neutronics and shielding; accelerator and irradiation facilities shielding; radiation shielding in aeronautics; space missions; medical diagnosis and therapy. Following the success of the joint conference format, it will be repeated in 2008 for ICRS-11 and RPS-2008. The ICRS conference series dates back to the establishment of the NEA (then ENEA) in 1958. Many papers covered activities carried out under the aegis of the NEA Nuclear Science Committee and the Data Bank. Three tutorials held during the conference covered "Big Challenges in Monte Carlo: from Physics to Biology Radiation Shielding for Diagnostics Radiology", "Radiation Therapy" and an "Introductory Course in Proton Cancer Therapy". More information is available at www.itn.mces.pt/ICRS-RPS/ICRS10-RPS2004-Programme.pdf A workshop on Shielding Aspects of Accelerators, Targets and Irradiation Facilities (SATIF-7) was held on 17-18 May in Sacavém, Lisbon, Portugal. SATIF-7 was the seventh workshop organised by the NSC Expert Group on the Shielding Aspects of Accelerators, Targets and Irradiation Facilities. The main objectives of the meeting were to:
Data BankComputer program servicesA page listing all new programs in the last 12 months can be found at: www.nea.fr/html/dbprog/cpsnew.html. Detailed news concerning the computer program service is available at: www.nea.fr/html/dbprog/Newsletter/Whatsnew.htm.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||