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October 2004 - October 2008
July 2015 - December 2019
January 2013 - July 2015
Publications
Publications (159)
The lead-cooled fast reactors (LFRs) have been identified as one of the most promising technologies among the Generation IV candidates. Since 2000, ENEA has been supporting the core design, safety assessment, and technological development of innovative nuclear systems cooled by heavy liquid metals (HLM), in particular LFRs. Efforts are devoted to d...
The Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR) is one of the six advanced reactor system types selected in the Generation-IV (Gen IV) program. Westinghouse (WEC) is developing a highly simplified, passively safe, medium-size, economic Gen-IV LFR as its next-generation utility-scale nuclear power plant. Designed as a pool-type reactor, the Westinghouse LFR has...
An overview is presented of the progress since 2021 in the construction and scientific programme preparation of the Divertor Tokamak Test (DTT) facility. Licensing for building construction has been granted at the end of 2021. Licensing for Cat. A radiologic source has been also granted in 2022. The construction of the toroidal field magnet system...
In the framework of the Generation IV (GEN IV) innovative nuclear system, the ENEA Brasimone Research Center (R.C.) is at the forefront of developing Lead-cooled Fast Reactors (LFRs), one of the most promising Generation IV International Forum (GIF) concepts. ENEA’s involvement in several European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) projects focuses...
The Lead-cooled Fast Reactors are one of the most promising Gen. IV nuclear systems, currently under development. They can ensure enhanced performances and minimal waste production, but they also have some issues to be addressed. The long-term degradation process caused by Pb corrosion effects, in structural materials facing liquid lead is one of t...
In the European fusion project, the ENEA Department of Fusion and for Nuclear Safety technology coordinates the Italian fusion program supported by third parties (universities, Italian research institutes and industries). In particular, the ENEA Experimental Engineering Division with headquarter in the Brasimone RC, designs, develops and characteri...
Innovative reactor concepts are being studied by several research institutions and private entities for their role against climate change and energy poverty. The Generation IV International Forum, committed for more than 20 years in support of advanced reactors, has drawn up a series of objectives for the new class of nuclear plants, among which is...
In the framework of the ALFRED research and development program, the ATHENA facility will be constructed for thermal-hydraulic analysis of full-scale ALFRED components and systems. The source system of the facility is the core simulator, which aims to be representative of an ALFRED average fuel assembly. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes are...
Newcleo is designing and building the next generation of nuclear lead-cooled fast reactors (LFRs) fueled with MOX. A fast-spectrum Small Modular Reactor of 30 MWe will be commissioned in 2030 (the Demonstrator) and a First-Of-Kind 200 MWe a few years later. To this end, newcleo develops an incremental strategy, starting first with the consolidation...
The main outcome of the present paper is the feasibility analysis of SIRIO (Sistema di rimozione della Potenza di decadimento per Reattori InnOvativi) facility with conditions based on those of its reference facility. The aim of SIRIO project is to study an innovative Decay Heat Removal System (DHRS) for liquid metal reactor and advanced Light Wate...
Within the roadmap for the technological development of Generation IV reactors, the HORIZON2020 European Union–funded Partitioning And Transmuter Research Initiative in a Collaborative Innovation Action (PATRICIA) project was launched to support innovative solutions for the development of the Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Appl...
One of the main safety issues of Generation IV (Gen IV) heavy liquid-metal fast reactors is the postulated steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) accident. This event is characterized by primary and secondary coolant interaction, referred to in the literature as a coolant-coolant interaction event having a nonzero probability to occur. This accident s...
Among the envisaged experimental infrastructures supporting Advanced Lead Fast Reactor European Demonstrator (ALFRED) reactor development, the FALCON [Fostering ALfred CONstruction] consortium identified the Advanced Thermo-Hydraulics Experiment for Nuclear Application (ATHENA) as one of the facilities to address the pool of thermal-hydraulic chall...
There has recently been growing interest in the development of innovative nuclear technologies that offer greater sustainability and cost effectiveness of electricity production. One of the most promising options is the lead fast reactor (LFR) technology. Lead stands out for its favorable neutron properties, allowing a hard neutron spectrum core as...
This paper presents an assessment aimed at evaluating primary heat exchanger (PHE) failure of the Westinghouse Electric Company Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR) and at designing a facility for testing phenomena involved in such failure. The system thermal-hydraulic code RELAP5/MOD3.3 was used to develop a transient analysis simulation at reactor scal...
Among the envisaged experimental infrastructures supporting ALFRED reactor development, FALCON consortium identified ATHENA as one of the facilities to address the pool thermal-hydraulic challenges and demonstrate the feasibility of the revised ALFRED configuration, along with the thermal-hydraulic performances of its main components. ATHENA is a l...
Heavy-liquid metals (HLMs), such as lead and lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE), are proposed as primary coolants in accelerator driven systems and next-generation fast reactors. In Europe, the reference systems using HLMs are MYRRHA (LBE) and ALFRED (lead). Extensive R&D programs have been established for supporting their detailed design and safety asses...
The Advanced Thermal Hydraulic Experiment for Nuclear Application (ATHENA) will play a fundamental role in the design, safety assessment and thermal-hydraulic (TH) characterization of the ALFRED reactor components. In ATHENA, full-scale systems and their mutual interactions will be tested in steady state and relevant transient conditions. The Core...
CIRCE (CIRColazione Eutectico) is a large scale LBE pool-type facility operated by ENEA (Italy), aiming at supporting the development of the Liquid Metal Fast Reactors (LMFR), in particular of ALFRED (Advanced Lead-cooled Fast Reactor European Demonstrator) design, representative of the LFR GEN-IV power plants concept. During the Horizon2020 SESAME...
The experimental qualification of the Tritium Extraction Unit (TEU) from the LiPb eutectic alloy (15.7 at. % Li), the breeder material of the Water-Cooled Lithium-Lead (WCLL) breeding blanket concept, is one of the fundamental items for the demonstration of tritium balance sustainability for ITER and DEMO fusion reactors. Several technologies have b...
Nuclear energy is presently the single major low-carbon electricity source in Europe and is overall expected to maintain (perhaps eventually even increase) its current installed power from now to 2045. Long-term operation (LTO) is a reality in essentially all nuclear European countries, even when planning to phase out. New builds are planned. Moreo...
The ALFRED infrastructure consisting in the Lead Fast Reactor (LFR) technology demonstrator (ALFRED), six experimental facilities and a coordination hub is envisaged to be constructed in Romania, on Mioveni nuclear platform. The implementation of ALFRED
demonstrator in Romania introduces a set of responsibilities both in terms of adequate preparato...
Within the R&D program of Generation IV lead fast reactors and Accelerator-Driven Systems, a new project named PATRICIA (EC – H2020) has been launched by the European Commission to support innovative solutions for the development of MYRRHA ADS concept and lead fast reactor technologies in general. In this framework, the ENEA Brasimone Research Cent...
Tritium permeation from breeder material to the Water Coolant System (WCS) in Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) Breeding Blanket (BB) is one of the technological issues to be solved in the design of the European DEMO. Since the tritium extraction from the Water Coolant System is more challenging and expensive than the extraction from the eutectic al...
The next generation of nuclear energy systems, also known as Generation IV reactors, are being developed to meet the highest targets of safety and reliability, sustainability, economics, proliferation resistance, and physical protection, with improved performances compared with the currently licensed plants or those presently being built. Among the...
In the framework of the DEMO Work Package Balance of Plant of EUROfusion consortium, ENEA has been involved in experimental and numerical activities related to the development of a prototypical heat exchanger, suitable as steam generator for the lithium-lead loop of the Dual Coolant Lithium Lead and Water Cooled Lithium Lead breeding blankets. For...
In the framework of the EU DEMO fusion reactor technology development, a new steam generator consisting in a helical tube bundle is currently under study for the lithium-lead loop of the Dual Coolant Lithium Lead (DCLL) and Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) breeding blankets. This solution turns out to be very interesting for high power plants, sinc...
Lead cooled Fast Reactors (LFR) are one of the most promising nuclear technologies, able to meet the goals set out by the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) and playing an important role in the international context. ALFRED (Advanced Lead-cooled Fast Reactor European Demonstrator) is the European Technology Demonstration Reactor for the LFR te...
In the framework of the HORIZON2020 SESAME European project, an experimental campaign has been carried out on the large Lead-Bismuth Eutectic pool integral effect CIRCE facility at ENEA Brasimone Research Center, implementing the HERO test section. This test section is aimed at supporting the development of the ALFRED design. Within the SESAME Proj...
Permeator Against Vacuum (PAV) is one of the technologies proposed for the Tritium Extraction and Removal System (TERS) of the Water-Cooled Lithium Lead Breeding Blanket (WCLL BB). The paper presents the activity aimed at the engineering design of a PAV mock-up with a niobium membrane, in order to later assemble and qualify it. Experience gained in...
Corrosion studies in high-temperature liquid Pb of conventional materials such as Fe–Cr and Fe–Cr–Ni steels for LFRs have demonstrated that they are prone to corrode affecting their structural integrity. Corrosion is minimized by using oxygen in Pb to form a protective Fe–Cr oxide layer on steels, but its protectiveness works well only up to 450–48...
The present paper describes the experimental campaign executed at the ENEA Brasimone Research Centre aiming at supporting the development of a PbLi/water heat exchanger suitable for the lithium–lead loops of the dual coolant lithium lead and the water cooled lithium lead breeding blankets of the EU DEMO fusion reactor. The experiments were performe...
Lead-cooled fast reactors represent the forefront of Generation IV reactor concepts thanks to the technological development that has taken place over the last 20 years. Lead technology is object of steady attention in many Countries thanks to several development projects and an exponentially increasing industrial interest in recent years. One of th...
The Westinghouse Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR) is a medium-size, passively safe, economic, Gen-IV nuclear reactor. An important effort within the Westinghouse LFR program is the development of the safety analysis methodology, which comprises computer code development, model development, and experimental testing. A key initial task associated with...
In this paper, a CFD analysis of the Fuel Pin Simulator (FPS) of the CIRCE-HERO facility built at the ENEA research centre in Brasimone was performed. STAR-CCM + code was used with the purpose of reproducing steady-state and transient experimental conditions adopting LBE as working fluid. RANS and URANS simulations were performed comparing the calc...
Corrosion phenomena of structural material in Lead-Lithium Eutectic (LLE) environment is influenced by the coolant chemistry, temperature, velocity profile and impurities concentration dissolved in it. In the framework of the EUROfusion consortium, the Experimental Engineering Division (FSN-ING) by the ENEA Brasimone Research Centre (RC) is develop...
In the frame of the EUROfusion roadmap for the development of the DEMO power plant, a research activity was carried out to develop a Lithium–Lead/water heat exchanger. The component should be capable to remove nuclear heat deposited in the liquid metal of the Dual Coolant Lithium Lead breeding blanket and feeding a steam turbine, ensuring an effici...
In the European and international framework, ENEA coordinates the Italian fusion program, supported by linked third parties as universities, research institutes and industries. In this context, the Experimental Engineering Division (FSN-ING) is involved in experimental and numerical activities related to Breeding Blanket (BB) and Divertor technolog...
This book chapter describes the state of knowledge of the performance of materials in liquid lead-bismuth and liquid lead as it relates to nuclear power plant design.
In the context of GEN-IV heavy liquid metal-cooled reactors safety studies, the coolability of the Fuel Assembly in nominal condition is of central interest.
The Advanced Lead-cooled Fast Reactor European Demonstrator (ALFRED) is a 300 MWth pool-type reactor aimed at demonstrating the safe deployment of the Generation IV LFR technology. The ALFRED...
The Lead Lithium Eutectic (LLE) alloy, Pb–16Li enriched at 90% in 6Li, is the candidate Tritium breeder and carrier of three out of four Breeding Blanket (BB) concepts proposed for DEMO Thermonuclear Tokamak Reactor: WCLL (Water Cooled Lithium Lead), DCLL (Dual Coolant Lithium Lead) and HCLL (Helium Cooled Lithium Lead) BBs. In the case of
DCLL BB...
Liquid metal cooled reactors are envisaged to play an important role in the future of nuclear energy production because of their possibility to use natural resources efficiently and to reduce the volume and lifetime of nuclear waste. Sodium and Liquid lead (-alloys) are considered the short and long term solution respectively, as coolant in GEN-IV...
The paper describes the application of a coupled methodology between Fluent CFD code and RELAP5 System Thermal-Hydraulic code developed at the DICI (Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale) of the University of Pisa. The methodology was applied specifically to the LBE-water heat exchanger HERO located inside the S100 vessel of the CIRCE fac...
In the present paper, CFD simulations related to the operating conditions considered during the experimental campaign on CIRCE-HERO facility, a LBE large pool recently run at ENEA Brasimone RC, are presented. The main purpose is to investigate the temperature stratification phenomena observed inside the CIRCE pool. Calculations are performed using...
Nine Euratom projects started since late 2011 in support of the infrastructure and R&D of the seven fast reactor systems are briefly presented in the paper in terms of key objectives, results and recommendations.
In the context of GEN-IV heavy liquid metal-cooled reactors safety studies, the flow blockage in a fuel subassembly is considered one of the main issues to be addressed and one of the most important and realistic accident for Lead Fast Reactors (LFR) fuel assembly. The blockage in a fast reactor Fuel Assembly (FA) may have serious effects on the sa...
In the framework of the Generation IV ALFRED (Advanced Lead Fast Reactor European Demonstrator) design, a dedicated Test Section (TS) named HERO (Heavy liquid mEtal pRessurized water cOoled tubes) has been implemented in the large LBE (Lead-Bismuth Eutectic) pool integral effect CIRCE (CIRColazione Eutettico) facility at CR ENEA Brasimone. HERO is...
The large LBE (Lead-Bismuth Eutectic) pool integral effect CIRCE (CIRcolazione Eutettico) facility at CR ENEA Brasimone, implementing the HERO (Heavy liquid mEtal pRessurized water cOoled tubes) Test Section (TS), has been involved in an experimental campaign investigating the thermal-hydraulic behavior of a new concept of Steam Generator (SG) base...
A workshop paper has served as preprint of this article and can be found here: http://publications.crs4.it/pubdocs/2019/MPAFMBFMTFECYGJKRZVBNM19. The current paper describes the Computational Fluid-Dynamics (CFD) modelling of Heavy Liquid Metal (HLM) flows in a pool configuration and in particular how this is approached within the Horizon 2020 SESA...
In the framework of the Heavy Liquid Metal (HLM) - GEN IV Nuclear reactor development one of the main tasks deals with the thermalhydraulics analysis of Heavy Liquid Metal (HLM) cooled fast reactors (attention mainly focused on LBE and Lead-cooled reactors), aimed at their safety analysis in response to a hypothetical accidental scenario. To suppor...
ALFRED, namely the Advanced Lead-cooled Fast Reactor European Demonstrator, has been conceived to serve the industrial deployment of the Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR) technology. ALFRED is a demonstrator reactor designed with the specific purpose to test and qualify innovative components and procedures to be used in commercial reactors. In its rol...
This work reports the experimental results and post-test analysis carried out in the heavy liquid metal-operated NACIE-UP facility in the framework of the HORIZON2020 SESAME project. NACIE-UP is a rectangular loop, where the two vertical pipes, which work as riser and downcomer, are 8 m long and the two horizontal pipes are 2.4 m long. A prototypic...
In the frame of the MYRRHA ADS technological development, an intense research effort has been undertaken by European Commission, in particular for the Heavy Liquid Metal technology assessment. In this scenario, EURATOM HORIZON2020 funded the SESAME & MYRTE projects, coordinating a series of thermal hydraulics experiments and simulations for the saf...
This work reports data of the experimental campaign in the NACIE-UP facility in the framework of the SESAME H2020 project. NACIE-UP is an HLM cooled rectangular loop with two vertical pipes, about 8 m long, acting as riser and downcomer and two horizontal branches 2.4 m long. A prototypical MYRRHA-19 pin bundle is installed in the bottom part of th...
The System Thermal-Hydraulic (STH) code validation is crucial for the safety assessment of the innovative Heavy Liquid Metal (HLM) cooled pool-type fast reactors. RELAP5 code has been developed and validated for the best estimate transient simulations of light water reactors (LWR) during postulated accidents. The rising interest in the HLM cooled f...
CIRCE is a lead-bismuth eutectic alloy (LBE) pool facility aimed to simulate the primary system of a heavy liquid metal (HLM) cooled pool-type fast reactor. The experimental facility was implemented with a new test section, called HERO (Heavy liquid mEtal pRessurized water cOoled tubes), which consists of a steam generator composed of seven double-...
Liquid metal cooled reactors are envisaged to play an important role in the future of nuclear energy production because of their possibility to use natural resources efficiently and to reduce the volume and lifetime of nuclear waste. Liquid lead(-alloys) and liquid sodium are good candidates for cooling such reactors. Thermal-hydraulics of these li...
In the frame of H2020-MYRTE (MYRRHA Research and Transmutation Endeavour) project, the LBE CIRCE facility, at ENEA-Brasimone research center, has been reconfigured with the HERO (Heavy liquid mEtal pRessurized water cOoled tubes) test section, consisting in a seven double wall bayonet tube bundle heated by LBE on the shell side and by water on the...
Three of the four breeder blanket concepts currently under investigation for the European DEMO Reactor use the eutectic Pb-16Li as breeder material. Those are the Helium Cooled Lithium Lead (HCLL), Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) and Dual Coolant Lithium Lead (DCLL) blankets. Moreover, the WCLL is one of the blanket concepts that will be qualified...