ESFR-SIMPLE – Safety and Innovation for the Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor
The ESFR-SIMPLE project,funded by the EU, was launched in 2022 and will run for 48 months. The aim of the project is to improve the safety and efficiency of the future European Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor (ESFR) through
- Innovative monitoring methods,
- Flexible power control
- Experimental research on advanced safety measures.
The project is coordinated by the French research organization CEA (Commissariat à I'énergie atomique et aux énergies alteratives) and brings together 16 Europeam partners.
More information: → esfr-simple.eu
Our contribution at ITES/FST
The research focus of our department is on the experimental validation of the thermodynamic long-term behavior of a melt pool in the core catcher, i.e. the catch basin of a reactor, which is intended to contain the melted reactor core in the event of a severe accident.
Key aspects of our work:
- Use of a potassium-sodium-nitrate salt (K-Na-NO3) as simulant material for the molten core material
- Conducting the experiments in a specially developed test vessel with ESFR-type core-catcher geometry
- Focus of the investigation: Ablation process of the core catcher in general and local thermal reinforcement in special.
This work provides well-founded thermal-hydraulic data to stengthen the safety concepts of the future design of ESFR.
