Interdisciplinary Programme

1
Interdisciplinary Programme
Programme sur lAval du Cycle et lEnergie
Nucléaire(Nuclear Energy and Backend Programme)
2
French Context

• Renewal of interest for Nuclear Energy
• Energy independence - Limitations on fossil fuel
  resources - Climate change issues - Limited
  potential or renewable energies - Anticipation of
  increased electricity needs (trains, urban
  transportation, heat pumps, hybrid or electric
  cars) - Additional energetic options (heat, H2
  production, second generation agrofuels)
• Major actors in the field of nuclear energy
• Research (CEA, ANDRA)
• Safety (ASN, IRSN)
• Industry (AREVA, EDF)
• Two laws - on Energy (2005) et on nuclear
  waste management. Definition of national
  research programme (2006 -gt 2015)
• Separation, Transmutation, GEN-IV geological
  storage
• Explicit request to CNRS to setup a programme
  with a view to organizing at the national level
  the activities of the academic community (CNRS
  Universities) on these subjects.

3
PACEN Goals, Scope Organisation

• Goals Mobilizing competences of Academia on
• Future Nuclear Energy (Scenarios, GEN-IV
  reactors, reprocessing, innovative materials for
  extreme conditions)
• Nuclear waste management (Confining Materials,
  Transmutation, underground storage, environmental
  issues)
• Civil nuclear energy related sociology issues
• Formation via research.
• Scope Involved scientific communities
• Nuclear Physics
• Chemistry and Material Sciences
• Mathematics
• Earth Sciences
• Social Sciences
• Organization PACEN structure
• IN2P3 ensures global overview of PACEN program on
  behalf of CNRS
• Collaboration frameworks on major scientific
  themes with industry and research centers (France
  and Europe)
• Independent initiatives on specific subjects

4
PACEN Nucl. Physics Related Activities

• Nuclear Data for the Energy Production Cycles
• Accelerator Driven Systems
• Molten Salt Applications to Nuclear Energy
• GEN-IV systems dynamics and scenarios
• High intensity accelerators (see. J.L. Biarotte
  talk)

5
Nuclear Data for Energy Production Cycles

• - There is need for improvement of international
  Nuclear Data Tables
• - for the numerical simulation of the
  behavior of future reactors (GEN-IV)
• - for the evaluation of the
  transmutation potential of fast reactors and ADS
• - The need concerns fission, capture and (n,xn)
  cross sections
• - for the U-Pu cycle with a particular
  emphasis on transplutonium actinides
• - for the Th-U cycle
• The (near) impossibility of direct measurements
  has led to experimental and
• theoretical improvements
• - Development of indirect (surrogate)
  methods whith potential transposition to basic
  research on exotic nuclei properties
• - Reexamination of the theoretical
  understanding of compound nuclear formation as
  well as fully microscopic description of fission
  process.

Experimental Sites GELINA (Geel) AIFIRA
(Bordeaux) NTOF (CERN) Tandem (Orsay) near
future NFS (GANIL) (2011)
6
Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS)
- ADSs may significantly reduce the radiotoxicity
of nuclear waste. - IN2P3 teams work on
demonstrating the viability of the three main
components of ADS - High intensity
accelerators (see J.-L. Biarotte talk) -
Spallation neutron source -
MEGAPIE Project _at_ PSI (2007) (1MW target)
- Preliminary design of window free target
experiment WebExpIr - Subcritical
reactor operation and criticity control
- MUSE _at_ MASURCA (Cadarache)
(2000-2004) - GUINEVERE _at_ SCK-MOL
(EUROTRANS) (2009)
GENEPI III Accelerator
GUINEVERE
MEGAPIE Target
VENUS subcritical reactor

• IN2P3 participates to the preliminary technical
• design of the MYRRHA project _at_
• (demonstrator of ADS technology irradiation
  installation)
• component of SNE-TP (2012) (FP7 Central Design
  Team project)

7
Nuclear Systems and Deployment Scenarios

• - There is presently a need for increased
  simulation capacity
• - to investigate detailed properties of
  future reactors (systems)
• - normal operation,
• - incidental and accidental
  excursions
• - to evaluate the viability of nuclear
  scenarios (steady transition states)
• - an analysis of fluxes of all
  matters (radiotoxicities, heat loads) in a
  (possibly multi-component) reactor fleet
• - calculation of requirements
  (safety capacity) on all installations of the
  cycle (fuel fabrication, reprocessing,
  transportation, interim storage, geological
  storage)
• IN2P3 teams have developped probabilistic
  versatile codes for moderated and fast reactors
  (neutronics thermal-hydraulic)
• - for solid fuel reactors (U-Pu or Th-U)
  MURE (2009 registered on NEA code basis)
• - for liquid fuel reactors (Th-U) REM
• Nuclear Scenario Evaluation Code
• - the OSCAR code has been developped and
  tested
• - via collaboration with CEA, IN2P3 can
  operate COSI code
• - IN2P3 is in charge of the national evaluation
• of ADS involving scenarios
  (multi-strata)
• of Th-U cycle scenarios
• of  symbiotic  multi-component
  scenarios

8
Thorium Cycle Molten Salt Reactors
The IN2P3 teams have developed a novel concept
of non moderated Th-MSR (TMSR) - It can act
either as a breeder or a MA incinerator -
It has been retained in the international GEN-IV
 Strategic Research Agenda 

• Incineration of G-III spent fuel inventory
• - Plutonium
• two orders of magnitude
• Np, Am Cm
• one order of magnitude

9
Summary

• - Under the supervision of IN2P3, the CNRS has
  launched a comprehensive research
• program PACEN in relation to civilian
  nuclear energy.
• PACEN is concerned by all upstream research
  themes associated with future nuclear
• energy (GEN-IV systems) and waste management
  (including ADS) It involves most
• scientific communities within the CNRS and
  French universities from mathematics to
• social sciences
• - PACEN actions are defined in coordination with
  and for the most part co-financed by the
• major french actors of the field (CEA, ANDRA,
  IRSN, EDF, AREVA) and european partners
• (FP7)
• The IN2P3 teams play an important role (25,
  30m.y/y of involved manpower) within
• PACEN. IN2P3 physicists work in strong
  interaction with engineers, chemists and material
• scientists and researchers from other (French
  and European) organizations.
• - As far as the IN2P3 community is concerned,
  PACEN supports its activities on
• - Nuclear Data production and evaluation
• - Accelerator driven systems