EU research on the phenomenology and management of severe accidents under the current EURATOM framework programme 1994-1998

摘要

In this introductory paper to the Severe Accidents session, a description is given of the main achievements of Community research in the area of hypothetical severe accidents for light water reactors, that is : the results obtained fromexperimental investigations and numerical model developments which are contributing to improve design/equipment and/or operating procedures to cope with the main risk issues (namely: molten corium, fission products release and hydrogen combustion). Twoapproaches are considered in the accident management strategies under investigation: safety systems either of the traditional active or of the advanced passive type. Plant ageing effects are also examined with emphasis on irradiation induced effectsCommunity RTD programmes during the period 1994-1998 consist of shared-cost and concerted actions, organised in multipartners projects, each under the co-ordination of one of the main contractors. In the reactor safety area, there are 51 RTD projects intotal, put together under 7 research clusters, each aimed at contributing to one aspect of the safety strategy against the consequences of severe accidents. The total value of the projects in this area amounts to about 70 Mio ECU, out of which half iscontributed by the EC and the other half by the more than 100 contractors coming from the Member Countries of the European Union (EU).Close co-operation is maintained with the end-users, at all stages of the programme execution, either through official consultative committees involving governmental representatives from the Member States, or through direct contacts with the main actors.For the reactor safety area, these main actors are primarily:the industry sector, the utilities, the technical safety organisations (TSO's), and the European research community in general, including the Joint Research Centre of the EU (mainly the 2 Institutes, ISIS/Ispra and IAM/Petten).