Publications related to A benchmark on the calculation of kinetic parameters based on reactivity effect experiments in the CROCUS reactor

Neutron-Gamma Noise Measurements in a Zero-Power Reactor Using Organic Scintillators

Andreas Pautz, Oskari Ville Pakari, Vincent Pierre Lamirand

Noise measurements in light water reactor systems aid in generating validation data for integral point kinetic parameter predictions and generating monitoring parameters for reactor safety and safeguards. The CROCUS zero-power reactor has been used to supp ...

Ieee-Inst Electrical Electronics Engineers Inc2024

Gamma noise to non-invasively monitor nuclear research reactors

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Autonomous nuclear reactor monitoring is a key aspect of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s strategy to ensure nonproliferation treaty compliance. From the rise of small modular reactor technology, decentralized nuclear reactor fleets may strain the ...

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Experimental study and interpretative modelling of the Power Exhaust in Configurations with Multiple X-Points in TCV

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Nuclear fusion presents a promising clean energy source to mitigate future energy crises, with magnetic confinement fusion well-positioned to provide a baseload scenario to power future reactors. The unmitigated power exhaust of such reactors threatens its ...

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Gamma-ray Spectroscopy in Low-Power Nuclear Research Reactors

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Gamma-ray spectroscopy is an effective technique for radioactive material characterization, routine inventory verification, nuclear safeguards, health physics, and source search scenarios. Gamma-ray spectrometers typically cannot be operated in the immedia ...

MDPI2024

Intra-pin Reaction Rate Measurements in the CROCUS Experimental Reactor

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In response to the need for validating high-fidelity deterministic neutronics solvers capable of providing pin-resolved neutron flux distributions, intra-pin reaction rates measurements were performed in the CROCUS experimental reactor. A specially designe ...

2024

Atomic level insight into irradiation effects in nuclear fuel materials

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Microstructural evolution during in-pile irradiation, radiation damage effects and fission products behavior in UO2 nuclear fuel are key issues in understanding and for the modeling of the performance as well as safety characteristics of nuclear fuels in t ...

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A holistic investigation of photocatalytic hydrogen generation

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Photocatalytic (PC) solar hydrogen production is a promising way to provide green hydrogen using only sunlight and abundant reactants such as water. PC approaches use catalytically active semiconductor particles suspended in liquid electrolytes. The partic ...

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Design and operational guidelines of solar-driven catalytic conversion of CO2 and H2 to fuels

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Sunlight-powered catalytic conversion of CO2 and (green) H2 into fuels and chemicals via Sabatier and reverse water gas shift (RWGS) processes offers a promising solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy utilization. The suc ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2023

Design of an Instrumented Fuel Rod for Intra-pin Neutron Flux Measurements in the CROCUS Experimental Reactor

Andreas Pautz, Vincent Pierre Lamirand, Mathieu Hursin, Thomas Jean-François Ligonnet, Won Dong Shin, Tom Mager

In response to the need for validating high-fidelity deterministic neutronics solvers capable of pin-resolved neutron flux distributions, an instrumented fuel rod was designed for the experimental reactor CROCUS, operated by EPFL’s Laboratory for Reactor P ...

2023

Monte Carlo analysis of BWR geometries using a cycle check-up methodology

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Recent fuel anomalies at a Swiss power plant have motivated the development at PSI of the "Cycle Check-Up" (CHUP) methodology which consists in performing Monte Carlo transport calculations using nuclide compositions and thermal-hydraulic boundary conditio ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2023

Full-discharge simulation and optimization with the RAPTOR code, from present tokamaks to ITER and DEMO

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Tokamak devices aim to magnetically confine a hydrogen plasma at sufficiently high pressure to achieve net energy production from nuclear fusion of light isotopes. Predictive modeling and optimization is crucial for reliable operation of tokamak reactors, ...

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Down-conversion of a single photon as a probe of many-body localization

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Decay of a particle into more particles is a ubiquitous phenomenon to interacting quantum systems, taking place in colliders, nuclear reactors or solids. In a nonlinear medium, even a single photon would decay by down-converting (splitting) into lower-freq ...

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High accuracy measurement of the prompt neutron decay constant in CROCUS using Gamma Noise and bootstrapped uncertainties

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We experimentally demonstrate the advantages of gamma detection for noise measurements to deter-mine the prompt neutron decay constant a of a nuclear reactor using the power spectral density (PSD) method, coupled to a new uncertainty estimation scheme base ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2022

Investigation and Validation of Unstructured Mesh Methodologies for Modeling Experimental Reactors

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This paper summarizes a methodology developed at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne for the neutronic modeling of the CROCUS experimental reactor and proposes solutions to the challenges one may face while modeling a research reactor with a complex g ...

MDPI2022

Advanced methodologies for modeling and assessment of SFR safety functions

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The present doctoral work was performed to contribute to the conceptual design development and safety assessment of a Generation IV Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR) in the frame of the European Sodium Fast Reactor Safety Measures Assessment and Research Tools (ES ...

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On the Capability of Wall-Modeled Large Eddy Simulations to Predict Particle Dispersion in Complex Turbulent Flows

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Predicting particle transport in turbulent flows has a plethora of applications, some of which are: the transport of atmospheric aerosols, the deposition of blood cells in the arteries of human bodies and the atomization of fuel droplets in combustion cham ...

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A Hybrid Approach to Neutron Transport with Thermal-hydraulic Feedback for Reactor Transient Analysis

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Understanding the time-dependent behaviour of a nuclear reactor following an intended or unintended change of the reactor conditions is of crucial importance to the safe operation of nuclear reactors. Safety evaluations of nuclear reactors involve the anal ...

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A Coarse-mesh Methodology for the Analysis of One and Two-phase Nuclear Reactor Thermal-hydraulics in a Multi-physics Context

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The analysis of nuclear reactors for performance and safety assessment benefits from the use of computational tools. In this context, this work aims at the development and application of a thermal-hydraulics methodology and related software that respond to ...

EPFL2021

Delayed gamma fraction determination in the zero power reactor CROCUS

Pavel Frajtag, Andreas Pautz, Oskari Ville Pakari, Vincent Pierre Lamirand, Tom Mager

Gamma rays are an inextricable part of a nuclear reactor's radiation field, and as such require characterization for dose rate estimations required for the radiation protection of personnel, material choices, and the design of nuclear facilities. Most comm ...

EDP SCIENCES S A2021