News archive

Valeria Raffuzzi successfully passed the MS exam. The topic of her MS study was "Modelling of batch-wise operation of European Sodium Fast Reactor and Breed&Burn Molten Salt Reactor". The goal of this work was to contribute to model the equilibrium fuel cycle of the two Generation-IV systems mentioned in the title with focus on the development of efficient fast-running tools. The thesis was integrated in the EU ESFR-SMART and SAMOFAR projects. The manuscript is available on-line at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3561314

Following the PhD oral exam at EPF Lausanne, Evgeny Nikitin successfully passed also the public defense, the last step of his PhD study. In his PhD thesis entitled "Extension of the nodal code DYN3D to SFR applications" he developed a new thermal-expansion module for the DYN3D nodal diffusion code, established a general methodology for generation of cross sections and verification of the DYN3D solution using the Serpent Monte Carlo code, and validated his developments using selected IAEA benchmark tests on the Phenix end-of-life tests (both steady-state and transient): http://dx.doi.org/10.5075/epfl-thesis-7264.

Fanny Vitullo was awarded for the best student paper at the International Conference on Nuclear Engineering ICONE 2018 in London, England (presented poster). The paper was based on the results of her MS thesis entitled: "Statistical burnup distribution of moving pebbles in HTR-PM reactor", which she defended in the frame of the ETHZ/EPFL Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering program in 2017. The students paper competition has a long tradition at ICONE conference, where 50 students from each continent are sponsored to participate on the conference and five best papers are finally selected from each continent.

The Horizon-2020 ESFR-SMART project (European Sodium Fast Reactor Safety Measures Assessment and Research Tools) officially started on September 1, 2017 and ten days later 45 partners representing 19 organizations met on the European Commission premises in Brussels to kick the project off. During two days the 12 work packages of the project were presented and discussed with the focus on the first steps to make a successful start.

The August issue of Nuclear Engineering and Design publishes a paper "System codes benchmarking on a low sodium void effect SFR heterogeneous core under ULOF conditions" by E. Bubelis, A. Tosello,W. Pfrang, M. Schikorr, K. Mikityuk, A.-L. Panadero, S. Martorell, J. Ordonez, A. Seubert, G. Lerchl, M. Stempniewicz, F. Alcaro, E. De Geus, T. Delmaere, S. Poumerouly, J. Wallenius, to which we contributed in frame of the FP7 ESNII Plus project. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.06.015

Emeline Beltjens successfully passed the MS exam. The topic of her MS study was "Modelling of the low-void SFR core during ULOF with spatial kinetics". Unprotected Loss Of Flow (ULOF) transient in the low-void Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR) core was simulated, using the TRACE thermal-hydraulic system code coupled to the PARCS 3D nodal diffusion reactor kinetics solver. The new method of the one-group cross sections preparation using the Serpent 2 Monte-Carlo code was developed and successfully applied. One of the conclusions made in the study says that for ULOF in low-void core, 0D and 3D reactor kinetic models provide conservative and best-estimate predictions, respectively.

IAEA TECDOC-1819 on Coordinated Research Project "Benchmark Analysis of EBR-II Shutdown Heat Removal Tests" has been published online: http://www-pub.iaea.org/books/IAEABooks/12247/Benchmark-Analysis-of-EBR-II-Shutdown-Heat-Removal-Tests. The Fast Reactors Group has contributed with static and transient analysis using Serpent 2 and TRACE codes, respectively.

Janos Bodi, student from University of Birmingham, UK, joined the Fast Reactors Group to make his master thesis on "Development of the CAD models for the European Sodium Fast Reactor". The drawings will be used in the Horizon-2020 ESFR-SMART project for visualization of the concepts and consistent development of the input models for different codes.

At the end of January 2017 PSI hosted for the first time the meeting of GIF Molten Salt Reactor project and organized on this occasion the MSR workshop. More than 100 participants from 18 counties were listening, in the PSI auditorium, to the presentation of 7 major national projects of the GIF MSR project members and observers. The presentations are available at the GIF workshop website: https://www.gen-4.org/gif/jcms/c_82829/workshops

The Expert and Policy Group meetings of the Generation-IV International Forum (GIF) were held on April 10-14, 2017 in Paris, France at the OECD Conference Centre. We represented Switzerland at these meetings.

The 2017 August issue of Annals of Nuclear Energy publishes a paper "Comparison of progressive incremental adjustment sequences for cross-section and variance/covariance data adjustment by analyzing fast-spectrum systems" by S. Pelloni. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2017.03.040

Three students from the MS Nuclear Engineering Program has successfully completed their semester projects at the Fast Reactor group: Simone MAMBELLI on designing of the water test facility to mock up sodium boiling using TRACE; Ahmed SHAMA on modeling of the SFR wrapper tube mechanical response to a sodium pressure pulse using CAST3M; and Emeline BELTJENS on first assessments of new safety measures for the European Sodium Fast Reactor core using Serpent.

In November 2015 Switzerland joined the GIF MSR activities and the upcoming 23rd GIF MSR pSSC meeting will be hosted by Paul Scherrer Institute, the Swiss implementing agent. At this occasion an MSR workshop dedicated to the national projects of the GIF MSR partners will be held. It will include the country programs of China, EU,
France, Russia, USA, and the motivation and foreseen project of Australia and Switzerland. Molten Salt Reactor Workshop at PSI :: PSI Auditorium :: 24. January 2017 :: afternoon Download the flyer

On October 4, 2016, the proposal for the project called "European Sodium Fast Reactor Safety Measures Assessment and Research Tools (ESFR-SMART)" was submitted in response to NFRP2 "Research on safety of fast neutron Generation-IV reactors" of Euratom Work Program 2016-2017. The consortium of the proposed project includes 19 partners from 8 countries. The project is coordinated by Dr. K. Mikityuk (PSI). The first three pages of the proposal (list of participants, table of content and abstract): download.

On September 16 Eirik Pettersen from Université Paris-Saclay successfully passed the MS exam. The topic of his MS study which he did at the FAST group was "Coupled multi-physics simulations of the Molten Salt Fast Reactor using coarse-mesh thermal-hydraulics and spatial neutronics". A coupled tool consisting of the 2D/3D coarse-mesh, thermal-hydraulics system code TRACE and the 3D neutron diffusion solver PARCS was used to compute dynamic behaviour of the MSFR, featuring large open volume through which the molten salt circulates. The coarse-mesh TRACE solution was compared to the CFD solution and the conclusion was made on the TRACE applicability to the MSFR analysis.

On September 14, 2016 the NES colloquium "Molten Salt Reactor: sustainable and safe reactor for the future?" was given by Dr. Jiri Krepel. The colloquium offered a brief history of the Molten Salt Reactor, addressed its advantages, disadvantages and open issues, and presented the related international research and activities at PSI. Specific attention was brought to the inter-laboratory effort initiated within the Nuclear Energy and Safety Division during the past two years. The slides are available for download (4MB).

On August 30 Jiadong Bao successfully passed the MS exam. The topic of his MS study was "Development of the model for the multiphysics analysis of Molten Salt Reactor Experiment using GeN-Foam code". The experiment, completed 50 years ago, was partly re-analyzed with the open source multi-physics code to improve our understanding of the liquid-fuel reactor physics and to validate the computational tools to be used in design and safety demonstration of the future MSRs.

The 2016 October issue of Annals of Nuclear Energy publishes a paper "Development and verification of the neutron diffusion solver for the GeN-Foam multi-physics platform" by C. Fiorina, N. Kerkar, K. Mikityuk, P. Rubiolo and A. Pautz. We contributed to the part devoted to the European Sodium Fast Reactor calculations. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2016.05.023

The August issue of Nuclear Engineering and Design publishes a paper "Analysis of effects of pellet-cladding bonding on trapping of the released fission gases in high burnup KKL BWR fuels" by V. Brankov, G. Khvostov, K. Mikityuk, A. Pautz, R. Restani, S. Abolhassani, G. Ledergerber, W. Wiesenack, to which we contributed in frame of the cooperation with the Fuel Modeling Group of our lab. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2016.06.021

The just-published Generation IV International Forum Annual Report highlights the main achievements of the Forum in 2015. In particular, FAST contributed to the Task Force on Education and Training. https://www.gen-4.org/gif/jcms/c_82870/gif-2015-annual-report-final-e-book

This year we host one internship and three MS students. They are from France, South Korea, Poland and Norway. Their topics span from sodium boiling simulation to re-analysis of the molten-salt reactor experiment.

The course 151-0166-00L Special Topics in Reactor Physics started at ETH Zurich on February 24, 2016 for the MS students of the Nuclear Engineering Program. Two lecturers and two instructors are from our group.

The April issue of Nuclear Engineering and Design publishes a paper "Characterization of the relocated and dispersed fuel in the Halden reactor project LOCA tests based on gamma scan data" by V. Brankov, G. Khvostov, K. Mikityuk, A. Pautz, W. Wiesenack, to which we contributed in frame of the cooperation with the Fuel Modeling Group of our lab. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2015.11.023

Job opportunity at the Fast Reactors Group: we are looking for a Postdoctoral Fellow to work on static and transient analysis of the Generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactor. More details at https://www.psi.ch/pa/stellenangebote/1234

The March issue of Progress in Nuclear Energy publishes the second part of the paper on "The effectiveness of full actinide recycle as a nuclear waste management strategy when implemented over a limited timeframe -- Part II: Thorium fuel cycle" by B. A. Lindley (University of Cambridge), C. Fiorina (PSI), R. Gregg (NNL), F. Franceschini (Westinghouse), G. T. Parks (University of Cambridge), to which we contributed with the SFR analysis: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2014.11.016. The first paper was devoted to the uranium fuel cycle: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2015.07.020.

By signing the Memorandum of Understanding on November 20, 2015, Switzerland entered the Generation-IV International Forum Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) Project, joining Euratom (represented by JRC), France (represented by CEA) and Russia (represented by ROSATOM) in their collaborative efforts to develop this Generation-IV system. Switzerland will be represented by Paul Scherrer Institut and, in particular, by our group. http://www.oecd-nea.org/general/mnb/2015/december.html#4

This year the TopFuel conference on Reactor Fuel Performance was held in Zurich, Switzerland on September 13-17, 2015. The proceeding are available for download at http://www.euronuclear.org/events/topfuel/topfuel2015/transactions.htm. We contributed to two papers presented at the conference: one on fission gas trapping in the BWR fuel (A0038) and second on calculational benchmark of the sodium-cooled fast reactor fuel behaviour (A0042).

The 2016 January issue of Annals of Nuclear Energy publishes a paper "Static and transient analysis of a medium-sized sodium cooled fast reactor loaded with oxide, nitride, carbide and metallic fuels" by Y. Zhang and K. Mikityuk. We performed a preliminary safety analysis of the BN600 type sodium cooled fast reactor loaded with different types of fuels with the TRACE code, by using the safety related parameters obtained from the Serpent calculations. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2015.03.025

Anne-Laurene Panadero who is doing her PhD study on modeling of the ASTRID sodium cooled fast reactor behavior in Unprotected Loss of Flow accident successfully passed the candidacy exam at EPFL.

Euratom Work Program 2016-2017 is oficially published. One action directly relates to our activities, namely, NFRP 2: Research on safety of fast neutron Generation-IV reactors. This action is aimed at development of the technical assessment of safety improvements of critical fast neutron Generation-IV systems and their supporting reactor islands, as identified by ESNII in the SET Plan Integrated Roadmap.

The Expert and Policy Group meetings of the Generation-IV International Forum (GIF) were held on October 26-30, 2015 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. We represented Switzerland at the Expert Group meeting and, in particular, presented the GIF Education and Training Task Force (see the LinkedIn group for more details).

The December issue of Nuclear Engineering and Design publishes a paper "GeN-Foam: a novel OpenFOAM(R) based multi-physics solver for 2D/3D transient analysis of nuclear reactors" by C. Fiorina, I. Clifford, M. Aufiero, K. Mikityuk, which summarizes our 2-year efforts on launching a new open-source computational engine for nuclear reactor analysis. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2015.05.035

SAMOFAR -- Safety Assessment of the Molten Salt Fast Reactor – is a 5M€ 4-year project of the European Union research program Horizon 2020. The project consortium consists of 11 partners (CNRS, JRC, CIRTEN, IRSN, CINVESTAV, AREVA, CEA, EDF, PSI, KIT and TU Delft). The grand objective of SAMOFAR is to prove the innovative safety concepts of the Molten Salt Fast Reactor (MSFR) by advanced experimental and numerical techniques, to deliver a breakthrough in nuclear safety and optimal waste management, and to create a consortium of stakeholders to demonstrate the MSFR beyond SAMOFAR. At the end of August 2015 the kick-off meeting of the SAMOFAR project took place at Delft University of Technology with over 35 enthusiastic participants.

On 27 August 2015, Switzerland signed the Framework Agreement for International Collaboration on Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems, which was extended in February 2015 for ten years, paving the way for continued collaboration among participating countries in this important area of Gen IV R&D. A signing ceremony was held at the OECD in the presence of Mr Mauro Dell'Ambrogio, Swiss State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, and Mr William D. Magwood, IV, NEA Director General. http://www.oecd-nea.org/general/mnb/2015/august-september.html

The November issue of Annals of Nuclear Energy publishes a paper "On the use of the SPH method in nodal diffusion analyses of SFR cores" by E. Nikitin, E. Fridman, and K. Mikityuk, to which we contributed with PARCS calculations. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2015.06.007

Benoit Soubelet successfully passed the MS exam. The topic of his MS study was "Time efficient fluid dynamics analysis of sodium fast reactor wire wrapped rod bundles". OpenFOAM, an open-source 3D CFD code, was applied for modeling of single and two-phase (air-water) flow in a hexagonal wire-wrapped bundle. The obtained results were benchmarked with respect to TRACE, a state-of-the-art 1D thermal-hydraulics code.

The November issue of Progress in Nuclear Energy publishes the first part of the paper on "The effectiveness of full actinide recycle as a nuclear waste management strategy when implemented over a limited timeframe -- Part I: Uranium fuel cycle" by B. A. Lindley (University of Cambridge), C. Fiorina (PSI), R. Gregg (NNL), F. Franceschini (Westinghouse), G. T. Parks (University of Cambridge), to which we contributed with the SFR analysis. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2015.07.020

Anne-Laurene Panadero, PhD student from our groop, took part in the MeV summer school hold at Argonne National Laboratory on July 21-30, 2015. She was in Team 4 which won the prize for the best team report on "Future experimentation".

The November issue of Annals of Nuclear Energy publishes a paper on "A collision history-based approach to sensitivity/perturbation calculations in the continuous energy Monte Carlo code SERPENT" by M. Aufiero, A. Bidaud, M. Hursin, J. Leppänen, G. Palmiotti, S. Pelloni, P. Rubiolo, to which we contributed with ERANOS calculations. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2015.05.008

The Expert and Policy Group meetings of the Generation-IV International Forum (GIF) as well as the third GIF Symposium were held on May 18-22, 2015 in Paris, France at the OECD Conference Centre. We represented Switzerland at these meetings.

The August issue of Progress in Nuclear Energy publishes a paper on "Core neutronics characterization of the GFR2400 Gas Cooled Fast Reactor" by Z. Perko, S. Pelloni, K. Mikityuk, J. Krepel, M. Szieberth, G. Girardin, B. Vrban, J. Lüley, S. Cerba, M. Halasz, S. Feher, T. Reiss, J. L. Kloosterman, R. Stainsby, C. Poette, summarizing main results of the neutronic study performed in frame of the FP7 EURATOM GoFastR project. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2014.09.016

ICAPP15: International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants "Nuclear Innovations for a Low-carbon Future" took place on May 3-6, 2015 in Nice, France. We contributed to 9 papers presented at the conference, 6 of them related to Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor and 3 -- to Molten Salt Reactor.

The August issue of Progress in Nuclear Energy publishes a paper on "A Geometric Multiscale modelling approach to the analysis of MSR plant dynamics" by Matteo Zanetti,
Antonio Cammi, Carlo Fiorina, and Lelio Luzzi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2015.02.014

The four-year project "A Paradigm Shift in Reactor Safety with the Molten Salt Fast Reactor" (SAMOFAR) with 11 international partners including PSI was submitted in response to the first call for proposal of the Horizon 2020 program. The proposal was highly evaluated and granted by Euratom. The Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation is co-financing the participation of PSI. The FAST group contributes with the neutronics and transient analysis.

The very first issue of the ASME's Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science publishes "Parametric Lattice Study of a Graphite-Moderated Molten Salt Reactor" by Boris Hombourger, Jiri Krepel, Konstantin Mikityuk and Andreas Pautz. The paper summarizes selected first results of the PhD study on small modular molten-salt reactor: http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/1.4026401

Evzen Losa, PhD student from Czech Technical University in Prague, joins us for nine months to work on 3D modeling of closed equilibrium fuel cycle in advanced fast reactors as well as in VVER, using our calculational tools. The study is supported by the IAEA Fellowship. This is already the second attachment of Evzen, the first one was in 2012.

Thanks to Chinese colleagues who attached audio to their paper on sodium boiling tests published in Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2014.09.016) we can listen to the sound of the sodium boiling: audio(mp3).

Boris Hombourger making his PhD study on designing a small modular molten salt reactor successfully passed the candidacy exam at EPFL.

Four students from a joint ETHZ-EPFL MS program in Nuclear Engineering (http://www.master-nuclear.ch) joined our group to make their semester projects (and following up MS theses next semester). Two of them will work on topics related to sodium boiling and other two -- on neutronics and transient behaviour of molten-salt reactor.

On October 1, 2014 Anne-Laurene Panadero officially started in our group her PhD study in frame of our cooperation with Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) on safety assessment of ASTRID sodium-cooled fast reactor considered for construction in France.

October 2014 issue of Nuclear Engineering and Design publishes "The core design of ALFRED, a demonstrator for the European lead-cooled reactors". The paper summarizes selected results of the FP7 EURATOM LEADER project. We contributed to the paper with the core thermal-hydraulic analysis: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2014.07.032

The FAST highlight of September 2014 is an updated diagram of our code system which includes now various options of using the new OpenFOAM solver for static and transient analysis of fast reactors: PDF (74k).

The OpenFOAM Nuclear Simulations Special Interest Group was initiated at the Ninth OpenFOAM Workshop in Zagreb, Croatia in June this year. The group is open for everybody who uses OpenFOAM for nuclear reactor applications and is interested to benefit from cooperation with other users: http://openfoamwiki.net/index.php/Sig_Nuclear.

We applied to the EC co-financed fellowship programme at PSI (PSI-FELLOW/COFUND) with a proposal for a two-year postdoc study on "New methods for analysis of thermal-mechanical transient effects in Generation-IV fast reactors". The goal is to contribute to the development of a new-generation of numerical solvers for accurate prediction of the transient behaviour of reactors with complex geometries and to apply these solvers for the Generation-IV Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor to assess its safety and probably improve its design. Our candidate has been interviewed by the PSI jury and the decision will be known by the end of October 2014.

We submitted to Swiss National Science Foundation an application titled "Multiscale modeling of forced evaporation and condensation of low-Prandtl-number fluids". The proposal was prepared together with Laboratory for Thermal Hydraulics of our division and aims at two PhD studies focusing on modeling of sodium boiling at different scales: from microregion to the whole sodium-cooled fast reactor.

January 2015 issue of Annals of Nuclear Energy publishes "Solution of the OECD/NEA neutronic SFR benchmark with Serpent-DYN3D and Serpent-PARCS code systems" by E. Nikitin, E. Fridman and K. Mikityuk. The paper reports how the group constants generated by Serpent can be employed by DYN3D and PARCS nodal diffusion codes in 3D full core calculations for sodium-cooled fast reactor. The study was done at HZDR and our contribution was the PARCS solution. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2014.08.054

Today is the deadline for submittal of applications to the Horizon 2020 Framework Euratom Program. We contributed to preparation of four proposals: 1) a paradigm shift in nuclear reactor safety with the molten salt fast reactor (SAMOFAR); 2) thermal-hydraulics simulations and experiments for the safety assessment of metal-cooled reactors (SESAME); 3) autonomous reactivity control for enhanced fast reactor safety (ARC); 4) excellence of European capacity in fast nuclear systems (EXPECTANCY).

ICAPP15: International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants "Nuclear Innovations for a Low-carbon Future" will take place on May 3-6, 2015 in Nice, French Riviera. Track 3 of the congress is devoted to fast neutron and other innovative reactors. The call for papers is published at http://icapp.ans.org/icapp15/. A 500-word abstract is due by September 30, 2014. We plan to submit 4-5 abstracts.

November 2014 issue of Nuclear Engineering and Design publishes "Code assessment and modelling for Design Basis Accident analysis ofthe European Sodium Fast Reactor design. Part II: Optimised core and representative transients analysis". The paper summarizes main results of the benchmark exersise to which we contributed in frame of the FP7 EURATOM CP-ESFR project. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2014.02.029

Valerio Ariu successfully passed the MS exam. The topic of his MS study was "Heat exchanger analysis for innovative molten salt fast reactor".

On September 9 and 10 we hosted the meeting to discuss the progress of WP6 "Core safety" after the first year of the FP7 EURATOM ESNII+ project (Preparing ESNII for HORIZON 2020). 28 participants from 16 European organizations joined at Paul Scherrer Institute to discuss the status and coordination of work on neutronics and transient analysis of the ESNII fast-spectrum nuclear reactors: ASTRID (sodium), ALFRED (lead) and ALLEGRO (helium).

To discuss cooperation in molten-salt reactor research we visited the LPSC lab in Grenoble and in particular the Forced Fluoride Flow Experimental loop at which the gas injection to and separation from the forced flow of the fluoride salt (LiF-NaF-KF) were demonstrated: http://lpsc.in2p3.fr/index.php/fr/component/content/article/38-activites-scientifiques/physique-des-reacteurs-nucleaires/601-fffer.

The engineering design for the BREST-300 lead-cooled fast reactor is completed by the Dollezhal Scientific Research and Design Institute of Energy Technologies (Russia): http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Design-completed-for-prototype-fast-reactor-0209147.html.

The FAST highlight of August 2014 illustrates the status of our work on development of new solvers for steady-state and dynamic analysis of nuclear reactors using Open-source Field Operation And Manipulation (OpenFOAM) C++ libraries: PDF (500k).

In this video Dr. Leslie Dewan, CEO Transatomic Power http://transatomicpower.com, tells about a concept of molten-salt reactor as an LWR waste burner: http://youtu.be/Q6K1_aQui-A

Anna-Laurene Panadero successfully passed the MS exam. The topic of her MS study was "Static neutronic, thermal-hydraulic and fuel performance analysis of the ASTRID Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor core".

The information about our PhD project "Small modular Molten Salt Fast Reactor design for closed fuel cycle", including the abstract, is published in the P³ research database of the Swiss National Science Foundation: http://p3.snf.ch/project-152612

The paper "Thorium breeder and burner fuel cycles in reduced-moderation LWRs compared to fast reactors" by B. A. Lindley, C. Fiorina, F. Franceschini, E. J. Lahoda, and G.T. Parks, reporting results of the study done in cooperation with University of Cambridge (UK) and Westinghouse (USA), has been published in Progress in Nuclear Energy 77 (2014) 107-123 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2014.06.010

In this video Prof. Janne Wallenius, CEO LeadCold http://leadcold.com, tells about small modular lead-cooled fast reactor: https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/projects/891572/video-352489-h264_high.mp4

The paper "Thermal-hydraulics of internally heated molten salts and application to the Molten Salt Fast Reactor" by C. Fiorina, A. Cammi, L. Luzzi, K. Mikityuk, H. Ninokata and M. E. Ricotti, reporting results of the study done in cooperation with POLIMI (Italy), has been published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series 501 (2014) http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/501/1/012030

The IAEA Technical Working Group on Fast Reactors (TWG-FR) has been representing for decades the main international framework for information exchange and technical cooperation in the area of fast reactors. TWG-FR meets every year: the last, 47th meeting was on May 19-23, 2014 in Vienna. We represented Switzerland: http://www.iaea.org/NuclearPower/Meetings/2014/2014-05-19-05-23-TWG-NPTD.html

The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) Annual Report highlights the main achievements of the Forum in 2013, and in particular the progress made in the collaborative R&D activities of the ten existing project arrangements. FAST contributed to the chapter on Gas-cooled Fast Reactor. https://www.gen-4.org/gif/jcms/c_64097/2013-gif-annual-report

TECDOC "Benchmark Analyses on the Control Rod Withdrawal Tests Performed during the PHÉNIX End-of-Life Experiments" (TECDOC-1742)", reporting the results of the Coordinated Research Project in which we took part, is now available on the IAEA publications website: http://www-pub.iaea.org/books/IAEABooks/10745/Benchmark-Analyses-on-the-Control-Rod-Withdrawal-Tests-Performed-during-the-PHNIX-End-of-Life-Experiments

We presented five papers at International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE22) held on July 7-11, 2014 in Prague, Czech Republic: three of them were about different studies of Molten Salt Reactor, one was on designing of gas-cooled sub-critical transmuter, and one was on the OpenFOAM-based solver for simulation of reactor dynamics. The paper "Parametric lattice study of a graphite-moderated Molten Salt Reactor" presented by Boris Hombourger was selected for the best student paper award in the region Europe.

Russia's Beloyarsk-4 Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor BN-800 is close to start-up. http://www.nucnet.org/all-the-news/2014/06/25/russia-s-beloyarsk-4-ready-to-begin-nuclear-reaction

The paper "Application of an iterative methodology for cross-section and variance/covariance data adjustment to the analysis of fast spectrum systems accounting for non-linearity" by S. Pelloni is published in Annals of Nuclear Energy 72 (2014) 373–390. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2014.06.002

New website http://psi.ch/fast is online.

The paper "Methods and Issues for the Combined Use of Integral Experiments and Covariance Data: Results of a NEA International Collaborative Study" by M. Salvatores, G. Palmiotti, G. Aliberti, P. Archier, C. De Saint Jean, E. Dupont, M. Herman, M. Ishikawa, T. Ivanova, E. Ivanov, S.-J. Kim, I. Kodeli, G. Manturov, R. McKnight, S. Pelloni, C. Perfetti, A.J.M. Plompen, B.T. Rearden, D. Rochman, K. Sugino, A. Trkov, W. Wang, H. Wu, and W.-S. Yang. to which we contributed in frames of the OECD NEA SG33 is published in Nuclear Data Sheets 118 (2014) 38–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nds.2014.04.005

The paper "Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis of the GFR MOX Fuel Subassembly" by J. Lüley, B. Vrban, Š. Čerba,J. Haščik, V. Nečas, and S. Pelloni to which we contributed in frames of the FP7 EURATOM GoFastR project is published in Nuclear Data Sheets 118 (2014) 545–547. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nds.2014.04.130

One of the five papers selected for the "Best paper award 2013" for Progress in Nuclear Energy is the article we published in cooperation with POLIMI (Italy) and Westinghouse (USA): "Investigation of the MSFR core physics and fuel cycle characteristics" by C. Fiorina, M. Aufiero, A. Cammi, F. Franceschini, J. Krepel, L. Luzzi, K. Mikityuk, M.E. Ricotti http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2013.06.006.

Swiss National Science Foundation awarded our proposal for PhD study on "Small modular Molten Salt Fast Reactor design for closed fuel cycle".

A patent submitted by the FAST reactors group on "A wrapper tube for a fuel subassembly of a nuclear reactor core and method for protecting fuel against overheating in case of coolant boiling" by Konstantin Mikityuk, Aurelia Chenu and Kaichao Sun is published at http://www.google.com/patents/EP2610875A1?cl=en.

"Fuel cycle advantages and dynamics features of liquid fueled MSR" by J. Krepel, B. Hombourger, C. Fiorina, K. Mikityuk, U. Rohde, S. Kliem, A. Pautz is published in a special section devoted to MSR and FHR of February 2014 issue of Annals of Nuclear Energy http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2013.08.007.

"Fuel cycle advantages and dynamics features of liquid fueled MSR" by J. Krepel, B. Hombourger, C. Fiorina, K. Mikityuk, U. Rohde, S. Kliem, A. Pautz is published in a special section devoted to MSR and FHR of February 2014 issue of Annals of Nuclear Energy http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2013.08.007

January 2014 issue of Nuclear Engineering and Design publishes "Code assessment and modelling for Design Basis Accident Analysis of the European sodium fast reactor design. Part I: System description, modelling and benchmarking" by A. Lázaro, L. Ammirabile, G. Bandini, G. Darmet, S. Massara, Ph. Dufour, A. Tosello, E. Gallego, G. Jimenez, K. Mikityuk, M. Schikorr, E. Bubelis, A. Ponomarev, R. Kruessmann, M. Stempniewicz. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2013.10.019

The International Thoriem Energy Conference ThEC 2013 took place in the CERN Globe of Science and Innovation, Geneva, Switzerland on October 27-31, 2013. The video of the presentation by Jiri Krepel "PSI studies on advanced fuel cycle options for fast/thermal MSR utilizing thorium" is available on-line at http://cds.cern.ch/record/1625809.

Boris Hombourger started his PhD at the FAST reactors group on "Small modular Molten Salt Fast Reactor design for closed fuel cycle" (supported by EPFL).

The paper "Investigation of the MSFR core physics and fuel cycle characteristics" by C. Fiorina, M. Aufiero, A. Cammi, F. Franceschini, J. Krepel, L. Luzzi, K. Mikityuk, M.E. Ricotti is published in September issue of Progress in Nuclear Energy. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2013.06.006

The paper "Coupled 3-D neutronics/thermal-hydraulics optimization study for improving the response of a 3600 MW(thermal) SFR core to an unprotected loss-of-flow accident" by K. Sun, A. Chenu, J. Krepel, K. Mikityuk, R. Chawla is published in September issue of Nucear Technology. http://www.ans.org/pubs/journals/nt/a_19436

The paper "Heat transfer to liquid metal: Review of data and correlations for tube bundles" by K. Mikityuk published in NED in 2009 is included in the list of Most cited Nuclear Engineering and Design articles.

Dr. Carlo Fiorina from POLIMI has started his postDoc study which will be performed in cooperation with EPFL on neutronic analysis of the gas-cooled accelerator-driven system fuelled with sphere-pack fuel in frame of CCEM MeAWaT project (Methods of Advanced Water Treatment)

A proposal for the EURATOM project ESNII+ "Preparing ESNII for HORIZON 2020" was highly evaluated and now is at the negotiation phase. The aim of this cross-cutting project is to develop a broad strategic approach to advanced fission systems in Europe in support of the European Sustainable Industrial Initiative (ESNII) within the SET-Plan. To provide a technical input to the development of the roadmap several technical work packages were included in the project. FAST is responsible for WP6 "Core safety".

Our application with Dr. Sara BORTOT from POLIMI (Italy) to the PSI-FELLOW program (30 postDoc positions supported by EC Marie-Curie fellowships) was successfully evaluated by reviewers. The topic of the 2-year postDoc study is "Transient analysis of the ASTRID sodium-cooled fast-spectrum reactor core behaviour at different fuel cycle stages under sodium boiling accidental conditions with the FAST code system".

Aaron Epiney has successfully passed his PhD final exam at EPFL. The topic of his thesis was "Improvement of the Inherent and Passive Safety Characteristics of Generation IV Gas-cooled Fast Reactors".

Kristina Yancey, a student from Texas A&M, receives Fulbright grant for study in the FAST group. Kristina starts in September 2010 and the title of her 9-month study will be "Development of a Comprehensive Model of a Lead-cooled Fast-spectrum Nuclear Reactor".

The presentation of Aurelia Chenu, FAST PhD student, at the 4th ENEN PhD event was granted one of the two prizes. The title of her presentation was "Modelling of sodium boiling for coupled neutronic/thermal-hydraulic transient analysis of the Gen-IV SFR".