As part of a multi-year collaborative project between the Technical University of Dresden (TUD), the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), and Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG), experimental and methodological studies on the safety of wet storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel are being conducted under the name “SINABEL.” The project focuses on experimental single-effect analyses as well as modeling and simulation using complex codes (ATHLET, CFD).

The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the “Nuclear Safety and Final Disposal Research” program. Project meetings are regularly organized at the respective institutions, where research staff report on the work carried out and present the results for discussion. On September 20, this project meeting took place at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, organized by the Institute for Process Engineering, Process Automation, and Measurement Technology (IPM). The reconstructed Building I provided a pleasant and impressive setting.

The technical discussion focused on safety aspects of pools in which fuel assemblies from pressurized-water and boiling-water reactors are temporarily stored. Of particular interest here are the heat transfer processes, their experimental analysis, and simulation-based modeling.

As part of the project, young scientists have the opportunity to earn their doctorates. Thus, these R&D activities contribute to the transfer of knowledge and expertise between the institutions, to maintaining expertise in the field of nuclear and radiation engineering, and to ensuring a new generation of academically trained specialists. These events reflect the close collaboration among the TUD, HZDR, and HSZG within the OST Competence Center for Nuclear Technology.