Nuclear safety research

During the last week before Christmas, representatives from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the German Society for Plant and Reactor Safety (GRS) visited Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HDZR). The NRC is the U.S. government’s nuclear regulatory agency, which is responsible, among other things, for overseeing the safety of nuclear facilities in the United States. The purpose of their visit was to facilitate an international exchange of expertise on project topics related to nuclear safety research, which have been and continue to be addressed by the Institute for Process Engineering, Process Automation, and Measurement Technology (IPM) at the university in close cooperation with the Institute of Fluid Dynamics at the HZDR.

On the first day of the meeting, following a presentation on Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, the IPM’s Nuclear Engineering/Soft Computing Division presented its research activities of recent years in the field of nuclear safety research. The focus was primarily on the current project “Particle Formation and Transport in the Core of Pressurized Water Reactors” as well as the objectives targeted in the follow-up project.

Afterward, representatives from the NRC and GRS toured the IPM’s test laboratories and facilities. During the tour, they examined the numerous single-effect and integral test stands in the thermohydraulics laboratory as well as the facilities at the new Zittau Power Plant Laboratory (KWL). This allowed the American regulatory agency and the GRS to witness the interdisciplinary research capabilities in the border triangle region and the high-quality and extensive technical equipment available in the laboratories there.

On December 18, the meeting continued in Rossendorf. In addition to the HZDR’s research projects, the current projects and challenges facing the safety regulatory agencies NRC and GRS were presented. The results presented clearly showed that there is significant overlap in the content of current activities in the field of nuclear safety research. This was followed by a tour of the HZDR’s experimental facilities.

At the conclusion of the two-day event, closer international cooperation was discussed, and the need for a more intensive exchange of information was emphasized.