IAEA Activities in Support of Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems Development and Deployment

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) actively supports its Member States in the development of evolutionary and innovative nuclear reactors. With the fundamental support of its Technical Working Groups, the IAEA defines and implements multiannual programs which, in particular, are intended to help Member States in improving their capabilities in the development, design, safety analyses and deployment of nuclear power reactors.

Supporting the verification, validation and qualification of the simulation codes used for the design and safety analyses of innovative reactors is a relevant part of this program. Thanks to the information provided by the Member States, the IAEA is in the position to carry out benchmark exercises based on the experimental data gathered during the past operation of prototypes and demonstrators. Examples of such initiatives are the coordinated research projects on: SCWR Thermal-Hydraulic, HTGR Uncertainty Analysis, BN-600, Monju, Phenix, EBR-II and PFBR reactors, as well as the planned one on FFTF.

The exchange of information is also a major objective. In the frame of its Nuclear Safety Action Plan, in February 2015 the IAEA conducted the “International Experts Meeting on Strengthening Research and Development Effectiveness in the Light of the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant”, which was followed by a Technical Meeting on “Post-Fukushima Research and Development Strategies and Priorities”. Furthermore, after the two successful “IAEA Conferences on Fast Reactors and Related Fuel Cycles”, held in 2009 in Kyoto and in 2013 in France, the preparation of the next event, to be held in 2017 in the Russian Federation, has just started. The collection of data also allows the IAEA to publish and update status reports and technical documents, as well as to develop databases with the most up-to-date information on advanced reactor technologies. The major service offered by the IAEA in this area is the “Advanced Reactors Information System (ARIS)”, a web-accessible database that provides Member States with comprehensive and balanced information about all advanced reactor designs and concepts.

The IAEA is also committed to promote the international harmonization of many aspects of the fast reactors technology. A major example is the development – together with the Generation IV International Forum - of internationally agreed Safety Design Criteria and Safety Design Guidelines for sodium cooled fast reactors and High Temperature Gas Reactors. The ongoing CRP on “Sodium properties and safe operation of experimental facilities in support of the development and deployment of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFR) - NAPRO” is aimed at harmonizing several technical aspects of SFR research. With complementary objectives, the IAEA is developing a catalogue of existing and planned experimental facilities in support of liquid-metal cooled fast neutron systems.

Finally, the IAEA is very much committed on the education and training of the next generation nuclear engineers and researchers, and regularly organizes training courses using its large suit of PC-based NPP simulators for education.