ESIS_NEWSLETTER_July_2024

includes all the countries operating VVER units in the European region and all the research organisations with an interest. The DELISA-LTO project, launched in June 2022 and running until the end of May 2026, aims to improve operational safety and extend the lifetime of the project by identifying the most critical components for LTO and describing the impact of LTO on material properties. Development of non-destructive methods, simulation tools and methodologies for early failure prediction. To make recommendations for the future operation of nuclear power plants and to assess their life extension. https://delisa-lto.eu/ The FRACTESUS (Fracture mechanics testing of irradiated RPV steels by means of sub-sized specimens, No. 900014) project was funded under the EURATOM 2019-2020 Framework Programme NFRP-04 Innovation for Generation II and III reactors in 2020. The project started in October 2020 and will end on 30 September 2024. In addition to several European laboratories, the project also involves the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) and the Central Research Institute for Electric Power Industry of Japan (CRIEPI). From the very beginning of the European nuclear programme, the degradation of RPVs was recognised. Surveillance programmes were therefore put in place to monitor degradation. This typically involved the use of Charpy-sized test specimens (10 x 10 x 55 mm³) of representative materials, which were irradiated in monitoring capsules under representative conditions. The project will use the material from the broken Charpy specimens to test the brittleness of the reactor vessel using miniature (10 x 10 x 4 mm³) CT specimens. This project will also benefit Generation III+ and future nuclear systems. Structural materials for future nuclear systems, in particular for Generation IV and fusion systems, will have to cope with high radiation conditions. https://fractesus-h2020.eu/en STRUMAT-LTO (STRUctural MATerials research for safe Long Term Operation of LWR NPPs, No. 945272) is one of the EURATOM research framework programmes (NFRP-2019-2020-01 - Ageing phenomena of components and structures and operational issues) adopted in 2020, led by the Hungarian institute, the Energy Research Centre (HUN-REN-CER), together with the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG) of the Netherlands, together with 17 EU institutes and a research centre in Ukraine. The consortium received EU funding in 2020 and research has started, with completion planned for 2024. The aim of the project is to clarify the role of Mn and Ni alloying elements in the radiation damage of nuclear reactor vessel material.

https://strumat-lto.eu/

Peter Trampus

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