Nuclear Power Technology Development
Joint ICTP-IAEA Course on Science and Technology of
Supercritical Water Cooled Reactors (SCWRs)
27 June - 1 July 2011
ICTP, Trieste, Italy
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in co-operation with the IAEA organized a Course on the Science and Technology of Supercritical Water Cooled Reactors (SCWRs), held at ICTP in Trieste, Italy, from 27 June till 1 July 2011. The training course provided a group of international participants with a comprehensive and up-to-date review of SCWR science and technology.
The SCWR is an innovative water-cooled reactor concept which uses supercritical-pressure water as reactor coolant. This makes it possible to achieve high thermal efficiency, and simplified systems, and so promises to improve plant economics. Increasing operating pressure and steam temperature is a natural evolution from conventional water-cooled reactors as seen in fossil power technology. About 20 Member States have been involved in research and development of the new concept.
The one-week course consisted of 28 lectures, including:
- SCWR concepts under development;
- neutronics and core designs;
- thermodynamics of systems at supercritical pressure;
- thermal-hydraulics of supercritical fluid;
- safety requirements and safety systems;
- materials requirements and candidate materials;
- water chemistry and others.
The course was attended by 22 participants from 18 Member States. The participants ranged from graduate students to university professors and from engineers to regulators.
The participants also had team discussions. After attending several lectures, the participants were separated into five teams and given topics for discussions relating to the lectures. Finally, they summarized the discussions and made the presentations on the last day. The participants were very active in the lectures and especially during the team discussions, which helped them to achieve a deeper understanding of the contents of the lectures and enabled close collaboration among team members.
Participants and lecturers at the joint ICTP-IAEA Course on Science and Technology of
Supercritical Water Cooled Reactors (SCWRs) in Trieste, Italy, in June 2011
Please contact NENP Technology Development Section - Contact Point if you have any questions.