Advanced Technologies for Water Cooled Reactors


WCR

Water Cooled Reactors (WCRs) have been the cornerstone of the nuclear industry in the 20th century. As we move along in the 21st century and the nuclear community worldwide looks into the future with the development of advanced and innovative reactor designs and fuel cycles, it is clear that WCRs will continue to play an important role in this future. Although it is possible to learn a lot from the many reactor-years of experience and know-how accumulated by the safe operation of WCRs worldwide, this is still a young technology and there are numerous opportunities for innovation and to expand the use of WCRs beyond the current applications. Furthermore, it is also expected that WCRs will become a bridge towards promising future nuclear technologies that are not quite commercially feasible just yet, such as FRs.

WCR

This project serves as the IAEA center of excellence on technology advances for achieving competitive economics and reliability in future Water Cooled Reactors, while meeting stringent safety requirements. Member States and the IAEA rely on this project to obtain accurate, current and balanced information about the latest developments in water cooled reactor technology worldwide. The project also fosters and coordinates technology advances by facilitating collaborative research and development in key areas of common interest. It also provides state of the art technology training materials for the next generation of nuclear professionals.

WCR

Areas of interest for international collaboration are identified by Member States through participation in the IAEA Nuclear Energy Department's Technical Working Groups on Advanced Technologies for LWRs and HWRs (the TWG-LWR and the TWG-HWR). The TWG-LWR and TWG-HWR are groups of experts that provide advice and support for programme implementation, reflecting a global network of excellence and expertise in the area of advanced technologies for Water Cooled Reactors.



Technical Meetings and Conferences


2013

Date Meeting Location
25-28 Feb Fourth Workshop for the ICSP on Integral Water Cooled Reactor Designs Pisa, Italy
22-25 Apr Consultants Meeting on Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Accident and Water Cooled Reactor (WCR) Technology Development to Cope with Fukushima-type Accidents (restricted access) Tokyo, Japan
18-20 Jun Meetings of the Technical Working Groups on Advanced Technologies for LWRs and HWRs (TWG-LWR and TWG-HWR) IAEA, Vienna,
Austria
24-28 Jun Technical Meeting on Technology Assessment for Embarking Countries IAEA, Vienna,
Austria
2-4 Jul First Research Coordination Meeting on Prediction of Axial and Radial Creep in HWR Pressure Tubes IAEA, Vienna,
Austria
17-19 Jul First Research Coordination Meeting on Application of CFD Codes for the Design of Advanced WCRs IAEA, Vienna,
Austria
22-26 Jul Technical Meeting on Materials and Chemistry for SCWRs IAEA, Vienna,
Austria
27-30 Aug Technical Meeting on Prediction of Hydromechanical Behaviour in Reactor Core with Plate-Type Fuel Assembly Corvallis, USA
30 Sep - 4 Oct Joint KAERI-IAEA Course on Natural Circulation Phenomena and Passive Safety Systems in Advanced Water Cooled Reactors KAERI, Daejeon
Korea

2012

Date Meeting Location
28-29 Jan Third Meeting of the International Scientific Programme Committee in preparation of the FR13 Conference IAEA, Vienna,
Austria
27-30 Mar Third Workshop of ICSP on Integral PWR Design Natural Circulation Flow Stability and Thermo-hydraulic Coupling of Containment and Primary System during Accidents Daejeon, Korea
23-26 Apr
restricted
access		 Consultants Meeting on Applying Lessons Learned from Fukushima Accident to Water Cooled Reactor (WCR) Technology Development IAEA, Vienna,
Austria
18-20 Jun Technical Meetings of TWG-LWR and TWG-HWR IAEA, Vienna,
Austria
 23-27 Jul Training Course on Natural Circulation Phenomena and Passive Safety Systems in Advanced Water Cooled Reactors Oregon State University, USA

Collaborative Research Projects

International Collaborative Standard Problems (ICSP)

International Collaborative Assessments

  • NE Series on Best Practices for HWR operational excellence

  • Construction Technologies for New Nuclear Plants

  • Reactor Technology Assessment for Near Term Deployment

  • NE Series on Role of HWR for efficient use of fissionable resources

  • Use of CFD Codes for Modelling, Simulation and Design of Advanced Water Cooled Reactors

  • Use of Thorium in existing and future HWRs & LWRs

  • Advanced Reactor Physics for HWRs

Databases

Educational Resources

Publications