INTRODUCTION. BACKGROUND
Since the mid 1980s, a considerable group of Spanish organizations, led by CSN, have promoted collaborative efforts aiming at the assimilation, improvement and application of thermalhydrulic codes to the Spanish nuclear power plants (NPPs). Such collaborations have been established through various projects, grouped under what is called ‘CAMP-Spain program’.
Each one of these projects have made it possible to increase and enhance the availability of models for the Spanish NPPs with a rising validation level. Furthermore, they are currently achieving to maintain a country-wide community of experts in thermalhydraulics (TH) and in the use of the latest TH simulation codes, having the capabilities of upgrading their practices and skills at the same rate as that of the international community.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION PROGRAMS
These collaborations have been promoted by the successive CAMP (Code Assessment and Maintenace Program) agreements between CSN and the U.S. regulatory body, USNRC, which provide access to the TH simulation codes developed by said institution, i.e. RELAP5 and TRAC/P codes for PWR NPPs, TRAC/B for BWR –initially- and TRACE, currently. CAMP is the USNRC program aiming at the Verification and Validation (V&V) of these codes, as well as the international collaboration in the maintenance of the codes and the improvement of their features.
Independently of the program above, since the early 2000s, the CSN has been taking part in various NEA/OCDE programs in experimental thermalhydraulics. These international collaborations have been demanded by successive SESAR/SFEAR (The Senior Expert Group on Safety Research / Support Facilities for Existing and Advanced Reactors), reports, edited by NEA/OCDE. Such reports, among other contributions, identify key research facilities (such as thermalhydraulic experimental facilities) that are essential to maintain in order not to lose neither the knowledge nor the infrastructure required to support nuclear safety. Among the possible actions proposed by NEA/OCDE, the CSN has signed over these years different agreements concerning thermalhydraulic experimental programs carried out in the following facilities: ROSA (by JAEA, the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency), PKL (by Framatome), ATLAS (by KAERI, the South Korean organization for nuclear research), and recently RBHT (by USNRC).
CAMP – España JOINT PROGRAM
Aiming at better tracking and explotaition of these programs and at making emphasis in the analysis of the applicability of the results to the Spanish NPPs, the CSN has promoted the participation of all the interested spanish stakeholders. All of the above has been channeled through the so-called CAMP – España program, which currently comprises the efforts of the Spanish NPPs, 4 Spanish engineering firms, linked to the nuclear sector (Empresarios Agrupados, Tecnatom, IDOM, NFQ) and 6 groups from national universities UPM, UPV and UPC, and the CSN. This program has a long tradition in the Spanish nuclear industry, having been continuously active since the 90s decade.
PARTICIPANTS. CONTACTS.
The individuals listed below are currently representatives of the involved organizations:
- MEDASEGI Group, from the UPV Chemical and Nuclear engineering Department, professor Sebastián Martorell (smartore@iqn.upv.es)
- SENUBIO Group, from the UPV Industrial, Radiophysics and Environmental Safety, professor Gumersindo Verdú (gverdu@iqn.upv.es)
- TIN Group, from the UPM Institute for Research in Energy Engineering, professor Alberto Escrivá (aescriva@iqn.upv.es)
- UPM Department of Energy and Fuels Group, professor César Queral (cesar.queral@upm.es)
- “Advanced Nuclear Technologies” (ANT) Group, from the UPC Physics Department, professor Carme Pretel (carme.pretel@upc.es)
- Nuclear Engineering Division from the UPM Energy Engineering Department Group, professor Gonzalo Jiménez (gonzalo.jimenez@upm.es)
- Tecnatom Working Group, Antonio Expósito (aexposito@tecnatom.es)
- IDOM Working Group, Patricio Alberto (patricio.alberto@idom.com)
- EEAA Working Group, Marta Rodríguez De Vicente (mrdevicente@empre.es)
- Grupo de trabajo de NFQ Solutions, Amparo Soler (amparo.soler@nfq.es)
- CNAT Working Group, Jose María Posada (jmpb@cnat.es)
- Iberdrola Generación Working Group, Ignacio Collazo (icni@iberdrola.es)
- ANAV Working Group, Ismael Sol (isol@anacnv.com)
- CSN Working group, Rafael Mendizabal (rmsanz@csn.es) and Miguel Sánchez (msp@csn.es)
