Thermal-Hydraulics measurement and sensing techniques for Nuclear Applications

新兴的新一代核反应堆，小型和先进的模块化反应堆(SMR/AMR)，有望为推动英国未来无碳能源生产的很大一部分提供灵活且具有成本效益的选择。这些系统将需要新的材料、冷却剂成分和操作制度，在部署这些新系统之前，所有这些都需要得到很好的理解。因此，核创新与研究咨询委员会(NIRAB)建议英国政府建立一个国家热液设施(NTHF)。威尔士政府Ser Cymru基金计划旨在通过招募国际领先的研究人员和团队来扩大威尔士的研究基地。通过这一计划，BU获得了650万GB的资金，用于建立比尔·李教授领导下的核未来研究所(NFI)。一个新小组的重点研究主题之一是核反应堆设计和热工水力学。Marcus Dahlfors博士领导了了解反应堆运行特性的工作，并在2020年春季获得了33万GB的拨款，建立了热工水力开放式研究(THOR)试验性设施，作为威尔士第一个国家研究设施-英国国家热工水力设施的前身。位于北威尔士安格尔西的梅奈科学园(M-SPARC)已成为NTHF的主要候选地点，也是正在开发Thor的地方，设想在NTHF之前将其作为仪器、技术和方法的支持设施。SMR概念代表了基于现有轻水反应堆技术的接近市场的系统。对于AMR，已经提出了新的冷却和燃料方法，以进一步提高安全性和燃料利用率，但进步需要更高的举证责任。因此，雷神工厂采取了最初开发中压水回路的方法，以支持SMR相关的热液循环(T/H)研究和开发，并选择在适当的时候扩展为一个通用的NFI T/H实验室，以满足先进的高压SMR和AMR回路的需求。NFI目前正在与GB 2M热液升级和增强型研究(ThUnder)竞标国家核用户设施(NNUF)2a期赠款，该拨款将于2021年初宣布。我们对现有和拟议项目的明确目标是在该地区提供必要的技能提升，并总体上促进英国SMR和AMR技术的发展，以应对碳排放。

The emerging new generation of nuclear reactors, small and advanced modular reactors (SMR/AMR), promise a flexible and cost-efficient option for propelling a significant portion of future carbon-free energy production in the UK. These systems will require new materials, coolant compositions and operating regimes, all of which need to be well understood before these new systems may be deployed. Therefore, the Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board (NIRAB) has recommended the UK government to construct a National Thermal-Hydraulics Facility (NTHF).The Welsh Government Ser Cymru funding scheme aims to grow the research base in Wales by recruiting internationally leading researchers and group. Through this scheme BU has been awarded £6.5m to establish the Nuclear Future Institute (NFI) under Prof Bill Lee. One of the focal research themes of a new group is nuclear reactor design and thermal-hydraulics. Dr Marcus Dahlfors leads the work on understanding the operating characteristics of reactors and in spring 2020 won a £330k grant to establish a pilot Thermal-Hydraulics Open-access Research (THOR) facility as a precursor to the first national research facility in Wales - the UK National Thermal-Hydraulics Facility.Menai Science Park (M-SParc) on Anglesey, North Wales, has emerged as the primary candidate site for the NTHF, and this is also where THOR is being developed, envisioned as a supporting facility for instrumentation, techniques and methods in advance of the NTHF. SMR concepts represent near to market systems based on existing light water reactor technology. For AMRs, novel cooling and fuel approaches have been proposed to provide further improvements in safety and fuel utilisation, but with advances demanding a higher burden of proof. The THOR facility therefore takes the approach of initially developing a moderate pressure water loop to support SMR related Thermal-Hydraulics (T/H) research and development initially, with the option for expansion into a general NFI T/H laboratory that will cater for advanced high-pressure SMR as well as AMR loops when opportune. The NFI is currently competing with the £2M Thermal-Hydraulics Upgraded and Enhanced Research (THUNDER) bid for the National Nuclear User Facility (NNUF) Phase 2a grant, which is to be announced in early 2021. Our explicit aim with the existing and proposed projects is to provide necessary up-skilling within the region and to generally boost UK SMR and AMR technology development to tackle carbon emissions.