Head of Department:
Pál Szentannai
Tel: +(36-1) 392-2222/3445
e-mail: szentannai.pal@ek.hun-ren.hu
The experts of the Fuel and Reactor Materials Department investigate the behavior of nuclear fuel and different reactor components using experimental facilities, material testing methods and numerical modelling. The activities of the department focus on the topics related to VVER-440 reactors used at Paks NPP, but several projects deal with new reactor types and fusion technology. The department regularly participates in international EU, OECD and IAEA projects. Another key research area of the department is load-following operation in nuclear power plants, treated as a multivariable optimal control problem, since the associated adverse effects apply mainly to the fuel and to the reactor materials.
Research related to fuel elements is concentrated within the following relatively large research group:
The activities of the Fuel Research Group cover normal operational conditions in the reactor, design basis and severe accidents, wet and dry storage of spent fuel assemblies. The experimental works focus on the investigation of zirconium alloy cladding applied in nuclear fuel elements. Separate effect tests on the oxidation, embrittlement, hydrogen uptake, plastic deformation and burst of Zr cladding material are investigated in small scale facilities. High temperature facilities have been built for the investigation of fuel behavior during incidents and accidents. Integral tests with electrically heated fuel assemblies can be performed in the CODEX facility. Computer codes are applied for the safety analyses of fuel behavior in nuclear power plants. The development and validation of codes is highly supported by the experimental programs.
The reactor materials investigations are carried out by two independent research groups:
The Reactor Material Research Group investigates the irradiation effects of different materials using the BAGIRA irradiation channel in the Budapest Research Reactor. In order to characterize the aging of reactor vessel steel, mechanical tests and microstructure examinations are performed with specimens from the surveillance program at Paks NPP. Experimental testing and wide range of examinations are carried out with different perspective materials for fusion and fission technologies.
The Structural Integrity Research Group deals with the development of theoretical and numerical models for the safety analyses of reactor vessels and other large NPP equipment. The experts of the group developed sophisticated numerical models for the investigation of pressurized thermal shock phenomena in nuclear reactor vessels, which allows them to carry out thermomechanical and fracture mechanics calculations for the existing VVER-440 units and for the planned VVER-1200 reactors.
Building on the department’s expertise in both areas, a separate research group focuses on the optimization of unit control:
The Research Group for Power Plant Control works on the further development of the classical unit control strategies by applying modern results of control theory, and relying on a deep, system-level understanding of the controlled nuclear power plant process. While the operational requirements related to the generated electrical power arise at the generator’s side, the constraining consequences manifest at the reactor pressure vessel and the fuel elements. Between these two domains, a significant distance exists in a dynamical sense, and optimal coordination of these elements is the key task of the control system.
Our publications:
https://m2.mtmt.hu/gui2/?type=institutes&mode=browse&sel=institutes13012
Colleagues of the Fuel and Reactor Materials Department
Pál Szentannai – Head of Department
Dániel Mihály Antók
Ádám Bándi
Alexandra Éva Barta
Lajos Berzy
Berta Bürger
Dávid Cinger
Kristóf Andor Csikós
Róbert Farkas
Tamás Miklós Fekete
István Füzesy
Csaba Gáncs
Balázs Hargitai
Panka Horváth
Zoltán Hózer
Márton Király
Gyula Kovács
Attila Nagy
Tamás Novotny
Dorián Pál
Erzsébet Perez-Feró
Emese Slonszki
Péter Szabó
Benedek Szauter
Ildikó Szenthe
Dorina Szili
Borbála Takács
Barbara Alma Tatai
Levente Tatár
Péter Tóth
András Szabolcs Ványi
Bence Várszegi
Nóra Vér
