A project presented by France’s Framatome and Czech companies ÚJV Řež and Research Centre Řež has been awarded €1.2m in funding under a bilateral call for projects by the French National Research Agency (ANR – Agence Nationale de la Recherche) and the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA ČR Technologická Agentura České Republiky).
Applications were open to nuclear collaborative research and innovation projects. The winning project, EVANS (Experimental Validation of Advanced Neutronics codes for Safety), envisages development of an innovative experimental benchmark and validation of a state-of-the-art neutronics codes for light water reactors. The codes are used to simulate the nuclear reactions inside a reactor core and play a key role in predicting the overall behaviour of the plant.
The partners in the EVANS project seek to strengthen collaboration between France and the Czech Republic in the field of nuclear power. This project serves as a key stepping stone toward expanding research cooperation between the two countries. It follows a 2023 memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Framatome, ÚJV Řež and Research Centre Řež under which the ÚJV Group and Framatome are cooperating on various topics related to VVER and PWR reactors and fuel design development in the Czech Republic.
“We are proud to work with our Czech partners in advancing and strengthening nuclear research and innovation in Europe” said Lionel Gaiffe, Senior Executive Vice President, Fuel Business Unit at Framatome. “The EVANS project highlights the needs for common R&D utilising unique research infrastructure as the LR-0 reactor to enhance the nuclear safety,” said Martin Ruščák, CEO of ÚJV Řež.
The LR-0 research reactor is a 5kW light-water, zero-power, pool-type reactor at the Řež Research Centre (CV Řež – Centrum výzkumu Řež). It serves as an experimental reactor for measuring neutron-physical characteristics of VVER type reactors (Temelín, Dukovany and other Russian-design reactors). It provides a scientific and technological facility for experiments in active zone physics and shielding of light water VVER experiments related to the storage of used fuel from NPPs and offers advice to the nuclear power industry.
