France – Czech Republic - Slovakia
Nuclear Summer School
“Long-Term Operation of a Nuclear Power Plant”
CENEN (Czech Nuclear Education Network), I2EN (International Institute of Nuclear Energy) and the French Embassies in Prague (Czech Republic) and in Bratislava (Slovakia), are organising the 2021 edition of the trilateral France-Czech Republic-Slovakia Nuclear Summer School, focused on “Long-Term Operation of a Nuclear Power Plant”.
The Summer school registration was open to masters and doctoral students from France, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
In many countries, the continuing operation of nuclear power reactors is aiming at extending their targeted lifetime up to 60 years or beyond. However, these generation II reactors were designed, engineered and built long time ago and the long-term operation of old plants needs to comply with modern constraints having improved safety regulations. Many components and parts of the plant will have to be either refurbished or replaced. Some large components like the reactor pressure vessel will not. Therefore, it is very important to fully understand the ageing mechanisms due to neutron irradiation and to corrosion in order to guarantee that the risk associated with the continuing operation will not lead to failure or any accidental event.
The 2021 trilateral France-Czech Republic-Slovakia Summer School will focus on these ageing mechanisms that a nuclear power plant will face after 30 or 40 years of full operation. The technical demonstration of life extension will then rely on how to mitigate the degradation due to time and irradiation and ensure that a refurbished plant may show even improved safety figures as compared to previous operation.
Summer School content
- Theoretical courses include behaviour of materials under neutronic irradiation, chemical corrosion and civil engineering degradation with time. Lectures will be given by nuclear experts from Czech Republic, Slovakia and France.
- Practical work will focus on how to build confidence in safety cases that will support the demonstration to safety authorities that the life extension will not lead to weakened safety operation and maintenance.
