OREANDA-NEWS. October 20, 2010. The School-Seminar, related to the use of reactor codes pass-through system for feasibility studies of modern NPPs design solutions, has finished its work at Leningrad NPP. The event was organized by IBRAE RAN (Nuclear Safety Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences) and SPbAEP.

That has been the fourth school-seminar. Until then, such events, that included reports, practical exercises and topical round table discussions, were held in Rostov and Nizhny Novgorod regions.

The seminar involved traditional discussion of issues related to reactor codes development, which held to perform simulation of main NPP equipment operation during both normal operation and emergency conditions, including severe accidents.

According to Director of SPbAEP Department of Science Vladimir Bezlepkin, the code system development, which actively involves SPbAEP, was started in our country in the late 1980’s. “Today, KORSAR, SAPFIR, KUPOL and severe emergency SOKRAT software tools have been certified,” — he explained. – “These codes are used to solve design and engineering problems and to guarantee NPP safety. With the help of the reactor code system the future plant system operation is modeled at the stage of basic design and helps identify possible errors and minimize probable damage and, consequently, reduce the pre-commissioning period.”

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approved of the program of supercomputer technology development, which creates a software and hardware complex, including new versions of integral and adapted for parallel computing codes. The program implementation will facilitate the NPP system and equipment simulation process and will add the “new quality” to the process of design and safety substantiation of nuclear power plants.

Chief of Integral Codes Laboratory of Nuclear Safety Institute (IBRAE RAN) Arkady Kiselev noted that the seminar had been held in the region of the largest industrial enterprises, which were engaged in design and construction of nuclear power plants: “The seminar was attended by representatives of more than 11 organizations from different Russian cities. More than 70% of the participants were young people. These are professionals who acquire new knowledge during traditional seminars and successfully use their experience to justify and ensure safety of Russian nuclear power industry.”