Following the Exploratory Meeting of Experts to Define an Action Plan on the Application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Codes to Nuclear Reactor Safety Problems held in Aix-en-Provence, France, in 2002, the NEA Working Group on Analysis and Management of Accidents (WGAMA) initiated an activity focusing on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in nuclear reactor safety (NRS). The meeting also defined near-term objectives:
In the first instance, three writing groups were formed at the end of 2002 to produce reports on the first three activities. Further activities have been defined in subsequent years creating task groups for organising workshops, performing code-data benchmarks and revising reports.
Ongoing activities
CFD for Nuclear Reactor Safety Phase 6 – Supporting an enlarged use
Thermal mixing and fatigue in a T-junction with a dead leg – benchmarking and experimental validation of CFD
Reports providing guidance on CFD application to NRS
The three initial writing groups began to publish their work as CSNI reports in 2007. These have been subsequently updated (leading to new versions published in 2014). A fourth group was added to examine uncertainty quantification methods:
| NEA/CSNI/R(2022)10 |
Best Practice Guidelines for the Use of CFD in Nuclear Reactor Safety Applications – Revision (forthcoming) |
| Best Practice Guidelines for the use of CFD in Nuclear Reactor Safety Applications - revision |
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| Best Practice Guidelines for the use of CFD in Nuclear Reactor Safety Applications |
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| Review of Uncertainty Methods for Computational Fluid Dynamics Application to Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics |
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| NEA/CSNI/R(2020)3Requirements for CFD-Grade Experiments for Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics |
Requirements for CFD-Grade Experiments for Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics |
| Extension of CFD Codes Application to Two-Phase Flow Safety Problems - Phase 3 |
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| NEA/CSNI/R(2014)13/REV1 |
Extension of CFD Codes Application to Two-Phase Flow Safety Problems |
| Assessment of CFD Codes for Nuclear Reactor Safety Problems - revision 2 |
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| Extension of CFD Codes Application to Two-Phase Flow Safety Problems - Phase 2 |
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| Assessment of CFD Codes for Nuclear Reactor Safety Problems |
In addition to the aforementioned reports, there are NEA reports available that cover topics of more general interest.
| NEA PUBLICATION 7615 |
Technical Opinion Paper on the Use of CFD for Nuclear Safety (forthcoming) |
CFD benchmarks
Benchmark exercises have been organised requiring identification of a suitable CFD-quality experiment, full specification of the analysis to be performed in blind conditions (i.e., no knowledge of the experimental results) then compilation of results for comparison.
| NEA/CSNI/R(2023)2 |
The fluid-structure interaction (FSI) benchmark based on OKBM experiments to validate coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural dynamics (CSD) Calculations (forthcoming) |
| NEA/CSNI/R(2020)7Cold Leg Mixing Computational Fluid Dynamics – Uncertainty Quantification (CLM-UQ) Benchmark Results |
Cold Leg Mixing CFD – UQ Benchmark Results |
| OECD/NEA CFD–UQ Benchmark Exercise: CFD prediction and Uncertainty Quantification of a GEMIX mixing layer test |
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| The Nuclear Energy Agency/Paul Scherrer Institute Computational Fluid Dynamics Benchmark Exercise |
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| Report of the OECD/NEA-KAERI Rod Bundle CFD Benchmark Exercise |
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| Report of the OECD/NEA - Vattenfall T-Junction Benchmark Exercise |
CFD workshops
Biennial workshops were inaugurated in 2006 aiming to create a forum for numerical analysts and experimenters for exchanging information on nuclear safety issues covering single- and multi-phase flows. Submitted papers are peer reviewed by members of the scientific committee.
| OECD/NEA CSNI Virtual CFD4NRS-8 Workshop |
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| Workshop on Experimental Validation and Application of CFD and CMFD Codes to Nuclear Reactor Safety Issues, CFD4NRS-7 |
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| Computational Fluid Dynamics for Nuclear Reactor Safety Applications-6(CFD4NRS-6) Workshop Proceedings 13-15 September 2016 Cambridge USA |
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| Computational Fluid Dynamics for Nuclear Reactor Safety-5 (CFD4NRS-5) - Workshop Proceedings, 9-11 September 2014, Zurich, Switzerland |
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| Proceedings of the CFD for Nuclear Reactor Safety Applications (CFD4NRS-4) Workshop, 10-12 September 2012, Daejeon Convention Centre (DCC), Yuseong, Daejeon, Korea |
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| Proceedings of the Workshop on CFD for Nuclear Reactor Safety Applications (CF4NRS-3) September 14-16, 2010, Bethesda North Marriott & Conference Center, Bethesda, MD, USA |
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| Proceedings of the Workshop on Experiments and CFD Codes Application to Nuclear Reactor Safety (XCFD4NRS) - Grenoble, France, 10-12 September 2008 - Full presentations available at www.nea.fr/html/nsd/csni/cfd/workshops/XCFD4NRS/index.html |
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| Proceedings of the Workshop on Benchmarking of CFD Codes for Application to Nuclear Reactor Safety (CFD4NRS). Garching, 5-7 September 2006. Also available at http://www.oecd-nea.org/nsd/reports/2007/nea6298-benchmarking.html |
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| Proceedings of an exploratory meeting of experts to define an action plan on the application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to nuclear reactor safety problems - Aix en provence - 15-16 May 2002 |
After each workshop, a selection of papers may appear in a special issue of Nuclear Engineering and Design, e.g.:
WGAMA / CFD members' area (password protected)
*If you are interested in obtaining a copy of a report that is not yet available online, please feel free to contact the NEA Secretariat for further assistance.
