Long-Term Preservation of Knowledge in the Area of Nuclear Thermal-hydraulics. The new STRESA Database.

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) carried out important projects in the area of thermal-hydraulics (TH) and severe accidents (SA). In the area of Integral Test Facilities (ITF) the JRC LOBI facility and its project (1970-1994) produced data of experiments simulating different accidents and transients in Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR). The JRC was engaged in relevant SA experimental projects: The FARO and KROTOS facilities (1991-2000) simulated Melt Fuel Coolant Interaction (MFCI) phenomena, considering either in-vessel and ex-vessel experiments and potential situations for steam explosions. The STORM facility simulated experiments in the area of aerosol transport. The projects produced large amount of experimental data important to understand the related thermal-hydraulic and severe accident phenomena. In the same way, experimental data became of essential use in the area of system/severe accident code assessment and for the development and improvement of analytical models included in the codes used in safety of Light Water Reactors (LWR). The STRESA (Storage of Thermal REactor Safety Analysis Data) database (DB) was developed by the JRC Ispra site in the year 2000 to store LOBI, FARO, KROTOS and STORM experimental data. Later on, the STRESA database was transferred to and maintained by JRC Petten site. The Nuclear Reactor Safety Assessment Unit (NRSA) of the JRC Petten was engaged during the past 2 years in the design and development of a new STRESA tool. The development of this new STRESA tool was completed and published on-line at the URL: http://stresa.jrc.ec.europa.eu/. The target was to keep the core features of the original STRESA structure but incorporating communication tools broadly used nowadays to align the capabilities of the new information system with the web 2.0. The relevance of issues related with the administration of information systems such as information security, user's data protection or scientific data management has increased in the last years requiring new resources, processes and skills that had to be developed. The future of STRESA is also in preparation in view to be enlarged to host essential thermal-hydraulics and severe accident data coming from the most important European laboratories. The objective of the paper is to describe, disseminate and promote the usage of the new STRESA DB and to demonstrate the long-term importance of well-maintained experimental databases. The role of STRESA is also a crucial point in maintaining and transferring nuclear knowledge from senior to young generations in the area of nuclear safety.

PLA FREIXA Patricia;  TANARRO COLODRON Jorge;  AMMIRABILE Luca;  STRUCIC Miodrag;  WASTIN Franck; 

2016-12-14

Croatian Nuclear Society

JRC101964

http://www.nuclear-option.org/,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC101964,