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2022

December 2022

Transfer to the RUB Data Center
In addition to the numerous Windows and Linux workstations for simple simulations and pre/ post processing, our newly installed high performance computer supports highly parallelized computations.
With the transfer of the HPC (High Performance Computing) cluster to the new RUB data center, our cluster was connected to a redundant network and power supply.
Consisting of four nodes with a total of 192 processor cores, 768 GB RAM and a fully mirrored storage system of 120 TB capacity, complex simulations are performed in the shortest possible time. An expansion of the computing capacity is planned for 2023.


October 2022

3rd Consortium Meeting of the EU-project AMHYCO
On October 27th-28th, the 3rd Meeting for the EU-project “AMHYCO” took place at Forschungszentrum Jülich.
Finally, after two years of the project, this was the first in-person meeting.
The international partners presented and discussed the current project results and ongoing work. In the context of presentations by the PhD students, Miriam Müer and Johannes Hoffrichter from
PSS had the opportunity to present their current research status and get helpful input from the experienced project partners.

10 / 2022

Sheffield application phase has started!
The application phase for a study exchange at the University of Sheffield has started.
Please send your application by e-mail to pss@pss.rub.de until 31.01.2023.
Further information can be found on the poster or in the PSS Moodle course
Studienaufenthalt an der University of Sheffield.

We look forward to your application!

Sheffield 2022


10 / 2022

Kick-off Meeting in Bologna
Safety Analysis of SMR with Passive Mitigation Strategies – Severe Accident (SASPAM-SA)


With the start of the EU project SASPAM-SA to October, the kick-off meeting was held in Bologna from 12.10.2022 - 13.10.2022.
The 23 project partners were represented on site, not only to have lively discussions on site, but also to maintain existing contacts and to establish new ones.
PSS was represented in Bologna by Julia Krieger and Christoph Bratfisch. Gregor Stahlberg and Marco Koch participated online in the meeting.
Special thanks to Fulvio Mascari and his team for organizing the KoM! PSS is looking forward to the next four years!

10 / 2022

PSS welcomes participants in the voluntary scientific year
The Voluntary Scientific Year (FWJ) is a program for school graduates interested in studying.
Participants have the opportunity to work on research projects and get an insight into student life on the RUB campus.
For the first time PSS participates in the program this year and is happy to welcome the new member of the team since 04.10.


September 2022

27th International QUENCH Workshop, September 27-29, 2022, Karlsruhe, Germany
This year, for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the QUENCH workshop was held again as a live event. PSS was represented by the employees Christoph Bratfisch and Gregor Stahlberg. As usual, the three-day expert meeting took place at the KIT in Karlsruhe. The latest findings in the field of cladding tube oxidation, fuel rod failure and quenching processes were presented and discussed. A special focus was on the current research on Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF). With the presentation: "Preliminary simulation results of the experiments QUENCH-L3HT and QUENCH-ATF-1 regarding high-temperature oxidation mechanisms using the system code AC²" by Gregor Stahlberg, the current research results of the PSS were successfully presented in this area. By maintaining and building up contacts, the ongoing research work in this field can be excellently supported.

PSS would like to thank Martin Steinbrück, Mirco Große and Juri Stuckert as well as the whole QUENCH team for this outstanding and traditional meeting!

09 / 22

ASCOM Closing Meeting & 11th ASTEC Users' Club Meeting, 27-30 September 2022, Fontenay-aux-Roses
The ASCOM Closing Meeting and the 11th ASTEC Users' Club Meeting took place this year in Fontenay-aux-Roses at the IRSN.
With this, a nice, successful and fruitful project comes to an end. Over three days, findings from the ASCOM project, current work on the validation of ASTEC and power plant scale analyses with ASTEC were presented on an international stage. At the meetings, 19 different institutions from 14 different countries were represented.
On the PSS side, Maximilian Hoffmann and Juliane Neuhaus participated, presenting simulations on the Phébus FPT-4 trial and plant calculations on a PWR 1300 Konvoi.
The titles of the presentations are:

  • Simulation of the in-pile experiment Phébus FPT-4 with ASTEC V2.2
    (Juliane Neuhaus)
  • ASTEC V2.2 simulations of postulated accident sequences applied to a generic KONVOI PWR
    (Maximilian Hoffmann, Gregor Stahlberg)

Furthermore, a paper by Jan Peschel entitled "Simulation of the bundle test QUENCH-07 with the Severe Accident Analysis Code ASTEC V2.2" was included in the proceedings.
At the end, another great was released into a well-deserved retirement, Patrick Chatelard!

We wish him only the best for his future!


09 / 22

Lecture Announcement Nuclear Power Plant Technology
If you would like to listen to the lecture, please enroll in the Moodle course "Nuclear Power Plant Engineering (137130-WiSe22/23)".
PW: reket2223.

The lecture always takes place on Fridays
from 10:15 - 13:30 in IC 03/441 and will start on
and starts from 14.10.2022.

09 / 22

NUTHOS-13
September 5-10, 2022, virtual meeting
The 13th International Symposium on Thermal Hydraulics, Operation and Safety of Nuclear Reactors NUTHOS-13 took place virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. PSS was represented by Miriam Müer, Jonas Rehrmann and David Sonntag.
The theme of the conference was the safe and economical operation of currently operating nuclear power plants, the environmentally friendly decommissioning of old plants, and the development of innovative concepts for the next generation of reactors.
The following work was presented at NUTHOS-13: 

  • Analyses of the combustible gas release into the containment during a SBO and a SBLOCA scenario in a generic PWR using the code package AC²
    (Miriam Müer)
  • Analysis of Venturi Scrubber Approaches regarding different Nozzle Geometries
    (Jonas Rehrmann)
  • Analyses of Natural Convection Heat Transfer and the Resulting Thermal Stratification Inside Water-Filled Vessels Using the CFD-Code OpenFOAM
    (David Sonntag)

July 2022

OECD/NEA-Project FACE
PSS has been consulted as technical expert from Germany on the OECD/NEA project FACE (Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident Information Collection and Evaluation).
The four-year project, in which partners from twelve countries and the European Commission are working together, began with the kick-off meeting on July 11-13.

June 2022

KERNTECHNIK 2022, 21.-22. Juni, Leipzig
KERNTECHNIK 2022 in Leipzig brought together the various players in the industry as well as research and development through its wide-ranging programme.
This year, PSS participated in the conference with Tobias Jankowski, Nicole Richter, René Vennemann, Jonas Rehrmann, Paul Fuchs, Marco K. Koch, Johannes Hoffrichter, Florian Krist, Gregor Stahlberg, Miriam Müer, Christoph Bratfisch, Julia Krieger and David Sonntag (from left). Current findings of the national research projects APVOR, AVAMO and VASiL as well as the EU project AMHYCO were presented through papers in the proceedings and talks in the technical sessions as well as in the Young Scientist's Wokshop (YSW: learn more). 
We are happy to congratulate Julia Krieger for the 2nd place at the YSW!

The following papers were presented by the working group:

  • Analysis of the AC2 condensation model basis using simulations of the PPP experimental plant
    (Paul Fuchs)
  • Calculation of Decomposition Properties of Silicate Concrete and Applying them in Simulations of Several Experiments with AC²-COCOSYS
    (Maximilian Hoffmann per Videovortrag)
  • Validation of AC2 - COCOSYS regarding light gas stratification build-up and dissolution
    (Johannes Hoffrichter)
  • Simulation of the OSU-MASLWR test facility with the system code AC²
    (Julia Krieger)
  • Analysis of the AC² Model Basis regarding the Fission Product Release by Simulations of Phébus Experiments
    (Florian Krist)
  • Analysis of severe accident scenarios in the primary circuit of a generic pressurized water reactor in the frame of plant calculations for evaluating the program system AC²
    (Miriam Müer)

The paper "CFD Simulations on an Up-Scaled Experiment and Determination of the Heat Transfer Coefficient for High Rayleigh Number Natural Convection in Water" with contribution by David Sonntag was presented by Zhi Yang, GRS. For a complete overview of the publications of our research group, please refer to the 
PSS publication list.

In his new function as chair of the Young Generation (YG) of the Kerntechnische Gesellschaft (KTG) e. V., Florian Krist presented current activities of the YG within the framework of the general meeting of the KTG.
Prof. Koch is a member of the program committee and is committed to support of young scientists as a member of the YSW jury.



06 / 22

FISA 2022, EURADWASTE 2022 and SNETP Forum 2022, 30.5 – 03.06.2022, Lyon (Frankreich)
10th Edition of Euratom research and training conferences on fission safety of reactor systems (FISA 2022) and radioactive waste management (EURADWASTE 2022)
Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform Forum 2022 (SNETP Forum 2022)

The 10th edition of the Euratom conferences FISA and EURWADWASTE, organized by the French Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Commission, and the SNETP Forum 2022 took place this year in Lyon, France.
The conferences focused on the presentation of the forestry steps of currently running projects as well as the discussion about the state of research and innovation in the field of nuclear applications. Furthermore, national, European as well as international challenges and possibilities of the use of nuclear energy were presented.
Due to the topicality as well as the fast advancing development in the field of Small Modular Reactors (SMR), SNETPFORUM 2022 was of special interest for PSS. Interesting and recent research papers were presented, addressing modeling of passive safety systems, studies on potential accidents, European trends and much more.
With the participation of staff member Julia Krieger, the knowledge and trends can be incorporated into ongoing as well as future work at PSS.

May 2022

ERMSAR 2022, 16.-19. Mai, Karlsruhe
10th European Review Meeting on Severe Accidents Research (ERMSAR)

IAt the 10th ERMSAR (European Review Meeting on Severe Accidents Research) conference in Karlsruhe PSS attended with Julia Krieger, Florian Krist, Miriam Müer and Jonas Rehrmann.
Under the topic "Severe Accident Research Eleven Years after the Fukushima Accident", national and international participants from research institutions and industry discussed current research work.
The focus of the conference was on in- and ex-vessel phenomena concerning fission product release, containment behavior and hydrogen hazards up to innovative reactor concepts.
Due to the departure before the Technical Visits as well as the long-standing cooperation between KIT and PSS, the working group was invited by Dr. Gaus-Liu, head of the working group "Severe Accident Research" at KIT, to visit the LIVE test facility (investigation of melt behavior) as well as the experimental results of the MOCKA experiments (investigation of molten-core-concrete interaction). We would like to express our warm thanks for this impressive visit and the valuable cooperation!


March 2022

Voluntary Scientific Year
PSS offers prospective students the opportunity to complete a Voluntary Scientific Year (Freiwilliges Wissenschaftliches Jahr, FWJ) from October, 1 2022 and become part of our team.

The FWJ is a one-year educational offer of the RUB engineering faculties - comparable to the German Federal Volunteer Service (Bundesfreiwilligendienst). Prospective students have the opportunity to work on exciting research projects and at the same time attend any lectures and seminars where places are available.

During the FWJ at PSS, you will join us to work on current research questions and gain insight into the diverse, challenging and interdisciplinary activities of reactor safety research.

For more information and details about the application, please visit https://studium.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/de/freiwilliges-wissenschaftliches-jahr-der-rub.
Further questions? Your contact person for questions about the application process is Manuela Kötter (pss@pss.rub.de).
For any questions on scientific topics, please contact Florian Krist (krist@pss.rub.de).

03 / 22

NURETH-19
March 6-11 2022, Virtual Meeting

At the 19th Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics conference NURETH-19, which took place virtually this year, PSS was represented by Julia Krieger, Florian Krist, Jan Peschel, Tobias Jankowski and David Sonntag.

The NURETH 19 Conference is one of the most important gatherings of experts in nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics and related topical areas. This event is held every two years in different locations in North America, Europe and Asia.

The following papers were presented at NURETH-19:

  • Simulation of heat transfer in helically coiled heat exchangers with the system code AC 2 - ATHLET
    (Julia Krieger)
    Analysis and validation of fission product release and distribution by simulations of Phébus FPT1 and FPT3 with AC 2 
    (Florian Krist)
  • Simulation of debris bed cooling within the DEBRIS test facility conducted with the severe accident analysis codes ASTEC V2.1 and COCOMO
    (Jan Peschel)
  • Simulation of wet resuspension phenomena during venting operation in a large scale test vessel
    (Tobias Jankowski)
  • Development of a heat transfer correlation for High-Rayleigh-Number free convection at vertical, heated SMR containment surfaces in water filled pools
    (David Sonntag)

February 2022

Lecture Announcement Reactor Theory

If you want to listen to the lecture, please enroll in the Moodle course
"Reactor Theory (136140-SoSe22)"
or request to be included in the course.

The lecture always takes place on Tuesdays from
10:00 - 14:00 in the IC 04/414-442
and starts from 05.04.2022.

All other information will be posted in the Moodle course.

January 2022

We congratulate Tobias on his great Doctorate!
The working group congratulates Tobias Jankowski
on the successful completion of his doctorate on 12.01.2022 with the title:
"Development of an approach for the determination of droplet entrainment from gas-flowed liquid templates"

Archive 2021

2021