Joint European Canadian Chinese development of Small Modular Reactor Technology

ended

The ECC-SMART is oriented towards assessing the feasibility and identification of safety features of an intrinsically and passively safe small modular reactor cooled by supercritical water (SCW-SMR), taking into account specific knowledge gaps related to the future licensing process and implementation of this technology. The main objectives of the project are to define the design requirements for the future SCW-SMR technology, to develop the pre-licensing study and guidelines for the demonstration of the safety in the further development stages of the SCW-SMR concept including the methodologies and tools to be used and to identify the key obstacles for the future SMR licencing and propose a strategy for this process. To reach these objectives, specific technical knowledge gaps were defined and will be assessed to achieve the future smooth licensing and implementation of the SCW-SMR technology (especially the behaviour of materials in the SCW environment and irradiation, validation of the codes and design of the reactor core will be developed, evaluated by simulations and experimentally validated). The ECC-SMART project consortium consists of EU, Canadian and Chinese partners to use the trans-continental synergy and knowledge developed separately by each partner. The project consortium and project scope were created according to the joint research activities under the International Atomic Energy Agency, Generation-IV International Forum umbrella and as much data as possible will be taken from the already performed projects. This project brings together the best scientific teams working in the field of SCWR using the best facilities and methods worldwide, to fulfil the common vision of building an SCW-SMR in the near future.