Initial ASCOM project meeting and 8th meeting of ASTEC Users Club, 7. - 11. October 2018, Aix-en-Provence, France

ASTEC is a system computer code that enables the simulation of all phases of a potential severe accident in a light-water nuclear power plant, from the occurrence of a loss-of-coolant accident, through the degradation and melting of the reactor core, up to the behaviour of hydrogen and fission products in the containment. The program is developed by the Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) from France. At the JSI, the ASTEC program was used to perform a number of simulations since 2005, mainly in the framework of the SARNET project (Severe Accident Research Network of Excellence, 2004-2008 in 2009-2013) and CESAM project (Code for European Severe Accident Management, 2013-2017).

After the end of the CESAM project, the IRSN organized the ASCOM project, which will take place without funding from the European Commission, and invited the users of the ASTEC Program from previous projects to participate. The ASCOM project started on 1st October 2018 and will last until 30th September 2022. Although the project is not funded, the JSI's interest in participating is in access to the ASTEC program free of license fees, including user support. In the framework of the project, the JSI will mainly perform simulations of hydrogen combustion in the containment experimental facilities. The program will also be used to participate in the comparative calculation of the simulation of the accident in the generic model of the containment facility, which is carried out within the SAMHYCO-NET project (also in the IRSN organization). And, last but not least, with the ASTEC program, we will continue simulating the potential loss of coolant accidents and losses of cooling in the spent fuel pool of the nuclear power plant in Krško.

Since 2006 IRSN has been occasionally organizing meetings of ASTEC Users Club (approximately every two years), where ASTEC users present the results of simulations (carried out within or outside of European projects). At this meeting, dr. Ivo Kljenak presented the simulations of hydrogen combustion in the expanded experimental device THAI, which is located at Becker Technologies (Germany), in the presentation: "Simulation of THAI Hydrogen Combustion Experiments". The performed simulations represent the continuation of the JSI research within the CESAM project.

The initial meeting of the ASCOM project and the 8th meeting of the ASTEC Users Club, organized by the Institute of Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) from France from 7th to 11th October 2018 in Aix-en-Provence (France), was attended by the dr. Ivo Kljenak from the Department of Reactor Engineering IJS.