In February 2017 in Moscow (Russia), Jean-Christophe Niel, Director General of IRSN, met his main Russian colleagues with the aim of renewing ongoing collaborative programs in nuclear safety.SEC-NRS, the Russian technical safety organization which is an associate member of the European TSO Network (ETSON), has cooperated for several years with IRSN on many subjects relating to nuclear safety. During this visit, SEC-NRS and IRSN renewed a number of technological programs.
These include development of the ASTEC Code for source term evaluation in the event of a severe reactor accident, radioactive waste management, human and organizational factors, hydrogen explosion risk in reactor containments, and chemical process safety at fuel cycle facilities.
Accompanied by the nuclear advisors from the French Embassy, Jean-Christophe Niel also visited the safety authority Rostechnadzor and, in particular its emergency response center. The Russian and French emergency response management systems were presented.
Discussions at the Nuclear Safety Institute IBRAE focused on the review of scientific cooperation on emergency response management and digital simulation applied to radioactive waste disposal, as well as on developing collaboration to upgrade the institutes' respective computational codes related to severe accidents, corium retention inside the reactor vessel in the event of a core melt accident, or hydrogen risk.