Calculations

Nuclear analyses

WTI per­forms all kinds of nuclear ana­ly­ses, in par­ti­cu­lar the nu­me­ri­cal si­mu­la­tion of neutron and ra­di­a­tion trans­port.

Main topics

• Shiel­ding and sky­shine ana­ly­ses
• Proof of cri­ti­ca­li­ty safety in­clu­ding burn-up credit, in par­ti­cu­lar for sto­rage casks and sto­rage racks in reactor sto­rage pools
• Ana­ly­ses of ac­ti­vi­ty re­lease and ra­di­ation ex­po­sure

Calculated dose rate distribution at the surface of a CASTOR^®-cask

Inventory characterization (Burn-up calculations), cask loading maps

To cha­rac­te­rise ir­ra­di­ated com­po­nents, spent nuclear fuel or waste from the ope­ra­tion of nuclear power plants, WTI per­forms burn-up and activation calculations.

Main topics

• De­ter­mi­na­tion of the radio­nuclide in­ven­tory of irra­di­ated nuclear fuel (e. g. for plan­ning of fuel as­sembly dis­po­sal)
• Loa­ding plans for trans­port and sto­rage casks (cal­cu­la­tion of ra­di­a­tion sources)
• Cal­cu­la­tion of the ac­ti­va­tion of plant com­po­nents and struc­tural com­po­nents

Activation calculation of a reactor pressure vessel

Thermodynamical Analyses

The nu­me­ri­cal si­mu­la­tion of the heat dis­si­pa­tion by heat con­duc­tion, con­vec­tion and ra­di­a­tion is an essen­tial basis for the design of parts and com­po­nents applying finite ele­ment and com­pu­ta­tional fluid dy­na­mics methods.

Main topics

• Ther­mal design of com­po­nents, transport- and sto­rage casks as well as sto­rage buil­dings
• Nu­me­rical si­mu­la­tion of the heat dis­si­pa­tion by heat con­duc­tion, con­vec­tion and ra­di­a­tion
• Va­li­da­tion of nu­me­ri­cal cal­cu­la­tion methods with tem­pera­ture mea­sure­ments

Air­flow dis­tri­bu­tion and coo­ling by na­tu­ral con­vec­tion during the trans­port of a CASTOR^®-cask

Mechanical Analyses

Main topics are si­mu­la­tions and cal­cu­la­tions of parts and com­po­nents as well as their design under static and dy­namic loads. For this, among others, finite ele­ment methods are applied.

• Si­mu­la­tion of dynamic loads due to air­plane crash, cask drops or earth quake
• Me­cha­ni­cal design of trans­port and sto­rage casks, cask com­po­nents and load attach­ment de­vi­ces
• Va­li­da­tion of nu­me­ri­cal cal­cu­la­tion methods by means of drop tests
• Ma­te­rial tes­ting for the de­ter­mi­nation of static and dy­na­mi­cal material pro­per­ties
• Cal­cu­la­tions for buil­dings and com­po­nents under dy­na­mic loads

Dynamical FE analysis (e.g. steam generator) with plastic rotations of the steam generator

Method validation and development

WTI per­forms de­ve­lop­ment work to establish and va­li­date cal­cu­la­tion methods and tools. The pur­pose of all design cal­cu­la­tions is to ob­tain a re­li­able glo­bal sys­tem while op­ti­mi­zing all sub­sys­tems and com­po­nents. This gua­ran­tees safe and eco­no­mic so­lu­tions.

Main topics

• De­ve­lop­ment and va­li­da­tion of nuclear cal­cu­la­tion tools
• Im­ple­men­ta­tion and va­li­da­tion of nu­cle­ar cal­cu­la­tion methods, e.g. by bench­mar­king against measured values
• Setup of ex­pe­ri­ments pro­vi­ding data for the va­li­da­tion of cal­cu­la­tion methods and tools
• Op­ti­mi­sa­tion of methods by con­ti­nuous ex­pe­ri­ence feed­back

Va­li­da­tion of ther­mal cal­cu­la­tion methods by com­pa­ri­son between cal­cu­la­tion and mea­sure­ment