Kazakhstan-French SAIGA Research Program

The current activity progress and further plans within implementation of joint research program SAIGA were discussed in NNC RK at the technical meeting with experts from the French Commissariat for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energy Sources (CEA).

SAIGA program is aimed at conduction of experimental studies to support ASTRID Fast Reactor Project (France) in particular, to prepare and conduct experiment using IGR reactor to study the ASTRID reactor fuel behavior under conditions simulating the processes occurring during the accident with unprotected loss of coolant flow (ULOF) through reactor core.

The Parties considered a number of issues, including the results of sodium loop design, experimental device, as well as its physical mock-up, equipping the experimental device and the sodium loop with measuring parameters means, and many others.

The results were discussed concerning thermal-hydraulic and neutron-physical calculations performed to select and substantiate both experimental equipment operation modes during tests of ASTRID reactor fuel and IGR reactor operation modes, which ensure the realization of specified energy release power and temperature values in the experimental device fuel.

Particular attention was paid to the safety of preparing and conducting experiments.

French colleagues highly appreciated the results of research carried out at NNC RK.

It should be emphasized that after a long prohibition preventing in-person contact related to the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting was the first time that CEA and NNC specialists were able to shake hands.