Earlier this month, our BSC fusion group attended for the first time the Annual meeting of the Spanish Nuclear Society (Sociedad Nuclear Española). The 46th edition of this annual event (link to full programme with papers) took place in Granada from 6th to the 8th of October. This congress is a key event for stakeholders from state, industry and research sectors with interest in the Spanish nuclear energy sphere to meet, network and discuss the future of the field. Our group member Pedro Bonilla presented BSC’s multi-physics simulation capabilities as a first step to enhance our collaborations in the field.
Nuclear fusion played a significant and visible role in the meeting with IFMIF-DONES being present from the inauguration to the closure of the congress through mentions within official speeches as well as in dedicated workshops, one plenary session, a poster session and the two fusion-devoted sessions out of the total 34 technical sessions. The aforementioned plenary session was moderated by Ángel Ibarra (CIEMAT) and it included talks from Tony Donne (EUROfusion), Carlos Alejandre (CIEMAT), Juan Carlos Cortés (CDTI) and Pilar Aranda (Universidad de Granada). The talks clarified the roadmap to European fusion energy and how IFMIF-DONES fits into it with the aim of providing essential experimental data for fusion conditions irradiation in several materials and components needed in DEMO and future fusion reactors.
This year’s keynote speaker was Luz Martinez from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory who gave an introduction to nuclear radiation and its importance in space missions. The other plenary session delved into the role of nuclear energy lowering the threat posed by vulnerability, while the two monographic sessions discussed the lessons learned from Fukushima accident and the benefits of modular nuclear reactors. On top of the varied technical sessions, an exposition of 23 institutions of the Spanish fusion market, a second workshop about nuclear industry 4.0 and several social events outside of the convention hall completed the congress. Awards for their communication work were granted to Matilde Pelegrí, Rafael Vargas, Agustín Alonso, Amparo Soler and the WIN Comunicación team.
The BSC Fusion group joined all fusion related events and most numerical modelling events, strengthening our presence and visibility in the community. An important part of our participation was the talk entitled “Simulaciones numéricas de alto rendimiento para fenómenos multifísicos de fusión“ where Pedro Bonilla presented our team’s work in the multi-physics simulation front with Alya Finite Element software within the FusionCAT project. First, the magnetism module for High Temperature Superconductors used for fusion magnets was shown along with some satisfactory results to relevant benchmarks testing its H formulation from Maxwell’s equations. Then, the neutron transport module based on the deterministic formulation without fission components was presented verifying several Nuclear Energy Agency benchmarks within SINBAD database. Finally, the coupling of the fluid dynamics and heat transfer modules was showcased simulating the heat dissipation on an ITER‘s first wall segment.
The high attendance of 677 people, 377 of which non-presenting attendees, backs the quality of the event. Overall, it was a very positive experience that we hope to repeat next year to consolidate our links and attract future collaborations to the group.
The FusionCAT project (001-P-001722) has been 50% co-financed with € 1.960.963,66 by the European Fund for Regional Development of the European Union within the framework of the 2014-2020 ERDF Operational Program of Catalonia, with the support of the Generalitat of Catalonia.
