MATerials TEsting and Rules (MATTER)

Project programme

Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)

Period

01.01.2011 - 31.13.2014

Project status

Completed

Project table

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Project website

http://www.matterfp7.it/Layout/matter/index.asp

Database link

http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/97428_en.html

The operational conditions envisaged for the various GEN IV reactor concepts, under consideration in the ESNII initiative, are quite demanding and significantly different from the service conditions of most of the commercial reactors operating today. The combination of severe conditions includes: exposure to high temperatures, high neutron doses, aggressive environments.

It is recognized that the available European standards and rules for material testing and for components design & fabrication do not appropriately and completely cover the specific materials to be used in GEN IV reactors nor the issues related with their relevant operating conditions and environments.

Scope of the MATTER (MATerial TEsting and Rules) project is to contribute to cover the existing gaps by pointing out methodologies, recovering existing experiences, and performing experiments.

Main goals of the MATTER Project are:

To develop and establish best practice guidelines for testing and evaluation, aimed to screen and characterize nuclear materials for all the ESNII innovative nuclear systems. These harmonized testing and evaluation guidelines will be susceptible to be adopted in the EU laboratories.
To perform Pre-normative activities in order to address the short term materials needs of the ASTRID & MYRRHA projects with respect to the design and construction of the structural components. In particular, among others, the design rules for 9% Cr steel, material of the ASTRID steam generator, will be provided together with the related mechanical design properties and the updated welding and fabrication rules.
To optimise the effectiveness and efficiency of the EERA Joint Program on structural materials for innovative reactors, on the base of the knowledge produced by the material researchers and of the industrial current practices.
To carry out the fabrication in Europe, by different methods, of ODS steels, which are under consideration as candidate materials, in the medium-long term, for fuel cladding application.

To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the R&D activities will be focused on material testing, analysis of existing data and theoretical research. The relevant advantages of the MATTER approach are the access to a large amount of data, generated by national researches, and the wide comparability of results, thanks to the presence of 26 organizations including industries and steel makers.

The Project budget is about 12 million euro, half of which in funded by EURATOM.

Total cost: 12 180 253,20 EUR (LEI part: 35 000 EUR).

Coordinator: AGENZIA NAZIONALE PER LE NUOVE TECNOLOGIE, L’ENERGIA E LO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO SOSTENIBILE, Italy

Participants:

TEKNOLOGIAN TUTKIMUSKESKUS VTT, Finland
REGIA AUTONOMA PENTRU ACTIVITATI NUCLEARE DROBETA TR. SEVERIN RA SUCURSALA CERCETARI NUCLEARE PITESTI, Romania
MAGYAR TUDOMANYOS AKADEMIA KFKI ATOMENERGIA KUTATOINTEZET, Hungary
MAGYAR TUDOMANYOS AKADEMIA ENERGIATUDOMANYI KUTATOKOZPONT, Hungary
AUSTRALIAN NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANISATION, Australia
AREVA NP SAS, France
EDF ENERGY NUCLEAR GENERATION LIMITED, United Kingdom
GROUPE BOHLER SOUDAGE FRANCE SAS, France
COMMISSARIAT À L’ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, France
CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIONES ENERGETICAS, MEDIOAMBIENTALES Y TECNOLOGICAS-CIEMAT, Spain
CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE, Italy
CENTRO SVILUPPO MATERIALI SPA, Italy
ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE S.A., France
HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM DRESDEN-ROSSENDORF EV, Germany
INDUSTEEL CREUSOT SAS, France
REGIA AUTONOMA TEHNOLOGII PENTRU ENERGIA NUCLEARA – RATEN, Romania
JRC -JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE- EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Belgium
KOREA ATOMIC ENERGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, South Korea
KARLSRUHER INSTITUT FUER TECHNOLOGIE, Germany
LIETUVOS ENERGETIKOS INSTITUTAS, Lithuania
NUCLEAR RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY GROUP, Netherlands
ONDERZOEKSCENTRUM VOOR AANWENDING VAN STAAL NV, Belgium
PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUT, Switzerland
CENTRUM VYZKUMU REZ S.R.O., Czech Republic
STUDIECENTRUM VOOR KERNENERGIE, Belgium
SERCO LIMITED, United Kingdom
THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, United Kingdom
TEKNOLOGIAN TUTKIMUSKESKUS VTT OY, Finland

Project Team

Project Team

Name, surname	Office	phone.	e-mail
LEI Representative
Gintautas Dundulis	434-AK	+37037401918	Gintautas.Dundulis@lei.lt

Ref no.	Project name	MATerials TEsting and Rules (MATTER)

Name of legal entity	Country	Overall contract value (EUR)	Proportion carried out by legal entity (%)	No of staff provided	Name of client	Origin of funding	Dates (start/end)	Name of consortium members, if any
Lithuanian Energy Institute (LEI)	Lithuania	12 180 253,20 EUR	0,3		European Commission (FP7)	European Commission (FP7)	01.01.2011 / 31.13.2014	AGENZIA NAZIONALE PER LE NUOVE TECNOLOGIE, L'ENERGIA E LO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO SOSTENIBILE, Italy. TEKNOLOGIAN TUTKIMUSKESKUS VTT, Finland. REGIA AUTONOMA PENTRU ACTIVITATI NUCLEARE DROBETA TR. SEVERIN RA SUCURSALA CERCETARI NUCLEARE PITESTI, Romania. MAGYAR TUDOMANYOS AKADEMIA KFKI ATOMENERGIA KUTATOINTEZET, Hungary. MAGYAR TUDOMANYOS AKADEMIA ENERGIATUDOMANYI KUTATOKOZPONT, Hungary. AUSTRALIAN NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANISATION, Australia. AREVA NP SAS, France. EDF ENERGY NUCLEAR GENERATION LIMITED, United Kingdom. Groupe Bohler Soudage France SAS, France. Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, France. CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIONES ENERGETICAS, MEDIOAMBIENTALES Y TECNOLOGICAS-CIEMAT, Spain. CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE, Italy. CENTRO SVILUPPO MATERIALI SPA, Italy. ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE S.A., France. HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM DRESDEN-ROSSENDORF EV, Germany. INDUSTEEL CREUSOT SAS, France. REGIA AUTONOMA TEHNOLOGII PENTRU ENERGIA NUCLEARA - RATEN, Romania. JRC -JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE- EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Belgium. KOREA ATOMIC ENERGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, South Korea. KARLSRUHER INSTITUT FUER TECHNOLOGIE, Germany. LIETUVOS ENERGETIKOS INSTITUTAS, Lithuania. NUCLEAR RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY GROUP, Netherlands. ONDERZOEKSCENTRUM VOOR AANWENDING VAN STAAL NV, Belgium. PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUT, Switzerland. CENTRUM VYZKUMU REZ S.R.O., Czech Republic. STUDIECENTRUM VOOR KERNENERGIE, Belgium. Serco Limited, United Kingdom. The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy, Finland.

Name of legal entity

Country

Overall contract value (EUR)

Proportion carried out by legal entity (%)

No of staff provided

Name of client

Origin of funding

Dates (start/end)

Name of consortium members, if any

Lithuanian Energy Institute (LEI)

Lithuania

12 180 253,20 EUR

0,3

European Commission (FP7)

01.01.2011 / 31.13.2014

AGENZIA NAZIONALE PER LE NUOVE TECNOLOGIE, L'ENERGIA E LO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO SOSTENIBILE, Italy.
TEKNOLOGIAN TUTKIMUSKESKUS VTT, Finland.
REGIA AUTONOMA PENTRU ACTIVITATI NUCLEARE DROBETA TR. SEVERIN RA SUCURSALA CERCETARI NUCLEARE PITESTI, Romania.
MAGYAR TUDOMANYOS AKADEMIA KFKI ATOMENERGIA KUTATOINTEZET, Hungary.
MAGYAR TUDOMANYOS AKADEMIA ENERGIATUDOMANYI KUTATOKOZPONT, Hungary.
AUSTRALIAN NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANISATION, Australia.
AREVA NP SAS, France.
EDF ENERGY NUCLEAR GENERATION LIMITED, United Kingdom.
Groupe Bohler Soudage France SAS, France.
Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, France.
CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIONES ENERGETICAS, MEDIOAMBIENTALES Y TECNOLOGICAS-CIEMAT, Spain.
CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE, Italy.
CENTRO SVILUPPO MATERIALI SPA, Italy.
ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE S.A., France.
HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM DRESDEN-ROSSENDORF EV, Germany.
INDUSTEEL CREUSOT SAS, France.
REGIA AUTONOMA TEHNOLOGII PENTRU ENERGIA NUCLEARA - RATEN, Romania.
JRC -JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE- EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Belgium.
KOREA ATOMIC ENERGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, South Korea.
KARLSRUHER INSTITUT FUER TECHNOLOGIE, Germany.
LIETUVOS ENERGETIKOS INSTITUTAS, Lithuania.
NUCLEAR RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY GROUP, Netherlands.
ONDERZOEKSCENTRUM VOOR AANWENDING VAN STAAL NV, Belgium.
PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUT, Switzerland.
CENTRUM VYZKUMU REZ S.R.O., Czech Republic.
STUDIECENTRUM VOOR KERNENERGIE, Belgium.
Serco Limited, United Kingdom.
The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy, Finland.

Detailed description of the project	Type and scope of services provided
The 2010-2012 implementation plan of the European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative (ESNII), in the frame of the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNE TP), establishes a very tight time schedule for the start of construction of the European Gen IV prototypes; namely the construction of the LFR ETPP (European Technology Pilot Plant) Myrrha will start in 2014 and that of the SFR Prototype ASTRID will start in 2017. The GEN IV reactors pose new challenges to the designers and scientists in terms of higher operating temperature and higher irradiation damage of materials with respect to the present technologies. In this frame, the MATTER (MATerials TEsting and Rules) Project intends to start well targeted researches to perform careful studies of materials behaviors in GEN IV operational conditions and to find out criteria for the correct use of these materials in relevant reactor applications. Aim of the present Project is to complement the materials researches, in the frame of the EERA guidelines, with the implementation of pre-normative rules. The Project comprehends: – Mature materials research focused on testing procedures for the new reactors conditions – Supporting experiments of mature materials aimed to liquid metals characterization and to pre-normative qualification, – Pre-normative activities, comprehensive of experiments, to revise and update the design rules, – Preparation and starting of the EERA Joint Program by harmonization of the structure and finalization of the preliminary program in accordance with the deployment strategy of the SNETP. A relevant advantage of this approach consists in the possibility to achieve a correct aiming for the expensive materials testing operations. Other advantages are the comparability of the experimental data, being produced by consensual procedures, and the immediate availability of the experimental results (at least for some properties) in view of their pre-normative deployment.

Detailed description of the project

Type and scope of services provided

The 2010-2012 implementation plan of the European Sustainable Nuclear
Industrial Initiative (ESNII), in the frame of the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNE TP), establishes a very tight time schedule for the start of construction of the European Gen IV prototypes; namely the construction of the LFR ETPP (European Technology Pilot Plant) Myrrha will start in 2014 and that of the SFR Prototype ASTRID will start in 2017. The GEN IV reactors pose new challenges to the designers and scientists in terms of higher operating temperature and higher irradiation damage of materials with respect to the present technologies. In this frame, the MATTER (MATerials TEsting and Rules) Project intends to start well targeted researches to perform careful studies of materials behaviors in GEN IV operational conditions and to find out criteria for the correct use of these materials in relevant reactor applications. Aim of the
present Project is to complement the materials researches, in the frame of the EERA guidelines, with the implementation of pre-normative rules. The Project comprehends:
– Mature materials research focused on testing procedures for the new
reactors conditions
– Supporting experiments of mature materials aimed to liquid metals
characterization and to pre-normative qualification,
– Pre-normative activities, comprehensive of experiments, to revise and update the design rules,
– Preparation and starting of the EERA Joint Program by harmonization
of the structure and finalization of the preliminary program in accordance with the deployment strategy of the SNETP.
A relevant advantage of this approach consists in the possibility to achieve a correct aiming for the expensive materials testing operations. Other advantages are the comparability of the experimental data, being produced by consensual procedures, and the immediate availability of the experimental results (at least for some properties) in view of their pre-normative deployment.