[en] This report presents the directives concerning the obligations and the main characteristics of the nuclear PWR units of 1400 MWe, notified Electricite de France on the 06th of October 1983 by the Industry and Research Department. They reflect the concept of defence in depth

[en] Increasing knowledge and lessons learned from starting and operating experience of French nuclear power plants, completed by the experience learned from the operation of foreign reactors, has contributed to the improvement of French PWR design and safety philosophy. Based on a deterministic approach, the French safety analysis was progressively completed by a probabilistic approach, each of them having possibilities and limits. As a consequence of the global risk objective set in 1977 for nuclear reactors, safety analysis was extended to the evaluation of events more complex than the conventional ones, and later to the evaluation of the feasibility of the offsite emergency plans in case of severe accidents

[en] During sintering in reducing atmospheres, UO₂ pellets can be oxidized by gaseous impurities. The effects of temperature cycles, the partial pressure of O₂ and the flow rate of the gas over the pellets were investigated. In these atmospheres, the O₂ partial pressure during sintering is low at high temperatures, as a consequence of the dissociation rate of the combined water, but below 1000 deg C, it can be high enough to result in a noticeable oxidation of the surface of the pellets during cooling. The crystalline phases which can occur have been identified and two methods of detection have been proposed: a micrographic examination after chemical etching and radiocrystallography. (authors)

[en] The spin of a polarized particle in a circular accelerator can be rotated with an arrangement of dipoles with field mutually perpendicular and perpendicular to the orbit. To achieve spin rotation, a given field integral value is required. The device must be designed in a way that the particle orbit is distorted as little as possible. It is shown that wigglers with many periods are suitable to achieve spin rotation with minimum orbit distortions. Wigglers are also more compact than more established structures and will use less electric power. Additional advantages include their use for non distructive beam diagnostics. Results are given for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in the polarized proton mode

No abstract available

[en] A sustainable energy economy will be demanding primary energy sources, preferably renewable and mainly domestically available, using energy carriers, such as hydrogen and electricity, able to solve environmental problems and to assure adequate energy security. Instrumental to such goals will be the research and development of storage systems with performance characteristics compatible with major application requirements. Lithium or nickel are replacing lead in batteries, in order to better meet the extremely varying technical and economical requirements in fast growing conventional and new applications. Moreover, few technologies now permit to store hydrogen by modifying its physical state in gaseous or liquid form. The variety of hydrogen needs in the energy systems and in the vehicular sector is justifying the effort on solid state (metal hydrides and carbon nanostructures) or chemical systems (chemical hydrides). In this overview, emphasis is given to the major achievements in the field of electrical energy and hydrogen storage, in relation to the technological goals, which have been proposed in the major public research and collaborative programs throughout the world

[en] The safety of nuclear plants depends on the capacity of the systems they are composed to perform the functions they were designed for. The identification and understanding of phenomena liable to degrade this operational capacity thus constitute one of the safety problems for which allowance must be made at the earliest stage of a project. Aging, a natural and hence unavoidable process affecting all the components of an installation, was identified at a very early stage as being one of these phenomena. The investigation and implementation of solutions to the safety problems associated to aging make it necessary to: defining the domain in which the consequences of aging are to be evaluated, identifying the parameters involved, identifying the components sensitive to these parameters, understanding the mechanisms which govern its evolution. The results of qualification tests, and of tests and checks carried out at different stages of construction and operation, as well as allowance for operating experience, constitute the necessary basis for establishing or improving the regulatory requirements. The procedures for validating components and systems of the installation are also drawn up on the basis of these tests. Finally, the actions initiated within the scope of research and development programmes supply the additional data necessary for such validation, and provide the indispensable support for knowledge improvement

[en] The general expression of the Stern-Gerlach (SG) force is deduced for a relativistic charged spin-1/2 particle which travels inside a time varying magnetic field. This result was obtained either by means of two Lorentz boosts or starting from Dirac's equation. Then, the utilization of this interaction for attaining the spin states separation is reconsidered in a new example using a new radio-frequency arrangement. On the basis of the previous estimates, we feel ready to propose the time varying SG interaction as a method for attaining a spin state separation of an unpolarized beam of, say (anti)protons, since the energy of particles with opposite spin orientations will differ and beams in the two states can be separated. In a first stage of the study of a sensible practical design, we intend to proceed with numerical simulations. As a first step, we intend to verify the correctness of Eqs.(42) and (43) setting once β_ph = 2 and then β_ph = 3, in a cavity where the field line pattern can be realistically controlled. Beyond the verification of the present theory, there is also the aim of studying the effects generated by the spin precession inside the cavity, that we did not yet address in this note. Next, we shall consider a spin splitter scheme based on the lattice of an existing or planned (anti)proton ring endowed with an array of splitting cavities. The principal aim of the latter implementations is to check the mixing effect of the longitudinal phase-plane filamentation, i.e. the actual foe which could frustrate the entire spin splitting process.

[en] Upon the examination of the safety options submitted by EDF (Electricite de France) for a new pressurized water reactor design (N4, 1400 MWe), the French safety authorities decided that the conventionnal list of events to take under consideration should be amended as follows: failure of 1 and 2 steam generator tubes. To meet these objectives, design improvements were decided and new operating criteria were required by the technical specifications. Various preventive measures have been adopted by EDF to reduce tube degradation risks at the design stage, at the secondary feedwater quality level, and concerning also the quality control. The radiological consequences of generator tube integrity failure can be mitigated if the primary coolant activity is low, the tube flow detection is rapid, the release time is short, and the operating procedure is suitable and easily implemented

No abstract available