First Public Reveal of Core Research Facility for Small and Medium-Sized Reactors

Agreement on Small and Medium Reactor Thermal-Hydraulic Integral Effect Test Facility Led by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute
"Creating Opportunities for Joint Use to Enhance Safety of Domestic Small and Medium Reactors"

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute is opening 'FESTA,' an experimental facility for small and medium-sized reactors, to domestic researchers. (Photo by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The 'Integral Effect Test Facility for Small Modular Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics' (FESTA), a large-scale research facility playing a key role in the development of small modular reactors (SMRs), considered the next growth engine of the nuclear industry, is being opened to the domestic industry for the first time.

Small modular reactors are facilities that attract attention in various aspects such as inherent safety, technology, and applicability compared to large-capacity commercial reactors, and active research is underway worldwide.

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) announced on the 18th that it signed an agreement on the 15th to jointly utilize FESTA with the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP).

Based on the agreement, KAERI plans to form a domestic user council within this year together with KINS and KHNP to discuss ways to utilize FESTA.

Domestic nuclear-related industries, research institutes, and universities can additionally participate in the council.

A scene of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power signing an agreement for the joint use of 'FESTA'. From the left, Yonghak Kim, Head of Plant Design Research Institute at KHNP, Jinho Park, Head of Nuclear Safety Research Institute at KAERI, and Kyuhwan Jung, Head of Safety Research Division at KINS. (Photo by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)

FESTA is a large experimental facility completed in 2011 to verify the safety and performance of SMART, a small modular reactor independently developed in Korea.

It was scaled down to 1/49th the size of SMART to experimentally simulate thermal-hydraulic phenomena occurring in the actual SMART reactor.

Verification for SMART's standard design approval began in 2012, and until recently, FESTA has been used for licensing tests in the SMART PPE (Pre-Project Engineering) project with Saudi Arabia. It has played a key role in enhancing and verifying SMART's safety.

Recently, as the importance of safety research for small modular reactors has been emphasized domestically, the need for joint utilization of FESTA has been raised.

With this agreement, it is expected that regulatory agencies and industries will be able to utilize the comprehensive thermal-hydraulic test results of small modular reactors using FESTA. Research cooperation such as optimal code analysis among the agreement institutions is also anticipated.

Park Hyunsik, head of the Innovation System Safety Research Division at KAERI, who led the agreement, said, "This agreement will not only strengthen cooperation among domestic nuclear-related organizations but also provide a platform for joint research to improve the safety of small modular reactors."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.