ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
60 Years of U: Perspectives on resources, demand, and the evolving role of nuclear energy
Recent years have seen growing global interest in nuclear energy and rising confidence in the sector. For the first time since the early 2000s, there is renewed optimism about the industry’s future. This change is driven by several major factors: geopolitical developments that highlight the need for secure energy supplies, a stronger focus on resilient energy systems, national commitments to decarbonization, and rising demand for clean and reliable electricity.
S. Kelm, H. Müller, H.-J. Allelein
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 193 | Number 1 | January-February 2019 | Pages 63-80
Technical Paper – Selected papers from NURETH 2017 | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2018.1503858
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)/Nuclear Energy Agency International Standard Problem 47 (ISP-47) was aimed at assessing the predictive capabilities of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and lumped-parameter codes regarding hydrogen mixing under representative thermal-hydraulic conditions of a loss-of-coolant-accident. The benchmark consisted of two systematic steps. The first step was a fundamental model assessment based on quasi-steady-state separate-effects tests in the French TOSQAN facility (7 m3, IRSN, Saclay) and MISTRA facility (100 m3, CEA, Saclay) regarding steam condensation, buoyant turbulent flows, and mixed atmospheric conditions. The second step was based on a more realistic experimental transient in the multicompartmented German Thermal-hydraulics, Hydrogen, Aerosols and Iodine (THAI) facility (60 m3, Becker Technologies, Eschborn). At that time, the blind and open analysis revealed that CFD codes needed further improvement regarding modeling of turbulence in buoyant flows, steam condensation, temperature and species concentration, and stratification buildup as well as their dissolution. This result triggered a comprehensive experimental and analytical effort, e.g., within the German national THAI, the OECD-THAI, and the OECD-SETH-1 and OECD-SETH-2 projects. Now, 10 years later, this paper aims to benchmark the state-of-the-art containment CFD model, developed at Forschungszentrum Juelich and RWTH Aachen University, and to highlight the progress made and the remaining open issues.