Programme Nuclear Waste Management, Safety and Radiation Research

Safety of Nuclear Reactors

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Cooling experiments
RODOS

KIT scientists study and assess important international developments in reactor safety of existing as well as foreign future facilities and new technologies.
Reactor and plant design is very important overall. KIT scientists run experiments, for instance on thermodynamics and fluid dynamics of a reactor in the interest of qualifying computer codes and numerical methods. Processes and phenomena occurring in design basis accidents are particularly important to safety, i.e. accident events against which the power plant has been designed so that no ionizing radiation above the permissible limits will emanate from the plant, and also in beyond-design basis accidents. The point of interest is not only to describe the potential sequence of accident events but also to develop possible measures to terminate an accident at an early point in time or limit its consequences to the plant itself. In line with their provident research mission, Karlsruhe scientists have developed the RODOS (Real-time Online DecisiOn Support) system for emergency management centers which, in case of releases of radioactive substances into the environment, supports decision-makers in identifying those measures which ensure maximum protection of the population against radiation-induced damage. The RODOS system has been installed in many European countries and is operated in the Federal Republic of Germany by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection.