In the framework of the Euratom Research and Training Programme, HARMONISE (a project expected to start in mid-2022) will study relevant research and cooperation activities in standardization and nuclear safety considering also the lessons learnt from the stress tests performed in the EU. The project is coordinated by LEI and involves nine ETSON members along with partners representing research organisations, regulators and industry.

Scientists of Lithuanian Energy Institute have been developing an open-source turbulent combustion solver flameFoam, based on OpenFOAM toolkit. Code to code analysis and comparisons with experiments showed that flameFoam mostly corresponds to the state-of-the-art currently achieved in the field.

For the examination of plasma and impurity transport in the DT experimental campaign, energy balance, dependency on discharge, and the time evolution of radiation loss profiles are provided by LEI scientists. Indeed, the record braking pulse  is also being analyzed here at LEI.

To reduce SNF cask failure risk in the ISFSF building areas, where SNF cask could be lifted more than 30 cm, special design shock absorbers are installed. The main function of these shock absorbers is to reduce the dynamic loads to a fully loaded SNF cask (weight 77 - 89 t) in case of dropping and prevent or minimise the possibility to lose the tightness of the SNF cask and release of radioactive materials from SNF rod(s). Evaluation of the shock absorbers capability to withstand the dynamic load in case of an accident was performed.

Scientists of Lithuanian Energy Institute have recently collaborated with colleagues from other European TSOs and ETSON partners in research activities – BARCO and ETSON-SAMHYCO-NET benchmarks.

Ph.D. student Noura Elsalamouny (Lithuanian Energy Institute, Laboratory of Nuclear Installation Safety) participated in Summer School 2021 “Modelling, Experimental and Validation” (MeV) organized through the cooperation of multiple stakeholders, i.e. Argonne, Idaho and Oak-Ridge national labs. Noura worked in a team together with other students and presented joint work titled “The at-home micro reactor”. This futuristic idea was investigated in terms of the conceptual goals set, the necessary safety requirements, the design constraints, and the economic benefits of a micro-reactor installed at-home.

Women in Fusion Side Event, was held on Wednesday 12 May during the IAEA FEC2020 virtual conference. A group of women panellists, ranging from the highly experienced to newly coined PhDs, discussed the challenges of having a successful career in nuclear physics and nuclear engineering, a mainly male-dominated field.

To assist the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) in preparation of means for Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMG) validation the project financed by the European Commission through the Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC) Action Programme 2015 has been performed in 2017 – 2021 by an international project team led by LEI. The main goal was the development and validation of VVER-1000 models for Ukrainian NPP using MELCOR code by Ukrainian technical support organisation.

Two research topics for PhD related to spent nuclear fuel management were announced in 2021. Collaborative doctoral partnership is developed among Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuanian Energy Institute and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Within the frame of such collaboration, the researchers of LEI, JRC center in Karlsruhe (Germany) and Institute for Transuranium Elements are performing in cooperation an integral analysis of the process inside the fuel rods during accidents.

According to the European Research Roadmap to the Realisation of Fusion Energy the next step after ITER facility is DEMO, the demonstration power plant.