The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) said on Wednesday its proprietary program to evaluate the design integrity of high temperature nuclear reactors and associated systems will be introduced to the French Centre d`Etude Atomique (CEA).

The Korean nuclear power think tank said the software export to France represents a significant milestone in the country’s nuclear power technology development as France is currently leading design evaluation technology for future nuclear reactors in the world.

The two organizations signed a royalty contract over the use of the program named HITEP_RCC-MRx to be used for evaluating the design integrity of nuclear reactors run at a high temperature of over 500 Celsius degrees.

Under the contract, the CEA will pay a royalty of 40,000 euros to the KAERI over the next two years.

The program was jointly developed by the KAERI and Seoul National University Science and Technology with sponsorship from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) as part of a research support program between Korea and the European Union.

The program is used for evaluating the design integrity of next-generation nuclear reactors such as sodium-cooled fast reactor, very-high-temperature reactor and international thermonuclear experimental reactor, as well as their pressure vessels, heat exchangers and piping systems.

Using the new program, authorities will be able to perform design evaluation in a faster and more convenient manner, said a KAERI official.

By Park Joon-hyung and Minu Kim

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