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Nuclear Energy Systems Lab
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A lab that uses experiments and computation to design nuclear reactors that do not cause severe accidents.
AboutAbout the lab
Toward nuclear power that avoids severe accidents
The Nuclear Energy Systems Lab studies safe nuclear power that does not cause severe accidents, in which the reactor core is heavily damaged.
Nuclear power is a leading application of quantum physics and engineering, producing large amounts of energy from small atomic nuclei, and it emits no carbon dioxide during power generation.
The lab proposes next-generation nuclear power systems that control nuclear reactions and energy transport during an accident, so that no radioactive materials are released even in the worst case.
It works on experiments and numerical simulation of thermal-hydraulic phenomena in which heat transfer, fluid flow, and phase change are combined, the development of safety assessment methods for severe accidents, and the development of passive safety reactor systems.
Key terms
- Severe accident
- An accident beyond the assumptions of the design, in which the reactor core is heavily damaged.
- Particle method
- A method that represents flow as a collection of virtual particles and calculates it from the interactions between the particles.
- Source term
- The types and amounts of radioactive materials released outside the reactor during an accident.
NewsLab news
A doctoral student received the Outstanding Poster Award at the Korea-Japan Symposium on Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics and Safety
A doctoral student received the BEST PAPER-ASIA/JAPAN award at the 31st International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE31)
ResearchResearch themes
Understanding how a reactor behaves during a severe accident and what its effects are is important for evaluating a reactor's safety margins, preventing accidents, and introducing new technologies that mitigate the consequences if one occurs. To improve the safety of reactor systems, the lab is advancing the experimental elucidation of thermal-hydraulic phenomena, numerical simulation techniques, safety assessment methods, and the development of passive safety reactor systems.
*Illustrative imageShutting Down a Reactor Without Power
When an accident beyond the assumptions of the safety design occurs, the reactor is shut down by a mechanism that uses natural phenomena, without relying on external power or operation. The lab examines the engineering feasibility of advanced passive reactor shutdown systems that prevent severe accidents.
*Illustrative imageKeeping the Molten Core Inside the Vessel
The aim is a cooling system that retains the radioactive core material inside the reactor pressure vessel when the reactor is damaged in an accident. The lab experimentally clarifies the governing mechanisms of critical heat flux, which determines cooling performance, builds physical models, and uses CFD codes to understand complex flows. It also develops measurement technology.
*Illustrative imageSolving Flows as Collections of Particles
During an accident, complex thermal-hydraulic flow occurs in which solids, gases, and liquids mix and flow together with phase change. The lab takes on the elucidation of this multi-component multiphase flow using the particle method, a next-generation CFD technology that represents flow as a collection of virtual particles.
*Illustrative imageTracing How Radioactive Materials Leak
The lab evaluates how radioactive materials such as cesium generated in an accident (the source term) move into the environment. It clarifies through experiments the behavior of aerosols leaking from penetrations and damaged points of the reactor containment vessel, builds physical models, and evaluates them with CFD codes.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Nuclear Energy Systems Lab consist of faculty members, academic researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.
- ProfessorKoji Morita
- ProfessorWei Liu
- Assistant ProfessorTatsuya Matsumoto
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “HFIR Refueling July )” Oak Ridge National Laboratory / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Shutting Down a Reactor Without Power: “Morikami Museum and Gardens - Shishi Odoshi Emptying Water” Daniel Di Palma / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Keeping the Molten Core Inside the Vessel: “Boiling water 001” Agoetee 123 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Solving Flows as Collections of Particles: “JM marbles 01” Joe Mabel / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Tracing How Radioactive Materials Leak: “Incense stick” AntanO / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (原子炉物理・核融合理工学研究室): “Nuclear fuel pellets at the Greifswald Nuclear Power Plant information center” Siarhei Besarab / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (量子線物性工学研究室): “JEOL JEM-200A transmission electron microscope -05” High Contrast / CC BY 3.0 de (cropped)
- Related lab (量子計算科学研究室): “Chladni plate 18” Exhibit made by Estes Objethos Atelier, photo by Rodrigo Tetsuo Argenton / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (応用原子核物理・電磁解析研究室): “MichiganFFAGmark1” Lawrence W. Jones / CC BY-SA 3.0 us (cropped)
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