Research: young ENEA scientists awarded for nuclear safety studies

At the 107th National Congress of the Italian Physical Society (SIF) Valentina Nigro was awarded best communication in the section "Applied physics, accelerators and cultural heritage" for experimental activities of growth and characterization of lithium fluoride films enriched with the 6Li isotope for neutron detection.[1]

"The experimental activities have been conducted for years at the ENEA Micro and Nanostructures Laboratory for Photonics of the Frascati Research Center, for the use of this material in the form of a thin film as a thermal neutron converter in hybrid detectors and has only recently been proposed for the development of brand new FNTD (Fluorescent Nuclear Track Detector). These detectors allow you to "see", through conventional optical and confocal laser microscopes which use fluorescence and a very high magnification, the luminous trace left by the passage of a single charged particle, such as protons and ions ", explained Valentina Nigro, also awarded with an open access paper published in the journal Nuovo Cimento C[2].

"The experimental activities has been conducted for years at the ENEA Micro and Nanostructures Laboratory for Photonics of the Frascati Research Center, for the use of this material in the form of a thin film as a thermal neutron converter in hybrid detectors and has only recently been proposed for the development of brand new FNTD (Fluorescent Nuclear Track Detector). These detectors allow you to "see", through conventional optical and confocal laser microscopes which use fluorescence and a very high magnification, the luminous trace left by the passage of a single charged particle, such as protons and ions ", explained Valentina Nigro, also awarded with an open access paper published in the journal Nuovo Cimento C.

The applications of the innovative FNTD detectors based on lithium fluoride go from the treatment of tumors using hadrontherapy to nuclear safety, to neutron detectors for energy up to space applications.

The research, conducted as part of the BIOTRACK project was funded by the Lazio Region and coordinated by ENEA researcher Rosa Maria Montereali to develop a new generation of detectors for radiobiology experiments.

Pietro Maccari, ENEA fellow at the ENEA Nuclear Safety and Sustainability Division, was awarded by the ETSON (European Technical Safety Organizations Network) association at the 17th edition of the conference EUROSAFE for the best cooperative study [3] in the field of plant safety conducted by a team of three research institutions.

Made up by experts from the ENEA Nuclear Safety and Sustainability Division, the Institut de Radioprotection e de Surete Nucleaire (IRSN) and the University of Bologna, the award-winning team conducted a study relating to an accident scenario of an advanced water cooled Small Modular Reactor (SMR). The innovative aspects of the research lie in the development of a numerical model endowed with passive safety systems for severe accidents code calculation ASTEC, in the selection of one of the hypothetical most probable accident sequences for this type of reactor, in the best-estimate analysis of this sequence, in a range assessment of the most significant variables to determine the safety margins of the reactor and in the calculation of the uncertainties of the results.

"The Award is an important recognition not only of the increasing importance of the issues addressed, as shown in recent months by the international attention on the possible role of SMR reactors in decarbonisation but also of the pioneering efforts ENEA has made in the last twenty years to  study these reactors and their passive safety systems ”, pointed out Pietro Maccari.

Valentina Nigro, ENEA –Micro/Nanostructures for Photonics Laboratory, 

Pietro Maccari, ENEA – Safety of Nuclear Installations Laboratory, 

Rosa Maria Montereali, ENEA – Head Micro/Nanostructures for Photonics Laboratory,

Paride Meloni, ENEA – Head  Nuclear Safety and Sustainability Division, 

Call for Projects “Progetti di Gruppi di Ricerca 2020”: http://www.lazioinnova.it/bandi-post/progetti-gruppi-ricerca-2020/

ETSON Award https://www.etson.eu/etsonaward

Project BIOTRACK https://biotrack.enea.it/

[1] 6Li-enriched LiF films grown by thermal evaporation for neutron detection

[2] V. Nigro, on behalf of R.M. Montereali, E. Nichelatti, A. Rufoloni and M.A. Vincenti. 6Li-enriched LiF films grown by thermal evaporation for neutron detection, Il Nuovo Cimento C, ncc 44 (2021) 19DOI 10.1393/ncc/i2021-21019-4

[3] BEPU analysis of a two inch rupture in the DVI line in an IRIS-LIKE generic SMR reactor coupled with ASTEC and RAVEN