atw 2018-1

atw Vol. 63 (2018) | Issue 1 ı January
videos in which IPP scientists describe
their workplaces are started and
stopped by mouse click; info panels
can be slotted in to explain important
components. The panorama was
recorded by Munich photographer
Volker Steger, who had already done
the panorama of IPP Garching’s
ASDEX Upgrade fusion device
(www.ipp.mpg.de/panorama).
The objective of IPP’s research is a
fusion power plant to derive energy
from fusion of light atomic nuclei, just
as the sun does. At Garching IPP also
operates the ASDEX Upgrade experiment,
a large-scale device of the tokamak
type. IPP’s branch institute at
Greifswald is conducting research on
the large Wendelstein 7-X stellarator.
As of now both devices are accessible
at any time for a virtual tour.
| | www.ipp.mpg.de, 8892
High performance computing
for energies with EoCoE
(cea) Computer simulation being an
amazing driver of innovation, it is
strategic for Europe to develop supercomputing
resources at the most
advanced level. The UE provides
support to supercomputing infrastructures
(PRACE1), hardware (ETP4H-
PC2) as well as software technologies.
The support to application software
development is spread over nine thematic
centers of excellence – EoCoE
being one of them.
Predicting wind and sunlight intensity,
designing innovative materials to
store electricity, optimizing the management
of water reservoirs, predicting
the performance of geothermal plants
or even stabilizing plasma in a nuclear
fusion reactor are essential tasks to
master in order to accomplish a successful
diversification of the energy mix.
Dedicated to low-carbon energies,
EoCoE, which stands for ‘European
Energy-Oriented Center of Excellence’
(and can be pronounced as “Echo”),
targets the fields of weather forecast,
materials, water management and
nuclear fusion—all of which require
high calculation capacities. The center
brings together twenty-two partners
from eight European countries,
involved in both HPC and energies,
committed to tackling the challenges
in these fields.
“Computer simulation is driven by
the constant upgrades of high-performance
computers,” said Edouard
Audit, the CEA Director of Maison de
la simulation3 and coordinator of
EoCoE. “Yet the challenge is not so
much to gain time than to achieve
things that were previously
inacces sible. In materials science, for
instance, it is now possible to digitally
test a very large number of materials.”
Exascaling the future
The mission of a laboratory such as
Maison de la simulation is to develop
cutting-edge digital tools in close
collaboration with scientists from the
related disciplines, as well as transversal
tools such as linear algebra, input/
output data management, and result
visualization. “We provide support to
researchers as they develop their
own code to help them achieve the
expected result. The help we offer
ranges from applied mathematics to
algorithms and HPC” Mr. Audit
explained. “Meanwhile, we are also
preparing for the future, that is to say
the development of exascale architectures
(1018 operations per second),
that are massively multi-core. They
differ from previous architectures by
the fact that now, not all their processors
are of the same nature. This is
why we must change the way we compute—and
how we manage memory
storage in particular.”
First concrete achievements
Several significant advances have
already been achieved thanks to
EoCoE. During the working sessions,
the scientists learn to “instrument”
their simulation code to monitor the
results step by step, and optimize them.
For nuclear fusion, the Gysela code
developed at CEA (IRFM4) describes
ion transport in plasma inside the
reactor’s toric chamber (tokamak). In
addition to being necessary for the
R&D activities of tokamaks WEST
(CEA) and ITER in Cadarache, this
code also deepens the fundamental understanding
that physicists have of fusion
plasma turbulence. It is now suitable
for hundreds of thousands of computing
cores. The meticulous audit
work accomplished within EoCoE has
saved 10 % in computing time and has
helped prepare for the future upgrade
to the exascale.
| | www.cea.fr, 9983
Company News
MATRIX by Areva TN: a game
changer in used fuel dry storage
(areva) AREVA TN, the ­nuclear
­logistics affiliate of New ­AREVA, is
launching an advanced used nuclear
fuel storage overpack, ­NUHOMS®*
MATRIX. With its improved capacity
and performance, NUHOMS® ­MATRIX
addresses the challenges faced by our
customers when it comes to storing
used fuel ­safely, ­efficiently and competitively.
The unique 2-level horizontal and
modular set-up reduces the inde pendent
spent fuel storage installation
(­ISFSI) footprint by 45% which in turn
reduces pad construction costs. This
makes NUHOMS® MATRIX the smallest
storage pad on the market for the
same capacity, in a context where space
is at a premium on nuclear sites. Its
design accommodates canisters of
different sizes and it can store high burnup
short cooled fuel, which is of particular
interest for shutdown nuclear
reactors. New features and devices
allow for the complete inspection of the
canister without removing it from the
module, as aging management and
retrieval of the canister for future transport
to a consolidated storage site have
become a challenge for utilities.
NUHOMS® storage systems
securely store the dry fuel storage
containers in a horizontal position
within a sturdy, low-profile, reinforced
concrete structure. This fortress-like
structure serves as a robust barrier.
“As more communities, policymakers
and utilities across the world
discuss securely storing used nuclear
fuel, our NUHOMS® MATRIX system is
a competitive, safe and timely solution
for those needs and concerns,” said
Greg Vesey, president, TN Americas.
With more than 1,250 dry storage
systems loaded worldwide, AREVA TN
offers its customers an unrivaled
experience for the management of
used fuel.
| | www.new.areva.com, 4532
People
Camilla Hoflund new
President and CEO of Studsvik
(studsvik) The current President and
CEO Michael Mononen and the Board
of Directors have together concluded
that a changeover in the chief executive
post is appropriate after the major
changes in the Group that have been
made in recent years. Studsvik’s Board
of Directors has therefore appointed
Camilla Hoflund as new President and
CEO from January 1, 2018.
Camilla Hoflund is a mining
engineer from the Royal Institute of
Technology (KTH) and has been head
of Studsvik’s Fuel and Materials
Technology business area since 2014.
She has worked at Studsvik since
1994, with a short break in 2000-2003
* NUHOMS: Nuclear
Horizontal Modular
Storage
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