• climate change mitigation
• cogeneration
• ECC-SMART project
• european commission
• generation IV
• green taxonomy
• greenhouse gases
• innovative nuclear reactor concepts
• low carbon electricity
• nuclear energy
• RELAP/SCDAPSIM code
• small modular reactors (SMRs)
• station blackout
• supercritical water reactors (SCWRs)
• thermal-hydraulic system codes
• trans-critical pressure conditions

Modular Reactors (SMRs), particularly the SuperCritical Water Reactors (SCWRs), are seen as promising solutions. SCWRs, part of the Generation IV International Forum, inherit the experience of light water reactors, offering higher temperatures suitable for cogeneration. Challenges, such as material resistance, accompany these advancements. The EU ECC-SMART Project aims to address these challenges by combining SCWRs with SMRs, involving European, Canadian, and Chinese collaboration.
The project introduced a seven-core flow passage, horizontal channel reactor design to mitigate temperature peaking issues. The thermal-hydraulic system codes used in analyzing these complex reactors faced expected difficulties in representing multiple passages and trans-critical pressure conditions. To overcome these challenges, the RELAP/SCDAPSIM code was employed, with developers introducing a generalized heat transfer correlation. Although not a complete upgrade for supercritical conditions, this modification allowed fruitful comparisons with experimental data, providing insights into the behavior of passive safety features during Station Blackout conditions.
In conclusion, nuclear energy is gaining prominence as a climate-friendly solution, and innovative reactor concepts like SCWRs and SMRs hold promise. The ECC-SMART Project represents a collaborative effort to advance these technologies, addressing challenges through new research and simulations with modified codes.