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Nuclear Energy and Environmental Analysis

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "B4: Nuclear Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 7 March 2026 | Viewed by 331

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Nuclear Energy and Environmental Analyses, National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ), 05-400 Otwock-Świerk, Poland
Interests: nuclear safety assessment; probabilistic safety analysis (PSA level 3); atmospheric dispersion modelling; bayesian inference; inverse modelling; Monte Carlo methods; source term reconstruction; small modular reactors (SMRs); environmental impact and emergency planning

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Nuclear Energy and Environmental Analyses (UZ3), National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ), 05-400 Otwock-Świerk, Poland
Interests: numerical analysis of partial differential equations; modelling of contaminant dispersion in air; water and soil; risk assessment of nuclear; industrial and experimental facilities; probabilistic safety assessment; modelling of hazardous substance releases and their effects on humans and the environment; computer-based decision support systems for emergency situations; environmental hazard management systems and atmospheric air quality modelling; high-performance computing (parallel and distributed); statistical ensemble modelling techniques

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Modern nuclear energy systems and related industrial facilities operate in complex and highly regulated environments, where safety, environmental protection, and risk management are of paramount importance. Advances in computational modelling, probabilistic and deterministic safety assessments, atmospheric dispersion analysis, and emergency planning have significantly improved our ability to predict, prevent, and mitigate the impacts of nuclear and industrial hazards. In particular, deterministic analyses of potential releases from nuclear reactors into the atmosphere play a key role in evaluating safety margins and designing protective measures. At the same time, the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) and innovative energy technologies requires interdisciplinary approaches combining nuclear engineering, environmental science, and advanced data-driven methods.

This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the latest research on nuclear energy, nuclear safety, environmental risk assessment, and safety analysis, covering theoretical developments, computational methods, experimental studies, and practical applications for improving nuclear and environmental safety.

Areas of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Probabilistic and deterministic safety assessment (from PSA level 1–3) and risk analysis for nuclear and industrial facilities;
  • Nuclear safety analysis and reactor accident simulations;
  • Atmospheric dispersion modelling and source-term reconstruction of hazardous releases;
  • Simulation of external hazards (earthquakes, floods, extreme weather) and their impact on nuclear safety;
  • Emergency planning zones (EPZs) and crisis management systems;
  • Safety assessment of small modular reactors (SMRs);
  • Environmental impact assessment of nuclear and industrial installations;
  • Computational tools and high-performance computing for hazard analysis;
  • Innovative methodologies for accident mitigation and decision support systems;
  • Interdisciplinary applications of mathematical modelling in nuclear and environmental engineering.

Dr. Piotr Kopka
Dr. Sławomir Potempski
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nuclear energy
  • nuclear safety
  • probabilistic safety assessment (PSA)
  • deterministic safety analysis
  • small modular reactors (SMRs)
  • atmospheric dispersion modelling
  • source-term reconstruction
  • external hazards
  • emergency planning zones (EPZs)
  • risk assessment
  • Bayesian inference
  • inverse modelling
  • Monte Carlo simulations
  • environmental impact
  • crisis management

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 830 KB  
Article
A Similarity-Based Scaling Methodology for the Thermal-Hydraulic Design of Dual Fluid Reactor Demonstrators
by Michał Spirzewski and Mateusz Marek Nowak
Energies 2025, 18(22), 5935; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18225935 - 11 Nov 2025
Viewed by 229
Abstract
The Dual Fluid Reactor (DFR) is a Generation IV concept that relies on a phased development pathway using a low-temperature microdemonstrator (μDEMO) and a high-temperature minidemonstrator (mDEMO). A rigorous methodology is required to scale experimental data between these facilities to ensure [...] Read more.
The Dual Fluid Reactor (DFR) is a Generation IV concept that relies on a phased development pathway using a low-temperature microdemonstrator (μDEMO) and a high-temperature minidemonstrator (mDEMO). A rigorous methodology is required to scale experimental data between these facilities to ensure the reliable design of the final reactor. This paper establishes such a methodology grounded in Similarity Theory. The Cathare-2 system code was used to perform a parametric study on a simplified model of the demonstrators, which use lead–bismuth eutectic and pure liquid lead, respectively. This study focused on identifying the specific operating conditions required to match key “defining” dimensionless numbers—the Reynolds number (Re) for dynamic similarity and the Peclet number (Peh) for thermal similarity. The analysis successfully identified and presented the distinct operating ranges of fluid velocity and mass flow required to achieve either state. Results show that matching the Reynolds number allows for the dimensionless pressure drop to be scaled with a deviation below 0.2%, while matching the Peclet number allows for the dimensionless temperature profile to be scaled with a deviation under 2.5%. The central finding is that dynamic and thermal similarity cannot be achieved simultaneously due to the different working fluids and temperatures of the demonstrators. This forces a strategic choice in experimental design, where an experiment must be tailored to investigate either fluid dynamics or heat transfer. This work provides the foundational “rulebook” for designing these crucial experiments, ensuring that data from the DFR demonstrator program is both reliable and scalable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nuclear Energy and Environmental Analysis)
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