France donated Vietnam nuclear power software

On the morning of July 10, the French Ambassador to Vietnam awarded the CATHARE Ministry of Science and Technology with the function of simulating incidents occurring in nuclear power plants.

This is one of four events being held in Hanoi (from 10-12 July 2007) to strengthen the cooperation on nuclear energy committed by the two Vietnamese French states since 1996. Software CATHARE calculation is a reference tool used around the world to assume possible accidents in a nuclear reactor.

France currently operates 58 nuclear reactors, producing more than 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy.At the same time, France is also a country with extensive experience in building reactors abroad (Europe, China, Korea, South Africa, Brazil .).

This is the result of cooperation efforts of nearly 30 years, mobilizing more than 500 engineers of Industrial Group (AREVA), Atomic Energy Commission of France (CEA), French Electricity Group (EDF) and the Institute of Resistance radioactive and nuclear safety France (IRSN).

The CATHARE software development project was launched in 1979, meeting the corresponding requirements for demonstrating and evaluating safety for various incidents that could occur in a nuclear reactor.

CATHARE software is capable of describing all thermal - hydroelectric phenomena that can occur during an accident, controlling all modes of gas and liquid mixture consumption by a variety of material parameters. And for various types of spatial configurations. This effort is pursued to create more features and sustainability for CATHARE, especially for the assumption of 3-dimensional physical phenomena.

CATHARE software is provided and used in more than 35 foreign agencies, including nuclear safety control agencies, research institutes, nuclear power producers, universities) in many countries such as China. Korea, Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia.

Since the early 1980s, about 15 versions of the software have been launched; The final version is currently being used in France and now officially provided to the Agency for Nuclear Radiation Safety and Control (VARANSAC).

A French nuclear power plant (Documentary image, VNN)

According to the French Embassy in Vietnam, along with this event, from 10-12 July, 3 other events also took place, including: Workshop on the plan to build the first nuclear power plant in Vietnam;The workshop involved the draft of the Atomic Energy Law in Vietnam and the extension of the cooperation agreement between the French Nuclear Energy Commission (CEA) and the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VAEC).

The seminars address many topics that are currently of concern to Vietnamese leaders such as: Human resources needs to be able to build and operate a nuclear reactor (demand analysis international training and cooperation to train atomic energy experts .); Information for the public; The organization resolves incidents in an emergency on atoms and radiation; Evaluate the overall investment needed to build a nuclear power plant; Conduct a feasibility study on a nuclear power plant.

These four events are part of the Vietnam-France cooperation on civil nuclear, bringing together experts from Vietnam and France in the field of atomic energy.

Kieu Minh