From past to future: the role of computational fluid dynamics in advancing nuclear safety in Spain and Portugal

Abstract

This document explores the role of CFD in nuclear safety studies, with a particular focus on advancements in Spain and Portugal. The field of nuclear safety has increasingly included CFD models to address complex safety–critical phenomena, given their ability to capture three-dimensional behavior with high resolution. While traditional one-dimensional codes remain very valuable, they often rely on conservative approximations, making 3D CFD approaches indispensable for accurate predictions across various nuclear scenarios. In the context of Spain and Portugal, this document shows the contribution to CFD applications for nuclear safety research. The topics covered include code development and validation, combustion studies, simulations of nuclear spent casks, fuel assembly analyses, and investigations into containment safety issues. These advances have mainly contributed to improving the predicting capabilities of CFD models for applications in various safety–critical domains. In addition to detailing the achievements and contributions in the field of CFD in Spain and Portugal, readers will find a comprehensive overview of the current challenges and future perspectives of CFD within the domain of nuclear fission technology.