SOCRATES

Research Project, 2024 – 2028

The SOCRATES project addresses critical gaps in our understanding of the liquid source term during severe nuclear accidents andoffers innovative solutions to mitigate and monitor the release of radionuclides into the environment. The project contributes to the mid-to-long-term management of nuclear power plants after a severe accident by enhancing safety, environmental protection, safe wastemanagement and public well-being. The main contributions of the topical project are: - Enhanced understanding of liquid source term- New computer models for the liquid source term phenomena - Innovative absorbent materials to effectively trap key radionuclidespecies, particularly Cs and Sr - Miniature size radiochemical laboratory for radionuclides - Education and training for nuclear safety- Recommendations for long-term operations, waste management and severe accident management strategies. The management ofpossible leakages of contaminated water, which may happen more frequently due to aging of reactor components and joints, will gainnew remedies from SOCRATES results to tackle and mitigate the contaminants inside the plant. The project's research on the liquidsource term directly impacts a majority of existing and new nuclear reactors, encompassing diverse reactor designs and technologies.Recommendations based on SOCRATES results will support nuclear community on international scale by giving guidelines how tomanage liquid source term. Developed computer models for the analysis of liquid source term phenomena will benefit industry, safetyauthorities and research community in the safety assessments of NPPs. The models developed in SOCRATES will be implemented insevere accident analysis codes, such as AC2 and ASTEC. When the design of new sorbent materials for radionuclides will be performedwith computer simulations, it will enhance the digitalization of safety developments, and enable considerations of multiple sorbentcomposition variations with low cost.