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This document summarises the views expressed by the Italian Computing and Data Initiative (ICDI) in response to the open consultation for the EOSC Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), closed on the 31st of August. It provides insightful input and suggestions about the current draft of the SRIA document shared with the wider EOSC community, with the aim of helping to shape the future vision of the European Open Science Cloud.

Preface of Parallel Computing is Everywhere

According to the most recently revised European design strategy for DEMO breeding blankets, mature concepts have been identified that require a reduced technological extrapolation towards DEMO and will be tested in ITER. In order to optimize and finalize the design of test blanket modules, a number of issues have to be better understood that are related to the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) interactions of the liquid breeder with the strong magnetic field that confines the fusion plasma. The aim of the present paper is to describe the state of the art of the study of MHD effects coupled with other physical phenomena, such as tritium transport, corrosion and heat transfer. Both numerical and experimental approaches are discussed, as well as future requirements to achieve a reliable prediction of these processes in liquid metal blankets.

In the European and international framework, ENEA coordinates the Italian fusion program, supported by linked third parties as universities, research institutes and industries. In this context, the Experimental Engineering Division (FSN-ING) is involved in experimental and numerical activities related to Breeding Blanket (BB) and Divertor technologies development. This paper describes the scientific works presently ongoing at Brasimone R.C. enveloped in LLE, lithium, helium, tritium and pressurized water technologies, characterization of structural materials, analysis of materials corrosion rate and development and qualification of anti-permeation/corrosion barrier. The experimental activities conducted for the investigation of safety-relevant scenarios as In-Box LOCA (LLE-water interaction in the WCLL or shock waves propagation generated by helium injection in LLE in the HCLL/DCLL-BBs) are here reported. Finally, new activities have been planned to support the Divertor Tokamak Test divertor characterization, the large-scale LLE-water interaction and a LLE components validation in relevant scale for WCLL-BB.

Objectives The aim of this study was to report on the safety and feasibility of secondary relining with focal flaring of novel-generation balloon-expandable covered stents for endovascular treatment of significant diameter mismatch in the aorto-iliac territory. Significant diameter mismatch was defined as >20% difference in the nominal diameter between the intended proximal and distal landing zones. Methods Patient A was an 84-year-old man with prior abdominal aortic aneurysm open repair with a straight 20 mm Dacron tube. He presented with a right common iliac artery aneurysm (Ø88 mm) with contained rupture. The Gore Viabahn endoprosthesis (9 mm × 5 cm) was inserted proximally about 15 mm above the occluded ostium of the internal iliac artery. Subsequently, the BeGraft Aortic® (16 mm × 48 mm) was inserted proximally up to the common iliac artery origin; its proximal portion was flared to 22 mm. Patient B was a 77-year-old man with prior endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair with a Medtronic Endurant stent-graft. He presented with occlusion of the right limb of the aortic endoprosthesis and thrombosis that extended down to the level of the superficial femoral artery. After mechanical thrombectomy, two Gore Viabahn endoprosthesis (first one, 8 mm × 10 cm; second one, 10 mm × 15 cm) were inserted into the right iliac limb. Subsequently, the BeGraft Aortic® (12mm × 39mm) was inserted proximally up to the gate of the aortic stent-graft; its proximal portion was flared to 16 mm. Results Technical success and clinical success were achieved in both patients. Imaging follow-up (6 months for Patient A, 12 months for Patient B) showed correct placement of all stent-grafts without any graft-related adverse event. The patients remained free from new reinterventions or recurrent symptoms. Patient A died 8 months after the index procedure from acute respiratory failure after community acquired pneumonia. Conclusion Secondary relining with focal flaring of novel-generation balloon-expandable covered stents for endovascular treatment of significant diameter mismatch in the aorto-iliac territory is safe and feasible. Although mid-term results seem to be effective, longer follow-up is warranted to establish durability of the technique.

Tritium permeation from breeder material to the Water Coolant System (WCS) in Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) Breeding Blanket (BB) is one of the technological issues to be solved in the design of the European DEMO. Since the tritium extraction from the Water Coolant System is more challenging and expensive than the extraction from the eutectic alloy PbLi, it is mandatory to use of a protective coating on the blanket wall to minimize the permeation rate. Moreover, a protective coating can prevent the corrosion of EUROFER steel by the action of PbLi. alumina-based coatings are considered as reference for barriers thanks to their good chemical compatibility with the PbLi alloy and their capability to reduce permeation. Three coating technologies were selected in the frame of the EUROfusion project: electrochemical ECX (chemical deposition) process, Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) and Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) coating. The coatings were developed and optimized in order to satisfy the design requirements of good mechanical compatibility with steels, strong adhesion, corrosion compatibility in PbLi at relevant BB design conditions and a Permeation Reduction Factor at least of 200 under neutron irradiation. The present paper aims to describe the status of the technologies and the main results obtained. The final objectives of the R&D activities are to demonstrate the applicability of the coating to WCLL BB and therefore the scale-up of the technologies from laboratory scale to the BB scale.

The NEXTOWER H2020 EU project investigates the possibility of using liquid lead as heat storage medium for high-temperature Thermal Energy Storage (TES) in concentrated solar power plants. To that end, within such project, a demonstration TES unit named SOLEAD (SOlar LEAd Demonstrator) is being developed to be coupled with an open volumetric air receiver in a solar tower CSP system. The SOLEAD demonstrator will use pure lead as working fluid and will be tested stand-alone, to address structural material behaviour at very high temperature, without coupling with air receiver. The tests are planned by the ENEA Brasimone R.C. in Italy. The introduction of the paper provides a general summary of the TES and CSP technology. Then a section is devoted to the conceptual design of SOLEAD. In the lead stand-alone experiment, the focus is on the materials corrosion in lead environment. Although the thermal stratification in the main vessel cannot be reproduced in a stand-alone experiment, the thermal cycle of the facility in the range 600-750°C will be properly reproduced in the experimental test. To this aim, external heating cables will heat up the system from 600°C to 750°C, while a proper Air Cooling System (ACS) will cool down the lead pool. A section of the paper contains the design criteria and calculation of the ACS with the air flowing on an annular gap between the vessel and the insulation. The power provided and extracted by the two systems (heating cables and ACS) is around 30 kW, so that the temperature range 600-750°C can be covered in about 8 hours and a complete cycle can be carried out in one day. Finally, a brief summary of the operational procedures needed from lead melting to the materials inspection is provided. The plan is to test the vessel for 4 months with daily thermal cycles to assess the resistance of FeCrAl materials exposed to very high temperature lead.

Corrosion phenomena of structural material in Lead-Lithium Eutectic (LLE) environment is influenced by the coolant chemistry, temperature, velocity profile and impurities concentration dissolved in it. In the framework of the EUROfusion consortium, the Experimental Engineering Division (FSN-ING) by the ENEA Brasimone Research Centre (RC) is developing scientific activities to investigate the corrosion rate of materials and to test Al based diffusion coating at 550 °C, different velocities (0.01, 0.1 and 1 m/s) and different exposure times. To this end, a new experimental facility, named LIFUS II (Lithium for Fusion II) is under construction at the Brasimone RC laboratories. Piping and components installed in the hot leg of the facility are internally coated by an Al based diffusion coating developed in collaboration with RINA Consulting-CSM to reduce concentration of corrosion product in the loop. A preliminary screening of the coating was performed in LLE stagnant conditions at 550 °C for 1000 h showing a good resistance and no signs of dissolution were detected. The only modification on the surface was found to be related to the formation of dark islands made of Al2O3.

Oxygen sensors for Heavy Liquid Metals (HLMs) such as lead and LBE (lead-bismuth eutectic) will be essential devices in future Lead Fast Reactor (LFR) and Accelerator Driven System (ADS). Potentiometric sensors based on solid electrolytes were developed in recent years to this purpose. Internal reference electrodes such as Pt-air and Bi/Bi 2 O 3 liquid metal/metal-oxide are among the most used but they both have a weak point: Pt-air sensor has a high minimum reading temperature around 400 °C whereas Bi/Bi 2 O 3 suffers from internal stresses induced by Bi volume variations with temperature, which may lead to the sensor failure in the long-term. The present work describes the performance of standard Pt-air and Bi/Bi 2 O 3 sensors and compares them with recent Cu/Cu 2 O sensor. Sensors with Yttria Partially Stabilized Zirconia (YPSZ) electrolyte were calibrated in oxygen-saturated HLM between 160 and 550 °C and the electric potential compared to the theoretical one to define the accuracy and the minimum reading temperature. Standard Pt-air sensor were also tested using Yttria Totally Stabilized Zirconia (YTSZ) to assess the effect of a different electrolyte on the minimum reading temperature. The performance of Pt-air and Cu/Cu 2 O sensors with YPSZ electrolyte were then tested together in low-oxygen HLM between 200 and 450 °C. The results showed that Pt-air, Bi/Bi 2 O 3 and Cu/Cu 2 O sensors with YPSZ measured oxygen in HLMs down to 400 °C, 290 °C and 200 °C respectively. When the YTSZ electrolyte was used in place of the YPSZ, the Pt-air sensor measured correctly down to at least 350 °C thanks to the superior ionic conductivity of the YTSZ. When Cu/Cu 2 O and Pt-air sensors were tested together in the same low-oxygen HLM between 200 and 450 °C, Cu/Cu 2 O sensor worked predictably in the whole temperature range whereas Pt-air sensor exhibited a correct output only above 400 °C.

The anatomic variations of the median nerve and of the muscles of the wrist have been widely reported in literature. It is essential for the surgeon to be familiar with these variations in order to avoid accidental injury to the nerve during surgery. We report a rare case of bifid median nerve accompanied by an anomalous tendon of palmaris profundus discovered during the surgical release of carpal tunnel. The transverse carpal ligament was dissected and the anomalous tendon was left in situ because any direct compression over the median nerve was noticed intraoperatively. The patient was evaluated one year postoperatively clinically and radiologically (with MRI). At the follow up the resolution of symptoms was complete and the sleep disturbance was solved. The patient achieved a postoperative QuickDASH score of 9.1 and a Michigan Hand Questionnaire outcome score of 90 points.

Three of the four breeder blanket concepts currently under investigation for the European DEMO Reactor use the eutectic Pb-16Li as breeder material. Those are the Helium Cooled Lithium Lead (HCLL), Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) and Dual Coolant Lithium Lead (DCLL) blankets. Moreover, the WCLL is one of the blanket concepts that will be qualified in the ITER reactor, therefore the development and design of lead lithium loops and auxiliary systems is essential. The main functional requirements that Pb-16Li systems have to fulfill are: • to circulate the liquid Pb-16Li through the blanket and ancillaries; • to extract the tritium produced inside the breeder modules from Pb-16Li; • to control Pb-16Li chemistry and to remove accumulated impurities; The present work aims to describe the activities performed in order to achieve the following objectives: i) design and integration of the Pb-16Li loops inside the tokamak building, ii) development and characterization of antipermeation and anticorrosion coatings on structures in contact with Pb-16Li, iii) development and design of an activation products removal system, iv) design of a chemistry control system for Pb-16Li loops, v) performing magnetohydrodynamic analyses taking into account the impact on heat transfer and tritium transport in breeding blankets and performing safety analyses of water/Pb-16Li interaction due to LOCA inside the WCLL blanket.

Spine pain is one of the most common pain conditions, with low back pain representing the second leading cause of disability worldwide. It has a great impact on functional capacity and occupational activities, representing a major welfare and economic problem. Main causes of back pain include intervertebral disc pathologies, facet joint pain, dynamic instabilities, spondylosis and stenosis, spondylolisthesis, osteoporotic compression fractures, spinal infections and others. Even though some of these conditions have a well-defined clinical presentation, others may present with heterogeneous signs and symptoms that may render differential diagnosis arduous.

Several breeding blanket concepts for the DEMO reactor employ the eutectic Pb–16Li as breeder material, namely Helium Cooled Lithium Lead (HCLL), Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) and Dual Coolant Lithium Lead (DCLL). These three concepts share, with different incidences, three major technological challenges: Tritium containment, steel corrosion and magnetohydrodynamic drag. Here, we describe the ongoing work on multifunctional Al2O3 nanoceramic coatings grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) on Reduction-Activation Ferritic-Martensitic (RAFM) steel. In fact, PLD can produce relatively thick (up to tens of μm) high performance coatings with metal-like mechanical properties. The coatings were tested as Tritium permeation barriers with Hydrogen at different temperature (from 350 to 650 °C). Results collected in this way indicate an excellent behavior, with a permeation reduction factor (PRF) close to 105. In addition, it was shown that they are able to maintain similar properties even when Deuterium was employed and also under 2 MeVelectrons irradiation. [1] Moreover, the electrical conductivity of these dielectric coatings was shown to be extremely low even under irradiation. Finally, to evaluate the chemical compatibility of Al2O3 films in liquid eutectic Pb-16Li, PLD deposited samples have been exposed to static corrosion tests up to 8000 h. No corrosive attacks of the steel substrate are detected. To conclude, Alumina coatings deposited by PLD show optimal characteristics in order to tackle the major technological challenges associated to the Breeding Blanket (BB) concepts employing Pb-16Li as breeder materials.

Since Lead-cooled Fast Reactors (LFR) have been conceptualized in the frame of Generation IV International Forum (GIF), great interest has focused on the development and testing of new technologies related to Heavy Liquid Metal (HLM) nuclear reactors. In this frame, ENEA developed one of the larger European experimental fleet of experimental facilities aiming at investigating HLM thermal-hydraulics, coolant chemistry control, corrosion behavior for structural materials, and at developing components, instrumentations and innovative systems, supported by experiments and numerical tools. The present work aims at highlighting the capabilities and competencies developed by ENEA so far in the frame of the liquid metal technologies for GEN-IV LFR. In particular, an overview on the ongoing R&D experimental program will be depicted considering the actual fleet of facilities: CIRCE, NACIE-UP, LIFUS5, LECOR and HELENA. CIRCE (CIRColazione Eutettico) is the largest HLM pool facility presently in operation worldwide. Full scale component tests, thermal stratification studies, operational and accidental transients and integral tests for the nuclear safety and SGTR (Steam Generator Tube Rupture) events in a large pool system can be studied. NACIE-UP (NAtural CIrculation Experiment-UPgraded) is a loop with a HLM primary and pressurized water secondary side and a 250 kW power Fuel Pin Simulator working in natural and mixed convection. LIFUS5 (lithium for fusion) is a separated effect facility devoted to the HLM/Water interaction. HELENA (HEavy Liquid metal Experimental loop for advanced Nuclear Applications) is a pure lead loop with a mechanical pump for high flow rates experiments. LECOR (LEad CORrosion) is a corrosion loop facility with oxygen control system installed. All the experiment actually ongoing on these facilities are described in the paper, depicting their role in the context of GEN-IV LFR development. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

NACIE-UP loop located at the ENEA Brasimone Research Centre is an experimental thermal-hydraulic facility working with liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE). The facility was designed and constructed with the purpose to support the research activity on future nuclear reactors cooled by HLMs (Heavy Liquid Metals). A major problem in the operation of experimental HLM facilities concerns the chemical control of the coolant and, in particular, of the dissolved oxygen. Indeed, a reduction of the oxygen concentration in the HLM must be performed before each experimental thermal-hydraulic campaign in order to prevent the formation of PbO, whose deposition above piping and components may affect the experimental results. The present work describes the conditioning to low oxygen of the LBE inside NACIE-UP facility. The oxygen concentration reduction was performed by injecting Ar-3%H2 gas mixture in the riser column of the loop for 650 h and by varying the LBE temperature in the range 230–400 °C. The oxygen concentration in the LBE was monitored in the expansion vessel of the loop using a potentiometric Cu/Cu2O oxygen sensor. The sensor showed that a deep oxygen reduction in the LBE was successfully obtained, even if the optimal working concentration for the operation of a HLM nuclear system was not achieved. The oxygen concentration was globally reduced from 10−6 to 10−12% in weight at around 250 °C. Furthermore, the sensor revealed the establishment of M/MxOy equilibria in the expansion vessel, indicating that metal impurities dissolving from loop steel walls were here collected and influenced the electric potential of the sensor. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

The next generation of nuclear energy systems, also known as Generation IV reactors, are being developed to meet the highest targets of safety and reliability, sustainability, economics, proliferation resistance, and physical protection, with improved performances compared with the currently licensed plants or those presently being built. Among the proposed technologies, lead-cooled fast reactors (LFRs) have been identified by nuclear industries in both Western and developing countries as being among the optimal Generation IV candidates. Since 2000, ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and Sustainable Economic Development is supporting the core design, safety assessment, and technological development of innovative nuclear systems cooled by heavy liquid metals (HLM) and, most recently, fully oriented on LFRs. ENEA is developing world-recognized skills in fast spectrum core design and is one of the largest European fleets of experimental facilities aiming at investigating HLM thermal-hydraulics, coolant chemistry control, corrosion behavior for structural materials, and material properties in the HLM environment, as well as at developing corrosion-protective coatings, components, instrumentation, and innovative systems, supported by experiments and numerical tools. Efforts are also dedicated to develop and validate numerical tools for specific application to HLM systems, ranging from neutronics codes, system and core thermal-hydraulic codes, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and fuel pin performance codes, including their coupling. The present work aims at highlighting the capabilities and competencies developed by ENEA so far in the framework of liquid metal technologies for Generation IV LFRs. In particular, an overview on the ongoing R&D experimental program will be depicted considering the current fleet of facilities, namely: CIRCE, NACIE-UP, LIFUS5, LECOR, BID-1, HELENA, RACHEL, and Mechanical Labs. An overview on the numerical activities performed so far and those presently ongoing is also reported. Finally, an overview of the ENEA contribution to the ALFRED Project in the frame of the FALCON international consortium is reported, mainly addressing the ongoing activity in terms of core design, technology development, and auxiliary systems design.

One of the major bottlenecks in the development of the breeding blanket of the DEMO fusion reactor is the suppression of tritium permeation through structural steels as well as their protection against dissolution-corrosion by interaction with high temperature heavy liquid metals. Reduction of tritium permeation and corrosion of structural steels are crucial issues in order to enhance reactor safety and avoid operational implications. As a solution to these two daunting challenges, we developed multifunctional alumina coatings capable to tackle, at the same time, tritium permeation and Pb-Li corrosion. The coatings are deposited by pulsed laser deposition and are essentially amorphous, with nanocrystalline inclusions. By optimizing the deposition process, we provide experimental evidence that PLD-grown alumina yields a permeation reduction factor for hydrogen and deuterium well above 104, even after electron irradiation, and a suitable protection against corrosion by the Pb-16Li eutectic. Given these results, the multifunctional, PLD-grown alumina coatings stand out as a viable solution to some of the long-lasting issues related to fusion technologies. © 2018 IAEA, Vienna.

Advanced and innovative solutions are currently under investigations in order to solve the long-standing issues of materials constituting the breeding blanket of a future fusion reactor. Tritium permeation through steels, corrosion perpetrated by the breeding media, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects and intense neutron irradiation hinder the realization of this technology. Recently, the employment of protective nanoceramic coatings has been considered as one of the few viable solutions. In particular, the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique allows to produce dense, compact and uniform coatings, which are the fundamental characteristics when designing a protective barrier. Yttrium oxide (Y2O3) is one of the most promising candidates given its superior stability when facing lithium-based heavy liquid metals and also its low nuclear activation yield, thus it was selected as subject of study and characterzation. PLD-grown Y2O3 coatings were then tested in order to assess their feasability as protective barriers at blanket relevant conditions. Basic characterization of the as deposited and annealed (450 °C) films was perfomed (scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscope, grazing incident angle x-rays diffraction, nanoindenation). A coated sample was also exposed to static Pb-16Li at.% for 1000 h, showing optimal corrosion resistance and thermal stability at high temperature (550 °C). Finally, the electrical resistivity of this material was measured (up to 200 °C) in order to evaluate its ability to mitigate the MHD detrimental effects. To conclude, a preliminary characterization of the PLD-grown Y2O3 coatings proved the possibility to employ them as multifunctional protective barrier to enable the accomplishment of the breeding blanket technology.