Ceanews 18

simulation atmospheric transport p.
26
artificial intelligence and learning p. 26
oikopleura, accelerated evolution in zooplankton p. 29
From research to industry

autumn 2011 18 th issue
SiMULATiON WORKiNg fOR NUCLEAR ENERgY

AT ThE hEART Of SUpERCONdUCTiviTY
CeAs09_news18_215x285_v22.indd 1
p. 8
p. 14
27/09/11 17:12
International cooperation
Bull chosen to provide the Rokkasho supercomputer: International research on controlled nuclear fusion Euro-MPs visit Cadarache Overhauling the worlds medical radioisotopes market ICOS: a future European network for monitoring greenhouse gas sources and sinks 6th edition of ENEF Nanogenotox, towards harmonization of European nanotoxicology Chronic diseases Franco-Tunisian energy cooperation The stars of the battery world 40th anniversary of ICN Pitesti Prolongation and extension of the CEA-UJV Agreement Characterization techniques in sight Inauguration of the I2EN and the JANNuS platform
30
Personal fulfilment
A transatlantic summer Dreaming of a final at the MIT The International Institute of Nuclear Energy
20
Scientific insights
Energetic colors Predicting the toughness of steel A shorter pyrolysis process Soleil en Tte moves into solar cooling
contents
Spotlight on
30
Energy
SImUlATION wORkINg FOR NUClEAR ENERgY
Predicting and optimizing Simulation at the heart of the cycle Complementing experimentation
Strategic recycling Herschels gaze reveals gas filaments Understanding breakage Nanoparticles detection in an ambient environment The biological bases of access to consciousness revealed The CSEM, where science meets society Simulation atmospheric transport Artificial intelligence and learning When the chips are down Alzheimers disease building on imaging with Cati Oikopleura, accelerated evolution in zooplankton Improved screening of prostate cancer
Whats on
Forum France-MIT Explosives detection conference Warsaw Science Festival IAEA General Conference
Providing industry with an effective response Towards a global platform
Research
AT THE HEART OF SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
Quantum physics on a large scale From fundamental physics to medical imaging Electronic circuits for telecoms and computers High critical temperature materials Opening the door to new technological advances
14
CEA News is edited by the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission - Communication Division - Headquarters - 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex - France www.cea.fr / ceanews.contact@cea.fr CEA News is a synthesis of articles and press releases published by CEA Publication Director: Xavier Clment Contributors to this edition: Claire Abou, Sophie Aniel, Claude Ayache, Patrick Cappe de Baillon, Xavier Clment, Pascale Delbourgo, Daniel Iracane, Florence Klotz, Elisabeth de Lavergne, Lucia Le Clech, Frdric Mondoloni, Brigitte Raffray Graphic design: MAKASSAR Printed on Symbol Freelife paper (40% recycled, 60% FSC-certified) Cover: Installation for studying air flow through a series of heating cylinders, simulating a portion of the radioactive waste package storage room. Artechnique/CEA Credits: P.Allard/REA - p.4 bottom / P.Avavian - p.6 top, p.21 / L.Chamussy/Sipa - p.6 centre / P.Dumas - p.11 bottom / C.Dupont - p.8 bottom, p.19 / ESA/Herschel/ Spire/Pacs M.Faugre - p.8 bottom / L .Godart - p.3, p.28, p.30 bottom / PF.Grosjean - p.11 bottom, p.30 top / J-F Mangin, V. El Kouby, M. Perrin, Y. Cointepas, C. Poupon - p.24 / Photodisc - p.31 top / S.Renard - p.5 / F.Rhodes - p.29 bottom / P.Stroppa - p.4 top, p.7 bottom, p.10, p.14, p.16, p.17, p.24 / A.Thevenot - p.31 bottom / D.Touzeau - p.23 / F.Vrignault p.18
27/09/11 17:13
Nuclear safety: analyse, share and improve
CEA Director of International Relations
Frdric Mondoloni
Within the CEA, we are analysing the strengths and weaknesses of our expertise, in the light of the Fukushima accident. Possible new areas of research are explored. Although France is not facing so large earthquake events, the CEA will study margin quantification in greater depth, as this issue is vital to demonstrate the robustness of facilities. It will also strive to improve descriptions of the physical phenomena at stake in a meltdown scenario, to develop more accurate measuring instruments and to consolidate accident management means. As a highly nuclear nation and a long-standing technical partner Work will also be done to secure the capacity to treat large of Japan, France is greatly involved in the post-Fukushima volumes of radioactive waste. Lastly, the Fukushima events analysis and in international debates, through its experts, brought to light the difficulty of taking action in post-accident researchers and industrial undertakings. Within the framework conditions. Thus, research will also of its G8 presidency, the country took focus on improving our remotethe initiative in organizing a seminar on operation systems, developed nuclear safety in Paris, on 7 June. The THE CHALLENGE with EDF and Areva, for greater results of the seminar were then used OF THIS IN-DEPTH REAPPRAISAL mobility in hostile environments, to prepare the International Atomic more rugged electronics and more OF NUCLEAR SAFETY LIES IN Energy Agency (IAEA) conference modern software. which 151 countries attended from PROVING THE CREDIBILITY Nuclear energy is still a credible 20 to 24 June, in Vienna, Austria. OF NUCLEAR ENERGY FOR solution for the future given Nuclear accidents know no boundaries, THE FUTURE OF MANKIND the advantages it offers in an and the international community has increasingly energy-craving world displayed a clear ambition to adopt a with diminishing fossil resources. However, we must obviously collaborative approach to safety. A consensus has been reached learn from the current crisis to further improve nuclear safety. on several points: promote the highest nuclear safety standards; The accident must first be analysed in detail to take the test the resistance of the 440 plants in operation worldwide necessary remedial measures on a technical and organisational and regularly conduct peer controls; examine the need scale. Those lessons and best practices must then be correctly to update international conventions; develop cooperation disseminated and implemented in all countries using nuclear and transparency; and improve accident preparedness and energy. management. The IAEA is the rightful international instrument of this new way of working. This latter point is a sensitive one as the current crisis confirms the extent to which each accident has repercussions France continues to develop bilateral relations with countries internationally. Major international talks engaged in the seeking to acquire or develop nuclear energy. The CEA plays an months following the event will continue in the coming years, important part in these relations, in technical matters naturally, but leading to more stringent safety obligations on each nuclear also through its role at the heart of governmental strategy. To many energy-using nation, firstly under their primary responsibility, countries, our model in which a research organisation provides but also under stronger commitments to the international the Government with expertise is a key factor given the States community. primary responsibility in nuclear energy development and control. ix months have now passed since the Fukushima nuclear accident struck Japan. It also deeply moved every other nation. People have been anxious ever since. Governments, nuclear operators and international groups and associations are working to draw the lessons we can learn from it. The technical and organisational analysis of the accident, of what did and did not work, is vital if nuclear energy is to contribute to the energy mix of the future.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:13
In the words of
3
international cooperation
Bull chosen to provide the Rokkasho supercomputer: International research on controlled nuclear fusion
CEA, mandated by the European domestic agency to build Iter and the Broader Approach (F4E, Fusion For Energy), chose Bull to equip, maintain and operate the future computer center to be installed at Rokkasho (Japan), as part of the International Fusion Energy Research Center. This facility is designed to enable the most advanced modeling/simulation to be performed in the field of plasma and materials for controlled fusion. It will be made available to European and Japanese researchers in January 2012, for a period of 5 years. This computer center is one of the components of the Broader Approach research program which complements the Iter program initiated in November 2006 under the cooperative agreement between Japan and Europe. The power of the supercomputer installed will exceed one million billion operations per second (petaflop) and will be the third machine designed and developed by Bull to achieve this level of performance. The new supercomputer is designed to be operational round-the-clock. Its peak power of nearly 1.3 petaflop makes it among the most powerful systems in the world. It has memory of more than 280 terabytes and a high-speed storage system of more than 5.7 petabytes supplemented by a secondary storage system with a capacity of 50 petabytes. Bull is responsible for designing and building the electrical and liquid cooling infrastructures within the computer rooms. It will also be in charge of installing, maintaining and operating the supercomputer and peripherals for a period of 5 years. For all of these services, it will rely on the expertise of its local partner, SGI Japan, Ltd. F4E entrusted CEA with responsibility for this operation, owing to its expertise in the field of high-performance data intensive computing. Operational control of the computer center will be handled on-site by a CEA director, assisted by a deputy director from the JAEA agency.
Euro-MPs visit Cadarache
Overhauling the worlds medical radioisotopes market

The High Level Group on the security of supply of medical radioisotopes submitted its conclusions in June 2011, after two years of work. This Group, comprising representatives from Government, the producer companies and nuclear physicians, was set up as a result of the recurring radioisotope shortages on the world market.
In May 2011, a visit to the Iter construction site and the Tore-Supra fusion research facility in Cadarache was organized at the initiative of members of the European Parliaments budget and budgetary control committees. They were thus able to see for themselves the progress being made by the project. It was an opportunity for Bernard Bigot, the High Representative for the Iter project in France, to restate the firm support of the host country. The Euro-MPs will be drafting a report on their visit for the next meeting of the European Parliament.
These shortages were caused by the increasing unavailability of the ageing nuclear research reactors used for this production. Within the High Level Group, France was represented by CEA, which operates one of the five main reactors supplying the market. This market is small, but is strategic and global and requires significant adaptation: the group produced a detailed analysis of how this market works and proposed a new economic model designed to guarantee the necessary future long-term production levels.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:13
ICOS: 6th edition of ENEF a future European network for monitoring greenhouse gas sources and sinks
On May 19th and 20th, 2011, the sixth edition of the ENEF (European Nuclear Energy Forum) was held in Prague. This edition, occurring shortly after the accident in Fukushima, saw intense debate in which stress tests were the principal focus. In the opening session, the Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic and Slovakia as well as Eric Besson, the French Minister of Industry, Energy and the Digital Economy have clearly spoken out against the idea of taking into account in these tests the risk of terrorist attacks. In his speech, Mr. Herv Bernard, Deputy Chairman of CEA, reminded the audience of Frances energy strategy and presented the challenges of R&D to continue the safe operation of nuclear power plants, highlighting the mission of the CEA in this field.
Four atmospheric observatories in Europe are beginning a measurement campaign to demonstrate the feasibility of a European network for monitoring greenhouse gas sinks and sources. The future ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observing System) atmospheric network is supported in France by CEA, CNRS, UVSQ and ANDRA and will become an environmental research infrastructure devoted to high-resolution observation of carbon exchanges (carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases) between the Earths surface, the surface of the oceans and the atmosphere. With the support of the European Commission, it will involve more than 40 research laboratories from about twenty countries. The demonstration experiment that has just started is the testing of the coordinated working of the system on a very small and thus far simpler network. The definition and construction of the atmospheric measurements system are being controlled by the Laboratory of climate and environment sciences (LSCE, CEA/ CNRS/UVSQ). For the purposes of this project, a reference atmospheric station designed by this laboratory was installed at Houdelaincourt in eastern France and incorporated into the Observatoire Prenne de lEnvironnement (long-term environment observatory). The experimental network comprises three other atmospheric stations of this type, in Ireland, the Netherlands and Finland. If the demonstration experiment proves conclusive, the reference station designed at the LSCE will be replicated and deployed to more than 50 sites throughout Europe. UVSQ
Universit Versailles Saint Quentin.
Nanogenotox, towards harmonization of European nanotoxicology
This joint action involving 18 research organizations form 13 member states of the European Union aims to develop an initial common approach to identifying the DNA toxicity of the nanoparticles present on the market (silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide and carbon nanotubes). The exercise consists in running the same detection tests both in vitro (on cells) and in vivo (on animals) using the same batches of marketed nanoparticles.
CEAs expertise of radioactive tracing and imaging was therefore called on for the upstream toxicokinetic studies on carbon nanotubes (identification of target organs). The strength of this program is that it envisages European scale harmonization of methods to evaluate potential DNA toxicity, a key step in screening for the long-term toxicity of nanoparticles.
Chronic diseases
Nanovector based therapies are very much in fashion. The proof is the launch of the Biba project for intestinal diseases, involving eight European partners, coordinated by CEA-Leti with a view to developing an anti-inflammatory corticoid and/or an immunosuppressor encapsulated in a biodegradable nanovector. The goal is to improve the treatment of chronic intestinal inflammatory diseases, which are widespread in Europe, and to mitigate the common side effects.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:14
5
Franco-Tunisian energy cooperation
The stars of the battery world

Whether stationary, supporting electrical grids, or guaranteeing the continuity of intermittent energy sources (solar or wind power), batteries are everywhere. Their performance is now modeled and listed in a virtual library, the result of collaboration between researchers at CEAliten, Fraunhofer-ISEA and the University of Aachen, under a project subsidized by E-ON. The aim of the Best project is to provide industry with a data bank of battery models, accessible via the web, to help them choose the right model based on criteria such as the application, duration of use, specificity of the energy system, etc. To do this, the French and German researchers modeled six types of batteries (lead acid, nickel metal hydride, lithium-ion, sodium-nickel chloride, redox and super-capacitors). The batteries underwent a series of laboratory tests, including characterization by Impedance spectroscopy, on test benches connected to a digital interface. Specially developed algorithms were used to model the data obtained (lifetime, range, value for money, etc.). This Best project should also be of interest to the automobile sector, in which the transition to electric and hybrid vehicles is primarily based on batteries.
liten
Laboratory for Innovation and New Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials.
E-ON During a visit to Tunisia, on July 4 , 2011, by Eric Besson, French Minister of Industry, Energy and the Digital Economy, the CEA and Soitec signed with the Tunisian national electricity and gas company (STEG) a statement of intent. The statement concerns the setting up of a demonstration unit combining Soitecs Concentrix concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) technology with various electricity storage systems developed by the CEA, and lithium-ion batteries in particular.
th
German operator for Generation, Renewables, New Build & Technology, Gas and Trading.
Impedance
Impedance is the ratio between the complex amplitude of a sinusoidal value (electrical voltage) and the complex amplitude of the induced value (electrical current).
There are various different goals for this project: - In terms of energy policy, to strengthen its energy security and independence by harnessing its solar resources. The intended role of the storage systems is to regulate the intermittence of renewable energies and to maximize the electricity contributed to the grid so as to improve its management. - From a scientific perspective, this demonstration unit will help enhance knowledge of how CPV solar plants and storage systems operate over the long term in real usage conditions. It will lead to the development of skills in Tunisia and the sharing of expertise in new energy technologies through the creation of joint FrancoTunisian research teams. Soitec A world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary
semiconductor materials.
40th anniversary of ICN Pitesti

For the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Institute of Nuclear Research in Pitesti (ICN), Mr. Herv Bernard, Deputy Chairman of CEA, visited Romania on May 24th and 25th, 2011. Attending the opening ceremony of the conference that marked the anniversary, he delivered a speech on the role of nuclear in the French energy strategy for the future. This visit also provided him an opportunity to see the experimental facilities of the ICN, in particular the experimental reactor (a Triga with 2 cores) and hot cells.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:14
Prolongation and extension of the CEA-UJV Agreement

On May 18th, 2011 in Prague, in presence of Mr. Martin Kocourek, the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade and Mr. Eric Besson, the French Minister of Industry, Energy and Digital Economy, Mr. Herv Bernard, Deputy Chairman of CEA and Mr. Ales John, the General Director of UJV (Nuclear Research Institute), signed the first amendment to the cooperation agreement which dates from 2005. Since then, the two organizations have launched co-operations aimed at continuously increasing the safety and sustainability of nuclear energy. In particular, jointly acting within the European Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNE-TP), CEA and UJV contribute to the development of generation IV, this new type of nuclear reactors that should facilitate an increase in uranium resources while decreasing waste volume and radio toxicity. Considering the benefits of this cooperation, the competences of both organizations and the stakes of energy in the future, rather than simply proroguing the agreement, it has been decided to extend the field of cooperation to the new technologies for energy, in particular hydrogen, energy storage and fuel cells. This extension will help CEA and UJV play a major role together in Europe on research on nuclear and renewable energies.
Characterization techniques in sight

The CEA, CNRS, ILL (Institut Laue-Langevin) and ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility) have signed a memorandum of understanding to create a new technology platform in Grenoble. The aim is to offer companies the very latest expertise and resources in materials characterization. The aim is to assist and train industrials in the use of these techniques, both for preparing experiments and interpreting data. It will be installed on the Giant innovation campus and will be a unique combination of scientific equipment, including CEAs nano-characterization platform, the worlds most powerful continuous neutron source (ILL) and brightest X-ray source (ESRF).
Inauguration of the I2EN and the JANNuS platform
Valrie Pcresse, Minister for Higher Education and Research and Eric Besson, Minister for Industry, Energy and the Digital Economy, inaugurated the International Institute for Nuclear Energy (I2EN) and the JANNuS platform in Saclay, on June 27th, 2011. This joint inauguration took place in the presence of Bernard Bigot, CEA Chairman, Catherine Cesarsky, High Commissioner for Atomic Energy, members of parliament and local elected officials, representatives from the world of research, with the Director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics at the CNRS, Jacques Martino, and from higher education, with the President of Universit Paris XI-Sud, Guy Couarraze. The I2EN, headed by Marie-Franoise Debreuille, began its activities in September 2010. In the field of nuclear energy, the Institute is the French party to bilateral cooperation in the field of training and orientation guidance for foreign students arriving in France. It can call on the expertise of 24 partners: academic establishments, research organizations, industrial firms in the sector and supervisory ministries. The I2EN enables foreign students looking to embark on a career in the nuclear energy sector in their own countries to gain access to training programs specifically tailored to their needs. It is also the French point of entry to a European and international network of centers of excellence for a sustainable nuclear future. The JANNuS platform is an experimental research facility shared by the Saclay and Orsay sites. It offers experimental simulation of the long-term behavior of nuclear materials subjected to neutron irradiation, in order to improve modeling and gain a clearer understanding of irradiation induced ageing effects.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:14
7
ENERGY
Fuel cycle reactor physics safety
Simulation working for nuclear energy

The major challenges of simulation stem from the need to develop the nuclear systems of today and tomorrow, from the front-end of the cycle, right up to disposal. Simulation has to help give the French nuclear industry a permanent competitive edge. It is an essential tool and requires continuity among the competent and responsive development teams, matching industrial requirements with scientific and technological progress. One key area of innovation is to combine physical modeling with the possibilities opened up by the development of data intensive computing resources. The validation and qualification of advanced numerical systems require that the experimental tools used also make comparable progress.
Rive droite Rive gauche n 76 January 2011
One first family of platforms corresponds to the five main nuclear disciplines: neutronics, thermohydraulics, behavior of materials under irradiation, structural mechanics and chemistry. The second family of platforms is multidisciplinary and intended for specific applications: reactor physics, fuel, fuel cycle frontend and back-end, waste disposal. Finally, simulation relies on generic tools that allow integration of the software, the use of data intensive computing if necessary and the inclusion of uncertainty into the codes.
iven the diversity of systems and individual cases, numerical simulation is based on a range of versatile software platforms, developed through French and international partnerships and sometimes used in combination with each other.
3D analysis of two-phase flows in a PWR secondary system, using the Genepi code.
With the development of computers and of computing power, no project is today beyond numerical simulation and its computer codes. This activity now complements modeling and experimentation and has become an essential tool in running nuclear energy R&D projects. The clearly stated objectives are to be able to predict and build on knowledge and to shorten the process development circuits. These are all key issues, combined with fascinating prospects for CEAs researchers.
Theoretical modelling of chemical compounds: lanthanides and uranium.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:15
SImUlATION OF AN accident transient

USINg TRIO_U CATHARE COUPlINg
Of the accident transients studied during the Astrid project, simulation of the ULOF (Unprotected Loss Of Flow) scenario requires that, from the thermohydraulic standpoint, system effects be taken into account (covering natural convection, behavior of pumps and exchangers), along with more local effects (distribution of sodium temperatures within the assemblies and interaction with the headers). To describe these phenomena, modeling of one of the Astrid reactor concepts (cylindrical Redan and CFV core) was carried out by coupling the Core-Manifold Model of Trio_U with modeling of intermediate exchangers and pumps using Cathare. The simulation performed gives access to the cores 3D temperature map (sub-channel scale) and can thus determine the maximum temperature reached.
Power distribution in a PWR core following ejection of a rod cluster control assembly. Visualization of turbulent jet interactions using the TRIO_U software.
Predicting and optimizing

Simulation has been in use in the CEA for about twenty years, but the nuclear energy department has recently developed a real strategy to enable simulation and experimentation to complement each other, in order to optimize R&D and thus achieve the modern goal of doing better, faster, at less cost. Numerical simulation, which is based on exponential growth of the power of computing platforms, can be used to study the working and the properties of a system and to predict its evolution. It makes it possible to overcome the shortcomings and the limitations of experimentation, for example by extrapolating physical processes over very long periods (for waste management) or by extrapolating separation processes on the scale of an industrial facility (treatment/recycling). This scientific activity can significantly shorten the length of certain feasibility studies, optimize the investment in experimental facilities and act as a new decision-making aid. Numerical simulation contributes to our responsiveness and our economic competitiveness, by accelerating the development of industrial processes and fine-tuning the pertinence of the solutions proposed. It enhances the safety of the processes developed by improving our knowledge of operating margins in incident conditions. Finally, it supports our sustainable development policy, in particular by optimizing the consumption of resources and management of waste.
Partial CAD view (core zone and BCC).
Visualization of flow in the core and in the gap between assemblies.
3D visualization of initial state speed and temperature fields (coloured particles).
Heating of core and hot manifold following flow rate drop (max. temperature reached approx. 850C).
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:15
Spotlight on Energy
9
Simulation at the heart of the cycle

Simulation affects all nuclear energy R&D activities, even if differing levels of development have been reached depending on the particular topic. For simulation of the various steps of a treatment-recycling plant, it has become a vital tool. Even if, for certain steps such as liquid/liquid extraction, it is already a reality, other pages have yet to be written in areas such as oxalic conversion and dissolution. CEA is focusing on both the molecular simulation of the chemical reactions involved in the extraction processes and on developing the chemical engineering code simulating the behavior of an industrial facility. Liquid/liquid extraction is based on the PAREX simulation code developed by the CEA teams at the end of the 1980s. This code can be used to simulate the PUREX process extraction steps used industrially at La Hague. It is already advanced and mature enough to be able to represent normal operation and the operating margins of the plant. However, a number of developments are still needed to adapt it to new types of extractants and to take account of hydro-dynamic transients, in particular in the equipment start-up and shutdown phases.
Workstation for surface chemistry and the physical-chemistry of complex fluids.
In the field of vitrification, the nuclear energy department simulates the physical phenomena at work in the cold-crucible or hot-pot production of molten glass (coupled thermal, hydraulic, electromagnetic phenomena). These simulations help optimize the operation of todays kilns and design those of the future. For the actual glass formulations, simulation helps choose and optimize the chemical elements necessary for fabricating glass that meets certain predetermined requirements. With regard to long-term behavior, simulation of the formation and propagation of the cracks that occur during cooling after pouring of the glass (Vestale project) is already in progress, jointly with the University of Strasbourg. The same goes for the construction of a model applicable to the radioactive package and its validation through experimental observation of an inactive package. It is after all impossible to observe the cracking of a radioactive package using a scanning electron microscope. This tool will thus be able to predict the evolution of the cracks under pressure from the rocks, known as lithostatic constraints, following disposal.
Glass damaGe:
FRAGMA MAKES AN ENTRANCE

FraGMA (Fractures Generator by Mechanistic Analogy) is a computer tool able to generate a realistic 2D network of cracks in materials (for example waste containment glass) through mechanistic analogies. It has just reached a new milestone, with the final development of the general part of the tool and definition of the input parameters. A tool such as this is needed to provide an appropriate mesh for the computer codes, for example simulating the penetration of water and degradation of the glass in this type of confined cracked medium. The 2D networks generated by FraGMA are compared with cross-sections of real networks (tomography analyses). When incorporated into a modeling chain, this tool will be able to model on the one hand the flows in this type of fractured network (fluid mechanics, Trio_U), and on the other the alteration occurring in this type of system (using geochemical codes). It thus becomes possible to study flows (convective or diffusive) and the alteration in cracked confined systems such as glasses, or in any other object of industrial interest (argillites, rocky soils, etc.).
Shielded compartments and a line of glove boxes for testing liquid-liquid extraction processes in Atalante.
10
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:15
Complementing experimentation
Exploring a large number of scenarios, something that is made possible by simulation, enables behavior to be tested in a wide range of conditions, improving the way in which the corresponding confirmation experiments can be defined. Therefore, far from replacing experimentation, simulation offers a new way of improving it. Even if a computer code can be adapted to the constraints of industry, tests remain necessary in order to validate an entire process. Development of a model is based on an iterative process combining calculations with experiments: comparison with experimental results then helps fine-tune the model. Perfecting the model requires specific, dedicated experiments. Simulation is therefore occupying an increasingly important place in the organization and content of a test program. For example, for industrial scale qualification of a process, it will in particular help minimize experimentation in the field.
StudyIng
thermohydraulics
wIth CatharE
A new version of the Cathare-3 thermohydraulics software, called V1-, has just been developed by the nuclear energy department. The main functionalities usable in this version, in addition to the basic modules needed for PWR LOCA calculations, include ways of improving physical modeling taking account of an additional liquid field for droplets as well as major changes to the 3D module for an easier and more precise description of a PWR reactor vessel. This first step is a major milestone and will be followed by optimization of the calculation time and implementation on an industrial demonstration case. The V1 version, which should be available in late 2012, is a binding commitment under the terms of a contact between CEA and the Government.
CRESCENDO cluster dynamics CODE

Cluster dynamics (CD), or homogenous chemical kinetics, is a means of determining the microstructure level evolution of materials over long periods of time (up to several decades). This mean field approach can evaluate the concentration of defect and solute clusters versus time. CD codes have been developed at CEA and EDF R&D for more than ten years now in order to process homogeneous precipitation, groups of isolated, void and interstitial defects in iron, zirconium, steels, etc.
Glass leaching laboratory.
Adaptable vitrification prototype equipped with a nuclearized cold crucible.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:16
Spotlight on Energy
11
Providing industry with an effective response

For CEA, simulation has become a true decision-making aid in the development of processes suitable for industrialization. It can help limit the reduced scale experimentation required before moving on to full-scale testing, pre-size the industrial facilities, simulate certain implementation phases and finally, define the operating conditions and safety margins of the industrial tools with greater accuracy. This is for example the case when designing a new device for coprecipitation. Modeling and simulation of the devices is a means of identifying the key parameters from the very outset of the design process, prior to extrapolation to the industrial stage. By allowing rapid evaluation of the behavior of a system throughout a very wide range of physical and chemical conditions, simulation shortens the process development time and helps reinforce robustness and reliability. This further enhances CEAs credibility with industry. Simulation also has very real benefits when prioritizing the action to be taken. Once a device has been modeled, then changes to its various parameters are simulated in order to observe the resulting impact. Depending on the pertinence of this impact, research will then be focused on a particular area or, on the contrary, it will be ignored.
Fluids physics WITH TRITON

Simulation of an unsteady 3D flow with interfaces was carried out with the Triton code on EDFs BlueGene/P computer. It aims to be both a tool to help understand the detailed physics of interface flows, primarily at the level of the bubble, and a laboratory for developing numerical methods for massively parallel computing of a Cartesian mesh. The purpose of the calculation was to simulate stratification under the effect of gravity on a light fluid within a heavy fluid (sedimentation test). Porting to various installed machines is a means of confirming the naturally parallel nature of Triton and the robustness of the parallelization algorithm. The framework of this calculation was the Neptune joint development project (CEA-EDF-Areva). The post-processing chain allowed the performance of highly conclusive tests on the Cesium machine at the CCRT (research and technology computing center) dedicated to data intensive graphic post-processing.
Towards a global platform

Since 2009, CEA has been looking to create a global simulation platform for the cycle back-end, with the aim of eventually combining the four fundamental steps in the cycle: fuel dissolution, liquid/liquid extraction of nuclear materials and their conversion to solid form, and vitrification of the ultimate waste. The objective is to simulate the main steps of a treatment/recycling plant in a unified computer environment, employing a detailed understanding of the physical-chemical phenomena involved. This system will pool and continue to use generic functions (such as results display or resolution of equation systems) while making it possible to install shared and qualified databases within CEA.
ANUBIS neutronics code for the operation and safety of research reactors.
PLEIADES FUEL
simulation platForm
It is now possible to model the azimuthal asymmetry of fuel pellet fragments in the Alcyone application (PWR code) of the Pleiades fuel simulation platform, a joint CEA - EDF - Areva development. This application can simulate the behavior of PWR rods in service and in particular the pellet-cladding interaction. As this interaction can lead to a loss of cladding leak tightness, it entails a reduction in the maneuverability of the French NPPs in service. To provide a clearer description of this pellet-cladding interaction, a 3D study was needed to comprehend how the mechanical loadings are locally situated.
Using the Toutatis 3D computer code, simulation of a fuel pellet and its cladding under irradiation. In red, maximum swelling of the pellet; in blue, minimum swelling.
12
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:16
What are numerical modelinG and simulation?

Numerical simulation consists in using computation to reproduce the working of a system, previously described by a set of models. At each point on the object concerned, several physical values (speed, temperature, mass, concentration, etc.) describe its state and how this is evolving. These values are not independent but are interconnected by equations, which are the mathematical manifestation of the laws of physics and chemistry governing the behavior of the object. Identifying and formalizing these laws of physics and chemistry is what takes place in modeling. Simulating the state of an object means determining ideally at all points the numerical values of all pertinent parameters. This simulation can be supplemented by a d e s c r i p t i o n o f environmental equations that connect each object in the system to the other objects around it.
apOllO3 nEutrOnICS COdE: NEW DEVELOPMENTS FOR THE Fast neutron reactor
The Apollo3 multi-reactor series neutronics code is at the development stage, in order to meet the needs of the CEA programs, particularly the Sodium fast neutron reactor, under a cooperative agreement with Areva and EDF. It will be the standard neutronics computing platform for the Astrid 4th generation reactor prototype as of the detailed design phase. Development of Sodium fast neutron reactor technology requires kinetic neutronics studies (resolution of the unsteady state Boltzmann equation). These studies are at present mainly conducted using point kinetics. This approach has the advantage of being fast, but it requires detailed studies for effective and correct definition of the problem data. 3D kinetic computing, which can follow on from the usual steady-state 3D calculations, is a means of avoi-ding this pitfall, but the capacity of the neutronic codes currently used for FNR calculations make it hard to use this working method. The development in Apollo3 of 3D kinetics with hexagonal geometry is thus a priority for CEA if it is to be able to address the needs of the Sodium FNR program.
Astrid prototype.
Modelisation of reactor core.
FIRST MAJOR DELIVERABLE OF THE F-BRIDGE PROJECT, the Fruit oF european collaborative work
The European F-BRIDGE project (Basic Research for Innovative Fuel Design for GEN IV systems) aims to strengthen the ties between basic research and applied problems concerning the behavior of ceramic fuels and cladding. A summary document was drafted for the purposes of this project. It is the result of joint work by European scientists from CEA, Imperial College (UK), PSI (Switzerland) and SCK (Belgium) organizations. This document deals with modeling methods used at an atomic scale and their validation for the description of UO2 fuel under irradiation. For this project, studies combining modeling and characterization in a multi-scale approach are carried out. The tools used for atomic scale modeling and electronic and potential structure calculations, which are extensively deployed in materials science, constitute its foundation.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:16
Spotlight on Energy
13
RESEaRch
Fundamental physics medical imaging electronics
AT THE HEART
OF SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
Superconductivity was discovered 100 years ago, but has not yet given up all its secrets, despite its numerous applications. The ability to control this phenomenon at high critical temperatures is still the physicists Holy Grail
Aude Ganier Les Dfis du CEA n159 April 2011 Luc Barbier Le journal de Saclay n51 April 2011
What is superconductivity?
Matter is only apparently inert. At the atomic level, everything is on the move, movement that can be measured by temperature. Absolute zero (-273.15C) however does not signify complete immobility. As the temperature drops, an electric current circulates with greater ease but, as one approaches absolute zero, below what is known as a critical temperature, the electrical resistance of certain materials suddenly disappears, with the material becoming a super conductor, in which the electrons circulate without any dissipation of energy. When the electric current passing through the superconductor exceeds a certain threshold (critical current), the material regains its ordinary properties and once again becomes resistive. Another equally surprising property characterizes superconductors: the Meissner effect. When a magnet is placed above a superconductor, a circular electric current is created in the latter, which cancels out its magnetic field. The force between this current and the magnet explains its levitation. This is different from the repulsion forces observed between the like poles of two magnets. If the superconductor is moved or turned over, the magnet follows it, as if connected by a mysterious bond!
Tore-Supra Tokamak.
14
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:16
uperconductivity was an immense bonus for experimental physics, but was actually discovered by chance, by the physicist Heike Kammerlingh-Onnes, exactly one hundred years ago With no less than 17 awarded Nobel prizes associated with the subject, it has revolutionized medicine, radically changed particle physics and opened up new avenues for managing fusion energy. Transport, telecommunications, electronics, computing, geophysics and even archeology can also utilize its properties. At CEA, many teams are looking to penetrate its mysteries in order to develop instruments and imagine ever more advanced applications
the coupling between electrons and phonons, allows this pairing to take place. The electron pairs then form a wave that propagates through the material without experiencing any collision, allowing conduction with no loss of current. This phenomenon can however only take place at very low temperature, when the material atoms vibrate very little, otherwise the electron pairs break up, explains Christophe Marcenat, head of the CEA-Inac laboratory in Grenoble. Everything therefore depends on the temperature. For most materials, referred to as conventional superconductors, the critical temperature is close to absolute zero (0 K or -273C), which demands extremely costly cooling with liquid helium.
Microscopic views of superconducting materials: ceramic (left), cuprate (right).
Quantum physics on a large scale

Superconductivity is magical in that it gives certain materials unexpected properties. Whereas at ambient temperature conducting materials always exert a certain resistance to the passage of a current, some of them become able to conduct current perfectly, with no loss of energy, when cooled below a very low temperature, referred to as the critical temperature. These materials can also completely expel the magnetic field surrounding them and induce spectacular levitation effects The superconducting state of a material is one of the rare examples of quantum physics being applied on a large scale: The materials electrons are paired (known as Cooper pairs), using the atoms present around them. As they have the same electrical charge, they repel each other, but a weak attraction force, resulting from Since the 1980s, considerable progress has been achieved with the discovery of superconductors with a high critical temperature based on copper (cuprates only need to be cooled to 77 K (-196C) with liquid nitrogen) or iron (pnictides). Mercury cuprates currently hold the critical temperature record at atmospheric pressure: 138 K (-135C). Phonon Wave (or quantum) of vibration in a crystalline solid. Inac Nano-sciences and cryogenics institute.
MIlEStOnES In SupErCOnduCtIvIty
1911 Heike Kammerlingh-Onnes discovers that, when cooled to very low temperatures, certain metals conduct current perfectly, with no resistance: the concept of superconductivity is born. Walter Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld discover that superconductors have the property of expelling the surrounding magnetic field. This property is called the Meissner effect. John Bardeen, Leon N. Cooper and John R. Schrieffer develop the BCS theory that explains superconductivity in metals and alloys. Alexei A. Abrikosov proposes the hypothesis of the existence of a magnetic vortex in certain superconductors. 1962 1933 Brian David Josephson gives us the Josephson effect: when two superconducting materials are close to each other, although not in contact, pairs of electrons pass from one to the other via the tunnel effect, leading to an electric current being established. Johannes Georg Bednorz and Karl Alexander Mller discover new high critical temperature (high Tc) superconductors, cuprates. An international research team discovers a new family of high critical temperature superconductor materials, pnictides (iron based). 1986
1957 1957
2008
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:16
Spotlight on Research
15
From fundamental physics to medical imaging

Superconducting wires rapidly found an application in coils (electromagnets) designed to produce very high or highly uniform magnetic fields, both for particle accelerators and for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appliances. Superconductivity plays a key role in the design and construction of very large research infrastructures, including particle accelerators. To develop the superconducting electromagnets that divert the particle beams and the microwave cavities that accelerate them, the benefits of superconductivity are clear: thanks to their lack of resistance, the conductors do not heat up. A superconductor can thus be hundreds of times finer than a copper conductor, which enables far more compact and lightweight electromagnet coils to be produced. At equal power, both size and cost are thus reduced, as illustrated by Bruno Mansoulier, a researcher at CEA-Irfu: If the LHC, the accelerator at the Cern, used conventional copper magnets, its ring would be four times larger, with a circumference of 120 km, as opposed to its current 27. The LHCs giant detectors are built around superconducting electromagnets, partly developed by Irfu, for example the 400 focusing magnets designed to correct the divergence of the particle beam and the gigantic magnets of the two CMS and Atlas detectors.
CMS is one of the detectors at the LHC, the Cerns collider devoted to the study of the Higgs boson.
Magnetoencephalography: no fewer than 300 sensors continuously measure the magnetic fields emitted by the currents circulating through the brain. The brains activity is represented by time and space coordinates to understand the dynamics of information processing.
The accelerator cavities, another component of the particle accelerators, also become more powerful through the use of superconductor materials. The intense electrical fields are produced inside a type of resonance chamber, through which the particles travel. More precisely, an antenna outputs a microwave, which is amplified and stored in the cavities with specially optimized geometry. It is this very high frequency electromagnetic field that accelerates the particles. It creates intense electric currents on the inner walls of the cavities, which heat up and could melt if made of copper. A large part of the energy input is thus lost in the form of heat. Using superconducting niobium is a means of improving efficiency by a factor of 100,000 when compared with copper. In recent decades, just over a hundred engineers and technicians at Irfu have acquired the expertise needed to design, build, cold-test and integrate superconducting coils and cavities. Irfu thus equipped the Soleil synchrotron in Saclay. The new Spiral 2 ion accelerator at the Ganil in Caen will benefit from the work of the physicists at the SupraTech platform created by CEA and CNRS in 2008 at Saclay, currently designing the 12 accelerator cavities and the associated cryostats. This accelerator for radioactive atomic nuclei should shortly be entering service to study highly unstable species that do not exist on Earth but which are commonplace in certain regions of the Universe. Similarly, for the European E-Xfel facility, located near Hamburg, Irfu is supplying about a hundred cryomodules 12 meters in length, each containing eight superconducting cavities. All of these systems will be integrated at the CEA center in Saclay. E-Xfel, scheduled for start-up in 2014, will be an extremely powerful source of X-rays, combined with a linear electron accelerator.
16
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:16
Superconducting coil for Tore Supra.
Atlas is another detector installed at the LHC in Geneva.
Finally, the cavity specialists at Irfu are also involved in the accelerator project, which could one day supersede the LHC. This machine, called the International Linear Collider, would comprise two linear accelerators smashing electrons and positrons into each other. It is designed to study the new areas of physics anticipated as a result of the discoveries made possible with the LHC. Over and above fundamental physics, superconductivity is also of interest for research into fusion energy, in particular through the use of the tokamak magnets that are able to create a magnetic field capable of confining the plasma in which the fusion reactions take place. Here again, CEA occupies pride of place: We originated the cable concept used in Iters superconductor magnets and we provide significant technical support for the Magnets Group in this international project based at Cadarache, explains Jean-Luc Duchateau, an engineer at CEA-IRFM. Electromagnet Coil or series of coils which create a magnetic field when Irfu Institute of research into the fundamental laws of the Universe. Niobium is not completely superconducting at microwave frequencies: its
resistance is however reduced by a factor of 100,000.
Magnet technology conference

CEA and ITER are jointly organizing a major international conference, MT-22, covering magnet technology. Its to be held in Marseille in September 2011.
Cable selected for ITER consisting of 6 petals containing 864 strands of 4,000 niobium-tin filaments, 3 microns thick.
100,000 The cavities do however have to be cooled to 2 K, which is

equivalent to an efficiency gain by a factor of between 20 and 100.
supplied with direct current.
E-Xfel European X-ray Free Electron Laser. Positrons are anti-matter particles associated with electrons. They are very
similar and in particular differ in the sign of their charge.
IRFM Institute for research on magnetic fusion.

CEA NEWS AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:17
17
Superconductivity is also an essential tool for medical imaging, especially magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), constituting a major factor in its performance. MRI is able to see the soft organs of the body, by revealing their water concentration. To do this, it uses an intense, stable and uniform magnetic field which can only be achieved with a superconducting magnet which orients the magnetic moments of the nuclei of the hydrogen atoms present in the water molecules. Irfu and Siemens are currently designing a future 11.7 tesla MRI for human applications, at NeuroSpin in CEA/Saclay. Construction of such a powerful magnet (the worlds first), called Iseult, involves assembling 45 metric tons of coils. The coil is made from several thousand kilometers of niobium-titanium superconducting wire about one millimeter in diameter. Once cooled and kept at very low temperature (1.8 K, or in other words -271C) by means of liquid helium, this material is capable of carrying 400 times more current than conventional copper wires, explains Pierre Vdrine, Iseult project manager. Finally, it will be possible to develop MRI using a low magnetic field. Todays MRI systems, with their noisy magnets, are too rare and too expensive (costing more than a million euros) and patient waiting lists are too long. Tomorrow, thanks to the sensitivity of the new superconducting sensors, simple copper coils will be sufficient to built lighter devices consuming less power and which could be taken to the patients bedside in the event of an emergency, whether or not the patient is carrying a metal implant, as well as being able to monitor very premature births. Other imaging techniques, such as magnetoencephalography (used to measure brain activity in real-time by detecting magnetic fields occurring in the brain) and magnetocardiography, (used to measure the activity of the heart in real-time by detecting the magnetic fields in it) are also based on superconductivity, by means of sensors capable of detecting very low magnetic fields. These magnetometers, called Squids, are based on superconductor loops, including a junction with an insulating barrier (Josephson junction). However, the researchers at Iramis are innovating with combined sensors coupling a high critical temperature superconductor loop with a giant magnetoresistive junction. This will eventually enable magnetic fields 50 billion times weaker than that of the Earth to be detected!
Electronic circuits for telecoms and computers

In electronics, significant gains in selectivity were recently obtained for frequency filtering, by introducing high temperature superconductor elements. Filters of this type are already used to separate telecom electrical signals that were combined in channels for remote transmission. The ability to combine a large number of conversations over a given frequency band will enable mobile phone antennas to cover a wider area. Once these antennas themselves become superconducting, it will then be possible to make them smaller. The road to the quantum computer will also pass through superconductivity. With superconducting components cooled to very low temperatures, it is possible to retain the quantum nature of the entire macroscopic circuit, which can then be in two normally incompatible states at the same time (rest state and excited state). This ubiquity could increase a computers performance by carrying out operations on these qubits (quantum bit) that contain a superposition of several different states at the same time (as opposed to the 1 or 0 state of a conventional bit). In 2002, staff at Iramis managed to create the first qubit with a lifetime of more than one microsecond.
Iramis Saclay Institute of Matter and Radiation.

Test station for the 8 tesla superconductor magnet for the Iseult project.
Giant magnetoresistive junction was discovered by Peter Grnberg

and Albert Fert, which earned them the Nobel Prize for physics in 2007.
18
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:17
Handling of alkaline (sodium, potassium, etc.) or alkaline-earth (strontium, barium, etc.) metals in a glove box containing a controlled atmosphere.
High critical temperature materials

Even if conventional superconductor mechanisms are today well understood, this is not always the case with high critical temperature materials. Physicists are inventing different ways of measuring their properties and innovative concepts for describing them. For example, in Saclay, the Lon Brillouin laboratory is using neutron beams produced in the Orphe research reactor. The neutron is ideal for exploring matter. It is electrically neutral, has high penetrative capacity and its spin is extremely sensitive to the distribution of magnetic fields within the materials: its characteristics (propagation direction, wavelength, speed) are modified by the materials through which it passes, and measuring these characteristics allows simultaneous observation of the atomic and magnetic structures of these materials. Understanding these superconductors also involves the creation of new materials, in order to study their properties. Only a few laboratories around the world are currently capable of producing and characterizing extremely pure samples of cuprates and iron pnictides. We are developing different experimental approaches to examine changes in the electronic and magnetic states of superconductors. One consists in introducing defects into the structure, the other in doping the material, comments physical-chemist Dorothe Colson. For its part, Inac is studying how superconductivity occurs in a material. To do this, the researchers are manufacturing what are without doubt the worlds best crystals of URu2Si2 (based on uranium, ruthenium and silicon). This compound enables us to obtain very large and very high quality single crystals which we use to study phase transitions, explains researcher Da Aoki.
Opening the door to new technological advances

All these developments are the direct consequence of the extremely fundamental discovery of high temperature superconductivity, twenty-five years ago. Our knowledge must be expanded further and, with the help of technology, progress is still being made. As things currently stand, there is no scientific basis for predicting the advent of superconductivity at ambient temperature. It is however probable that one day, fundamental research will be able to explain superconductivities. This superconductivity research, which is still in its infancy, has a very bright future. Many surprises are in store for those who manage to pierce the mysteries of this phenomenon, in particular the origins of high critical temperature superconductivity, which remains to this day the Holy Grail of all physicists.
Thermal analysis used to study ceramics.
Spin Quantum property inherent in a particle, which determines its magnetic orientation.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:17
19
Scientific insights
Solar eNergy
Nuclear eNergy
EnErgEtIC
predicting
COLORS
the toughness of steel

Because it can never be replaced, the vessel of a nuclear reactor determines the operating life of a power plant. It is therefore vital to study the longterm toughness of its steel. For example, what is its ability to withstand a thermal shock, an important factor when studying accident scenarios?
Organic dyes that are capable of converting photons into electrons have enjoyed rapid early development. They are intended for a new type of photovoltaic cells known as Grtzel cells, which are far cheaper to produce than silicon panels. Furthermore, they can be flexible and transparent making them suitable for installation on windows and require less light in order to function. One problem however remains: the dyes generally used contain ruthenium, a rare element, some derivatives of which are highly toxic. In 2009, a team from CEA-Inac in Grenoble, which until then had been working on polymerbased organic photovoltaic cells, began to look at new dyes, this time without ruthenium. The starting point was a visit by a delegation of researchers from the Korean Institute of Science and Technology who were working on another aspect of these cells: the semiconductor oxides to which the dyes have to bond. Two years later, there are already tangible results, with experimental cells achieving efficiency levels of 6% (the commercial viability threshold is about 10%) and a patent is pending. Their efficiency now has to be improved, perhaps by using new oxides, and their ageing has to be studied. Instead of the nanoparticles of titanium dioxide currently used, the laboratory is exploring the potential of multi-metal oxides (with the Koreans) or of zinc (with CEA-Leti).
Patrick Philippon Les Dfis du CEA n160 May 2011
Modelling of the mean stress and strain state in each grain of a microstructure, performed several times with different microstructures.
Euratom is focusing on the question by launching the Perform 60 project to tackle the issue at a number of different scales, from the atom to the massive material. Ludovic Vincent, a researcher at the CEA nuclear energy division, is interested in the populations of iron grains and carbide particles that make up steel. These elements do not all react in the same way to a macroscopic mechanical load. This is what in the end gives the steel its probabilistic behavior, he explains. To predict this, he uses a numerical model to represent these microstructures, along with the local stresses occurring in a reactor. A first milestone has just been reached, with experimental validation of this model in CEAs Lon Brillouin laboratory (CEA/CNRS) in Saclay, which uses an observation technique based on neutron diffraction. This non-destructive method is used to see the stress fields in a test specimen subjected to tensile testing. Given the size of the neutron beam, this is a statistical observation on a large number of grains, grouped into families according to their crystalline orientation. This proven model needs to be further fine-tuned, in particular incorporating the effects specific to irradiation damage.
Patrick Philippon - Les Dfis du CEA n 159 - April 2011
Inac Leti
Nano-sciences and cryogenics institute.
Euratom
Electronics and Information Technology Laboratory.
European public body responsible for coordinating atomic energy research programs.
20
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:17
BiofuelS
a ShOrtEr PYROlYSIS PROCESS

Can kerosene be produced from wood? The gasification process currently under development could soon see aircraft flying with a neutral carbon balance. The simulation tools that will facilitate transition of the process to an industrial scale are already being developed. Researchers at CEA-Liten have designed a quick and easy model for describing pyrolysis, the first step in biomass gasification. This step produces most of the gas that is then converted into fuel. It is therefore a key factor in improving the efficiency of the process. However, pyrolysis involves a set of complex phenomena that are not yet fully understood. They occur extremely rapidly, in just a few seconds. Consequently, the models developed so far to simulate this step are extremely complicated and involve lengthy computation. During the course of his thesis at CEA-Liten, Li Chen experimentally proved that regardless of the size of the particles pyrolyzed, between 300 and 800 m, the efficiency and composition of the products at the end of the pyrolysis process were unchanged. This result enabled him to establish the basic hypothesis for his model: the pyrolysis reaction is instantaneous and depends only on the heat propagation rate. The model thus developed is physically realistic and simulates this crucial step in just a few minutes of computer time, as opposed to several hours for other models.
Caroline Danglant - Les Dfis du CEA n 159 - April 2011
Liten
Laboratory for Innovation and New Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials.
Lignocellulosic biomass samples.
Organic matter of plant or animal origin.
Biomass
Solar eNergy
Soleil en Tte MOVES INTO SOLAR COOLING

The hotter it is, the greater the need for air conditioning. Not exactly a revolutionary idea unless solar energy is used for cooling! This is the concept that will be developed by Soleil en Tte, a specialist in renewable energies and energy savings, in partnership with the CEA staff at the French National Institute of Solar Energy (INES). It is commonly accepted that solar energy is a way of producing electricity (solar photovoltaic) and/or heat (solar thermal), but albeit slightly counter-intuitive, cooling can actually be generated using solar sensors! Cooling requirements, in particular for airconditioning of buildings, in fact coincide perfectly with the intensity of sunshine. Electrical grids are today subject to considerable strain from conventional airconditioning systems. The energy requirement peaks in the daytime when the cost of electricity and its carbon content are high. In a context such as this, solar air-conditioning becomes particularly attractive. Based on these findings, the staff at Soleil en Tte and CEA decided to look at the development of an original technology. When combined with heat sensors on the roof, this system will be able to meet all the energy needs of a building: air-conditioning, heating and production of sanitary hot water. It is intended for individual or collective housing and has a two-fold advantage: its cost is extremely reasonable and it emits very low levels of greenhouse gases in comparison with conventional air-conditioning systems. Its innovation lies primarily in the compactness of the thermal machine and the precision of its control system. Soleil en Tte has considerable expertise in solar technologies and building energy needs. This partnership will enable it to extend its range of products and move into markets with high air-conditioning requirements (United States, North Africa, Asia, etc.).
Press release June 2011
Solar absorption refrigeration demonstrator.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:18
Scientific insights
21
eNergy
Strategic recycling
Leaching of Lithium-ion battery components.
The lithium-ion batteries used in todays mobile phones and other portable devices generally contain two rare and expensive elements: cobalt and/or nickel. This is why CEA-Liten in Grenoble has developed new active, efficient and less costly materials, such as lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) and lithium titanate (LTO). Their low cost can paradoxically constitute an economic handicap when it comes to recycling, explains Richard Laucournet, a researcher at CEA-Liten. This is because a European directive sets high recycling targets for batteries and cells. Industrial firms in this sector today achieve an economic balance by reselling cobalt and nickel. The new active materials in the batteries, which are less costly because they no longer contain these two elements, would therefore be economically uninteresting for recycling To find a way out of this dead-end, CEA-Liten is developing a new recycling process that produces materials that can be reused for battery manufacturing. Once discharged and dismantled, the batteries are crushed and washed using a non-toxic, inexpensive solvent, to recover the copper, aluminum and steel. The rest undergoes more specific physical/ chemical treatment to extract the carbonaceous materials on the one hand and the active materials on the other. The iron obtained in phosphate form and the lithium in phosphate or carbonate form can be directly reused for LFP and LTO synthesis. All that now remains to be done is to check the degree of purity and quality of the materials obtained. This process will have the advantage of recovering the lithium, considered to be a strategic element, in particular in the hybrid and electric vehicle industrial sector. Discussions are in progress with a view to creating a French industry in this field.
Patrick Philippon - Les Dfis du CEA n 160 May 2011
aSTroPHySicS
HERSCHELS GAZE
reveals gas filaments

Thanks to Herschel, astronomers are learning a little more about star nurseries every day. The ESA (European Space Agency) space telescope works in the infrared and submillimeter spectrum and recently sent never before seen images of gas filaments in interstellar clouds. An international team, coordinated by the astrophysics, instrumentation and modeling laboratory of Paris-Saclay (CEA, CNRS, Universit ParisDiderot), studied them as part of the Gould Belt program. A surprise awaited them: these variable-length structures all have the same thickness! We have for a long time now been aware of the fact that interstellar clouds, vast regions filled with cold gas and dust, are not uniform. Through the eye of the telescope, we can see bright areas that are sometimes tens of light years in length. These are gas filaments. The researchers analyzed the pictures form Herschel in detail in an attempt to learn a little more about these hitherto little-known structures. After showing that most stars are formed in the denser structures, they discovered that they are in fact far more numerous than at first thought. They are intermingled and form networks within the interstellar clouds. By examining 90 filaments within three clouds in the Gould Belt region, the scientists determined that they can be of different lengths and densities, but all have the same thickness: 0.3 light years (20,000 times the distance between Earth and the Sun). This similarity gives us information on the origin of the filaments, indicating that they were probably produced by interstellar turbulence, rather than by the effects of gravity, as suggested by certain models.
Vah Ter Minassian Les Dfis du CEA n161 June 2011
Combination of images obtained with the Herschel cameras. In blue, a hidden nebula illuminated by a massive star.
Gould Belt
Partial ring of stars with a diameter of about 3,000 light years, whose age is estimated at between 30 and 50 million years.
22
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:18
Visualization of stresses inside plexiglas.
Understanding breakage
Physicists at Saclay are seeking to understand exactly what happens in glass at the instant it breaks. A fragile material such as glass or plexiglas can break slowly, over a period of several days. One theory, put forward in the 1950s, gives a good description of what happens in the case of this slow break. However, if this happens rapidly, in a few microseconds for example, then the phenomena observed no longer comply with the theory and the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. This uncertainty is in no way a problem for engineers designing aircraft, boats or rockets as, for each material, they are perfectly aware of the mechanical stress thresholds at which the rupture process can begin. It all starts with a crack, which progresses along the material, thus tearing it. At the end of the 1990s, physicists began to wonder about the speed of crack propagation. They observed that this couldnt exceed half the maximum value predicted by the theory. So how can this anomaly be explained? In 1999, an Israeli team showed that for the higher speeds, the cracking front splits up into numerous secondary cracks that absorb some of the available energy, to the detriment of the main crack. The effect of this phenomenon is to slow down the progress of the main front, hence the speed deficit observed. Iramis, in the CEA Saclay centre. They brought to light another anomaly, accompanied by a change in the appearance of the plexiglas: the rupture surface observed under the microscope suddenly became covered in miniature fish scales! Specific, circular micro-cracks develop ahead of the main front. When the main front then catches up with them, these scales are formed ahead of it, thereby accelerating the progress of the main crack instead of slowing it down. At higher speeds, the micro-cracking phenomenon already mentioned then becomes predominant. This research, which could appear highly fundamental, is of great interest to geophysicists who are looking to understand why an earthquake can propagate at very high speeds. It could also inspire innovations in materials science.
Agns Deslis - Le Journal de Saclay n50 February 2011
MaTerialS
A surprise in store: fish scales

However, this does not explain the relationship between the fracture energy and the crack propagation speed in the intermediate speed domain. A team of researchers from CEA, CNRS and Saint-Gobain decided to study this particular area. For three years, experiments have been carried out on plexiglas in a laboratory at
Iramis
Saclay institute of matter and radiation.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:18
Scientific insights
23
NaNoTecHNology
NANOPARTIClES DETECTION in an ambient environment

The researchers at the CEA nuclear energy Division are utilizing their LIBS expertise to detect nanoparticles in an ambient environment. This remote chemical analysis technique consists in using a laser to create plasma on a surface and in analyzing the emitted light spectrum, characteristic of the elements present. The air in a room is filtered at a specific level to concentrate the nanoparticles present. The filter, which is sampled at regular intervals, can be directly analyzed in just a few minutes, with a nanoparticle detection threshold of a few ng/cm.
Les Dfis du CEA n160 May 2011
LIBS
The LIBS allows laser analysis of the chemical composition of all types of materials.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.
Neurology
The biological bases of access to consciousness revealed

Stanislas Dehaene, Professor at the Collge de France and director of the Cognitive Neuroimaging unit, a joint INSERM-CEA unit at NeuroSpin, and Jean-Pierre Changeux, Emeritus Professor at the Pasteur Institute and the Collge de France, have released the results of nearly 15 years research aimed at revealing the physiological and biological bases of access to human consciousness. In the mid-1990s, professors Stanislas Dehaene and Jean-Pierre Changeux came up with a theoretical and experimental approach to understanding the biological processes involved in the access to consciousness in man. To measure the neuronal activity involved in consciousness, the researchers developed an experimental model based on a simple idea: comparing the brains activity in conditions mimicking conscious with non-conscious processing of information. Written words are thus briefly presented to a subject as part of a stream of images. From test to test, by varying the conditions in which these images are presented, the subject may or may not be able to recall the written word. If the person can recall it, there has been conscious processing. If not, the word has not been perceived consciously. It can however be demonstrated that it was nonetheless processed by the brain in a subliminal, or non-conscious manner. In each of these experimental conditions, neuronal activity is measured in several regions of the subjects brain by a variety of cerebral imaging techniques. It is thus possible to objectively compare the neuronal activity involved in conscious and non-conscious processing of the same stimulus. Further work using methods capable of rapidly recording the brains electrical activity established the succession of events taking place in the brain when consciousness occurs. The first areas of the brain to be activated, whether the information is processed consciously or not, are those of the visual cortex and in particular those involved in written word recognition. When there is conscious processing, about 200 to 400 milliseconds after the word is presented, a vast cerebral network including the prefrontal cortex is invaded by a large electrical wave. According to the researchers, this network synchronizes during the onset of consciousness thanks to neurons densely interconnected by means of long axons.
Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging can today be used to map the brains information highways.
According to Stanislas Dehaene and JeanPierre Changeux, it is this last step that marks access to consciousness. Their idea is that this firing up of the prefrontal network and the synchronization of neuronal activity in these regions can only be triggered once a minimum level of activity has been reached during the previous steps. Consciousness would therefore correspond to the availability of information within a neuronal workspace, enabling the signal to reach the long-term memory. This hypothesis allows the interpretation various clinical situations in which access consciousness is altered or inhibited, such in the case of a general anesthetic, coma, psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia.
Press release - May 2011
of to as or
experimental and theoretical approaches to conscious Processing, neuron, 28 april 2011. stanislas dehaene (1,2,3,4) &Jean-Pierre changeux (4,5) doi 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.03.018
24
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:18
SeiSMology
THE CSEm, where science meets society

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center is hosted by CEA DAM-le de France and is an association of 84 seismological institutes. This key European player is today opening its doors to the concept of citizen seismology, an area that is enjoying considerable growth. In February 2011, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (CSEM) asked the employees of CEA DAM-le de France to test a software application that transforms a laptop computer (equipped with accelerometers) into a seismological monitoring station. Involving the public in collecting seismic data through Internet or mobile technologies is the idea underpinning the citizen seismology that the CSEM has been attempting to implement since 2005. It is based on its traditional mission, which is the rapid characterization of earthquakes. The CSEM does not manage any seismological stations. It merges the data produced by 64 independent networks in real-time, thus creating a virtual network of nearly 2,000 stations, covering the entire world. This offers improved detection capacity in the European-Mediterranean zone, thanks to the greater density of stations. As soon as the earthquakes location is located and its magnitude estimated, maps and related lists appear on the website. As soon as the magnitude exceeds five in this zone, the on-call seismologist is notified. He then manually validates the results, which are faxed to the authorities, in particular in Europe, and e-mailed to the 9,000 subscribers registered with the site. The primary aim of these services is to offer each seismic network operator an overview of the seismic picture that its network alone could not provide, even for earthquakes affecting several countries. For European and international authorities and organizations, the CSEM offers a unique source of information, regardless of the country affected. IP addresses, one then simply identifies from where they were logging in, thus automatically mapping the area in which the earthquake was felt, without any seismological data being necessary. Detection takes place on average 90 seconds after the earthquake, or 7 to 11 minutes before initial publication of the location on the site, triggering publication of an instantaneous message. As soon as the earthquake is localized, its characteristics are added to the message. An associated technique, which is currently being implemented, instantaneously detects areas that have suffered damage based on the closure of sessions that were open at the time of the earthquake. These data are supplemented by information sent in by the web users: photos, online questionnaire to be filled out, etc. The sole goal of this information gathering is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the response operations in the aftermath of an earthquake, through a rapid and reliable assessment of the damage it has caused.
Rmy Bossu Bruno Feignier Interactif n57 April 2011
Estimating seismic effects with the Internet

With regard to citizen seismology, it is the popularity of the website one million visits per month and the worlds number two seismological information site that opens up new prospects and possibilities. Many of those who have just felt an earthquake (and who have access to the Internet) naturally rush to the site to find out the cause of the shock they experienced. This convergence leads to a sudden and easily detectable spike in traffic. Via their
Example of a magnitude 4.8 earthquake in the Black Sea (star) felt in Eastern Romania and Bulgaria. An abnormally high number of visitors to the CSEM website was observed immediately following the earthquake (5 minutes), in areas where it was felt (right-hand figure: red dots: diameter of dot linked to the number of visitors). The scope of the zone in which the earthquake was felt can be confirmed in the hours immediately following by collecting more than 200 questionnaires (left-hand figure, diameter of dots linked to the number of questionnaires filled out).
the csem, a scientific player

The CSEM plays two essential roles within the seismological community: coordinating observations and improving coordination with institutes in North Africa and the Middle East. It has been providing technical support for Unescos RELEMR (Reducing earthquake losses in the extended Mediterranean region) program since 1996. More recently, it initiated refurbishment of the Tunisian surveillance network, with the provision of its data in real-time, via satellite link, to all the institutes. In collaboration with Orfeus, Europes second seismological organization, the CSEM is developing the software layer for easy access to all seismological data and products, regardless of where they are produced or archived. The eventual aim is to build a virtual, harmonized, European-wide Earth observation infrastructure from each of the national networks.
www.emsc-csem.org
www.seismicportal.eu
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:18
Scientific insights
25
eNViroNMeNT
Simulation
iNTelligeNce DigiTal SySTeMS
ATmOSPHERIC TRANSPORT
With numerical simulation, it is now possible to predict the displacement of atmospheric pollutants across the planet or, on a smaller scale, the path of a toxic plume through city streets. Explanation... How were radioactive particles released during the accident at the Fukushima power plant dispersed throughout the environment? In the weeks following the accident, teams from the Dase (environmental assessment and monitoring department) at CEA Bruyresle-Chtel, near Paris, conducted simulations to answer this question Calculating the evolution of atmospheric pollutant concentration over time and in space based on numerical simulation is a skill developed by the Dase. There is a vast range of possible fields of application: assessment of the health consequences of releases from industrial facilities, monitoring of sites to ensure compliance with non-proliferation (NPT) and comprehensive nuclear test ban (CTBT) treaties, evaluation of NRBC (nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical) threats, and so on. Prior knowledge of three-dimensional meteorological flows as realistic as possible is necessary to simulate the atmospheric transport and dispersion of pollutant. Modeling can then take into account effects such as the influence of the terrain or the effects induced by buildings at the scale of a city. The simulations are performed in forward or backward mode. Forward mode consists of calculating the dispersion of an initial quantity of matter placed in suspension in the atmosphere, while backward mode allows us, going back in time, to locate spatially and temporarily the release point from measurements issued from a network of monitoring stations. The characteristic scales range from the entire planet to the street. An additional constraint is that the response times required can be very short, for example in emergency situations.
Japan:
Artificial
For David Mercier, head of the Intelligence, models, learning laboratory at the CEAList institute, Artificial intelligence, or AI, is based on the creation of mathematical or computer tools, whose architecture draws on all the forms of intelligence that exist in nature. With other teams specializing in data analysis, robotics or sensorial interfaces between the real and virtual worlds, his team is contributing to AI research.
CALCULATiNg RAdiONUCLidE diSpLACEMENT

In the weeks following the accident at the Fukushima plant, local meteorological and atmospheric dispersion simulations were carried out using high-resolution wind fields in order to calculate the displacements of the contaminated air masses over Japan and to assess the health consequences on human beings and the environment. The duration of successive events also led to simulations across the planet, taking into account wet and dry deposition on the ground of particulates released and transported into the atmosphere (these phenomena are caused by gravity and precipitation; rain, snow, etc.)
The beginnings
In the 1950s, the founders of artificial intelligence believed that they would be able in just a few years to create systems capable of matching human intelligence. This goal proved harder to achieve than they imagined, but the process was at least under way. AI can today be defined as a trans-discipline bringing together a variety of complementary scientific fields, from cybernetics to knowledge formalization methods, which is capable of equaling human intelligence for certain specific tasks.
learning through repetition

The best known of these methods inspired by the living world involves artificial neural networks, which are still usually digital simulations. Their structure is based on the interconnectivity of the brain, in which vast numbers of neurons receive, process and transmit information.
Simulated air mass position for the day of March 15th 2011. the colors show the levels of pollutant concentrations, from the lowest (in violet) to the highest (in red).
Like them, artificial neural networks manage situations involving a host of factors and are capable of learning, rather like an athlete that repeats the same action thousands of times in order to learn it, states David Mercier.
multi-sensor intelligence
Another example of the application of knowhow at CEA-List is its contribution to the analysis of seismic data, performed by the researchers at CEAs Bruyres-le-Chtel center. The aim is to automate the processing of data collected by the seismometers recording earthquakes and explosions, by developing algorithms capable of isolating significant signals from the background noise, identifying their nature, differentiating between near or far events and then precisely locating them. CEA-List is cooperating on other projects, whether recognizing the biological signature of pathogenic bacteria in order to develop health monitoring systems, or detecting specific shapes in writing in order to create handwriting recognition tools.
Supercomputers, the new key tool

To address these needs, the laboratory has 3D meteorological forecasting models with high space and time resolutions, combined with advanced atmospheric transport simulation models. Using these models requires multiprocessor computers, such as those of the Dase or the Research and Technology Computing Center (CCRT). For greater efficiency, the lab has developed automatic computing tools that continuously provide meteorological data (such as wind fields) on various areas of the world. These tools allow us, at any time, to have the required and relevant data to simulate as fast as possible the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere.
Pascal Achim Interactif n57 April 2011
position calculated on March 28th 2011, at global scale, of the contaminated air masses from the Japanese plant. the simulations were made assuming a scenario involving continuous release since March 12th 2011. a strong dilution with the distance of the radioactive particles is observed, as well as limited passage between the two hemispheres. the colors show the levels of pollutant concentrations, from the lowest (in violet) to the highest (in red).
26
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:18
Intelligence and learning

format for each party. This implies teaching the system all the procedures in force, so that it can provide the appropriate conclusion at each level, if necessary taking account of unforeseen and unexpected information. Thanks to wireless networks, it is now possible to connect thousands of sensors and vast computing and storage capacity, with high-performance AI algorithms. This heralds a true technological revolution, one in which CEA and its full range of expertise must play a role. Another good example is given by energy intelligence: the electricity supplied by nuclear and thermal power plants is now being supplemented by wind, photovoltaic and solar thermal energy sources, from which the output is by definition very hard to plan. Regulating and optimizing these flows will be possible thanks to the use of smart grids, or intelligent energy transport networks. Artificial intelligence has a bright future ahead of it and is now a mature, major technology in our information society.
Charlotte Samson - Le Journal de Saclay n 51 - April 2011
Smart energy distribution solutions (smart grids) address the intermittent operation problem.
Collective intelligence
Another approach to artificial intelligence, known as distributed or multi-agent is inspired by the collective intelligence of social insects. As explained by David Mercier, An isolated ant or bee has minimal intelligence, but interactions between individuals in the colony lead to complex behavior patterns, such as organizing the collection of food. Robotics in particular uses multi-agent algorithms. For example, to enable a robot to climb stairs, it can be equipped with numerous small components, each of which performs only one basic function, but interaction between them constructs a more elaborate one. Multi-agent systems are often associated with sensors. This approach is used to help blind people move around and position themselves: pedestrian sensors continuously record the persons position, direction and speed in relation to a precise map such as that of the metro, a district or a museum.
Decision aids for civil security

Finally, other methods such as fuzzy logic, which can be used to model or simulate certain subtleties of human reasoning, are used in decision-making or crisis management tools. We are working with the Civil Security brigade on developing integrated decisionmaking systems involving the fire service, the SAMU emergency ambulance service, the local command post, the Prefect and even the national emergency response unit, says David Mercier. They all provide information and all have specific needs when managing a given situation. We must therefore design a system capable of sorting and combining the information and presenting it in the most useful
List
Laboratory for Integration of Systems and Technologies.
Numbers
The human brain has more than one hundred billion neurons.
when research is inspired by natural selection

When the solutions to a problem are so numerous that they cannot be exhaustively tested, evolutionary algorithms can then be used. This approach can, for example, be used to search for genes (from among hundreds of thousands of candidates) in order to diagnose or monitor the evolution of a multi-factor illness. Dozens of genes are potentially involved in certain cancers. By combining these genetic factors, personal and medical antecedents, age, and so on, the risk of the person developing the disease can be assessed, thus enabling the patient to receive appropriate care.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:18
Scientific insights
27
NeuroPaTHology
Clean room lithography zone, one step in the manufacture of 300 mm 3D chips.
Alzheimers disease
BUIlDINg ON ImAgINg wITH CATI
Providing early diagnosis of the disease and rapidly finding effective treatments are the two challenges facing scientists when dealing with Alzheimers disease. The Image Acquisition and Processing Center, Cati, has just been launched against this backdrop and as part of the national Alzheimer Plan. The role of this consortium, the creation of which was entrusted to CEA (I2BM) by the French Alzheimer Foundation, is to establish dialogue between clinical research and algorithmic image processing research. Initially, Cati will pool the data from the French radiology and nuclear medicine centers in order to assess the quality of the PET and MRI images obtained on patients, and to analyze them. This work will then lead to standardization of the imaging protocols and more effective diagnosis. It will also enable clearly identified patient cohorts to be created, on whom the pharmaceutical industry could then call, for effective testing of potential drug treatments.
MicroelecTroNicS
When the chips are down

For tailor-made design and prototyping of 3D electronic chips produced on 300 mm diameter wafers, the Leti Institute is offering its industrial partners a new facility. Closeup on this structure of the future. Ever-smaller, more functional and more independent, the chips for our future mobile phones, computers and so on are being designed in 3D on 300 mm wafers. In these chips, the functions are now arranged on top of each other, rather than side by side, thus boosting performance and the number of functionalities, while bringing down costs. In theory, this all seems very simple. In practice, things are slightly more complicated. This is why the Leti Institute is offering to help companies design and produce the new chips they need, from concept, to design, to the manufacture of functional prototypes. STMicroelectronics and the Japanese Shinko company have already expressed their interest. A joint Leti-Shinko laboratory was in fact created in January 2011 to study the feasibility of 3D circuits. Another joint laboratory with SPP Process Technology Systems is seeking to optimize the chip manufacturing processes. Yesterday, today and tomorrow The new facility devoted to 3D, 300 mm chips was conceived in 2007 with the STMicroelectronics company. In late 2009, the first machines arrived in the clean room. Thirteen machines are now installed on the line and five others are expected. The aim is to complete initial integration of a 3D chip on 300 mm wafers by the end of 2011. The challenge is to stay one step ahead when the chips are down.
Cline Lipari - Talents n126 - May 2011
Cerebral atrophy caused by Alzheimers disease,with initiation of the process in the hippocampus (in red).
I2BM
Biomedical imaging institute.
A multidisciplinary approach
Imakinib: bio-markers against cancer In the fight against cancer, kinase inhibitors are a particular therapeutic target. Imakinib is an ambitious project which aims to develop specific biomarkers that can be detected in positron emission tomography imaging, through kinase inhibitors. Co-financed by Oso and run by an industrial consortium comprising Oncodesign, Guerbet and ArianaPharma, it will allow the development of new radio-tracers, backed by CEA expertise and skills on the Cyceron platform in Caen. AstraZeneca-NeuroSpin agreement signed In late 2010, the AstraZeneca company and NeuroSpin signed an agreement for a 20 years clinical trial on a cohort of subjects aged between 60 and 70, to look for a means of reaching an early diagnosis of Alzheimers disease. This trial will be carried out using the 3 and 7 Teslas high and very-high resolution MRI systems at NeuroSpin.
BioActif n7 April 201
28
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:18
Oikopleura, accelerated
geNoMic
evolution in zooplankton
A planktonic organism called Oikopleura dioica is an extremely interesting biological model when studying the plasticity of the genome: easy and rapid multiplication in captivity, ultra-compact genome, close cousin to the vertebrates, absence of certain DNA repair mechanisms, strong exposure to mutagenic solar radiation, etc. Thanks to this organism, the members of an international consortium, in particular comprising the Norwegian Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology in Bergen and the Genoscope in vry, has just published results which call into question the presumed links between the order of genes and the morphology of living creatures. The DNA sequencing of the Oikopleura dioica in fact revealed a gene organization that is completely different from that of neighboring species. Finally and for the first time, the researchers were able to observe the modification of the structure of genes through the addition of eliminable regions called introns.
Bioactif n 7 April 2011
oNcology
Improved screening
Faced with the most common cancer among men in the Western Hemisphere, scientists are looking for more reliable, predictive analysis methods. Metabolomics is currently looking like the most promising solution. In 2010, prostate cancer had the unenviable reputation of being the number one cancer and fourth cause of mortality among men in France. The diagnostic methods presently used (rectal exam, blood assay of the PSA protein secreted by the prostate) are not reliable enough. The goal is to achieve reliable and early detection of aggressive forms of this cancer, an area where the metabolomic approach is looking very promising. The approach involves an analysis of all small molecules (metabolites), some of which are volatile and contained in the biological media (urine, plasma, cells, etc.) The researcher can access the products of the organisms genes, but also natural substances resulting from food and the chemical products present in an individuals environment. He can thus visualize the interactions between the persons physiological working and what that person is in contact with on a daily basis. This is valuable information for improving our understanding of multi-factor pathologies such as prostate cancer, explains Christophe Junot, a researcher at the biology and technologies institute in Saclay.
OF PROSTATE CANCER
A multidisciplinary approach
To detect and evaluate the progress of the cancer, Christophe Junots team therefore looks for biomarker metabolites in the urine. This involves ionizing the organic molecules in a sample, using techniques based in particular on mass spectrometry. When the ions produced are subjected to an electrical field, they can be individually identified according to their mass/ charge ratio. Signal processing gives a spectrum offering a wealth of information about the metabolites present. The successive use of software and statistical analysis tools then separates out the ions of interest. By means of comparison, it is then possible to differentiate between a healthy and a sick individual and to identify the discriminating molecules. The analyses carried out over the past year show that there are molecular signatures characteristic of those who are ill, but are they specific to this cancer? The researchers do not yet know and are currently working on identifying them.
Sverine Bouvart Le Journal de Saclay n51 April 2011
Biomarker
Measurable biological parameter, whose concentration variations can reveal the presence of a pathology or the patients exposure to a toxin.
Metabolome analysis using mass spectrometry.
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:19
Scientific insights
29
Personal fulfilment
summer
A TRANSATlANTIC
The MINATEC Summer Program organizes exchanges for Masters and PhD students (micro and nanotechnologies, biotechnologies and materials sciences) in the form of ten-week research courses. Six French Phelma students will thus be leaving for a laboratory at UPENN (University of Pennsylvania) while four UPENN students and three from LSU (Louisiana State University) will be going to CEA. A number of related activities (scientific visits, leisure activities, etc.) will be proposed both to them and to the students of the Grenoble INP Summer School. The Summer Program is the result of transatlantic cooperation between researchers and administrative staff, with financial support from MINATEC, the American National Science Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Rhone-Alpes region.
dreaming of a final at the mIT

This year, for the first time, a team of 11 students from Grenoble is taking part in the prestigious iGEM international competition at the MIT. Along with its 160 rivals from around the world, the team was given some genetic material. The goal is to use it to create a biological system in bacteria enabling them to communicate with each other, according to standardized protocols. With the support of research professors at the CNRS, IBS, CEA and INRIA, the students have their eyes firmly set on a European final in Amsterdam, in early October, which will select 16 of the 46 participating teams from Europe. The final objective is then to take part in the world final at the MIT, from 5th to 7th November 2011. iGEM
International Genetic Engineer Machine
THE INTERNATIONAl INSTITUTE of nuclear Energy

This International institute of nuclear energy (I2EN) is the international point of entry to Frances range of continuing education and diploma training courses. The purpose of the I2EN is to facilitate access to training for foreign students, in particular from countries aiming to adopt nuclear power for the first time, so that they can acquire the safety culture and the know-how essential for responsible management of a sustainable nuclear industry, explained Catherine Cesarsky, at the inauguration. The I2EN is also the French point of entry to a European and international network of centres of excellence for a sustainable nuclear future. We pool the expertise of 24 partners, including the CEA and the INSTN, explains Marie-Franoise Debreuille who, during the inauguration, invited a Nuclear Energy Masters second year student to talk about why she chose the programme. Shradha Agarwal from India said that India is expanding its nuclear power programme and there is a growing need for qualified engineers. In this respect, France offers very valuable training opportunities. Concerning her Masters degree, she then underlined the importance given to practical industrial problems, including visits to numerous nuclear facilities in France.
Whats on
FOruM FRANCE - mIT

Innovating and cooperating for the energies of tomorrow was the topic of the FranceMIT Forum, on 29th June 2011, at the Cit des Sciences et de lIndustrie in Paris. This Forum is a joint initiative by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the French Ministry for Higher Education and Research. Its aim is to strengthen and develop collaboration between universities, French research organizations, companies and the MIT, in energy-related research and development. All stakeholders, both French and American, used the Forum as an opportunity to promote direct cooperation, in particular in the climate sciences, materials for energy and the various renewable and nuclear energy sources, to reaffirm the role of the human and social sciences in the choice of the energy mix and in the policy definition and, finally, to discuss research and innovation strategies.
http://www.mit-france-energies.com
30
CEA NEWS
AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:19
explosives detection conference

From March 14 to 16, 2011, the first EU conference on the detection of explosives was held at the Papal Palace in Avignon. This event was part of the European action plan to combat terrorism using improvised explosive devices, which are employed in the vast majority of attacks. The conference was organized by the Network on the Detection of Explosives (NDE), responsible for providing the European Commission with expertise on questions relating to the detection of explosives, and brought together 150 scientists, representatives of industry, endusers and state representatives, comprising sixteen different nationalities. The agenda included oral presentations and poster sessions concerning air traffic security (passengers, baggage, cargo) and mass transport in particular. This is an opportunity to promote the research work being done by CEA as part of the cross-disciplinary global security research program. Oversight, development and coordination of the NDE project at European level was entrusted to the military applications department, in particular the Ripault centre. This project involves eight partners from six countries.
warsaw Science Festival
The Science Picnic took place on Saturday 28 May 2011 in Warsaw. Every year, this science festival brings together nearly 250 exhibitors laboratories, schools and universities, technology companies from 20 countries and attracts nearly 100,000 visitors. The organizers of the Picnic were Polskie Radio and the Copernicus Science Center.
To coincide with the International Year of Chemistry and the Franco-Polish Marie Curie-Skodowska Year, the French hall this year housed a number of entities, including CEA Marcoules Visiatome, which presented experiments on nuclear chemistry and energyrelated applications.
A meeting was also organized on this occasion between the CEA Visiatome delegation and the popularization and public communication center in Swierk. It followed on from the twinning agreement between these two entities signed in April 2011, and allowed an exchange of practices and the definition of a joint communication program for the future.
iaea General Conference

September 19 to 23, 2011
Each year, the IAEA General Conference is one of the most important events in the nuclear world. Policy makers and experts meet in Vienna to discuss nuclear issues and adopt resolutions in all fields of nuclear energy: safety, security, non-proliferation and nuclear energy and applications in particular. This important forum also gives the opportunity for bilateral meetings with the CEAs major partners. In 2011, the 55th General Conference will be held from September 19 to 23, and for the first time, France has decided to set up a national stand to present the French actions in support of the Agencys activities. The organization of this stand is coordinated by the CEA with the participation of all competent entities and industries: AREVA, EDF, IRSN, Andra, AFNI, Assystem, I2EN.
CEA NEWS AUTUMN 2011
27/09/11 17:19
Whats on
31
CEA EMBASSY NETWORK COUNSELOR

WARSAW
Philippe PIERRARD philippe.pierrard@cea.fr
BERLIN LONDON
Jean-Marc CAPDEVILA jean-marc.capdevila@diplomatie.gouv.fr Jean-Claude PERRAUDIN jean-claude.perraudin@cea.fr
BUDAPEST
Grard COGNET gerard.cognet@cea.fr
MOSCOW
Patrice BERNARD nucleaire.moscou@diplomatie.gouv.fr
WASHINGTON
Cyril PINEL cyril.pinel@cea.fr
NEW DELHI
Sunil FELIX sunil.felix@cea.fr
BRUSSELS EU
Bernard SALANON bernard.salanon@cea.fr
PARIS
CEA Headquarters ceanews.contact@cea.fr
BEIJING
Alain TOURNYOL du CLOS service@servnuc.com
TOKYO ROME VIENNA - IAEA

Stphane BAUDE stephane.baude@cea.fr Jean-Claude BOUCHTER jean-claude.bouchter@diplomatie.gouv.fr Pierre-Yves CORDIER pierre-yves.cordier@cea.fr
SEOUL
Jean-Yves DOYEN jeanyvesdoyen@kornet.net
You can look up past issues of CEA News at
www.cea.fr
www.cea.fr/english_portal/library/cea_news. More information: ceanews.contact@cea.fr
27/09/11 17:12

Ceanews 18

Diunggah oleh

Informasi Dokumen

Deskripsi Asli:

Judul Asli

Hak Cipta

Format Tersedia

Bagikan dokumen Ini

Bagikan atau Tanam Dokumen

Opsi Berbagi

Apakah menurut Anda dokumen ini bermanfaat?

Apakah konten ini tidak pantas?

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

Ceanews 18

Diunggah oleh

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

simulation atmospheric transport p.

artificial intelligence and learning p. 26

oikopleura, accelerated evolution in zooplankton p. 29

From research to industry

SiMULATiON WORKiNg fOR NUCLEAR ENERgY

Providing industry with an effective response Towards a global platform

Nuclear safety: analyse, share and improve

CEA Director of International Relations

Euro-MPs visit Cadarache

Overhauling the worlds medical radioisotopes market

Nanogenotox, towards harmonization of European nanotoxicology

Franco-Tunisian energy cooperation

The stars of the battery world

40th anniversary of ICN Pitesti

Prolongation and extension of the CEA-UJV Agreement

Characterization techniques in sight

Inauguration of the I2EN and the JANNuS platform

Simulation working for nuclear energy

Theoretical modelling of chemical compounds: lanthanides and uranium.

SImUlATION OF AN accident transient

Predicting and optimizing

Partial CAD view (core zone and BCC).

Visualization of flow in the core and in the gap between assemblies.

3D visualization of initial state speed and temperature fields (coloured particles).

Simulation at the heart of the cycle

Workstation for surface chemistry and the physical-chemistry of complex fluids.

FRAGMA MAKES AN ENTRANCE

CRESCENDO cluster dynamics CODE

Glass leaching laboratory.

Adaptable vitrification prototype equipped with a nuclearized cold crucible.

Providing industry with an effective response

Fluids physics WITH TRITON

Towards a global platform

What are numerical modelinG and simulation?

Modelisation of reactor core.

Microscopic views of superconducting materials: ceramic (left), cuprate (right).

Quantum physics on a large scale

From fundamental physics to medical imaging

Superconducting coil for Tore Supra.

Atlas is another detector installed at the LHC in Geneva.

Magnet technology conference

100,000 The cavities do however have to be cooled to 2 K, which is

supplied with direct current.

IRFM Institute for research on magnetic fusion.

Electronic circuits for telecoms and computers

Iramis Saclay Institute of Matter and Radiation.

Giant magnetoresistive junction was discovered by Peter Grnberg

High critical temperature materials

Opening the door to new technological advances

Thermal analysis used to study ceramics.

the toughness of steel

Nano-sciences and cryogenics institute.

Electronics and Information Technology Laboratory.

a ShOrtEr PYROlYSIS PROCESS

Laboratory for Innovation and New Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials.

Lignocellulosic biomass samples.

Organic matter of plant or animal origin.

Soleil en Tte MOVES INTO SOLAR COOLING

Solar absorption refrigeration demonstrator.

Leaching of Lithium-ion battery components.

reveals gas filaments

Visualization of stresses inside plexiglas.