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The APS department continues to perform research within the scope of the OECD Halden Reactor Project Fuel and Materials Research Programme while also participating in the OECD NEA Halden HTO Project. APS is also the main contact point for the IAEA Collaborating Centre on nuclear decommissioning hosted by IFE.
The Applied Physical Sciences Department (APS) is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of physical scientists and engineers. Some of the current staff were previously responsible for the design, planning, and analysis of nuclear fuel and materials experiments conducted in the Halden Reactor both within the international OECD Halden Reactor Project (HRP) and commercially for industrial customers. The APS department continues to carry out the research within the OECD Halden Reactor Project Fuel and Materials Research Programme by analyzing and archiving experimental data generated from hundreds of experiments conducted in the Halden Reactor over the course of 60 years.
The experimental work carried out by APS staff included: Designing experimental fuel assemblies, systems, and advanced in-core instrumentation; Performing neutronics calculations for experiments and for reactor operation; development of an advanced gamma-emission tomography system for non-destructive spent fuel characterization; design and analysis of experiments on nuclear fuel and materials with the aim of improving safety in nuclear power plants.
In addition to continuing conventional analysis of nuclear fuel and material experiments, techniques such as Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence are used to seek new insights into the experimental data. The competence and skills attained from conducting experiments in the harsh in-reactor environment are being leveraged towards other nuclear and non-nuclear fields, such as nuclear safeguards, spent fuel characterization, decommissioning, and robotics.
APS manages IFE’s HADRON robotics lab, and works closely with other departments at IFE on research, design, development, and evaluation of complex digital systems to support work in hazardous environments.