The SIRA Industrial Chair (Intergranular Segregation and Fracture Properties of Low-Alloy Steels) aims to better understand material aging in order to estimate the operational lifespan of nuclear power plants.
On May 28, Jacques Fayolle, Daniel Damart (Deputy Mayor for Economy and Employment of the City of Saint-Étienne), Sylvain Caillol (Scientific Director of LabCom and Industrial Chair programmes at ANR), Catherine Grandhomme (Director of Corporate Relations at CNRS), Frédéric Planes (Deputy Head of R&D Department at EDF), and Gilles Perrin (Scientific Director at Framatome) officially launched the SIRA Chair.
With total funding of nearly €2.4 million, provided 50% by ANR and 50% by EDF and Framatome, this industrial chair aims to address the aging of nuclear reactor vessels in order to extend the French fleet beyond the initially planned 60 years. At the heart of European energy and strategic challenges, this scientific, industrial, and technological project illustrates the necessary cooperation between Mines Saint-Étienne, research, and industry.
The SIRA Chair will include 3 Cifre PhD theses and 4 postdoctoral projects. Within our School, the work will be conducted by the Georges Friedel Laboratory of the SMS center (Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering). It will be led by Frédéric Christien, researcher and metallurgy specialist, who provided details on the scientific aspects of the chair:
👉 Today, 56 power plants operate in France. However, nuclear reactor vessels are subjected to water pressure, radioactivity, and impurities. To extend the lifespan of these vessels, work must be done on the inevitable degradation of the low-alloy steel that composes them. The SIRA Chair has two objectives: to improve understanding of this degradation and to enhance methods for measuring intergranular segregation (particularly phosphorus degradation).
Subsequently, Yves Bréchet, member of the Academy of Sciences and former High Commissioner for Atomic Energy, honored us with his presence and expertise dedicated to the crucial metallurgical challenges for the future of nuclear power plants. He led a conference alongside Frédéric Christien, followed by a tour of the Auger spectroscopy laboratories and model alloy development facilities within our School.
