GRE@T-PIONEeR: Teaching the nuclear data pipeline using innovative pedagogical methods

¹ Department of Energy Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2 28006, Madrid – Spain
² Division of Subatomic, High Energy and Plasma Physics, Department of Physics, Chalmers University of Technology (Chalmers), SE-412 96 Gothenburg – Sweden
³ NEMO group, Dipartimento Energia, Politecnico di Torino (POLITO), Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129, Torino – Italy
⁴ Institute for Industrial, Radiophysical and Environmental Safety (ISIRYM), Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Camí de Vera, s/n, 46021 València – Spain
⁵ Dept. of Energy & Process Engineering, School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Boltzmannstr. 15, D-85748 Garching b. München – Germany
⁶ Department of Nuclear Techniques, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), Műegyetem rakpart 9, 1111 Budapest – Hungary
⁷ LGI Sustainable Innovation, 6 Cité de l’Ameublement, 75011 Paris – France

^* Corresponding author: oscar.cabellos@upm.es

Published online: 26 May 2023

Abstract

GRE@T-PIONEeR - GRaduate Education Alliance for Teaching the PhysIcs and safety Of NuclEar Reactors - is a project funded by the Euratom – Horizon 2020 Framework Programme which aims at developing and providing specialised and advanced courses in computational and experimental reactor physics at the graduate level (MSc and PhD levels) and post-graduate level, as well as the staff members working in the nuclear industry. One of the work packages of GRE@T-PIONEeR is devoted to developing a specific course on the nuclear data pipeline processes and to present the role of nuclear data to play in calculations of innovative reactor systems. This course covers all steps in the nuclear data life cycle, starting from the measurements to their validation and final use in nuclear reactor calculations. Beyond the technical contents of the courses being developed, the paper describes the use of innovative pedagogical methods and active learning techniques, such as flipped classes, aimed at promoting student learning.