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Codes and methods are subjected to a continuous update process for answering the regulatory requirements concerning the long-term operation of existing reactors and new concept deployment. In this continuous improvement process, new generation codes are developed for supporting industrial applications and the long-term strategy. In this paper, attention is devoted to selecting codes under development in France for lattice and core steady-state and transient calculations. These codes, APOLLO3® and CATHARE3, have been selected for carrying out the activities of the H2020 CAMIVVER Project oriented to the 3D-multiphysics couplings improvements. Multiscale and multiphysics solutions are key topics to keep competitiveness and answer to newer industrial needs in plant operations, licensing, and safe operating envelope requirements. The paper presents an overview of the activities performed by Framatome to support the definition of benchmarks exercises proposed in the CAMIVVER Project. Small core configurations subjected to a Reactivity Insertion Accident (RIA) are presented with associated preliminary results. To open the discussions toward the development of Best-Estimate Plus Uncertainties (BEPU) solutions, the URANIE statistical platform was used for sensitivity analysis over different configurations. These preliminary results are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Searches for transient astrophysical pulses could open an exciting new window into the fundamental physics of quantum gravity. In particular, an evaporating primordial black hole in the presence of an extra dimension can produce a detectable transient pulse. Observations of such a phenomenon can in principle explore the electroweak energy scale, indicating that astrophysical probes of quantum gravity can successfully complement the exciting new physics expected to be discovered in the near future at the Large Hadron Collider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]