The 29th International Conference On Nuclear Engineering (ICONE29) is being held virtually from August 8 to 12, 2022. The theme of the event is "Energy Innovation Powering a Carbon Neutral Future". ICONE29 serves as a platform for experts and scholars in the nuclear engineer field from enterprises, government agencies and the academic communities all over the world. More than 1,200 experts and scholars from government agencies, scientific research institutions, renowned colleges, universities and enterprises in over 20 countries participated in the event and contributed more than 1,800 papers. These papers cover 16 topics including nuclear safety, thermal hydraulics, serious accidents, CFD calculation, program programming and verification, nuclear power station operation and maintenance, system equipment, instrument control, advanced nuclear reactor and small reactor design.

The paper titled "An Evaluation of Critical Heat Flux Prediction in Single-Side Heated Narrow Rectangular Channel Under Upflow Condition" authored by Yan Meiyue, Ma Zaiyong, Pan Liangming, He Qingche, Xu Wangtao and Li Xiang from the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Technology of the School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University, won the top award in the Student Competition of ICONE29, the Akiyama Award (there is only 1 winner of this Award in the world). Liu Jianqiao, Secretary General of Chinese Nuclear Society, announced that the Award went to Dr. Yan Meiyue at the awarding ceremony.

In this paper, the two-phase flow characteristics and mechanism of bubble behavior in narrow rectangular channel under high temperature and high pressure are studied. The shape of the vapor-liquid phase in the narrow rectangular channel and the flow pattern corresponding to the critical working condition were obtained through the visual window photography. It was found that, for the heating wall surface, the temperature would increase when contacting with the vapor phase and would decrease when contacting with the liquid phase whatever the flow pattern of the two-phase flow in the channel is. The empirical relationship and mechanism model of critical heat flux based on vapor-liquid two-phase flow state and heat balance of heated wall were further established. The research findings of this paper provide technical support for the safety analysis of reactor fuel elements and the development of key constitutive models of system programs.

ICONE is dubbed as the "Olympics" in the international nuclear engineering field, and is the most important international academic conference in this area. Cohosted by Chinese Nuclear Society, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Japanese Society of Mechanical Engineers, ICONE29 is organized by China General Nuclear Power Group Research Institute Co., Ltd.