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Paul Scherrer Institut is developing a high-resolution multi-physics core solver for VVER analysis. This work presents the preliminary stages of the development, specifically the coupling of the 3D pin-by-pin neutronic solver nTRACER to the sub-channel thermal-hydraulic code COBRA-TF for single assembly multi-physics steady state calculations. The coupling scheme and the modifications performed in the codes are described in details. The results of the coupled nTRACER/COBRA-TF calculations are compared to the ones of a standalone nTRACER calculation where the feedbacks are provided by a simplified 1D thermal-hydraulic solver. The agreement is very good with fuel temperature differences around 10 K which can be attributed to the different correlations used in the various solvers. The cross-comparison of the two multi-physics computational routes serves as a preliminary verification of the coupling scheme developed between nTRACER and COBRA-TF.