WPPT Subgroup on Fuels and Materials

Scope

The Fuels and Materials  Subgroup (FMS) of the NEA Working Party on Partitioning and Transmutation (WPPT) is one of four Subgroups tasked with supporting the WPPT study to determine the potential viability of nuclear waste partitioning and transmutation as part of a waste management strategy.  The other subgroups are focused on accelerator utilisation and reliability, chemical separations, and physics. In support of the full NEA WPPT, the Fuels and Materials Subgroup will:

• Evaluate expected performance of fuels and materials for transmutation systems
• Revisit and summarise fundamental properties of fuels, fuel selection criteria, fabrication and behaviour prediction, cladding and coolant compatibility issues, and long-lived fission products
• Organise a workshop of experts on fuels and materials

Objectives

Under the guidance of the WPPT, the FMS will provide Member Countries with up to date information on:

 
• State-of-the-art technology on fuels and materials for transmutation
• Availability of pertinent data
• Necessary R&D to supplement the existing database

• Fundamental thermophysical and thermochemical properties of relevant actinide compounds and alloys
• Fuel selection criteria specific to representative transmutation scenario: single (LWR/FBR) stratum and double (LWR/Dedicated system) strata
• Fuel fabrication (Effects of radiation, heat, thermochemical issues. Compatibility with reprocessing)
• Fuel behavior prediction (Differences between (U,Pu)-based - power reactor fuels and transmutation fuels. Recognised technological problems of transmutation fuels, and uncertainties in their performance.)
• Materials problems - Overview*
• Cladding and fuel assembly materials (existing database) 
• Compatibility issues (particularly lead/lead-bismuth)
• Special irradiation environment of ADS systems
• Long-lived fission products (LLFP)
• Studies on LLFP transmutation
• Ongoing R&D and international collaboration

Method of Work

Meetings will be held in conjunction with major international meetings, and/or meetings of the full WPPT.  Initial survey of the past and ongoing studies on fuels and materials for transmutation will be done by completing mutual questionnaire within the FMS members. An International Workshop on Fuels and Materials for Transmutation Systems will be organised in autumn 2002. A draft report will be written and  reviewed by each member, and a peer review on the report will be done by external experts for the final report.

Meetings

• The first meeting of the subgroup will be held in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, on 23-25 April 2002.
  

Key Interfaces

Primary interfaces are with the Physics and Safety Subgroup regarding fuel cycle issues and with the Chemical Partitioning Subgroup concerning fuel fabrication and reprocessing

List of Activities

• State-of-the-art report on fuels and materials for transmutation
• Inert matrix fuels
  

Related Conferences and Meetings

• European Research on Materials for Transmutation, Karlsruhe, Germany, 26-27 September 2002

• 7th Information Exchange Meeting on Partitioning and Transmutation, Jeju, Korea, 14-16 October 2002

• 8th Workshop on Inert Matrix Fuel, Tokai, Japan, 16-18 October 2002 

For more information on activities managed/supported by the NSC, please contact Claes Nordborg (Claes.Nordborg@oecd.org) Return to the NSC Home Page

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