The NEA held the sixth annual week of collaborative meetings of the Working Party on Materials Science Issues in Nuclear Fuels and Structural Materials (WPFM) from 18-22 May 2026 at the NEA offices in Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
Alongside a meeting of the Working Party, meetings were also held for its Expert Groups and Task Forces:
Expert Group on Fuel Materials (EGFM); Expert Group on Structural Materials (EGSM); Task Force on International Fuel Performance Experiments database (TF-IFPE); and Task Force on Best Practices in Microcharacterisation (TF-BP).
EGFM reported on progress in its key activities including: submission for publication of a key review of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in fuel development; and the strong level of engagement with its activity on fuel achieving high burnup to maximise economic benefit.
EGSM celebrated the launch of its new activities in acceleration of materials development and a benchmark in RPV steels ageing. The meeting also featured an invited presentation by Gary Was (Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Nuclear Materials) on “A Predictive Pathway for Rapid Qualification of Core Structural Materials Using Ion Irradiation”
TF-IFPE has made significant progress in its activities to modernise the international database in anticipation of its expansion to include fast reactor fuel performance data.
TF-BP highlighted the significant work performed in its sub task forces on best practices in graphite and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterisation.
The WPFM received updates from wider initiatives in the field including from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the CONNECT-NM EU programme and the NEA joint projects: Thermodynamics of Advanced Fuels - International Database (TAF-ID); Thermodynamic Characterisation of Fuel Debris and Fission Products Based on Scenario Analysis of Severe Accident Progression (TCOFF-II); Second Framework for Irradiation Experiments (FIDES-II); QUENCH-ATF; and AI Platform for Nuclear Research and Education (AIxpertise). Priorities were then discussed for the forthcoming programme of work and renewal of its mandate.
