Objective

Under the guidance of the Nuclear Science Committee (NSC) and the mandate of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle (WPFC) the objective of the expert group is to conduct joint and comparative studies to identify technical issues and support the development of innovative fuels that can be implemented in advanced nuclear fuel cycles.

Scope

The scope of the expert group covers the technical issues associated with the development of innovative fuels (oxide, metal, nitride and carbide fuels, and special mechanical forms) targeted for use in advanced fuel cycles and Gen IV systems. The fuel types of interest for EGIF are those foreseen for driver fuels (i.e. uranium or uranium-plutonium fuels) as well as fuels dedicated to minor actinides (MA) transmutation considered for advanced fuel cycles and Gen IV systems.

The following technical issues associated with innovative fuels development are covered by the expert group:

• innovative fuels fabrication techniques
• irradiation performance of innovative fuels (including advanced clad materials)
• characterisation and post-irradiation examination methods
• predictive models/codes for innovative fuels' behaviour and performance
• phenomenological experiments in support of model development or validation
• properties (thermophysical) of fuels.

Activities

• compile an experimental database
• qualify methodologies
• develop a process to the technology readiness level for various technologies
• perform code-to-code, code-to-experiment benchmark studies
• generate status reports on various fuel technologies
• define and propose standard benchmark cases for fuel performance codes
• define experimental benchmarks as well as phenomenological tests to compare characterisation and PIE techniques and results
• study the needs for fuels qualification and code validation
• list R&D activities needed to advance fuel qualification
• undertake scientific and technology watch on experimental results (post-irradiation examination, etc.).

The expert group liaises closely with other NEA working groups, especially the Expert Group on Reactor Fuel Performance (EGRFP) of the Working Party on Scientific Issues and Uncertainty Analysis of Reactor Systems (WPRS), the Working Party on Multi-scale Modelling of Fuels and Structural Materials for Nuclear Systems (WPMM), the Expert Group on Accident-tolerant Fuels for Light Water Reactors (EGATFL) and the Expert Group on Integral Experiments for Minor Actinides Management (EGIEMAM) in order to ensure the respective work programmes are complementary, to provide advice and support where required and to undertake joint work where appropriate.