Workshop on
Building Multinational Fuel and Materials Testing Capacities for Science, Safety and Industry
4 - 5 October 2018
NEA Headquarters, room BB1 and BB2
46 quai Alphonse Le Gallo, 92100, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Workshop Agenda
List of Participants
Background Paper
Proposal for a Joint Project on Quantifying Thermomechanical Clad Load Mechanisms during LWR Transients
Workshop documents (for registered participants only)
Introduction
On 8 - 10 January 2018, a workshop was held on Enhancing Experimental Support for Advancements in Nuclear Fuels and Materials.
Some major conclusions of the workshop were as follows:
- Additional alignments for the use of material test reactors are needed.
- Material test reactors should be maintained to ensure sufficient testing of advanced fuels and materials.
- Multilateral and multinational co-ordination of experimental programmes would be beneficial in utilising the existing infrastructure and identifying gaps that can be best filled by re-started and new facilities.
- International frameworks facilitating transport and disposal of irradiated materials would allow for a more efficient use of international resources.
Motivation
After the workshop, there were some efforts to help prolong the operation of the Halden reactor. Nevertheless, in June, its shutdown became official, changing drastically the available experimental landscape. As a result, there are now concerted efforts being undertaken in several member countries to mitigate the consequences of the Halden shutdown. Under these circumstances, the conclusions of January’s workshop became yet more relevant and necessitate their urgent implementation. Therefore, the NEA is organising a follow-up event at the NEA on 4 - 5 October 2018.
Objectives
The workshop objectives are as follows:
- highlight the strategic necessity for a multinational fuel and material testing capacities to meet science, safety and industry needs;
- move further towards establishing an international Framework of key infrastructure sites (MTRs and other facilities) via the mechanism of NEA Joint Projects, in order to provide state-of-the-art experimental evidence for qualification and validation purposes;
- discuss proposals for potential joint projects.
Expected Outcomes
The outcomes of the workshop will be presented at the NEA Steering Committee meeting and discussed within the NEA Standing Committees. These would be in the form of a shared conclusion concerning:
- the necessity for sustainable testing capacities based on a network of joint-use experimental infrastructure operated as user-facilities;
- the necessity to invest in the maintenance and development of fuel and materials testing capacities based on updated experimental technology (experimental devices, loops, etc.);
- the necessity to build the related NEA Framework;
- the timeline for a phased hand over between the Halden Reactor Project and the Framework;
- identification of first joint projects within the NEA Framework that will make available necessary Testing Capacities and intentions to participate in the proposed Joint Projects.