NEA Mandates and Structures

Expert Group on Reactor Fuel Performance

Chair(s):	Glyn ROSSITER, United Kingdom	Secretary:	Ian HILL (ian.hill@oecd-nea.org)
Member(s):	All NEA member countries^*
	Russia (Suspended*)
	^*Russian Federation suspended pursuant to a decision of the OECD Council.
Full participant(s):	European Commission Under the NEA Statute
Observer(s)(International Organisation):	International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) By agreement
Date of creation:	30 June 2011
End of mandate:	30 June 2019

Mandate (Document reference):

Agreed at the 22^nd meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee in June 2011 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2011)3]
Revised mandate at the 9^th meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems in February 2012 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPRS(2012)7]
Extended and revised mandate at the 10^th meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems in February 2013 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPRS(2013)2]
Revised mandate at the 11^th meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems in February 2014 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPRS(2014)2]
Extended and revised mandate at the 12^th meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems in February 2015 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPRS(2015)2]
Extended and revised mandate at the 14th meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPRS(2017)2]
Mandate of the Expert Group on Reactor Fuel Performance [NEA/NSC/WPRS/DOC(2018)14]

Mandate (Document extract):

Extract from document NEA/NSC/WPRS/DOC(2018)14

Mandate:

Scope

Under the guidance of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems (WPRS), the Expert Group will perform specific tasks associated with fuel performance aspects of present and future nuclear power systems, with a focus on normal operating conditions. Reactor types considered include, but are not limited to, the following:

present generation LWRs and HWRs with advanced and innovative fuels, evolutionary and innovative LWRs and HWRs;
high-temperature gas reactors (HTRs);
fast spectrum systems and other advanced reactor systems;
accelerator driven (sub-critical) and critical systems for waste transmutation.

Focus is on LWRs for modelling, all systems for inclusion of data within IFPE.

Objectives:

To provide expert advice to the WPRS and the nuclear community on the development needs (data and methods, validation experiments, scenario studies) for existing and proposed fuel designs. A key activity associated with this objective is the identification and preservation of appropriate experimental data.
To provide specific technical information regarding:

the status of national and international programmes including experimental capability;
the provision of experimental data for model development and validation from the IFPE Database;
methods for code verification and validation.

This technical information will generally be derived from a combination of direct experimental evidence and/or the results of theoretical benchmark analyses using accurate, validated modelling methods. In either case the availability of suitable experimental data is a fundamental requirement. A key objective of the group will therefore be to help identify, evaluate and preserve this type of experimental data. In this context the Expert Group will monitor, steer and support the continued development of the International Fuel Performance Experiments (IFPE) Database.

3. To facilitate the dissemination of technical information and knowledge through activities such as workshops, benchmark studies and training activities.

Links to other NEA bodies and international projects

The Expert Group will establish links with other bodies working in the area of Fuel Performance. In particular the Expert Group will liaise closely with the CSNI Working Group on Fuel Safety (WGFS), the NSC Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle (WPFC), the NSC Working Party on Multi-scale Modelling (WPMM), the NSC Expert Group on Accident Tolerant Fuels for LWRs (EGATFL), the Expert Group on Innovative Fuels (EGIF), the Expert Group on Multi-Physics, Experimental Data, Benchmarking and validation (EGMPEBV) and the WPRS Expert Group on Uncertainty Analysis in Modelling (EGUAM). The Expert Group will also establish links with other international activities that are complementary to the work of the EGRFP, including the Halden Reactor Project and the IAEA Technical Working Group on Water Reactor Fuel Performance and Technology (TWGFPT).

Deliverables:

Report on experimental data requirements for fuel performance modelling;
- Review of data requirements for fuel performance modelling;
- Review of types of experimental data that can address fuel performance requirements and where they can be obtained from:
  - discussion of data gaps;
  - discussion on quantification of data uncertainties and why this is important for fuel performance modelling;
- Recommendations for further development of NEA's International Fuel Performance Experiments (IFPE) database;
- Update to 1995 NEA report by J. A. Turnbull: Review of nuclear fuel experimental data.
Review of IFPE database structure, including practicality of preserving raw experimental data, requirements for development of database structure / tools, consideration of appropriate review process (to follow drafting of above report).
Final Report on PCMI benchmark phase 1.
Specification of phase 2 of PCMI benchmark focused on uncertainty analysis and/or multi-physic analyses jointly with EGUAM and/or EGMPEBV.
Provide IFPE data for IAEA fuel modelling in accident conditions (FUMAC) CRP and incorporate feedback (e.g. corrections, new data requirements, experimental data) into the IFPE database.

Meeting frequency:

Once per year for full experts group with additional meetings in support of particular activities (e.g. FUMAC, PCMI benchmark).