Establishment of technical basis to implement accident tolerant fuels and components to existing LWRs

Yamashita, Shinichiro   ; Nagase, Fumihisa ; Kurata, Masaki ; Kaji, Yoshiyuki  

Fuel rod, channel box, and control rod designed with new materials and concepts have been developed in Japan for increasing accident tolerance of LWRs. In order to efficiently and properly implement the accident tolerant fuels (ATFs) and the other components, it is necessary not only to accumulate fundamental and practical data but also to consider technology readiness, recognize knowledge gaps, and establish strategy for design and fabrication. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has established the above "technical basis" and drafted a research plan towards implementation of the ATFs and components as a program sponsored and organized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). It is useful to take advantage of the experiences in commercial uses of zirconium-base alloys in LWRs and, therefore, JAEA has conducted this METI project in cooperation with power plant providers, fuel venders, research institutes and universities who have been involved in the development of the ATF materials. The present paper describes the main results of the project conducted to establish the technical basis of the ATFs and components.