Establishment of technical basis to implement accident tolerant fuels and components to existing LWRs; R&D program for design and fabrication towards implementation of ATFs and components to the existing LWRs

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

In TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), the cooling capability was lost due to tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake. It is considered that the Zirconium (Zr) alloy fuel cladding was oxidized in the heated core and the subsequent temperature escalation due to the oxidation caused core melting. As lessons learned from the 1F accident, development of advanced fuel and core components with enhanced accident tolerance becomes the greater concern. We have started R&D to establish the technical basis to implement the advanced fuel components to existing LWRs. The R&D is conducted in cooperation with power plant providers, fuel venders, research institutes and universities who have been involved in the development of the advanced fuel components. In this presentation, we will introduce the R&D program which are carried out under the Project on Development of Technical Basis for Safety Improvement at Nuclear Power Plants by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan.