R&D for introducing advanced fuels contributing to safety improvement of current LWRs, 1; Overview of project

Yamashita, Shinichiro   ; Ioka, Ikuo  ; Nemoto, Yoshiyuki  ; Shirasu, Noriko  ; Kurata, Masaki ; Kaji, Yoshiyuki  ; Fukahori, Tokio  ; Watanabe, Seiichi*; Kirimura, Kazuki*; Kakiuchi, Kazuo*; Kondo, Takao*; Nozawa, Takashi*; Sakamoto, Kan*; Kusagaya, Kazuyuki*; Ukai, Shigeharu*; Kimura, Akihiko*; Yamaji, Akifumi*

Since the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, enhancing the accident tolerance of Light Water Reactors (LWRs) became a topic of serious discussion, and the research and development (R&D) for improving the safety LWRs has been activated in many countries. In Japan, the R&D project on accident tolerant fuel and other components (ATFs) of LWRs, which is sponsored and organized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), has been initiated in 2015 for establishing technical basis of ATFs. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has coordinated and carried out this ATF R&D project in cooperation with power plant providers, fuel venders and universities for making the best use of the experiences, knowledges in commercial uses of zirconium-base alloys in LWRs.