Status of the development of fast breeder reactor fuels in FaCT project

Maeda, Seiichiro

no journal, , 

JAEA has been concentrated on the development of the JSFR with MOX fuels, the advanced aqueous reprocessing and the simplified pelletizing fuel fabrication system in the FaCT project. The preliminary design study of fuel subassemblies for the JSFR is now underway. Targets of the core design are a high burnup fuel up to 150 GWd/t and a long operation period to enhance the economic competitiveness. ODS steel which has high resistance to void swelling and appropriate material strength at a high temperature is adopted for cladding tubes. An internal duct is equipped into the subassembly to enhance the safety in case of core damage event. The pin irradiation tests with ODS cladding have been carried out in BOR-60. The basic characteristic of ODS cladding was confirmed and the remaining task in quality control of cladding fabrication was clarified. Several innovative technologies such as die-wall lubrication pelletizing are under development for the simplified pelletizing process.