b'ATF Industry Teams - FramatomePrincipal Investigator: Kiran NimishakaviTeam Members/ Collaborators: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Kernkraftwerk Gsgen-Dniken, Entergy Nuclear, Constellation Energy, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).F ramatomes Accident Toleranttesting, evaluation, and down Fuel (ATF) strategy relies onselection, Framatomes technical a two-phased approach toapproach addresses three focus balance benefits with the anticipatedareas: (i) Coatings for pressurized timeline for full-core deployment.water reactor (PWR) and boiling PROtect Cr-Cr is Framatomeswater reactor (BWR) claddings, (ii) evolutionary solution which bringsChromia-doped and Chrome-variant incremental benefits compared toUO 2fuel pellets, and (iii) Silicon standard Zr-UO 2system. The goal iscarbide (SiC) composite materials. to deploy this product in commercialsA dense Cr-coating on a zirconium-reactors by mid-2020s. PROtectbased cladding substrate has the SiC is Framatomes breakthroughpotential for improved high tempera-solution which offers significantture steam oxidation resistance and benefits during beyond design basishigh temperature creep performance, accidents. A progressive implemen- as well as improved wear behavior. tation is envisioned for SiC-basedOver the course of the EATF program, solution with an initial goal toextensive processing and testing demonstrate proof-of-concept in testactivities are being carried out on reactors by the mid-2020s.Cr-coated M5Framatome cladding inIn response to Department ofsupport of batch implementation by Energy (DOE) direction, Framatomethe mid-2020s Figure 1. Pre-damaged Cr-coatedfurther expanded the EnhancedBuilding on both the experience M5Framatome samples afterAccident Tolerant Fuel (EATF)gained and scientific knowledge three cycles of irradiation in theprogram to include high burnupachieved from the PWR Cr-coated Gsgen reactor. and increased enrichment with the objective of increasing energycladding development, a coating production and reducing the outagematerial that is suitable for BWR costs by minimizing the number ofapplication has been developed. refueling outages. Several out-of-piles tests were performed to ensure adherence and Project Description: coating quality. Currently, the lead The goal of DOEs EATF programtest rods (LTR)s with BWR coating is to develop an economical andsegments are being irradiated in the more robust nuclear fuel design thatMonticello reactor and 1st cycle hot will reduce or mitigate the conse- cell post irradiation examination quences of reactor accidents while(PIE) is planned for 2023. maintaining or improving existingChromia-doped UO 2pellets can performance and reliability levelsimprove pellet wash-out behavior in daily operations. After extensiveafter cladding breach and reduce 110 2022|AFC ACCOMPLISHMENTS'