b'General Electric Progress in Developing Accident Tolerant FuelsPrincipal Investigator: Raul B. RebakTeam Members/ Collaborators: Evan J. Dolley, Russ M. Fawcett, Mason Makovicka, Rich Augi, David Barrientos, Dan Lutz,Tyler Schweitzer, Jason Harp, David Kamerman, Fabiola Cappia, Scarlett Widgeon PaisnerGE is pursuing theG eneral Electric (GE) has beento final used fuel disposal. GE is working on the develop- currently engaged in evaluating ATF ment of Accident Tolerantfuel materials in the entire fuel cycle development of moreFuels (ATF) since October 2012.of LWR (Figure 2). For this effect GE robust fuel materialsGE is pursuing several conceptsis working with utility partnersfor LWR, both for theto develop a more robust andsuch as Southern Nuclear and shorter term (~5 years)economically feasible fuel that canConstellation, with nationaland the longer termwithstand accident conditions whilelaboratories (such as Idaho National (~10 years) commercialgenerating less hydrogen and main- Laboratory (INL), Los Alamos implementation. taining a coolable fuel architectureNational Laboratory (LANL), and for longer times. These conceptsOak Ridge National Laboratory include the development of; (1)(ORNL)) and industrial partners two cladding concepts (ARMORsuch as Alleima AB (formerly or coated Zircaloy-2 & monolithicSandvik Materials Technology). The FeCrAl), (2) Fuel with improvedinformation gathered in the current thermal and mechanical properties,project for the IronClad or FeCrAl and (3) fuels with enrichments ofcladding can also be used in near fissile uranium higher than 5% &future for the next generation ofburn up limits higher than 62 GWd/ reactors since FeCrAl alloys possess MtU (Figure 1). high strength and oxidation resistance at temperatures higher Project Description: than 600C. While doing materials The technical objective of the GE-ledcharacterization this project is also ATF project is to develop materialshelping to train the next generation that will make fuel rods moreof nuclear materials scientists that reliable to operate in light waterwill help keeping nuclear energy a reactors (LWRs) both in terms ofconsistent source of clean energy.safety and economics. The use of these materials may also allow forAccomplishments:the extension of the life of currentlyThe accomplishments for GE can be operating reactors and avoid theirsummarized in the following areas: premature decommissioning. It is6.1 (by Mason Makovicka) During projected that nuclear energy willthe fiscal year of 2022 coating cladding continue to be an important sharework continued research and devel-of clean energy that may alleviateopment activities for an ARMOR 1.0 climate change in the next fewreplacement. The investigation into decades. The newer materials werethe causes of the performance miss never used before in LWR; therefore,in reactor of ARMOR 1.0 at Hatch their suitability needs to be evaluatedwas completed. Both the ARMOR in the entire fuel cycle, from1.5 and ARMOR 2.0 initiatives economical tube and rod fabricationwere advanced. A large number of 114 2022|AFC ACCOMPLISHMENTS'