2017 | AFC ACCOMPLISHMENTS 148 Transmutation of minor actinides such as Np, Am, and Cm in spent nuclear fuel is of international interest because of its potential for reducing the long term health and safety hazards caused by the radioactivity of the spent fuel. One important approach to transmutation involves incorporating minor actinides into U-Pu-Zr alloys, which may also include rare-earth elements (La, Ce, Pr, Nd) as a result of previous reprocessing as part of a closed fuel cycle. It is, therefore, important to understand not only the properties of U-Pu-Zr alloys but also those of U-Pu-Zr alloys that also include minor actinides (Np,Am) and rare- earth elements (La, Ce, Pr, and Nd). However, the existing experimental data is widely scattered, and much of it was published before ~1975.The Metallic Fuels Handbook summarizes the available experimentally based knowledge of several key properties of U-Pu-Zr alloys with minor actinides and rare-earth fission products. Project Description: Transmutation of minor actinides such as Np,Am, and Cm in spent nuclear fuel is important because of its potential for reducing long-term health and safety hazards caused by the radioactivity of the spent fuel. One important approach to transmutation (currently being pursued by the Update of the Metallic Fuels Handbook Principal Investigator: Dawn E. Janney Collaborators: Cynthia A. Papesch Departmemnt of Energy (DOE) Fuel Cycle Research & Development (FCRD) Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC)) involves incorporating the minor actinides into U-Pu-Zr alloys, which can be used as fuel in fast reactors.These fuels are well suited for electrolytic refining, which leads to incorporation rare-earth fission products such as La, Ce, Pr, and Nd. It is, therefore, important to understand not only the properties of U-Pu-Zr alloys but also those of U-Pu-Zr alloys that include minor actinides (Np,Am) and rare-earth elements (La, Ce, Pr, and Nd) in concentrations relevant for transmutation fuels. Previous revisions of this Handbook included information about elements, binary alloys, and ternary alloys in the U-Np-Pu-Am-La-Ce-Pr-Nd-Zr system.This version revises and updates this information, and incorporates data about alloys with four or more elements (much of it originally generated at Idaho National Laboratory (INL)). It also adds information about alloys investigated by the METAPHIX Programme, a collaboration between the Central Research Institute of Electric Power (CRIEPI) in Japan and the Joint Research Centre-Institute for Transuranium Elements of the European Commission (JRC-ITU). The handbook is intended to serve several audiences, including project leadership and management, researchers, and modelers. Figure 2. A screenshot of Part 2 of the updated Metallic Fuels Handbook Figure 1. A screenshot of Part 1 of the updated Metallic Fuels Handbook