​​​​​​​​Research and development (R&D) of light water reactor (LWR) fuels with enhanced accident tolerance seeks to achieve higher fuel and plant performance to allow operation to significantly higher burnup, and to provide enhanced safety during design basis and beyond design basis accident conditions. The overarching goal is to develop advanced nuclear fuels and materials that are robust, have high performance capability, and are more tolerant to accident conditions than traditional fuel systems while maintaining the economic competitiveness of commercial nuclear power. Designed for use in the current fleet of commercial LWRs or in reactor concepts with design certifications (GEN-III+), enhanced ATF would endure loss of active cooling in the reactor core for a considerably longer period of time than the current fuel system while maintaining or improving performance during normal operations.​

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