2018 | AFC ACCOMPLISHMENTS 31 Figure 2. Full length Cr- coated zirconium-based cladding. At the fuel level, chromia-doped UO2 pellets can improve the corrosion and fragmentation resistance over today’s UO2 fuel.To date, the performance of this fuel has been extensively studied in out-of-pile and in-pile test programs and modifications are being implemented to accommodate chromia-doped fuel in Framatome’s fuel performance code. For revolutionary (over-the-horizon) performance improvements, Framatome is developing a composite cladding comprising a silicon carbide fiber in a silicon carbide matrix (SiCf/ SiCm).The objective is to develop a system which does not suffer from the same rapid oxidation kinetics of zirconium-based cladding while having attractive operating features such as reduced neutron absorption cross-section and higher mechanical strength at accident temperatures. Accomplishments: The Framatome team has made significant technical progress towards these objectives in Government Fiscal Year (FY) 18. For the Cr-coated cladding, out-of- pile testing has shown significantly reduced oxide growth when compared to uncoated cladding under identical light water reactor (LWR) coolant conditions, demonstrating improved corrosion performance and post-quench ductility.Accelerated wear testing demonstrated superior tribological properties for the Cr-coating over uncoated Zr-based cladding, with significant reduction