The U.S. Department of Energy is working with industry to quickly develop new fuels with enhanced accident tolerance. These nuclear fuels will not only increase the safety of today’s light-water reactors but also improve plant performance at a crucial time for the U.S. nuclear industry. A number of reactors are currently under economic stress and…
A new accident-resistant fuel is being tested at Idaho National Laboratory’s Advanced Test Reactor. This is the second accident-tolerant fuel test in progress.
As an important fuel test reactor in Norway announced this week it would be closing permanently, testing of advanced accident tolerant fuels in the United States continues apace. Meanwhile, both Houses of Congress this month provided healthy levels of funding for the Department of Energy’s ATF research and demonstration program, demonstrating their recognition of the importance of innovation in nuclear fuels.
Framatome’s Jeff Whitt participated last week in the Foundation for Nuclear Studies Hill briefing.
The U.S. nuclear industry just hit a major milestone in developing new and improved fuels for its current fleet of reactors. Framatome’s accident tolerant fuel (ATF) was recently installed for testing at the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL).