Fuels for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems

Fuels for advanced nuclear reactors differ from conventional light water reactor fuels and also vary widely because of the specific architectures and intended missions of the reactor systems proposed to deploy them. Functional requirements of all fuel designs for advanced nuclear energy systems include (1) retention of fission products and fuel nuclides, (2) dimensional stability, and (3) maintenance of a geometry that can be cooled. In all cases, anticipated fuel performance is the limiting factor in reactor system design, and cumulative effects of increased utilization and increased exposure to inservice environments degrade fuel performance. In this article, the current status of each fuel system is reviewed, and technical challenges confronting the implementation of each fuel in the context of the entire advanced reactor fuel cycle (fabrication, reactor performance, recycle) are discussed.