Dr. Assel Aitkaliyeva, ARPA-E, U. S. Department of Energy, Hill Hall 202

Developing Fuels for Advanced Reactors

Dr. Assel Aitkaliyeva
ARPA-E, U.S. Department of Energy

4 pm, Wednesday, Sept. 16
Hill Hall 202

Advanced reactor concepts are driving renewed interest in nuclear fuels with compositions, forms, and operating regimes that extend well beyond conventional light-water reactor fuel. Metallic fuels, coated-particle fuels, advanced ceramics, and fuels containing recycled transuranic elements each offer potential advantages, but also introduce distinct challenges in fabrication, performance prediction, irradiation testing, and qualification.

The talk will provide an overview of the evolving advanced nuclear fuel landscape, with emphasis on the barriers that determine whether a fuel concept can progress from laboratory development to reactor deployment. It will highlight challenges associated with fuel fabrication, characterization, irradiation testing, modeling, and qualification, as well as opportunities to integrate experimental and computational approaches to reduce development timelines.

Several current efforts within ARPA-E's fission portfolio, that focus on accelerating development and qualification of recycled transuranic fuels for advanced reactors, and emerging efforts aimed at shortening materials qualification timelines will be featured. Examples from research at the Univ. of Florida will illustrate how detailed characterization of fuel can address scientific questions governing fuel performance and qualification.