TECHNICAL MEETING ON IN-PILE TESTING AND INSTRUMENTATION FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GENERATION-IV FUELS AND STRUCTURAL MATERIALS

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1 651-T1-TM TECHNICAL MEETING ON IN-PILE TESTING AND INSTRUMENTATION FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GENERATION-IV FUELS AND STRUCTURAL MATERIALS I. BACKGROUND Halden, Norway August 2012 INFORMATION SHEET The purpose of the meeting is to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of the progress in methods and technologies used for the irradiation testing of nuclear fuel achieved since the last International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting on this subject held in Emphasis will be placed on advanced techniques that can be applied in order to understand high burnup fuel behaviour of water cooled power reactors, but the meeting will also be open for discussion of testing techniques currently applied to, or to be developed specifically for, new fuel and structural materials that are being considered for Generation IV (Gen IV) reactor systems. These reactors require development, qualification, testing and deployment of improved and innovative nuclear fuel and structural materials with very high radiation resistance, corrosion/erosion resistance and other key operational properties. At present, a major effort in this area has concentrated on sodium cooled fast reactor systems, and two further fast reactor designs (lead and gas-cooled) have also been selected by the Generation IV International Forum (GIF). For this reason, presentations on fast neutron fuel and structural materials testing are welcome at this meeting. Presentations could cover such topics as innovative methods for testing fuel in non-rod configurations (e.g. discs, wafers, etc.), refabrication techniques for irradiated fuel, ramp testing facilities, as well as more traditional techniques for the measurement of temperature, fission gas release and dimensional changes. Experimental methods used to control the local power of the fuel under test to match operational conditions such as transients or load following operation could also be described, as could in-reactor loops for controlling water chemistry or other environmental conditions (e.g. liquid metal, supercritical water, molten salt). Theoretical and computational studies supporting the results expected from different techniques are welcome, as are results demonstrating successful implementation of particular techniques. The aim of the meeting, however, is to strengthen and widen the knowledge base on in-pile measurement techniques as applied to nuclear fuel rather than to exchange and present fuel properties and performance data.

2 II. TOPICS TO BE COVERED Papers are invited on all aspects of in-core testing of fuel materials. Particular topics include, but are not limited, to: Fuel rod instrumentation: Fuel centre temperature Cladding surface temperature Fission gas release (pressure measurements) Dimensional change (fuel and cladding) Power measurement Fuel rod refabrication: Irradiated fuel pellet drilling Gas line connections In-core connectors for instrumentation Welding of high fluence or dissimilar materials Experimental control: Thermal-hydraulic conditions in loop systems (temperature, pressure and flow) Coolant chemistry including injection/addition systems Power monitoring and control, including transients and load following operation Temperature monitoring and control Gas flow monitoring and control Applied load control (e.g. for fuel or cladding creep) Innovative techniques: Ultrasonic or acoustic inspections In-core fast neutron measurements Protective coatings Noise measurements Vibration measurements Fuel failure investigations including in-core water ingress devices In-rod hydrogen detectors (for fuel failure studies) Coolant transient flow monitoring In-core measurement of separate fuel and cladding properties: Cladding thermal conductance, including effects of oxide and crud Cladding creep Cladding irradiation growth Cladding corrosion rates (in situ monitoring) Fuel thermal conductivity degradation Fuel creep Fuel densification and swelling Fission gas release (e.g. with gas flow monitoring and spectrometry) 2

3 Development of new instruments for in-pile testing of Generation IV fuel and structural materials: Instruments able to operate in liquid metals, supercritical steam, molten salt etc. Linear voltage differential detectors for high temperature applications (above 400 o C) Online cladding corrosion detectors Electrochemical sensors In-core eddy current techniques e.g. for detecting development of defects Theoretical and computational techniques: Thermocouple decalibration Interpretation of instrumentation results Finite element analysis for thermal/stress calculations Modelling of instrumentation for improved design and fabrication III. ORGANIZATION Meeting Chairman: Meeting Coordinator: Administrative Officer Scientific Secretaries Mr Rudi Van Nieuwenhove OECD Halden Reactor Project, Halden, Norway Tel.: ; Fax: rudivn@hrp.no Mr Wolfgang Wiesenack OECD Halden Reactor Project, Halden, Norway Tel.: ; Fax: wowi@hrp.no Ms Turid Danielsen OECD Halden Reactor Project, Halden, Norway Tel.: ; Fax: turidd@hrp.no Mr Victor Inozemtsev International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria Tel.: ; Fax: V.Inozemtsev@iaea.org Mr Andrej Zeman International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria Tel.: ; Fax: A.Zeman@iaea.org 3

4 IV. DEADLINE FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION IN THE MEETING The meeting may be attended only upon official designation. Participants should complete the attached Form A (Participation Form) and Form B (Form for Submission of a Paper) and send them, together with an abstract of approximately 300 words, to the appropriate national authority (Ministry of Foreign Affairs or National Atomic Energy Authority) for subsequent transmission to the IAEA, to arrive not later than 11 June 2012, with copies to the co-scientific Secretary, Mr Victor Inozemtsev; the Meeting Coordinator, Mr Wolfgang Wiesenack; and the Meeting Chairman, Mr Rudi Van Nieuwenhove. The abstracts should summarize the content and principal conclusions of the paper. The format of IAEA Technical Meetings presumes active contribution from all participants either in the form of papers/presentations, or e.g. chairing sessions and preparation of topical summaries. Prospective participants will be notified about the acceptance of their applications, and a preliminary programme will be published on the meeting website by 2 July As is the norm for this type of meetings, the programme will include a summary session to permit participants to discuss section summaries and to make recommendations to the IAEA on future work in this field. Authors are requested to bring to the meeting electronic copies of their papers in Microsoft Word format and of their presentations in PowerPoint format or as PDF files (saved on a CD-ROM or a memory stick). V. VENUE AND ACCOMMODATION The meeting will be held at Kaserna ( the Barracks ), Fredriksten Festning (Fredriksten Fortress), Halden, Norway. Accommodation for delegates and any accompanying persons will also be at Kaserna and delegates should arrange this through the Administrative Officer for the meeting, Ms Turid Danielsen. It is anticipated that accommodation costs will be around 525 Norwegian kroner per day. Depending on demand, help and advice in arranging activities for accompanying persons will be provided. Half a day of the meeting will be set aside for a technical visit to the facilities of the Halden Reactor Project. Further details on travel arrangements, the technical visit and social events will be provided to participants at the meeting website. The link to this website will be made available in due course. Designated participants who require a visa to enter Norway should submit the necessary application form in due time to the nearest diplomatic or consular representative of Norway. 4

5 VI. EXPENDITURES In accordance with the established rules, Governments or other national authorities are expected to bear the travel and other costs of designated participants in the meeting. Limited funds are, however, available to help cover the cost of participants from Member States eligible to receive technical assistance under the IAEA s technical cooperation programme. Such assistance can be offered, upon specific request, to one participant per country provided that, in the IAEA s view, this participant will make an important contribution to the meeting. The application for financial support should be made at the time of designation of the participant. Please note that compensation is not payable by the IAEA for any damage to or loss of experts personal property. However, for the period of their participation in the abovementioned IAEA meeting on the dates indicated, including travel between their residence and the duty station, the designated experts will be covered under the IAEA s insurance policy for permanent total disablement or death resulting from service-incurred accidents or illness up to a maximum of , for permanent partial disablement resulting from service-incurred accidents or illness up to a maximum of and for medical expenses up to a maximum of plus for supplementary travel and accommodation expenses in case of illness or injury resulting from service-incurred accidents or illness, in accordance with the terms of the IAEA s relevant insurance policy. VII. WORKING LANGUAGE The working language of the meeting will be English. All communications, abstracts, and papers must be sent in English. 5

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7 FORM A 651-T1-TM INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY TECHNICAL MEETING ON IN-PILE TESTING AND INSTRUMENTATION FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GENERATION-IV FUELS AND STRUCTURAL MATERIALS Halden, Norway August 2012 To be sent to the competent official authority (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Atomic Energy Authority) for transmission to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria PARTICIPATION FORM DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION: 11 June 2012 Family name: First name: Mr Ms Institution: Full address: For urgent communications please indicate: Tel.: Fax: Nationality: Designating Government or organization: Mailing address (if different from address of institution): Do you intend to present a paper? YES NO Title of paper An abstract of my paper is attached? YES NO

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9 FORM B 651-T1-TM INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY TECHNICAL MEETING ON IN-PILE TESTING AND INSTRUMENTATION FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GENERATION-IV FUELS AND STRUCTURAL MATERIALS TITLE OF THE PAPER Halden, Norway August 2012 FORM FOR SUBMISSION OF A PAPER DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION: 11 June 2012 AUTHOR(S) INITIAL(S) AND FAMILY NAME(S) SCIENTIFIC ESTABLISHMENT(S) IN WHICH WORK HAS BEEN CARRIED OUT TOWN/COUNTRY AUTHOR WHO WILL PRESENT THE PAPER Mailing address: Mr/Ms Initial(s): Family name: For urgent communications please indicate: Fax: Telex: I HEREBY AGREE TO ASSIGN TO THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA) THE COPYRIGHT OR THE NON-EXCLUSIVE, ROYALTY FREE LICENSE TO PUBLISH THE ABOVE-MENTIONED PAPER, AND CERTIFY THAT NO OTHER RIGHTS HAVE BEEN GRANTED WHICH COULD CONFLICT WITH THE RIGHT HEREBY GIVEN TO THE IAEA. DATE: (SIGNATURE OF MAIN AUTHOR)