Nuclear fuel rods that can survive a reactor accident without melting are being designed to be safely reprocessed after use, not just thrown away. Today’s nuclear fuel works well under normal conditions but can fail catastrophically in an accident, releasing radioactive material. Accident-tolerant fuels (ATFs) are being developed to resist such failures, but a critical gap remains: no one knows whether these new fuels can be recycled once they are spent. The ATLANTIC programme brings together 20 experts from 12 UK universities to answer that question. If successful, the research could allow the UK to adopt safer fuels without creating a new waste problem. Reprocessing spent ATFs would recover usable material, reducing the volume of high-level waste that must be buried and supplying fuel for future reactors. This matters for the UK’s energy grid, where nuclear provides steady low-carbon power, and for the nuclear industry’s long-term sustainability. The programme is primarily applied science, tackling specific engineering challenges across seven work packages—from fuel fabrication and radiation damage to chemical separation processes. But it also includes fundamental studies of fuel behaviour at the atomic scale, which could reveal unexpected properties or failure modes that no one has yet considered.
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ATLANTIC is a broad ranging, multi-discipline programme that will focus on the very real challenge facing the UK and worldwide nuclear industry; that of how to implement accident tolerant fuels into our existing reactor fleets. To deliver this programme we are building on a close knit community of expertise that was created in EPSRC's PACIFIC programme and we have brought together a team of over 20 experts from 12 leading universities in the field of nuclear fission. Our team has already established close collaborative links with EU FP7 programmes such as SACSESS and ASGARD; strengthening the breadth and depth of expertise and allowing a continuing presence on the H2020 programme GENIORS. The UK has started on NIRAB R&D programmes in fuels and recycle; which look at the future of nuclear fission for the UK. Four of the Universities contributing to these programmes are part of the ATLANTIC team. ATLANTIC will create a foundation for implementing developmental work on ATF, but will also promote fundamental science on fuel behaviour, manufacture, separations and process kinetics. The programme is built around five interconnected work packages focussing on the scientific and engineering challenges, with two supporting work packages that provide programme governance and create collaborative links. Work package 1: "fuel - separations interface" will answer a number of research questions concerning the balance between recyclability and accident tolerance, particular knowledge gaps being: (1) What are the mechanisms of oxidation of ATFs under a range of conditions encountered throughout the fuel cycle but especially headend; and (2) how do the products of dissolution impact on advanced aqueous separations processes in development such as the Advanced PUREX, i-SANEX and GANEX processes. WP1 is led by Prof. Colin Boxall (Lancaster). Work package 2: "effects of contaminants on separations" will target the GANEX and iSANEX process, investigating the effects of contaminants on speciation, e.g. Cr3+ and Np redox. WP2 is led by Prof. Laurence (Reading). Work package 3: "investigation and optimisation of accident tolerant fuel materials" focuses on the optimisation and manufacture of accident tolerant fuel materials, and is broken down into three sub-packages: fabrication of ceramic fuels in pelletised form (U3Si2 and UN); materials characterisation and performance under lab conditions; and the effects of radiation damage on their properties and how this may modify in-reactor behaviour. WP3 is led by Prof. Karl Whittle (Liverpool). Work package 4: "fuel behaviour, non-stoichiometry and the fuel-water interface" will build an understanding of the how these fuels react in aqueous environments in the event of pin rupture during operation and/or subsequently during long-term storage and disposal. WP4 is led by Dr. Ian Farnan (Cambridge). Work package 5: "integrated management of accident tolerant fuels" will develop integrated separation technologies, by combining novel liquid-liquid intensified reactors and process control, which can be used in the recycling and reprocessing of metals and the production of nuclear fuel. WP5 is led by Prof. Panagiota Angeli (UCL). Work package 6: "networking and collaboration" will provide a focal point for dissemination of the research results and to reach out to international organisations where complimentary activities can be carried out through collaboration. WP6 is led by Dr Clint Sharrad (Manchester). Work package 7: " programme governance" will provide the necessary support to the team to ensure that the links between the work packages are effective by providing overview and advice from external experts and regular contact between team members. WP7 is led by the two principle investigators for the programme, Profs. Bruce Hanson (Leeds) and Tim Abram (Manchester).
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