Fuels Technology
The UK is a world leader in nuclear fuel technology with extensive expertise in the design and manufacture of fuel for gas cooled and LWR reactor technologies. Through C-NET the Institute is seeking to build on this knowledge to deliver research and development vital to current and future reactor technologies.
UK Interest in Fuel Technology
The UK continues to manufacture fuel for its fleet of advanced gas-cooled reactors at Westinghouse Springfields Fuels site near Preston, one of the world's largest fuel manufacturing sites. The next generation of reactors due to be constructed in the UK are PWRs and anticipated research and development will be associated with; maximising fuel reliability, extending burnup periods, and reducing the cost of manufacture. Research will also support decisions associated with UK management of plutonium and minor actinides.
Research Programmes
Future reactor systems will need to consider flexibility and the ability to contribute beyond energy generation, more efficient use of fissile resources through breeder technologies and the transmutation of waste into faster decaying fission products.
The nuclear fuel research programmes at Manchester include;
- the development of advanced cladding materials;
- enhancing the manufacture and coatings of fuels; and
- furthering detailed understanding of the properties and interactions associated with SiC coatings
Ongoing research at Manchester covers the behaviour of TRISO fuel matrix material in a sealed carbon dioxide atmosphere, relevant for small scale reactor designs, and developing detailed understanding of the mechanical behaviour of SiC coatings, relevant to the development of TRISO fuels relevant to high temperature reactor designs.
