Abstract
Accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) has attracted considerable research attention since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. To improve the accident tolerance of the fuel-cladding systems in the current light-water reactors, it is proposed to develop and deploy (1) an enhanced Zr-based alloy or coated zircaloy for the fuel cladding, (2) alternative cladding materials with better accident tolerance, and (3) alternative fuels with enhanced accident tolerance and/or a higher U density. This review presents the features of the current UO2–zircaloy system. Different techniques and characters to develop coating materials and enhanced Zr-based alloys are summarized. The features of several selected alternative fuels and cladding materials are reviewed and discussed. The neutronic evaluations of alternative fuel-cladding systems are analyzed. It is expected that one or more types of ATF-cladding systems discussed in the present review will be implemented in commercial reactors.
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