SUMMARY RRFM 2006
As in Munich and Budapest we started this conference
with a first session devoted to subjects of general interest for
the whole research reactor community. Because we were in Sofia at
the invitation of the Bulgarian Nuclear Society and the Institute
for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy (INRNE) we started with
a first presentation on the progress about the reconstruction of
the R.R. IRT-Sofia.
The utilization of our R.R. is peaceful. It is
however never excluded that their fresh or spent fuels be somehow
diverted for malicious uses. This justifies an initiative as GTRI
which oversees the RERTR Program, the foreign R.R. Spent Fuel Acceptance
Program, the Russian R.R. Fuel Return Program, the Global R.R. Security
Program and the GAP Materials Program. The GAP Program is a new
program developed by DOE to address materials not covered by previous
threat reduction efforts (it means HEU of all origins and plutonium
bearing materials). Under this program GTRI works to develop partnerships
with government agencies, facility operators to identify, remove
and facilitate the final disposition of GAP materials. A first example
is the collaboration between GTRI and AREVA to address a disposition
option through reprocessing at AREVA facilities in France. Always
in Session 1 we received a clarification of the
worldwide activities of the TRIGA reactors. As a special application
we heard about the reconstruction project of the ENEA Triga RC-1
R.R. to accommodate the TRADE project (feasibility of an ADS system).
Session 2 is now for years the
hottest topic of our conferences. Session 2 means for all of us
fuel development, qualification and licensing. This topic is important
in the frame of the enrichment reduction initiatives. The goal is
ultimately the qualification of a high density UMo fuel by the end
of 2010 and the conversion of all reactors, including the US domestic
high power reactors by 2014. After the discovery of unexpected problems
of swelling and pillowing in the FUTURE experiment, American, French,
Russian, Argentinian, Korean and Canadian groups setup plans to
understand, eliminate or mitigate this behavior by out of pile experiments
and in pile investigations. This year we heard very encouraging
results of the addition of Silicon in the Aluminum matrix of dispersed
fuels. These results come from in-pile experiments (RERTR6, IRIS-3)
and from simulations with heavy ion irradiations. These optimistic
results should however be further analyzed and confirmed. In parallel
the same groups evaluated the fabrication methods of UMo monolithic
fuels and their behavior under irradiation.
Session 3 was devoted to the spent
fuel management, back-end options and transportation. We heard about
the continued acceptance by the US of the foreign fuels for the
next years and the associated conditions. We heard about the conditions
for a safe and long term storage of Aluminum clad fuels under water.
We heard finally about the conditions and ways for a successful
reprocessing of MTR fuels at the French La Hague plant.
In Session 4 - Reactor Operation,
Fuel Safety and Core Conversion- the main topics concerned the conversion
projects and evaluations for the ITR-Sofia, FRM-II, HFR-Petten and
HOR-Delft reactors. Others covered a new concept for a super high
flux reactor, the qualification of a Chilean test fuel element and
the safety evaluation of the IRIS experiment.
In parallel with Session 4, we organized for the
first time a Session 5 devoted to Innovative Methods in R.R. Analysis.
A sufficient number of interesting presentations were submitted
and the attendance was adequate. This initiative shall be evaluated
by the Program Committee during its next meeting in June.
P. Gubel
