TopFuel 2024 – Venue

TopFuel 2024 will take place at the Maison MINATEC Congress Centre in Grenoble, France. 

MINATEC is the deep-tech Innovation Campus in the heart of the Grenobles-Alps high-tech ecosystem. This international hub for micro and nanotechnology research is home to 3,000 researchers, 1,200 students, and 600 business and technology transfer experts. The Congress Centre hosts more than 600 events (meetings, conferences, seminars, etc.) and welcomes 40,000 visitors every year.

Find out more about the venue.

HOW TO GET THERE

Grenoble has a well-developed urban transport system. The MINATEC Congress Center is directly linked to the Grenoble city centre and the railway station (via Tram B, Cité Internationale stop).

Further details on alternative options (buses, taxis…) are available on Grenoble Tourisme.

ACCOMODATION

Grenoble offers a range of hotels all along the itinerary from the city centre to MINATEC. Here you can find lists of recommended hotels in a walking distance or tramway distance from the venue.

ABOUT Grenoble

“At the end of every street, a mountain”. This is the fitting description that the famous 19th-century French writer Stendhal made of his hometown. Grenoble is indeed nestled at the foot of the French Alps, on the banks of the Isére river. The mountain soul of the city, which hosted the 1968 Winter Olympics, offers many outdoor and sports activities, like skiing, hiking, and climbing. But the second nature of the town is innovation. Grenoble has indeed grown to be one of Europe’s most important research and technology centres, with one in five inhabitants working directly in these fields.

VISA

Citizens from countries outside of the Schengen area might need a visa to enter France. Check here if you need a visa. 

Upon request, the European Nuclear Society will prepare a visa invitation letter for delegates whose registration fees were received in full. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to give any further support to the visa application process. Obtaining a visa remains the sole responsibility of the participant. Regular cancellation deadlines apply, regardless of whether your visa was granted or not. 

 

ORGANISER

European Nuclear Society

Avenue des Arts 56
1000 Brussels
Belgium
Email: conferences@euronuclear.org 

TopFuel’s primary objective is to bring together leading international specialists in the field, from operators and engineering companies, designers and manufacturers, research institutes and universities, regulators and technical supporting organizations, to share experiences and advances in nuclear fuel technology, and to use the findings of the latest cutting-edge research to achieve high reliability, performance and safety of nuclear fuels for today and tomorrow.

The TopFuel 2024 Programme Committee is calling for both oral and poster presentations in the following tracks:

• Track 1. Operation and experience

1. Fuel operating experience and performance: reliability and leakers, fuel assembly and component distortion, degradation and failures, handling issues, water-side corrosion and hydriding, stress corrosion cracking, poolside examination and hot cell PIE;
2. Fuel assembly repair and reconstitution;
3. Failed fuel monitoring, water chemistry and corrosion/crud/dose countermeasures;
4. In core fuel management: mixed core operation; reload variability; flexible operation (power modulation or load follow), extended operating domain, end of reactor life (management of final cycles);
5. Fuel supply strategy;
6. Fluence reduction to reactor components.

 

• Track 2. Advances in designs, materials, and manufacturing

1. Fuel assembly design innovations;
2. Processing and manufacturing including progress in additive manufacturing;
3. Cladding and structural materials development; mechanical and corrosion behaviour; irradiation experience in materials testing reactors (MTRs);
4. Fuel design improvements for higher than 5% enrichment, high burnup, fluence reduction and efficient disposal;
5. Development strategy for SMR fuels.

 

• Track 3. Short- and long-term Advanced Technology Fuels (ATF)

1. In-MTR and in-LWR LTR / LTA experience with advanced fuel and control rod designs, fuel pellet, cladding and component materials behaviour;
2. Qualification, licensing, deployment scenarios;
3. Life-cycle implementation from manufacturing to reactor operation and back-end;
4. In-reactor performance of ATFs in normal operation and AOOs;
5. Economics aspects of ATFs deployment strategy

 

• Track 4. Used fuel storage, transportation and re-use

1. Closed fuel cycles and strategies;
2. Re-use after transportation/storage;
3. Interim storage, dry storage, wet storage, and long term storage strategies (including ATF);
4. Handling and transportation of damaged, high BU and non-standard fuels (including ATF); handling and treatment of leaking fuel;
5. Spent fuel safety: R&D activities, ageing issues, criteria and regulations;
6. Long-term fuel database management.

• Track 5. Transient fuel behaviour and safety related issues

1. Transient fuel behaviour (RIA, LOCA, ATWS, PCI/SCC, PCMI, post-CHF…),
2. Safety and design criteria (including DEC conditions), safety analysis and licensing for current fuel and ATF;
3. Fuel safety related issues (e.g., fuel fragmentation, relocation, and dispersal; long term coolability; re-criticality; transient fission gas release; cladding ballooning and burst mechanisms; fuel behaviour under extended loss of cooling,…);
4. Quantification and management of margins;
5. Small- and large-scale fuel testing facilities;
6. In-pile and out-of-pile test results and analyses.

 

• Track 6. Modelling, analysis, and methods

1. Development, verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification (VVUQ) of fuel performance modelling codes;
2. Multi-physics multi-scale modelling; water chemistry and crud modelling;
3. Validation databases;
4. Transposition to in-reactor and back-end conditions;
5. Fuel design and safety analysis methods, including uncertainty analysis;
6. Data-driven and artificial intelligence technology applications;
7. Modelling of ATF and SMR fuels.

Mark your diaries and be a part of it! 

 

IMPORTANT – The deadline for the Abstract Submission has been extended to 15th February 2024.

Next steps	Deadlines
Abstract Submission	15 February 2024
Author Notification	4 March 2024
Draft Paper Submission	3 May 2024
Paper Acceptance Notification	14 June 2024
Full Paper Submission	5 July 2024
TopFuel 2024 in Grenoble	29 September – 3 October 2024

 

For abstract submission please go to the TopFuel 2024 Online Abstract Submission System.