Qualification of advanced LEU fuels for high-power research reactor conversion designs

Euratom Research and Training in 2025: ‘Challenges, achievements and future perspectives’, edited by Roger Garbil, Seif Ben Hadj Hassine, Patrick Blaise, and Christophe Girold

Open Access

Table 3.

Summary of current TRLs, status, and next development steps for the envisaged fuel systems.

Fuel system	Current estimated TRL (in EU)	Current status	Next steps in EU development
U₃Si₂ fuel with 4.8 gU/cm³	TRL-9	Readily used in research reactors	Improvements in fabrication yield for increased loading

U₃Si₂ fuel with increased density (or loading)	TRL-7	Representative fuel assemblies tested in relevant irradiation conditions, validation ongoing	Expand window of experience via PIE of MEs ⁽³⁾ and GTA test. Increase applicability for different HPRR conditions.

U-7Mo dispersion fuel	TRL-5	Full-scale plate tested in relevant irradiation conditions, with different improved design, validation pending	Advancement to TRL-6 via E-FUTURE-III test

U-10Mo monolithic fuel	TRL-5	Mini-scale plates successfully irradiated	Advancement to TRL-6 via FUTURE-MONO-1 test and to TRL-7 via GTA-MONO test

⁽³⁾

Mixed Element (ME), modified BR2 driver fuel element, outermost HEU plates replaced with LEU.

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