DRAFT: Accident Tolerant Fuels Draft Implementation Plan

Abstract

The ATF Implementation Plan integrates DOE’s objectives and goals with the national laboratory’s expertise and infrastructure in support of the technology development by three industry partners. DOE’s plan is to develop advanced LWR fuels with enhanced accident tolerance in response to the Congressional request and to install a lead fuel assembly containing accident tolerant fuel technology in a U.S. commercial nuclear power plant by 2022. DOE has three contracts in place with each of the principle US commercial nuclear fuel vendors in support of ATF research and development, AREVA Services LLC, General Electric, and Westinghouse LLC. The purpose of the ATF Implementation Plan is to describe the technology development and progress required to insert one (or possible two) concepts as a LFR or LFA in a commercial LWR by 2022. In particular, this document shows the integration between the functional documents guiding ATF development and provides a rough order of magnitude estimate of the required budget from FY2016 through FY2022. It is expected that after FY2022, the needed budget request would significantly decrease as works transitions from Phase 2 to Phase 3, corresponding to a decrease in DOE project responsibility and an increase in industry responsibility and associated funding support.