Advanced methods of process/quality control in nuclear reactor fuel manufacture. Proceedings of a technical committee meeting

Nuclear fuel plays an essential role in ensuring the competitiveness of nuclear energy and its acceptance by the public. The economic and market situation is not favorable at present for nuclear fuel designers and suppliers. The reduction in fuel prices (mainly to compete with fossil fuels) and in the number of fuel assemblies to be delivered to customers (mainly due to burnup increase) has been offset by the rising number of safety and other requirements, e.g. the choice of fuel and structural materials and the qualification of equipment. In this respect, higher burnup and thermal rates, longer fuel cycles and the use of MOX fuels are the real means to improve the economics of the nuclear fuel cycle as a whole. Therefore, utilities and fuel vendors have recently initiated new research and development programmes aimed at improving fuel quality, design and materials to produce robust and reliable fuel for safe and reliable reactor operation more demanding conditions. In this connection, improvement of fuel quality occupies an important place and this requires continuous effort on the part of fuel researchers, designers and producers. In the early years of commercial fuel fabrication, emphasis was given to advancements in quality control/quality assurance related mainly to the product itself. Now, the emphasis is transferred to improvements in process control and to implementation of overall total quality management (TQM) programmes. In the area of fuel quality control, statistical methods are now widely implemented, replacing 100% inspection. The IAEA, recognizing the importance of obtaining and maintaining high standards in fuel fabrication, has paid particular attention to this subject. In response to the rapid progress in development and implementation of advanced methods of process/quality control in nuclear fuel manufacture and on the recommendation of the International Working Group on Water Reactor Fuel Performance and Technology, the IAEA conducted a technical committee meeting. Upon invitation of the Government of Germany and Siemens AG, KWU/Advanced Nuclear Fuel GmbH the meeting was held in Lingen, Germany from 18 to 22 October 1999. In total, 19 papers from 10 countries were grouped into four sessions which covered new developments for control of process and product quality, their implementation and results obtained including new approaches to employee motivation