ADS Fuel Developments in Europe: Results from the EUROTRANS Integrated Project

Fuels to be used in Accelerator Driven Systems dedicated to Minor Actinides transmutation can be described as highly innovative in comparison with those used in critical cores. Indeed, ADS fuels are not fertile, so as to improve the transmutation performance and they contain high volumetric concentrations (∼ 50%) of minor actinides and plutonium compounds. This unusual fuel composition results in high gamma and neutron emissions during its fabrication, as well as degraded performances under irradiation. Ceramic-Ceramic and Ceramic Metallic composite fuels consisting of particles of (Pu, MA)O(2) phases dispersed in a magnesia or molybdenum matrix were investigated within the European Research programme for Transmutation, as driver fuels for a prospective 400 MWth transmuter: the European Facility for Industrial Transmutation. Fuel performances and safety of preliminary core designs were evaluated to support the project. Out-of-pile as well as in-pile experiments were carried out to gain essential knowledge on properties and behaviour under irradiation of these types of fuel. This paper gives an overview of experimental results within the project. (authors)