Basic research in support of innovative fuels design for the Generation IV systems (F-BRIDGE project)

F-BRIDGE (Basic Research in support of Innovative Fuels Design for the GEN IV systems) is a 4-year project which started in 2008. It seeks to bridge the gap between basic research and technological applications for generation IV nuclear reactor systems. One of the challenges for the next generation of reactors is to significantly increase the efficiency in designing innovative fuels. The object of the F-BRIDGE project is to complement the empirical approach by a physically-based description of fuel and cladding materials to enable a rationalization of the design process and a better selection of promising fuel systems. Advanced modelling and separate effects experiments are carried out in order to obtain more exact physical descriptions of ceramic fuels and cladding, at relevant scales from the atomic to the macroscopic scale. Research is also focused on assessing and improving 'sphere-pac' fuel, a composite-ceramics concept which has shown promise. The project activities can be broken down into four main areas: (i) Basic research investigations using a multi-scale approach in both experimentation and modelling to enable the generation of missing basic data, the identification of relevant mechanisms and the development of appropriate models; (ii) Transfer between technological issues and basic research by bringing together within the same project materials scientists, engineers and end-users; (iii) Assessment of the drawbacks and benefits of the sphere-pac fuel application to various Generation IV systems; (iv) Education and training to promote research in the field of fuel materials, to ensure the exchange of results and ideas among the participants and to link the project with other related European or international initiatives. The project relies on the complementary expertise of 19 partners: nuclear and non nuclear research organisations, universities, a nuclear engineering company, as well as technology and project management consultancy small and medium enterprises. During the first year of the project, several significant scientific objectives have been reached, in particular: successful high temperature electrical conductivity and oxygen diffusion measurements in uranium dioxide; a new thermodynamics assessment of the U-Pu-C system; and the assessment of atomic scale methodologies for the description of actinide compounds; Studies of the interaction between fuel and potential interstitial materials as a first step towards the evaluation of advanced sphere-pac fuel performance. Another important achievement of this first year was the constitution and first meeting of the project user group. This group, which comprises six representatives from the European industry, utilities as well as manufacturers, is an important asset to the project to strengthen the links between basic research and technological issues