[en] Anticipated transients, licensing criteria, and damage mechanisms for PWR fuel rods are reviewed. Potential mechanistic fuel rod damage limits for PWRs are discussed. An expermental program to be conducted out-of-pile and in the Engineering Test Reactor (ETR) to generate a safety data base to define mechanistic fuel damage and failure thresholds and to relate these thresholds to the thermal-hydraulic and power conditions in a PWR is proposed. The requirements for performing the tests are outlined. Analytical support requirements are defined