PRESENTATION OF FP7 MATTER PROJECT: GENERAL OVERVIEW

摘要

The 2010-2012 implementation plan of the European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative (ESNII), prepared in the frame of the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP), establishes a very tight time schedule for the start of construction of the European Gen IV prototypes; namely the construction of the LFR ETPP (European Technology Pilot Plant) MYRRHA will start in 2014 and that of the SFR Prototype ASTRID will start in 2017. The GEN IV reactors pose new challenges to the designers and scientists in terms of higher operating temperature, higher fuel burn-up, and in some cases more corrosive environment with respect to the present technologies and which impacts the materials performance. In this frame, the MATTER (MATerials Testing and Rules) Project starts well targeted R&D activities to perform careful materials studies in GEN IV operational conditions and to find out criteria for the correct use of these materials in relevant reactor applications. Aim of the MATTER Project (that involved 27 partners and will end in 2015) is to complement the materials researches, in the frame of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) guidelines, with the implementation of pre-normative rules. The MATTER Project is divided in 3 technical Domains (called DM): 1. DM1 - Development of test and evaluation guidelines for structural materials: to develop/establish best practice guidelines for testing and evaluation procedures, which are aimed to screen and characterize nuclear materials for innovative nuclear systems. 2. DM2 - Pre-normative R&D for Codes and Standards: Prenormative activities are performed, comprehensive of experiments, to revise and update the design rules (with an EU level consensus) in order to answer to some short term needs of the two projects ASTRID & MYRRHA with respect to the design and the construction of structural components. 3. DM3 - Joint Program Scheme, implementation and Priorities: to optimise the effectiveness and efficiency of the EERA Joint Program on nuclear materials for innovative reactors and to support specific research activities related to fundamental understanding of ODS steels fabrication. ODS steels are considered candidate materials, in the medium-long term, for high fuel burn-up cladding application. After a brief presentation of DM1 and DM3, this paper mainly focuses on description of Pre-normative R&D activities for Codes and Standards (DM2).