NUCLEAR FUELS AND MATERIALS QUALIFICATION PROGRAMS IN THE EUROPEAN JULES HOROWITZ MATERIAL TESTING REACTOR

摘要

Irradiations in Material Testing Reactors (MTRs) on large and highly instrumented samples are the basis of the development process of a fuel product or a material before its use at an industrial scale in a power reactor. It ranges from the characterization of the material under neutronic flux up to the product qualification in accidental condition. This process is driven by modeling, capable to gather experimental results in a database for the simulation tool validation, and to set up a reliable understanding of the activated phenomena through models and laws. This paper presents the current needs expressed by future end-users and mandatory for implementing a high quality irradiation process in a modern MTR, regarding irradiation hosting systems performances, on-line instrumentation and on-site non-destructive examinations. These needs are easily integrated when a new research infrastructure and experimental capability have to be designed, such as for the future Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR) MTR under construction in France. The synergy between the JHR staff, the JHR international Consortium members, the future end-users and the people in charge of irradiations in other French MTRs will lead to propose in a few years a complete and modern irradiation service offer for about 50 years.