Performance assessment of Cr-coated Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) cladding: status, implications, and remaining challenges

with Youho Lee, 
Associate Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering
Seoul National University
Republic of Korea

Feb 3, 2023 10:10n am

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Coating a thin protective layer on Zirconium-based alloys for enhancing accident tolerance introduces changes in the overall nuclear fuel behavior, including thermomechanical response, material embrittlement, and failure modes in both steady-state operation and accidents. Ongoing research efforts are being made to explore the safety envelope and regulatory with integral fuel rod experiments, and modeling and simulation. The implications on the attainable performance gain with Cr-coated cladding are discussed, along with the key remaining challenges and unknowns related to fuel safety, and burnup extension and power uprate with Cr-coated accident tolerant fuel cladding.

Youho Lee studies nuclear fuel material behavior, fuel performance modeling, and reactor safety and design. His research interests include accident tolerant fuel performance, nuclear fuel modelling and performance code development, spent fuel behavior with focus on hydride embrittlement, and next generation nuclear fuel and reactor design. Prof. Lee received a B.S. from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2009, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2011 and 2013, respectively. He is currently an associate professor at the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Seoul National University (SNU). Prior to joining SNU, he served as an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico in the U.S.