Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle (WPFC)
Background
Under the guidance of the Nuclear Science Committee (NSC), the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle (WPFC) deals with scientific issues in various existing and advanced nuclear fuel cycles, including fuel cycle physics, associated chemistry and flowsheets, the development and performance of fuels and materials, and accelerators and spallation targets.
Objective
The objective of the working party is to provide member countries with up-to-date information on and to develop consensus regarding:
- Separations science
- Develop a scientific basis for optimisation of the use of future nuclear waste repositories.
- Establish a methodology for evaluating impacts of various existing and advanced fuel cycle scenarios on potential storage and repositories.
- Provide a means for the development and evaluation of advanced processing concepts, including design bases for future reprocessing plants.
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Fuel cycle scenarios
- Assemble and organise scientific information critical to the understanding of the issues involved in transitioning from current fuel cycles to future fuel cycles.
- Provide scientific bases for fuel cycle deployment strategies.
- Chemical partitioning
- Keep updated information on separation technologies, including advanced aqueous and pyrochemical processing issues.
- Perform a detailed scientific study of separations processes for different fuel cycle scenarios.
- Fuels and materials
- Undertake studies needed for the development of fuels and materials for implementing advanced nuclear fuel cycles.
- Deal with the performance and behaviour of advanced fuels.
- Update the handbook on lead and lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) technology as new information becomes available.
- Thermal-hydraulic studies of lead-alloy coolants.
- Accelerators and targets
- Deal with accelerator reliability issues.
- Target performance, including spallation products.
- Window performance, including thermal stress, radiation damage and windowless targets.
The working party liaises closely with other relevant NSC working parties and NEA standing technical committees, especially the Nuclear Development Committee (NDC) and the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC), to ensure the respective work programmes are complementary and to provide advice and support where required and undertake common work where appropriate. Particularly close working relationships will be maintained with the Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems (WPRS).
The working party also provides advice to the nuclear community on the developments needed to meet the requirements for implementing advanced long-term sustainable nuclear fuel cycles, including partitioning and transmutation.
Structure
- Expert Group on Heavy Liquid Metal Technologies
- Expert Group on Chemical Partitioning
- Expert Group on Fuel Cycle Transition Scenarios Studies
- Expert Group on Innovative Fuels
- Expert Group on Innovative Structural Materials
- Task Force on Benchmarking of Thermal-Hydraulic Loop Models for Lead-Alloy Cooled Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems
- Task Force on Comparative Study on Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Recycle of TRU in Fast Reactors
- Task Force on Potential Benefits and Impacts of Advanced Fuel Cycles with Partitioning and Transmutation
Meetings, workshops and conferences
Working Party meetings
- 8th meeting (24 February 2010, NEA offices, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France)
- 7th meeting (25 February 2009, NEA offices, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France)
- 6th meeting (30 April 2008, NEA offices, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France)
- 5th meeting (14 September 2007, Boise, USA)
- 4th meeting (29 January 2007, NEA offices, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France)
- 3rd meeting (23 January 2006, NEA offices, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France)
- 2nd meeting (22 June 2005, NEA offices, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France)
- 1st meeting (12 November 2004, Las Vegas, USA)
Meeting documents are in the working area (requires password).
NEA Information Exchange Meetings on Actinide and Fission Product Partitioning and Transmutation (IEM P&T) (in co-operation with the Nuclear Development Committee)
- 11th Information Exchange Meeting, (1-5 November 2010, San Francisco, USA)
- 10th Information Exchange Meeting, (6-10 October 2008, Mito, Japan)
- 9th Information Exchange Meeting (25-29 September 2006, Nîmes, France)
- 8th Information Exchange Meeting (9-11 November 2004, Las Vegas, USA)
- 7th Information Exchange Meeting (14-16 October 2002, Jeju, Korea)
- 6th Information Exchange Meeting (11-13 December 2000, Madrid, Spain)
International Workshop on Technology and Components of the Accelerator-driven Systems (TCADS)
- 1st Workshop (15-17 March 2010, Karlsruhe, Germany)
International Workshop on Structural Materials for Innovative Nuclear Systems (SMINS)
- 2nd Workshop (31 August - 3 September 2010, Daejeon, Korea)
- 1st Workshop (4-6 June 2007, Karlsruhe, Germany)
International Workshop on Utilisation and Reliability of High Power Proton Accelerators (HPPA) (completed)
- 5th Workshop (6-9 May 2007, Mol, Belgium)
- 4th Workshop (16-19 May 2004, Daejon, Korea)
- 3rd Workshop (12-16 May 2002, Santa Fe, USA)
- 2nd Workshop (22-24 November 1999, Cadarache, France)
- 1st Workshop (13-15 October 1998, Mito, Japan)
Recent publications and reports
- National Programmes in Chemical Partitioning - A Status Report (2010)
- Proceedings of tenth information exchange meeting on actinide and fission product partitioning and transmutation (2010)
- Nuclear Fuel Cycle Synergies and Regional Scenarios for Europe (2009)
- Nuclear Fuel Cycle Transition Scenario Studies (2009)
- Proceedings of the fifth workshop on utilisation and reliability of high power proton accelerators (2008) (on sale)
- Proceedings of the ninth information exchange meeting on actinide and fission product partitioning and transmutation (2007)
- Handbook on Lead-bismuth Eutectic Alloy and Lead Properties, Materials Compatibility, Thermal-hydraulics and Technologies - 2007 Edition
- Physics and Safety of Transmutation Systems - A Status Report (2006)
- Fuels and
Materials for Transmutation - A Status Report (2005)
Related links
- Meetings and conferences organised/sponsored by the Nuclear Science Committee and the Data Bank
- Partitioning and Transmutation of Minor Actinides and Fission Products (joint activity with the Nuclear Development Division)
Members' working area (requires password | go to password page)
For more information on this working party, please contact Yong-Joon CHOI (Tel: +33 1 45 24 10 91, yongjoon.choi@oecd.org)
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