Fuels for accelerator-driven systems

In Europe, uranium-free fuels for minor actinide burning in Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADS) are under development in the frame of the CONFIRM, FUTURE and MATINE projects. In the present paper, the status of these projects is reviewed. Transuranium oxide and nitride fuel samples have been fabricated and characterized. Their performance has been modelled under normal operation as well as under accident conditions, using 800 MWth sub-critical cores as a basis. The safety analysis shows that oxide cermet fuels with molybdenum matrix may hold an advantage over the alternatives in terms of a high margin to melt. Oxide cercer fuels based on MgO are more easily fabricated, but should be operated at low linear rating and deep sub-criticality to ensure sufficient safety margins. Nitride fuels with liquid metal bond appear to provide better in pile performance, but are complicated to fabricate.