NEA Mandates and Structures

Expert Group on Advanced Fuel Cycle Scenarios

Chair(s):	Brent DIXON, United States	Secretary:	Stéphanie CORNET (stephanie.cornet@oecd-nea.org)
Member(s):	All NEA member countries^*
	Russia (Suspended*)
	^*Russian Federation suspended pursuant to a decision of the OECD Council.
Full participant(s):	European Commission Under the NEA Statute
Observer(s)(International Organisation):	International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) By agreement
Date of creation:	01 June 2010
End of mandate:	30 June 2019

Mandate (Document reference):

Approved at the 21st Meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee in June 2010 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2010)3]
Extended at the 11th Meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle in February 2013 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPFC(2013)2]
Extended at the 12th Meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle in February 2014 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPFC(2014)2/REV1]
Revised at the 13th Meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle in February 2015 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPFC(2015)2]
Extended and revised at the 27th Meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee in June 2016 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2016)2]
Revised at the 15th Meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle in February 2017 [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPFC(2017)2]
Mandate of the Expert Group on Advanced Fuel Cycle Scenarios [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPFC(2018)1]

Mandate (Document extract):

Extract from document [NEA/SEN/NSC/WPFC(2018)1]

Objective

Under the guidance of the Nuclear Science Committee (NSC) and the mandate of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of the Fuel Cycle (WPFC), the expert group will study needs associated with the transition from current to future advanced nuclear fuel cycles. The objectives of this expert group are:

To assemble, organise and understand the scientific issues of advanced fuel cycles, in particular to support emerging nuclear fuel cycle technologies.
To provide a framework for assessing specific national needs related to implementation of advanced fuel cycles.

Scope

These issues are critical to implementing a sustainable nuclear energy infrastructure and this expert group will:

Define the key scientific issues by collecting and comparing information available from experts in member countries, organise the information in a systematic way, and provide a deep level of understanding of each of them.
Assemble technical information on the existing and future technologies, including transmutation and storage technologies.
Develop and assess generic scenarios that are representative of the different strategies envisaged in the member countries.
Evaluate the potential of systems beyond the current thermal and fast technologies.
Other studies within the group’s expertise, requested by the working party or the nuclear science committee.

Activities

New fuel cycle simulator tools.
Scenario studies using advanced light water reactors (high burn-up, high conversion ratio, inert matrix fuel, etc.) or advanced reactors (Gen IV, ADS, etc.).
Investigation of Th fuel cycle and transition with legacy U cycle waste elimination.
Scenario studies for improving sustainability: multi-recycling scenarios, impact on starting reactors on used fuel and evaluation of low enriched uranium (LEU), waste reduction, etc.
Taskforce: Benchmark on dose rate calculations for irradiated UOx and MOx spent fuel assemblies and others.

Links

The expert group will liaise closely with other study groups (e.g. EC, IAEA, etc.) and other activities being carried out under NEA auspices, for example by the Nuclear Science Committee, the Radioactive Waste Management Committee, and the Nuclear Development Committee, in particular providing expertise, when necessary, on issues related to the integration of nuclear power in an energy mix.

Deliverables

Report on study of the management of transuranics.
Benchmark on dose rate calculations for irradiated UOx and MOx spent fuel assemblies.
Report on scenario studies for improving sustainability.