The main mission of the Working Group on Fuel Safety (WGFS) is to advance the current understanding and address cross-cutting issues related to fuel behaviour in accident conditions, including work on associated aspects of thermal-hydraulics, oxidation, chemistry, mechanical behaviour and reactor physics.
Experts from 16 countries and two international organisations met on 13-15 September for the 24th WGFS annual meeting in Paris.
The experts discussed the progress of targeted activities undertaken by the members, including activities on data preservation and analysis of fuel safety criteria under “Design Extension Conditions” (DEC-A). Members also exchanged information on the status of their national nuclear industry, research activities and regulatory frameworks related to nuclear fuel.
During this meeting, a special session was organised on the subject of experimental studies of loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) phenomena. Members had the opportunity to consider the historic context of LOCA research and the recent evolution in the regulatory treatment of LOCA in member countries.
The participants also engaged in a holistic discussion on the ongoing and future research opportunities to further understand fuel behavior under LOCA. The discussion confirmed the interest and value of the joint project activities currently ongoing and under development in Studsvik Cladding Integrity Project (SCIP), the Framework for Irradiation Experiments (FIDES-II) and QUENCH-ATF.
For more information on the group's work, visit the WGFS webpage.
